Service Recovery Done Right
March 10, 2010
As I’m writing this, I’m on my way home from speaking at a conference in Colorado Springs. It was held at the Broadmoor Hotel, which is a fantastic property with great service from everyone from the front desk clerks to the hotel operator.
So last night, when I was finished with the program, I decided to treat myself to a nice dinner, figuring that it would be a great experience. And since I had to be on a 4:30 a.m. shuttle to the airport, I really wasn’t up for a late night with a lot of people.
I made a reservation at the Charles Court restaurant for 6:00 p.m. and was seated at a nice table with a view of the lake. The waitress came to the table, greeted me by name and described the evening’s specials, including a grouper dish that sounded great. As it turns, out, I really like grouper - when it’s cooked right, it just kind of flakes apart when you take a fork to it.
Well, that one had my name on it, so that’s what I ordered. And when the dish came out, it looked great. Unfortunately, there was a problem: the grouper was tough and chewy: it had been overcooked.
So when the waitress stopped by to make sure everything was fine, I mentioned this to her. Without missing a beat, she apologized, and offered to bring me something else or have the chef prepare another order of grouper. I asked her to bring the menu so I could take a look, and decided on something else.
When she came back, she apologized again, and told me that she had spoken to the chef and he agreed - it had been overcooked. She was actually a bit worked up about this herself, since she had just recommended it - and placed six orders for the grouper for another table she was working.
That would have been enough, but the restaurant manager came over to apologize himself, confirmed that, or course there would be no charge for the grouper, and all but insisted I have dessert on the house.
Even at a first-class hotel like this, there will be occasional missteps - because of the sheer size of the place it’s unavoidable. And it’s probably the same at your company. Problems are going to happen.
But if you address them quickly and definitively, you can build a level of customer loyalty even greater than if nothing had gone wrong in the first place. Make sure you have “service recovery” procedures in place to handle these situations when they occur.
Computer Overheating?
March 2, 2010
Like most of you, I spend a good deal of time working on my computer. Whether it’s in my HTML editor writing this newsletter, on MindJet working on mind maps for upcoming programs, or in QuickBooks dealing with the mundane details of business finance, most of what I do in any given day has my fingers on these keys.
So when my laptop computer started making a new strange noise, I noticed it immediately. The noise was the cooling fan. Every computer - desktop, laptop, or room-sized mainframe - has them. They have to, because the CPU - the “brain” of the computer - generates a lot of heat, and if not cooled properly will quite literally start melting the components around it on the circuit board.
That’s why all modern computers have built-in heat sensors that will increase the speed of the cooling fan to reduce the heat of the CPU, and when there’s no more speed to give, will step in and shut down the computer - immediately, and unceremoniously, causing you to lose any unsaved work.
Okay, so much for the computer hardware lesson, now on to the marketing lesson!
My computer wasn’t getting so hot that it had to shut down, but the fan was running at a high enough speed that the noise was, well, annoying. At the normal speed, the fan is so quiet that it’s barely a whisper and tends to get lost in the normal background noise of an office environment. But when it’s working overtime, it sounds like there’s a constant gust of wind blowing through my office.
I looked for an explanation (and a solution) on several different tech support sites. I called a friend of ours who fixes computers for a living. I downloaded utility software that showed me the CPU temperature and fan speed.
But nothing seemed to work.
Then I started noticing something interesting. Whenever I restarted the computer, the fan ran normally. Whenever I put the computer into “sleep” mode by closing the screen to pack it up in my case, upon awakening, the fan would kick in after about three or four minutes.
When I put the computer into “hibernate” mode and then closed the screen, when I started it up again, it ran fine.
I’d like to know why putting the computer to sleep made the fan kick in when I started it up. I really would. But my primary objective throughout all of this was to get the noise to stop so I could get my work done without the constant distraction of the noise and worry that the computer might spontaneously shut down in the middle of something important.
There are things in life, and in marketing that are unexplainable, and yet undeniably and observably true. You can spend hours of time trying to understand them; you can bang your head against the wall trying to change them; or you can accept that they just “are” and use that knowledge to your advantage.
In any case, the third option will probably keep your own CPU - your brain - from overheating and shutting down!
High-Speed Internet?
February 24, 2010
Perseverance and focus are good and admirable traits. But sometimes, the odds are just stacked too much against you.
I was at my hotel in Atlanta preparing for a great program the next day. Since I got in early the day before the program, as I usually do, I had some time on my hands that I had planned to use to get some videos edited and uploaded. Of course, this was going to require a fast internet connection, so I “bit the bullet” and signed up for the hotel’s internet at $9.95 for the day.
I had a few calls to make, so rather than burn my cell-phone minutes, I used my Skype account to make the calls with my headset on the computer. Immediately, I noticed that the quality of the calls was poor. I mean really bad. So I checked the speed of the connection (usually the culprit) and found that my “high-speed” internet was actually slower than a dial-up connection.
A quick call to the front desk, and they said I had to talk to the provider’s technical support line, and they would be glad to transfer me. I did get transferred, but to a recording that said, “I’m sorry, your call can not be completed as dialed; please try again later.”
Assuming that the front-desk clerk had somehow keyed in the wrong number, I called down there again; got transferred again; and got the same message. I asked for the number so I could try it myself, and got the same message.
If you’re like most people, you get annoyed about things like this happening. But at some point, it becomes comical and you just have to take a deep breath, let out a big sigh, and find something else to do instead.
There’s an old saying that the only good thing about banging your head against the wall is that it feels so good when you stop.
If you find yourself in that kind of situation, it may just be the universe telling you to take a step back and rethink what you’re doing. I didn’t complete my video projects that night, but I did get some other important work done. And the program the next day - the reason I was there in the first place - was very successful, so all in all, the trip was great.
Sometimes it’s important to work through a challenge, and make sure you know when it’s time to “regroup” when life seems to be throwing too many roadblocks your way.
You Made Me End a Relationship!
February 18, 2010
We just got back from an unexpected and unpleasant trip to New York. Three months after my mother passed away, we had to attend my aunt’s funeral, held at the same chapel and cemetery.
Many friends and family members got up to share their memories of my Aunt Flora. Common themes were her intelligence, phenomenal cooking abilities, and love of family, especially her 54-year marriage to my Uncle Lou.
They were truly in love, and it showed every time I saw them.
One of the last people to speak at the service was their aide, Nicki. Towards the end, my aunt’s health was failing, and they had a full-time aide to assist them in the daily chores.
Nicki told the group how she had never known a couple like Lou and Flora, and didn’t know until then what a relationship was supposed to look like. She then offered a personal note, that she had been in a bad relationship when she started working with my aunt and uncle, and that, upon seeing and appreciating their relationship, immediately ended her own, knowing that she shouldn’t have to settle for less.
Her exposure to their relationship influenced her in profound ways, just as the people you surround yourself with affect and influence you.
They may not save you from a bad personal situation, but they will affect your mindset, your outlook on life, and, ultimately, the results and outcomes you achieve.
Hills Make Me Happy!
February 11, 2010
I like to get my workouts done in the morning. That way, I have no excuses at the end of the day - “I’m too tired…” “I have too much to do…” You get the idea.
So there I was, early on Saturday morning in a “spinning” class - a high-intensity workout on a stationary bike with a heavy metal flywheel to simulate the feeling of actually being on the road.
Our instructor that day, Becky, was teaching an outstanding class, the central theme of which was hills and more hills.
“Increase the tension!” she screamed above the music. “Now increase it again!” When she saw the pained expressions on the faces of the class, she smiled and shouted, “Hills make me happy to be alive!”
It was funny enough to distract the class, but as is the case with most seemingly mundane things, it also has profound implications for us in our business and personal lives.
Yes, hills on a bicycle are no fun - they drain you of your energy; they have an effect on your mental outlook; and, well, they hurt!
But they also make you a stronger rider. And that’s the important point: anything that comes easily contributes very little to personal development. Real growth comes from facing and overcoming adversity, whether that adversity takes the form of a difficult boss, a challenging personal situation, or something as simple as climbing a hill on a bike.
So if you want to get better - at whatever it is you do, you should get used to some hills along the way…and maybe even learn to like them.
Watch Out for Moving Parts
February 3, 2010
I was talking to an old “office neighbor” - the guy who had the next office from us where we used to be located. He owns the master franchise for North Carolina for the “Anytime Fitness” chain, and we were talking about the complexity of operating all the units he has throughout the state, in addition to the new locations he’s constantly opening.
The key, he said, was to try and avoid “moving parts.” Puzzled, and wondering if perhaps he was suffering from oxygen deprivation as a result of working out too hard himself, I pointed out that virtually every piece of equipment in every one of his locations was chock full of moving parts.
He smiled, and pointed out that the key to managing an enterprise of this scope is to have as much of it on “autopilot” as possible. Yes, there are a lot moving parts in the machines themselves, but he isn’t personally responsible for maintaining them - there was an outside group he hired to do that. There is a person (sometimes more than one) at each location who is the on-site person for registration of new members, personal training, etc., but he didn’t do that either.
What he did was to create systems and processes which could be duplicated and deployed as he opened each new unit, effectively reducing the number of “moving parts” he had to deal with on a day-to-day basis.
By creating a set of well defined processes, you can also free yourself from the overwhelming burden of having too many small details to take care of. It can make your life at work a whole lot easier, and give you enough free time to do something fun…like visit Anytime Fitness!
“Spring Cleaning”
January 27, 2010
Last week was a very long one: we spent seven days, virtually non-stop, cleaning out my mother’s apartment. You may remember that she passed away in November, and this was a task we were all dreading.
And not only because of the emotional impact, but also because of the sheer scale of what she had accumulated, living in the same place for 45 years as she did.
My mother didn’t like to throw anything out, and we had an incredible number of individual papers to go through, most of which went right out the door, along with about 30 large (contractor size) bags of clothing that got donated.
My sister and my wife both left the place with an urgent desire to undertake a similar exercise at their own homes because they suddenly had become aware of the impact that clutter was having on them personally.
I know from personal experience that when I start falling behind at work and the papers on my desk start piling up, my stress level rises and my productivity declines.
Many people have a tradition of performing a major “spring cleaning” on their homes; why not take a few hours and do something similar at work? At the very least, it will make you feel better, and in all likelihood, it will make you more productive.
Say “Hello!”
January 14, 2010
Sometimes the little things say a lot about a business. Last weekend, we went to a free wine tasting at the Angus Barn restaurant in Raleigh. This is a local institution of sorts, and is one of only 72 restaurants to hold Wine Spectator’s Grand Award.
The wines we tasted were okay, not great, but the highlight was the tour of the restaurant’s 30,000-bottle wine cellar. To get to the cellar, you had to walk right through the main kitchen, and pass by the teaching kitchen where Iron Chef winner Walter Royal was giving a demonstration.
The interesting thing was that everyone we passed in the kitchen and in the back hallways - from the chefs to the waitresses to the dishwashers, stopped as we walked by, smiled, and greeted us. “Hi!” “How are you today?” “Thanks for coming in!”
Clearly, they had been trained to do this, but it wasn’t just one or two people - it was every single employee we passed!
Creating that kind of culture - and seeing it play out in “real life” means that everything else about the place is going to be done right. That’s why they’ve been around for 40 years, and why it’s the local institution it is.
Do you have similar processes in place in your company? Do your employees - even the ones who don’t have regular customer interaction - know what’s expected of them and how their work ultimately does impact the customer?
Figure out how to make that happen in your organization and you’ll have a good reason to celebrate the new year!
First-Class Treatment
December 22, 2009
People who don’t travel frequently as part of their jobs tend to think that air travel is somehow a glamorous experience. Those of us who do travel regularly know otherwise. But first-class treatment can make travel significantly more enjoyable.
Because of my frequent flyer status on American Airlines, I frequently get to upgrade to first class. I’ll admit that this makes air travel significantly more comfortable. But if you have images of caviar, linen tablecloths, and crystal salt and pepper shakers, let me assure you that this kind of domestic first-class travel hasn’t been the case for some time.
Tough economic times, September 11th, and the general state of the airline industry have reduced the benefits of first-class on all but the longest flights to a comfortable seat, an occasional meal, and a free drink.
But every so often, a really good flight attendant can make the experience special. On flights where a meal or snack is served, the flight attendant will ask each first-class passenger his or her meal preference. Using a sheet prepared with each of their names, the flight attendant will normally ask, “Mr. Smith? Would you prefer the chicken or the fish?” and proceed to dutifully write down each passenger’s selection, hoping that the selection of choices doesn’t run out.
But on one recent flight, it happened in a slightly different way. The flight attendant made her way down the aisle without a tray, paper, or pen, and said, “Mr. Koslowski, welcome aboard! Would you prefer the chicken or the fish? Fish? Wonderful. Thank You. Mr. Jackson? Fish or chicken for you this evening? Chicken? Great!”
And with great interest, I watched her as she did this with each of the 22 first-class passengers in our 757 aircraft, calling each passenger by name and making no notation whatsoever of the passengers’ orders.
Throughout the flight, she continued to call each passenger by name, and remembered what each person was drinking when she asked if they would like a refill.
Besides making us all feel very special, this extraordinary effort had an additional benefit for the flight attendant. American Airlines sends its frequent fliers SOS (Some One Special) coupons that they can use to recognize employees who provide outstanding service. These are particularly valuable to the employees; the last time I checked, they can get a confirmed first-class flight to Europe with just 14 of these!
I give out these SOS coupons regularly to flight attendants, pilots, and ticket, gate, and reservations agents who go out of their way to be helpful. So it was with a smile on my face as we were departing the flight that I watched as three other passengers handed the flight attendant SOS coupons before I had the opportunity to add my own to the stack.
If you figure that the flight attendant probably works three flights a day, you can see how these coupons can add up very quickly. Does the flight attendant make the effort because of the tickets, or is she just conscientious and the coupons are an extra bonus?
I’m not sure, but it doesn’t really matter - the passengers feel special, and an excellent employee is rewarded for her effort.
Look at your own reward and recognition systems and see if they are eliciting and rewarding the behaviors you want to see. Then all of your customers will feel like they’re receiving first-class service.
It’s All About Choices……
December 2, 2009
It’s All About Choices……
Thanksgiving is a dangerous time, especially if you’re trying to stay in shape. There are simply too many opportunities to eat good food. And then there are too many opportunities to eat leftovers for the rest of the weekend!
With the kids both home from college, we had a full day: brunch at a friend’s house, final preparations for our own dinner, visiting some other friends, then off to see Phantom of the Opera at the Durham Performing Arts Center.
That makes for a very full day. And with all that ahead of us, we certainly would have been justified in sleeping in late that morning. But life is all about choices, and we chose instead to get up at around 6:30 am and participate in the Gobbler’s Run, a 5K (3.1 mile) race to raise funds for the local Boys and Girls Club in nearby Wake Forest.
Okay, three of us decided to get up; our daughter decided to sleep until around 11:00 - even the prospect of a great holiday brunch wasn’t enough to get her up that early!
But there was an added benefit to running: it “created some room” for all the food we were going to eat that day. And we weren’t alone, by the way. Over 1,250 people participated by running or walking in the event, including the 77-year-old father of one of our friends.
The results we get in life, whether about fitness, career, or personal issues, are directly related to the choices we make each and every day. What choices are you making today?
