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By Chip Bell
She had the entire line of the check-out counter completely mesmerized. It was as if she was using us as her test audience for a comedy try-out. And she was funny and entirely unleashed. Yet, she never slowed her rhythmic action on the grocery story register and pushing groceries to the bagger on her left. “Do you think she is being sincere or is this just an act?” asked one patron to another just a few steps ahead of me in line. “Frankly,” the woman replied, “I am so tired of plain vanilla service at places like this, I am thoroughly enjoying her show.” The comment made me think about a new tree in the front yard at my river house in North Georgia. It is a Bloodgood Japanese Maple planted last year. It will ultimately reach 20-25 feet tall with a branch spread of 20 feet. But this is its very first Fall. When we walked out of the front door, my wife commented. “It’s showing off!” We stood for a while admiring its beauty, its command of its environment, and the compelling influence it seemed to have over any living creature in its visual path. My thoughts returned to the check-out clerk in the grocery store. What does it take to get associates to “show off?” Instead of hiding under a “don’t asked me anything” curtain of invisibility, what if they were attentive guides and enthusiastic helpers? What if they had special hosting talents which they were excited to share with customers? What if they took a keen interest in a small child in tow or an elderly parent under the watchful eye of a customer. What if they performed a unique heart-warming extra for customers? Encourage your employees to “show off” their best stuff. Let them “steal the show.” Your customers will demand an encore and return with the family, their friends, and their funds. Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success!
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By Chip Bell
She had the entire line of the check-out counter completely mesmerized. It was as if she was using us as her test audience for a comedy try-out. And she was funny and entirely unleashed. Yet, she never slowed her rhythmic action on the grocery story register and pushing groceries to the bagger on her left. “Do you think she is being sincere or is this just an act?” asked one patron to another just a few steps ahead of me in line. “Frankly,” the woman replied, “I am so tired of plain vanilla service at places like this, I am thoroughly enjoying her show.” The comment made me think about a new tree in the front yard at my river house in North Georgia. It is a Bloodgood Japanese Maple planted last year. It will ultimately reach 20-25 feet tall with a branch spread of 20 feet. But this is its very first Fall. When we walked out of the front door, my wife commented. “It’s showing off!” We stood for a while admiring its beauty, its command of its environment, and the compelling influence it seemed to have over any living creature in its visual path. My thoughts returned to the check-out clerk in the grocery store. What does it take to get associates to “show off?” Instead of hiding under a “don’t asked me anything” curtain of invisibility, what if they were attentive guides and enthusiastic helpers? What if they had special hosting talents which they were excited to share with customers? What if they took a keen interest in a small child in tow or an elderly parent under the watchful eye of a customer? What if they performed a unique heart-warming extra for customers? Encourage your employees to “show off” their best stuff. Let them “steal the show.” Your customers will demand an encore and return with the family, their friends, and their funds. Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success! By Chip Bell
You’ve seen the tee shirt. “Underestimate me. That’ll be fun.” It has a bit of a smart-alecky tone, like someone who has been around the block a few times and is proud to show off. But it also has a super confident, “I can’t wait to surprise you” theme. I met face to face with a frontline server with completely unexpected passion. She was on fire to serve. My business partner and I were working with a client holding a meeting in Puerto Rico. Arriving at the Ritz-Carlton San Juan mid-day, we checked in and made our way to one of the hotel’s restaurants. Jennifer Lacomba had a menu in our hands before our bottoms touched our seats. Her sprawling warmth enveloped us like a bright sunrise on a spring morning. “I am so glad you are dining with me,” she said. Her manner was a perfect blend of the attentiveness of a grand host with the confidence of someone with total dominion over the experience she was beginning to unfold for our enjoyment. “Where are you boys from?” she asked, smartly adjusting her style to be in sync with our way-too-obvious Southern accents. When our answers conveyed a willingness to be playful, she tiptoed toward a more daring exchange. Her warmth became the backdrop to a decidedly feistier style. She was an absolute authority on the menu, utterly frank on what she liked and didn’t. Her authenticity surfaced our unreserved trust in her menu recommendations. Learning we were interested in cuisine slightly off the beaten path; she turned up the volume on her boldness. “You want to try my special sauce with those French fries? It gets raving reviews from the brave souls willing to give it a try.” Her expression was both impish and certain—this was her playground, and she had all the toys! Naturally, we enthusiastically took the bait! Her complete countenance conveyed someone in love with her role. She refilled our iced tea glasses without request and asked us to give her assistance moving a nearby heavy table. She brought more dinner rolls (“Let me get you boys some hot ones!”) and briefly sat down with us at our table to solicit feedback when she brought our check. And it did not end with the check. When we gathered our stuff to leave, we heard, “Can we do this again tomorrow?” like she’d had as much fun as we had. Customers love getting service delivered by passionate associates. Research shows they abhor indifferent service even more than they hate bad service. Bad service can be explained as a byproduct of factors beyond the influence of the frontline persons. Indifferent service, on the other hand, signals one clear and present message—the lack of caring. The antidote to indifference is leadership and a culture that supports and celebrates the Jennifer Lacomba’s of the world. Elevate bold and watch your bottom line grow. Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success! By Chip Bell
It is a question I have asked my three granddaughters for years. Their imaginative answers often amuse me. But their responses gave me a peephole into their interests at the time. It is the type of question your customers ask every time they encounter you or your organization. The “costume” you present tells them a lot about how interested you are in their interests at the time. The origin of the word “personality” comes from the Latin word “persona.” It was the word used to describe the masks that actors wore to convey their role. We all wear masks—a compilation of our style, attitude, feelings, and above all, our concern for the role we are playing. And the primary determiner of whether you get a bad review or a standing ovation rests entirely with the choice you make. Customers enjoy happy, upbeat people who are eager to serve them. It need not be a “clown costume,” just one that conveys interest, enthusiasm, and kindness. Conversely, customers dislike dealing with unhappy, sour people who seem like they got up on the wrong side of the bed. But the most detested “costume” is the one that conveys indifference, sported by a service person who could care less about customers. You might be thinking, “But I have a bad boss, my co-workers don’t like me, I am not making the money I deserve, or I hate this job, but I have to work.” Eleanor Roosevelt wrote, “No one makes you feel inferior without your permission.” You select your costume, not your circumstance. Put on a happy face. Be optimistic, even when all around you are in the dumps. Let your permanent “costume” make your customers happy. If you don’t, they will “trick” you by taking their business elsewhere. If you do, they will “treat” you to their loyalty and their funds. Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success! By Chip Bell
She had the entire line of the check-out counter completely mesmerized. It was as if she was using us as her test audience for a comedy try-out. And she was funny and entirely unleashed. Yet, she never slowed her rhythmic action on the grocery story register and pushing groceries to the bagger on her left. “Do you think she is being sincere or is this just an act?” asked one patron to another just a few steps ahead of me in line. “Frankly,” the woman replied, “I am so tired of plain vanilla service at places like this, I am thoroughly enjoying her show.” The comment made me think about a new tree in the front yard at my river house in North Georgia. It is a Bloodgood Japanese Maple planted last year. It will ultimately reach 20-25 feet tall with a branch spread of 20 feet. But this is its very first Fall. When we walked out of the front door, my wife commented. “It’s showing off!” We stood for a while admiring its beauty, its command of its environment, and the compelling influence it seemed to have over any living creature in its visual path. My thoughts returned to the check-out clerk in the grocery store. What does it take to get associates to “show off?” Instead of hiding under a “don’t asked me anything” curtain of invisibility, what if they were attentive guides and enthusiastic helpers? What if they had special hosting talents which they were excited to share with customers? What if they took a keen interest in a small child in tow or an elderly parent under the watchful eye of a customer. What if they performed a unique heart-warming extra for customers? Encourage your employees to “show off” their best stuff. Let them “steal the show.” Your customers will demand an encore and return with the family, their friends, and their funds. Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success! By Chip Bell
It is a question I get a lot from customer service leaders. They are convinced there is a missed tactic that, if implemented, would have the C-suite camping out in the contact center and inviting customers to board meetings. When I outline a number of possible approaches—translate CS yardsticks into the metrics of the bottom line, provide concrete links between customer affinity and the ROI, find ways to bring the voice of the customer into the conversations in the boardroom–they usually tell me, “We have done all that.” It reminds me of the legendary retailer, Les Wexner. I was working as a consultant with Victoria’s Secret. The hottest product about to be launched was the “Perfect Silhouette bra” patterned after the look of the pinup star of World War II, Betty Grable. The plan was for a controversial NBA star to lead the edgy ads for the bra. CEO Les Wexner, founder of Limited Brands (now L Brands), the parent company of Victoria’s Secret and renowned as a very savvy entrepreneur, wanted to place a very large order of a million bras to sell in the stores and online. The head of marketing asked to get some time with me on one of my consulting visits to corporate headquarters in Columbus, OH. The meeting was held in a conference room with the entire marketing leadership team. “We have done dozens of focus groups with our customers to test market this bra,” I was told, “and customers say they hate it. And the idea of a provocative NBA star as our pitchman, they find offensive. We can’t get Les to seriously consider the view of our customers.” “Have you done your very best to convince Les that customers will likely reject this product and promotion?” I asked the group. They were confident they had. “Who gets paid to make this call, the marketing staff or the company leadership? They all agreed it was the CEO’s call. “You have done your job and are convinced you have done it well; now give him the space to do his job,” I advised. Wexner changed his position; he ordered two million bras and the NBA star did the ads. The Perfect Silhouette bra was a major commercial success. Operations leaders love operations with the same passion that customer service leaders love customers. The finance leaders embrace the arithmetic of the organization with similar devotion. Ask a top salesperson which is more important to the growth of the company and they will likely tell you new prospects, not current customers. The office of the CEO is where all disciplines come together to direct the organization toward its mission. It is the melting pot of business paradigms; success is in the execution of that brew. Remember the riddle of the three blind men encountering a large strange animal at different parts of the animal’s body—is it a snake, or a rope, or a column? They needed combined perspectives to figure out it was an elephant. I believe smart organizations are customer-centric and have spent a career beating that particular drum. It is my job is to champion that perspective to the best of our ability. I believe it is also my role to give the CEO the space to do her job. Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success! By Chip Bell
Boating is one of my passions. Few hobbies are more peaceful than a slow boat ride with your favorite beverage around the breathtaking lake on which I live. Or, more exciting than the hard pull of a large big mouth bass on a fishing line off the front of my pontoon boat. One of the features on my boat is the trim button on the throttle. Like the gas pedal on a vehicle, the throttle controls the speed of the boat. The trim button embedded in the throttle controls the outboard engine’s angle in relation to the plane of the boat. As such, it controls the smoothness of the ride. Set wrong, and you are in for a bumpy ride, especially at higher speeds. A few years ago, I was jogging near the grocery store I frequent. I remembered we needed a couple of items, so I jogged into the store and picked them up. But once in the check-out line, I realized I had no cash or credit card (I only jog with a driver’s license and a house key). Without hesitation, the clerk said, “Oh, that’s okay. I see you in here all the time. Just write your name and amount on this piece of paper and pay us the next time you are in the store.” Smooth sailing; no hassle. I once owned a gorgeous antique Mercedes 240S sedan. When it needed a minor repair, I took it to Brothers Auto Service. Turned out the fix was going to take a bit longer than the hour or so thought initially. And, I had a few errands to run in the area. The repair shop owner, Nicky Brothers, was out of loaners—but he had a trim. “Take my car,” he said as he handed me his car keys. You can guess what he drove. A brand-new Mercedes sedan. Smooth sailing; no hassle. Trim is all about eliminating drag on your customer’s path to getting the outcome they desire. It takes knowing the customer well enough to anticipate issues; it requires trusting the customer; and it takes caring enough to have solutions ready to ensure smooth sailing. Make sure you have a trim button on all your customer service processes. Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success! By Chip Bell
Necessity is the mother of invention. And few things are more necessary to the success of an organization than customers. Leave that thought on the page and we will return to it very shortly. Napoleon knew that a military force was only as successful as the food it was provided. He offered a large prize ($75K in today’s dollars) to any person who could figure out a way to get better, healthier food to his Army. In 1809, a candy maker named Nicholas Appert stepped up to the challenge and discovered a process to heretically seal food in glass jars. Appert’s technique led to an 1810 patent and spread to the U.S. where the first foods sealed and shipped were salmon and lobster! Why not start with the best! We are in a fast-paced, rapidly changing business world. “As globalization gives everyone the same information, resources, technology, and markets,” wrote bestselling author and New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, “a society’s particular ability to put those pieces together in the fastest and most innovative manner increasingly separates winners from losers in the global economy.” But the demand for innovation is exceeding our capacity. Notice, Napoleon did not go down to the mess hall and summon his Army cooks. There was no, “I need your help!” (Actually, he would have said, “J’ai besoin de ton aide.”) We need “candy makers” to help solve our “Army on its belly” type challenges. And that brings us to one of an organization’s greatest innovation resources: its customers. Getting customers to provide input is one thing; getting them to provide hands-on help is quite another. DHL is the FedEx and UPS of Europe. With over a half-million employees, they are the largest private carrier in the world. Their commitment to co-creation partnerships takes many forms including their annual DHL Innovation Days. Customers and business partners connect in an inspirational atmosphere to think outside the box and honor creative minds with the DHL Innovation Awards. When customers wanted help rethink supply chains and logistics to improve future business performance, DHL created a series of intensive hands-on workshops that brought together DHL experts with customers to do scenario planning for future applications. It yielded breakthroughs like Parcelcopter, a drone delivery project; smart glasses, an augmented reality that improved warehouse picking efficiency by 25%; and “Maintenance on Demand,” co-created with DHL customer Volvo Trucks that uses sensors to automatically send back vehicle performance data to identify when and where truck maintenance will be needed. What can you do to find and involve customers who can be the “candy makers” to help solve your product and service creation challenges? What would your co-creation partnerships look like? The road ahead is going to be increasingly complex. You will need all the half-baked, slightly wild ideas you can get. Just like Napoleon who casts an idea net beyond the ranks of his Army, employees can be too close to the issue to see what a customer might see. Next time you need some R&D help, invite your customers to come help sweeten the solutions. Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success! By Chip Bell
The word “veteran” means someone who served in the military. But it also means someone who has had long experience. Service in the military does not begin as an experienced soldier but rather as an anxious, naive, and lowly recruit. A recruit has no rank, no ribbons, and no power; just a lot of KP and guard duty all night long in the cold. Boot camp starts for most with a sergeant screaming in your face, making nasty remarks about your mother, and demanding you do fifty push-ups on command. When I arrived at Fort Dix, NJ, as an Army recruit, I spent the first couple of days in the reception area completing forms, taking tests, getting uniforms, learning to march, and getting my hair cut really short. One evening, a kind sergeant took a group of us aside to prepare us for the beginning of eight weeks of basic training. “When you get off the bus on the other side of Fort Dix,” he told us, “a very angry drill sergeant will begin his job of mercilessly harassing you. Remember, he does not know your mother; he does not know you, he is not even speaking to you personally, although it will feel like he is. He is speaking to your rank. And you are a private E-nothing, the lowest possible rank in the Army. Stand tall, be proud, and remember who you really are.” Customer service has its veterans, those highly experienced service pros who know the tricks of the trade and have seen it all. But there are also newbies who are prone to take personally the tirade of an unhappy customer. They are likely to blame themselves for a hiccup in the service system. They might be overly nervous about asking a question for fear of looking inept. They need to be given the space to learn from their errors, the wisdom of someone who can turn honest mistakes into helpful competence, and publicly celebrate their participation in the nobility of service to others. Give them your support, encouragement, and help them never lose sight of the great person someone selected for their role. Happy Veterans Day! Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success! By Chip Bell
It was raining hard. I was in the edge of a small town near where I live in a long line of “stop and go” traffic all slowed by the single traffic light in the center of town. A car from a side street was waiting to get in the line. I left a space between my car and the one in front of me to enable him to pull out in front. I have done it a hundred times. But something special happened. As he righted his car in the line in front of me, he rolled his window down and vigorously waved his gratitude. Did I mention it was pouring rain? It made me want to be generous to the next car. It made me grateful for my random act of kindness. It caused me to feel like a part of a “neighbor helping neighbor” community. Your customers are waving you in front of them every day. They enter your enterprise when they could go elsewhere. They peruse your offerings, tolerate your less-than-perfect systems, give you their hard-earned cash and “in short supply” time. Like giving up a preferred place in line, they defer to you. So, your organization is like the car that got a privileged spot in a long line. How do you respond? Do you take it for granted and respond with indifference? Do you express your gratitude even though doing so has “pouring down rain” inconvenience? Show your customers they are valued. Treat them like a valued neighbor and they will bring their friends and family to your doorsteps. Planning your next event? Get in touch with us at the Capitol City Speakers Bureau today to schedule your ideal speaker and make your event a success! |
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