A Passion for Service 365

Focus On the Root Not the Fruit

2016-01-21T07:17:00.000-08:00

I’ve so enjoyed working with several hospitals recently, as they pursue a “5 star” HCAP rating (HCAHPS-Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems).

I admire the effort and passion with which they are fine tuning systems, facilities, training, surveys, hiring and vision, but I observe a classic mistake some are making in the process. The focus is on achieving the 5 star rating. The focus needs to be on exceptional patient care. “Patients first,” has to become the spirit of the organization from the top down.

Customers are the root of business success. (In this case patients and their families) Legendary Management Expert Peter Drucker says it best, “there is only one valid definition of business success: to create a customer.” The most basic gardener knows that caring for the roots (getting the soil, moisture, fertilizer correct) is preliminary to enjoying the fruit.

Focus on customers. Take time with customers. Nurture trust with customers. Follow up with customers. Fine tune the systems to delight customers.

Dazzle customers and the “5 star” ratings will come, as well as a tremendous increase in long-term profitability.

How To Win and Retain More Customers In 2016

2016-01-07T07:03:00.000-08:00

I tried out a new local auto repair shop near my house several years ago. When I walked in, almost the first thing I saw, behind the cash register, on the wall, was a banner that said:

Our customer pledge

We promise to do no work on your car without your permission

We guarantee the parts for the life of your vehicle

We will not exceed your written estimate

I was surprised by such a frank statement. I read it several times. I thought to myself, "I like that. I feel safe leaving my car here."

Wow, what a great first experience for a customer walking into your business! They feel safe because you have assured them of your promise or pledge of great service and reliability.

Three things impressed me as I read that statement:

1) They had identified the key felt needs of their customers: control, reliability and a fair price.

2) They communicated their promise or pledge in an effective and immediate manner.

3) They kept their promises… the work was done on time, in a professional manner and at the price quoted.

Want to win and retain more customers in 2016? Identify the key felt needs and problems of your customers as they approach your business. Communicate your vision, promise or pledge of great customer service to meet those felt needs. Follow through with actions that demonstrate your commitment to your customer pledge.

No Participation...No Commitment

2016-01-05T07:04:00.001-08:00

I’ve seen leaders get very passionate about focusing on the customer. They arrive at work with a new customer service vision statement they have labored over. They make copies for everyone and hold a staff meeting to “get everyone rowing in the same direction.” They ask employees to post the vision statement in their work area and read it daily before starting their tasks. What’s the problem with this? (I can heard someone saying this aloud) No buy in. No commitment. It’s the vision of the boss but not the staff.

How do you get an employee where their finger prints are all over that vision statement? The only way I know to do that is to get your staff together (hopefully away from the job site) and get their participation and ideas. Start with the statement:

“We promise you our customer….”

Get everyone brain storming and thinking about our promise or pledge of service to the customer. Participation is the key. Listening, stimulating creativity and taking the ideas of your staff seriously are powerful ways to lead people in a new direction. Take these fresh ideas and boil them down to a statement in 100 words or less. Now you have a customer service vision statement that means much more to everyone in the organization.

Ticket to Hot Growth

2016-01-04T14:20:00.001-08:00

It was Henry Ford that said:

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.”

One of my friends observed that the 1^st step you take towards business failure is to lose sight of the objective and begin to focus on the obstacles. It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily problems and hassles of running a business and let the customer become an interruption in our busy day.

What’s the 1^st step towards business success in 2016? Refocus your business on the customer. Winning, retaining and dazzling customers (creating a memorable experience) should be the most important objective of every employee (not just the “customer service” department).

Focus on delighting customers for 2016 and you’re on track for business growth and success.

A Hound Dog Sitting On A Nail

2015-12-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

Do you know someone at work that's like a hound dog sitting on a nail? (constantly moaning, groaning and complaining about everything!)

In our TEAM 2.0 workshop, we address dealing with "toxic" people in the workplace. The first in the list (see our December 9 blog for the complete list), is:

Grumblers...Whiners...Complainers

They complain about:

The tick of the clock
The weather
The temperature
The wind
People's actions or reactions
Who won or lost the ball game
Delays at airports
Waiting in traffic
The cost of everything
On the job irritations
Work load
Interruptions
Disappointments

Humorist, Charles Menninger, says of these complainers, "they never have an optimistic word to say about anything; they are perpetually ticked off about some little things; they're angry at everyone else for making their lives miserable… and, yet, as rotten as life is for them they don't seem to die. They hardly ever get sick, it seems. They just go on and on, splattering there festering view of life on everyone else they see." (Honolulu Light)

It's really deadly when these toxic people are leaders. I've never met an effective leader that was a whiner and complainer. Leaders know you have to keep your attitude positive, enthusiastic and helpful.

When is carping about something at work legitimate? What if it's a safety issue? What if has to do with improving working conditions for everyone? What if it's the occasional bad day we all have? Thoughts? I would be interested to hear your feedback.

Handling the 10 Most Difficult Co-Workers

2015-12-09T06:44:00.000-08:00

In our new TEAM 2.0 workshop, one of the most popular sections is on handling the 10 most difficult employees or co-workers. Here's the list of troublesome people we all probably have to deal with at times:

Grumblers, whiners and complainers: “Are we doing this again?”
Arrogant superstars: “All you do is answer phones…”
Gossips (they’re faster than Federal Express!)
Control Freaks/Turf Protectors: “That’s OUR department’s responsibility”
No shows or constantly late: “I got stuck in traffic”
Angry or abusive – short tempered hotheads
Manipulators/Liars: “You know what people are saying, don’t you”
Silent Sam/Sally – never communicates
Lazy, irresponsible “That’s not my job!”
Demanding, “I want it NOW!”

I'll be writing on each of these in the days to come.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Bill

Why Customers Don't Buy

2013-07-26T05:28:00.001-07:00

Zig Ziglar once said there are only 5 reasons customers don't buy our product or service:

1. They don't want it
2. They don't need it (someone observed that customers don't buy products or services...they buy solutions to their problems)
3. They are too busy. Fatigue and time pressure are big factors in most American's lives.
4. It costs too much.

The 5th reason is the hardest for a sales person to overcome - no trust.

Trust is the glue of good relationships with our customers. What can we do today to build trust with our customer? Please reply with your ideas.

Who do you work for?

2013-07-24T06:24:00.000-07:00

When I ask attendees at my workshop to draw a diagram of their company, listing the different levels of staff like employees, supervisors, managers, executives and the president, they often draw a pyramid with the employees at the bottom (wide part) and the president at the top narrow point. (Interesting that the customer is no where on the chart!) Everyone works for their "superior" - a horrible word we should eliminate from the business community. You have a supervisor or boss but no one at your company is your superior.

I think Peter Drucker, in his book The Practice of Management, did a paradigm shift when he said: "There is only one valid definition of business purpose - the creation of a customer." He turned the company chart upside down and put the customer at the top. The pyramid is upside down with the large width at the top and the point at the bottom. Put the customer at the top of your company chart. Customers sign all the paychecks. Everyone in the organization works for the customer.

Jack Welch, former CEO at GE, is correct when he says, "the only job security any of us have is a satisfied customer."

I plead with attendees (and myself) at workshops to not let the customer become an interruption in our busy day. Customers are the root of business success; profitability is the fruit.

Excellent Survey Questions

2013-07-22T06:16:00.000-07:00

Continuing from the last blog...

Here are some good survey questions:

THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

On a scale of 1 to 10, (with 1 being bad and 10 being excellent)

How would you rate your overall experience with our company?

How would you rate the quality of our products?

How did you feel treated in the process of the business transaction ... things like the listening, courtesy, helpfulness and great attitude of our employees?

CUSTOMER LOYALTY

Did we get your order right (accurate)?

What is the most extraordinary thing we have done for you?

Why did this impress you?

If we could improve just one thing, what would it be?

Would you recommend our products or services to others?

I have personally done hundreds of calls with customers using these questions and find I can complete this in under 2 minutes in a friendly, personable way.

Remember customers value their time and I would thank them and reward them for taking the survey.

"Thank you for taking our survey. We really appreciate your feedback. Could we email you a gift certificate from ____________?

I have used gift certificates from Amazon (you can customize them with a statement that reinforces your commitment to quality service). It's easy to email this to a customer, but be sure you have their permission as some companies don't allow employees to receive gifts from vendors (which can be misconstrued).

Survey Burnout

2013-07-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

Andrew Gori, in an article on "Feedback Burnout" says...

"because it’s easier than ever to collect feedback, it seems that many companies are overdoing it. So much so, that it has the potential to annoy the very people companies are trying to please...customers are starting to show signs of “feedback fatigue.” Respondents to a recent survey...claimed that surveys are too long, too personal, and inconvenient. Plus companies are asking customers to fill them out more than ever."

How do you avoid this?

I recommend a personal follow up call that is brief, friendly and grateful as the best choice for most companies. This impressed me last year when our water heater suddenly began leaking. I had a plumber from Olshan Plumbing in Dallas, TX, install a new one. The Plumber not only was on time, professional and friendly, but saved me over $600.00 by informing me that the current defective water heater was guaranteed for 10 years and I could receive a significant amount of prorated credit on a new one from Home Depot. He personally helped me return the defective unit to Home Depot, get the credit and quickly installed the new water heater. I was further stunned when I received a follow up call from their customer service department within an hour of the job being completed to check on the job. I had some very favorable feedback and would definitely use them again. When is the last time you received a follow up call? It's increasingly rare.

Tomorrow more on key questions to ask in the survey.

Listening to Customers

2013-07-01T06:08:00.000-07:00

Where are the ears in your organization? Who in your company has the stethoscope next to the heart beat of customers? If we are not effectively listening to customers, the quality of service is declining. Tom Peters, in his book Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolution,
says it's the companies that, "listen, listen, listen to customers," that are going to be the best in this new millennium. What are the most ways you've found to tune into customers? Please post your ideas.

But a new trend we are seeing is what I call survey burnout. More tomorrow on that topic.

Keeping your customers informed

2012-08-10T07:25:00.000-07:00

· CUSTOMER SERVICE

http://www.examiner.com/article/keeping-your-customers-informed?cid=rss

JULY 12, 2012

· BY: AMANDA BROWNING

Taking a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach when your customers need to know something is usually the best way to make sure they stay satisfied. Although no one wants to be the bearer of bad news, most customers would rather be alerted prior to the problem rather than find out for themselves and not be sure of what to do.

Recently, a close friend had a cabin reserved for a weekend getaway. Upon arrival, the management company informed this friend that the reserved cabin’s power had gone out the night before due to strong storms. While the management company knew this for about twelve hours, they had neglected to let their patrons know. Instead of being alerted ahead of time and have the option for a refund, this friend spent four hours driving to the cabin, and then had to find alternate accommodations during a holiday weekend (not an easy task). Had the management company been proactive, they may have kept the business; a reschedule is better than losing the business entirely!

This is just one example of a company that did not take the time to alert their clientele of possible problems. Even if something like an outage or limited availability is possible, it is still often a better idea to share this information whenever possible. Not only will it show customers that the company cares about them, but it also takes a large burden off of the support staff who is usually inundated with calls when something goes wrong. There are many ways to alert customers to problems that may affect them; here are just a few ideas:

Newsletters: If you have enough notice of an outage, including it in a periodic newsletter to your customers is a great way to communicate. This way, they are informed of the problem while learning more about upcoming events at your company. This is something that is easy for customers to print out as a reminder if they prefer.

Email: This is a good option if you do not have as much advanced notice of the problem. You can send emails out quickly to multiple users and use an attention-grabbing subject line to make sure they read it. You can also include alternate options for them if possible during the outage or problem.

Telephone: If an outage will only affect a few customers, or if you have a small client base, use a more personal touch by calling these contacts individually. This way, you can address any questions they have and offer sincere apologies for the inconvenience.

I've Been Blasted!

2012-06-20T09:11:00.001-07:00

One of the most common questions I get at our “Passion for Service” workshops is, "how should we respond when someone says something negative about our company online?” This can be very frustrating -- especially if you feel the comments are unfair.

I offer seven suggestions:

1. Monitor your online reputation through GoogleAlerts . This is a free service that will email you (alert you!) when someone says something negative about you online (you pick the word or phrase you want to be alerted for).

2. Respond in public if the comment is made in public. If someone badmouths you on your Facebook page, respond on your Facebook page (calmly and graciously). Thank them for their feedback, empathize, summarize the problem and exceed their expectations in the solution. You might turn them into a raving fan.

3. Ask your customers who love your product or service to put their positive comments out there. They can sometimes go to the same page or website where any angry customer has vented.

4. Move fast. Word of mouth is the #1 most powerful marketing and you want to quickly counter negative comments.

5. Fix the problem! Use the customer feedback to get to the source of the issue and fix it.

6. Don’t take it personally. You represent the company in the mind of the customer. Try to remember that they are probably angry at the company.

7. When stressed out, take a 5 minute break and walk around (the #1 cure for stress). If we continue to let stress keep building internally, we’re going to blow at some point and that’s when we say things we regret later.

The Key to Resolving Conflict

2012-04-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

If you were walking into a meeting with co-workers that you knew in advance was going to have some conflict (the issues to be discussed, the time of day, the people attending...it's going to be a fight), what are the two most important qualities you need to constructively work through the problem? (One of them is not karate!!)

The two most common answers I hear in my workshops is: patience and listening. (Compromise and negotiation are also high on the list)

I would agree but change the wording to self control and listening. I call them the golden sword and the silver sword. Without self control we tend to get in a tug-o-war (power struggle) with the other person. They raise their voice and we raise our voice. They start talking faster -- we start talking faster. They get a little bit insulting and we think, "nobody talks to me like that!"

This is so common and we always have a good laugh in the workshop illustrating two, three year old, children on the playground each pulling on the opposite end of a jump rope shouting, "MINE!" To get to first base in conflict resolution we have to learn to let go of the rope. In communication that means choose to be silent, bite our tongue, and let the other person speak. Listening is silent loving. Hear to other person out and summarize back to them the main idea you hear them communicating. (This does not mean you have to agree with them) This is not easy and goes against our normal tendency to escalate. More on this tomorrow.

Listening is Silent Loving

2012-04-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

What's the number one complaint of wives against their husbands? "You never listen to me," say attendees at my workshops. Married men... go home tonight and look your wife directly in the eye and say, "Honey, I'm going to listen to you for the next 15 minutes!" (Have a few nitroglycerin pills handy!!)

But it's not just husbands! The #1 complaint of kids about their parents, "You don't listen to me." The #1 gripe of employees against managers, "You don't listen to me."

Someone said this is why we have two ears and one mouth -- to listen twice as much as we speak.

I have a confession to make...I'm not very good at this myself. You would think after almost 30 years of teaching communication workshops, I would have mastered this skill and yet I many times have to apologize to my own kids and wife.

Why is this so difficult for many of us?

A Culture of Service Excellence

2012-03-23T06:51:00.000-07:00

I often ask in my workshops, "how many of you have children at home?" Then I say, "look at these raised hands... these are brain damaged people." I always get a good laugh off this comment and add that I have two children (18,15) and I am severely brain damaged myself.

Do kids do what you ask them to or do they follow your example? Someone said it this way: do kids do what's taught or what's caught? Children follow our example more than our instruction.

Albert Schweitzer is correct, "leadership is example." The most powerful way you create a culture of passionate customer service is to model it as leaders. How do you treat employees?

How do you set an example of service to your staff?

Here's a great list by Charles R Swindoll (with a few additions of my own) of ways to be good to your employees:

Keep your promises
Pay a fair wage
Provide necessary benefits
Have a heart -- show compassion
Give affirmation and encouragement daily
Be tough but not mean
Whenever possible, promote from within
Tell the truth
Avoid prejudice and preferential treatment
Provide a safe environment that's clean and encouraging
Maintain confidentiality
Keep your attitude positive and helpful
When things go wrong, refuse to blame others -- take personal responsibility

Treat your employees like gold and you will begin to see a culture of service excellence!

The Most Common Error in Business

2012-03-22T09:50:00.001-07:00

I think the most common error in business is to think the focus of business is to make money -- make a profit.

I don't have anything against making money. In fact, I hope my writing and workshops enrich, encourage and help you both personally and professionally. I just think the focus has to constantly be the customer: listening to customers; pleasing customers; helping customers; showing kindness and thoughtfulness with daily attitudes and actions. Customers who are delighted with our service/product and keep coming back (and tell others about our business) are the root of business success. Profitability is the fruit of business success.

Peter Drucker says it best, "there's only one valid definition of business purpose -- the creation of a customer." Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, says, "the only job security any of us have is a satisfied customer."

When the customer has become an interruption in our busy day we're headed for trouble. But when the customer is the focus of each employee's attention and devotion we're headed for success.

Objectives Determine Outcome

2012-03-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

I'm surprised every time I use this parable (see Monday, 3/19, blog) with workshop attendees. They identify the surface problems like poor teamwork, bad attitude and a lack of communication. Rarely does someone identify the real problem -- poor leadership.

The parable illustrates a leader that has not communicated (and modeled) a clear vision or mission. There is no common commitment to an ultimate team goal that each employee can clearly articulate. The farmer should have gathered everyone together at the outset and defined the mission. "We are all here to raise and harvest a good crop." Everyone has to be committed to that goal. Even better would have been to involve employees in creating a team vision -- no participation no commitment. Have each team member identify their crucial part in accomplishing the team goal (alignment).

"Where there is no vision, the people perish," says the ancient writer. Henry Ford says it even better, "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal."

I'm told that Ritz Carlton Hotels has every employee carry in their uniform pocket a small card that on one side has there motto: "We are ladies and gentlemen service ladies and gentlemen." On the flip side is their core values as a business. No wonder they've won the Malcolm Baldridge award for quality twice! I heard of a gentleman and his wife who stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Maui, and was so impressed by the kind and attentive service the maid provided them. He asked her, "what is it about Ritz Carlton that's different?" She said, "we are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentleman."

Do you have a common vision focused on the customer that every employee can articulate?

A Parable

2012-03-19T05:09:00.001-07:00

A farmer decided to plant a new field. He hired skilled workers to help him put in the crop. He divided them into groups according to their abilities. There were soil tillers, seed planters, fertilizing and irrigation folks, plant tenders, harvest reapers, and tractor/tool maintenance crew.

The soil tillers broke up the ground but left it in dry chunks. One of them asked the tiller superintendent about the soil, he replied, “that’s not our job; just break it up so we can get out of here.”

The seed planters were disturbed when they arrived, to begin planting. “Look at the soil!” they said. “Oh well, were hired to plant, not mess with the soil, so let’s get on with it,” They worked hard all day planting the seed in the dusty, clods of earth.

Next, the irrigation crew flooded the field with water because they had three other fields to water and were pushed for time.

A month later a few weak plants began to grow, and so did hundreds of weeds. The weed pullers were mad at the tillers and seed planters for not heading off the problem with herbicides. They worked with furious intensity yanking weeds out right and left trying to get that field cleaned up. Unfortunately, in their zeal, they pulled out a lot of young plants along with the weeds.

The plant tenders were exhausted running from plant to plant trying to help save the injured and dying crop.

When harvest came there was hardly anything to harvest and sell. The farmer couldn’t pay expenses and had to lay off all the workers. He decided the field was a losing proposition and gave up on farming.

A Simple Gesture...A true story by John W. Schlatter

2012-03-02T05:16:00.000-08:00

Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed the boy ahead of him had tripped and dropped all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove and a small tape recorder. Mark knelt down and helped the boy pick up the scattered articles. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry part of the burden. As they walked Mark discovered the boy's name was Bill, that he loved video games, baseball and history, and that be was having lots of trouble with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.

They arrived at Bill's home first and Mark was invited in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed pleasantly with a few laughs and some shared small talk, then Mark went home. They continued to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice, then both graduated from junior high school. They ended up In the same high school where they had brief contacts over the years. Finally the long awaited senior year came and three weeks before graduation, Bill asked Mark if they could talk.

Bill reminded him of the day years ago when they had first met. "Did you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?" asked Bill. "You see, I cleaned out my locker because I didn't want to leave a mess for anyone else. I had stored away some of my mothers sleeping pills and I was going home to commit suicide. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, I realized that if I had killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more, you saved my life."

This story brings tears to my eyes and reminds me that kindness is never a "little" thing. Acts and words of thoughtfulness with a customer are the "miracle grow" of customer loyalty. Try it today and tell me what happens! I would love to hear about your simple gesture.

How Do You Get To the Top?

2012-03-01T05:50:00.000-08:00

Donald Kendall, former chairman of the board of PepsiCo, was asked the question: "How do you get to the top of the corporate ladder?"

His answer? "The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. You can't get to the top of any profession without a lot of hard work -- I don't care if you're in art, music, business or the academic world. Success at all levels requires tremendous effort."

What's the balance between hard work and taking care of your precious personal relationships? Do you have to sacrifice one for the other?

Forget Your Age

2012-02-29T05:38:00.000-08:00

I love the words of General Douglas MacArthur on his 75^th birthday. “Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm in life wrinkles the soul. In the central place of every heart there is a recording chamber and so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, and courage, you are young. When the wires are all down and your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then and only then have you grown old.” (www.brainyquote.com)

Bill Gates on 11 Things You Didn't Learn in High School

2012-02-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

Bill Gate's speech to a high school graduating class is classic! Here it is with apologies that I don't know the original source to credit.

Rule number one: life is not fair. Get used to it.
Rule number two: the world is not going to care about your self-esteem. The world is going to expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
Rule number three: you're not going to make $40,000 right out of high school. You're not going to be vice president with a car phone until you can earn both of them.
Rule number four: if you think your teacher was tough, just wait until you meet your boss. He or she does not have tenure.
Rule number five: flipping hamburgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had another word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity.
Rule number six: if you mess up, it's not your parents' fault. Don't whine about your mistakes; learn from them.
Rule number seven: before you were born, your parents were not as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.
Rule number eight: your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades. They'll give you as many chances as you want to take the test over and over again until you finally get the right answers. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to anything in real life,
Rule number nine: life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off. Very few employers are interested in helping you to find yourself. Do that on your own time.
Rule number ten: television is not real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to their jobs.
Rule number eleven: be nice to nerds. Chances are, you're going to end up working for one.

Don't Let One Ornery Customer Ruin Your Whole Day

2012-02-27T05:12:00.002-08:00

Don’t you love Charles Schultz’s peanuts cartoons? You know with Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy and all the characters?

One of my favorites is when Charlie Brown and Lucy are talking about life. Lucy is in her Psychologist booth that says, “The Doctor is In.”

Lucy says to Charlie: “Life, Charlie Brown, is like a deck chair.”

Charlie says, “Like a what?”

Lucy: “Have you ever been on a cruise ship? Passengers open up these canvas deck chairs so they can sit in the sun…Some people place their chairs facing the rear of the ship so they can see where they’ve been…other people face their chairs forward…they want to see where they’re going!

She then pauses and ponders her profound words… Looking intently into Charlie Brown’s face she asks him, “On the cruise ship of life, Charlie Brown, which way is your deck chair facing?”

Charlie Brown responds, “I’ve never been able to get one unfolded!”

Sometimes I feel that way with difficult customers! I can't seem to figure some people out! I try and try to resolve the problem and they cuss me out, slam the door and threaten to sue me! That's when I remember that I need to be realistic with people. Some people are just "ornery persons" and no matter how hard you try you can't resolve the situation. So don't let one ornery customer ruin your whole day. Be realistic with people. The goal I shoot for is that nine out of ten angry people will come back and do more business with our company. I agree with Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, "there are a few customers you want them to go to your competition!"

The #1 Most Powerful Marketing or Potential PR Disaster

2011-11-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

We have always said in business that word of mouth is the most powerful marketing you'll ever do. But now, with social media like Facebook and Twitter (for many an app on their smart phone), it's becoming alarmingly powerful. Customers who have a bad experience can instantly blast you online and woe to the company that has it go viral, like Delta Airlines:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQJI5-Xz-N8&feature=related

It's critical to monitor your online reputation through something like Google Alerts
http://www.google.com/alerts. This takes less than 5 minutes to set up and you can plug in any word or phrase you want to monitor online. You can set up the frequency (how often) you want to notified. You choose the reach (Blogs? News? Video?) you desire to monitor. By quickly responding to an upset customer and humbly responding in public you can win points. Delta Airlines is a good example. They apologized quickly and publicly, pledged reimbursement and changed their policy.