YOUR EMPLOYEES GIVE BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE? DON’T FIRE THEM YET. LOOK WITHIN YOURSELF!

In today’s competitive marketplace extending excellent customer service is essential to the survival of any business. I hope by now most of us understand the importance of taking care of the customer and exceeding their expectations.  If some of you are like me, you spent your leisure time reading books like “Raving Fans” by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles, or “In Search of Excellence” by Tom Peters. I read these books and took them as gospel because they offer sound principles for creating a vision of what excellent customer service should look like.  I truly believe that these books and a selection of others really help us to delve into the principles for taking care of the people and maintain our customer’s loyalty.

          We have great examples of companies that live by the customer loyalty principle by constantly trying to be on the cutting edge of services and products. Such companies that come to mind are Starbucks, Nordstrom, Pike Place Fish Market, The Four Seasons, and Apple. These are companies who set the mark for creative and enlightened organizations that are always finding ways to make the customer say “wow”.  Consumer brag to others about the services they receive at these customer centered organizations and therefore create a word of mouth buzz that creates exponential growth and success.

          As managers you have probably tried to instill certain campaigns or slogans at your company. You made sure your employees understood and practiced the following procedures:

·         Greeting the guest with a smile and a salutation.

·         Looking for the “moment of truth”, the opportunity to make an impression on your customer with each interaction.

·         Soliciting feedback from the guest or customer.

·         Employee empowerment.

·         Taking care of the “internal customer” (teamwork)

The list goes on, but in our organizations I am sure we have all dealt with the above initiatives at one time or another.  If your organization is a progressive one, then many of the above initiatives are common practice and part of the expected norm.  By the way, have you ever walked into one of the national video store franchises?  You walk through the familiar doors in search of the newest “Rambo” movie on the way you plan to drop off your last rental – “P.S. – I love You” (My wife’s idea). As you walk in the door, you are hit with “hello” from two or three employees.  Rather than be impressed by their great service you are actually annoyed by their forced salutation. They are not sincere and it shows. Some executive at that company decided long ago that all of the video store employees will greet the guest as they walk in the door.  Forget about greeting me from across the room as I walk in the door. Instead, try not to ignore me the rest of the time I am in the store. Say “Hello” to me when we are face to face or passing in the aisles. Give me an opinion about a movie that I should see or ask me if I found everything ok. The point is that when something seems scripted or forced then it is not going to work on the customer, instead it will cheapen the customer experience. “Do you want to supersize that?”

              Ok! We all know the importance of customer loyalty because it costs less to get a customer to come back then to create a new one. We all know that the customer is king because they pay our bills and paychecks. We all know that our employees have to be friendly and have good attitudes or the customers won’t come back. We all know that an unsatisfied customer will tell far more people than a happy customer.  So how do we make our employees follow these initiatives and constantly work toward improving their services? It is easy. You be good leaders and managers. Huh?  “No, it’s the employees fault.” “It’s hard to find good people now.”  I say B.S. (Bogus Sandwich).

To the people that truly know; the philosophy of customer loyalty and constant improvement were studied, researched and taught by an American statistician. Dr. Edwards Deming is the man who helped industry leaders in post-World War II Japan rebuild and become the dominant force for quality and innovation in the world. That’s right! The father of the modern Japanese industry is an American. His teachings have been carried out by such companies as Sony, Fuji, Toyota, Honda and a multitude of others. In fact every year Japan still honors the most innovative or successful company with the Deming Award. Deming’s teachings were so simple yet they are still some of the most powerful management philosophies today which Deming referred to as “profound knowledge”. Some of the points from his 14 point list from his book “Out of the Crisis” are:

·         Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs. (1)

·         Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs (5)

·         Institute training on the job (6)

·         Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets to do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of an overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers (7)

·         Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company. (8)

·         Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in use that may be encountered with the product or service. (9)

·         Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force. (10)

·         Remove barriers that rob the hourly paid worker of his right to pride in workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality. (12)

·         Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement  (13)

·         Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody’s job.  (14)

As you can see, the father of quality and improvement says that quality begins in the boardroom with the leaders and managers. This especially counts for service companies as well.  Leaders, owners, and manager make the rules and the procedures. They can create the empowerment in the employee or tie their hands and have them afraid to make a decision. They are the ones that decide how much should be spent on training and what objectives are important. The owners are the ones that decide if they are going to share part of the profits with the employee and make them feel like part of the company. The leaders and owners are the ones that decide how they are going to treat the employees on their interactions. Are they going to set goals and work toward helping the employee to achieve the goal or are they going to leave them alone and just dump all over them when the employee does something wrong.  The leaders decide if an employees or customer’s idea will be implemented or not. So you can keep blaming the line employee for the bad customer service or you can take a deep look at the root cause of it all, leadership and owners.

We want our people to treat our customers with warmth and respect. How do we treat our people? We want our people to constantly improve their work standards and output. Do we provide the on-going training and listen to their feedback?  We want our people to be able to serve the customer to the fullest without making them wait and go through hoops. Are they afraid to try anything without your approval because they know if they screw up you will be all over them? Look at yourself and see.

Your store, restaurant, factory or office is like an engine. Then you the leader are the ignition switch. Your people are the spark plugs, pistons and other moving parts of the engine. If the spark (behavior) you provide is weak or surges then the engine will sputter. If you don’t provide oil (training, goals, feedback, and support), then the engine will quickly burn and the engine will seize up. The parts of the engine all have their function but without the spark the engine will never run. Now go take a look at yourself, your other managers and the system itself. Can you improve something to ignite maximum performance from your employees? Always.

 

YOUR COMPANY SHOULD CREATE MAGIC LIKE THE BEATLES

YOUR COMPANY SHOULD CREATE MAGIC LIKE THE BEATLES

 

By Donn Kirst

 

            A thriving company should create a vision of “MAGIC”. Magic means to be a legend in their field by spreading joy, harmony and love. “Love?” you say. Your people must love what they do, and the customer must love what your company is offering.

To describe best the attributes of a legendary company, let’s go back more than 40 years to the birth of the Beatles. John Lennon said to Paul McCartney “Do you want to join me band?” Both John and Paul were school kids who loved music and wanted to perform, yet neither one could possibly comprehend at the time their colossal future.

 

            Like many companies, the Beatles did not begin with instant success. They played small British pubs, and clubs in Hamburg, Germany. It was common to get bottles thrown at them while performing, or get jumped by gangs after the show. They also had personnel issues, like many beginning operations who can’t seam to get the all players to mesh and be in harmony. It wasn’t until the FAB FOUR joined forces; John, Paul, George and Ringo that the magic began to take hold. In an identical way, companies that want to create magic must have the players be in harmony with a common vision.

 

            They grinded out many a nights at the Cavern Club in Liverpool and worked to create a first album, then the word spread like wild fire. They created what the world famous authors and management experts Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles, call Raving Fans. Raving fans means that the people will buy anything that is associated with you, because they believe in you because they know you are thetr to make them feel good and they eventually will love you. “All you need is love.”  By the time the Beatles were ready to break into other markets, i.e. the United States, the word had already spread across the Atlantic and millions awaited their arrival to the U.S. with breathless anticipation.  Screaming women fainted as they performed live on the Ed Sullivan show and they sold so many records on their first tour, that even Elvis was jealous of their success. In a similar way like IBM became jealous of the rising APPLE COMPUTER.

           

            Every where they performed to sold out concert halls. They released new subsequent albums, and would beat their own sales records. At the beginning The Beatles were infallible and the public would buy anything they produced. Like all fast growing companies, the Beatles soon had their share of controversy and problems. When a company or band grows too fast, there are a ton of critics ready to pounce on every wrong move.

 

The leaders of a fast growing company or band, tend to get exploding egos and believe their own press of their greatness. Infallibility is never true of any person, any band or any company. Mistakes will always be made and sometimes devastating mistakes that can nearly take a company under. John Lennon made an off handed comment about being more popular than Jesus, and those “raving fans” were burning their records in the streets, while many DJ’s refused to play their albums and record sales dropped.  Exxon suffered tremendous losses when deciding that the extra cost of putting reinforced hulling in the oil tanker Valdez was not worth it. The consequent oil spill created billions of dollars of damage to the Alaskan wilderness. Exxon received years of bad press coverage which effected income. The government is still trying to force Exxon to pay for the clean up. The effects of this tragic ecological event are still evident in the Prince William Sound 19 years later.

 

The Beatles like leaders of an organization also had their share of tension between each other. Most in the band were upset about John’s girlfriend, Yoko Ono getting involved in their music, and the effect she had on John. The others in the band felt like Paul was becoming bossy and egocentric. George and Ringo often felt that they did not get as many writing credits as they should have and did not feel that they were equally compensated for their contributions. Each time a new album appeared, the magic emerged again. Each album carried with it, groundbreaking sounds and lyrics that influenced an entire culture. They were able to set aside their differences enough time to be in the studio and compose masterpieces. The Beatles ignored the controversy and hard feelings in order to maintain true to their vision of changing the world with their music.

 

The Beatles finally disbanded in 1970, but their music has been eternal. The magic they created has transcended generations, countries, and cultures. In 2008 there are Las Vegas shows built around their music, world class impersonators playing their covers, and world wide cinematic production that incorporates their songs into the entire musical storyline. The Beatles created magic, much like Disney or Microsoft create magic. The magic was created by the forging of four talented individuals into one collective force. A company must strive to forge their individual talents into one force. Like the Beatles, they must always be changing and improving. They must always be looking for ways to reach their audience and express themselves through their work. Like the Beatles, “you gotta get by with a little help” from your fans.

           

           

           

           

How to learn English or any language in six months or less.

I have enjoyed helping many Spanish speaking immigrants toward the pursuit of living their dreams. As a trainer I conduct motivational programs in Spanish, I take complicated concepts and attempt to make them simple and easily understood.  As a real estate agent I helped to break down the barriers of home ownership by taking the pertinent information from English to Spanish.  I come across masses of people who have lived in the United States for a long time and are afraid to attempt to speak English. Many understand English but are afraid to speak it because of embarrassment.

 

If you truly want to have success, English plays an essential key towards your growth.  Look at any job classified and you will see how many employers prefer Spanish bilingual job applicants. Try to apply for a loan or start your own business and you will come across many barriers if you are not able to communicate in English. What if you have an emergency and nobody around you speaks Spanish? If you don’t speak English now, don’t get discouraged. I want to encourage you that you can speak English and you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to do so. There are many simple steps that if you apply them, will help you improve your communication skills. 

 

One of the reasons you are probably not learning English is because you are probably in a job where everyone around you speaks Spanish. This makes things comfortable and easy for you. This way you don’t have to get out of your comfort zone and you can continue without any struggle.  When I was an exchange student in Morelia, Michoacan, I didn’t have the luxury of having someone speak English around me, nor was their any posted signs in English.  I knew I had to learn to converse in Spanish very quickly. The best way to do that is to speak without fear or embarrassment.  Sometimes people laughed at how I pronounced things or didn’t understand what I was trying to say. By practicing, I was able to improve my communication. If someone laughed at me, I would laugh with them and continue to try to explain myself until they understood what I meant. People will respect you more for trying and not getting it right, then if you don’t try at all.

 

English classes are obviously a great step toward improving your English. There are many ESL classes that have flexible schedules and fees. I was a teacher of ESL classes and I was impressed about the curriculum. Classroom instruction gives you the essential basics in writing, pronouncing, and speaking English. It is also a great place to meet other people who are in similar situations.

 

The next step is that you need to practice your English everyday. Like anything, if you don’t practice you will not be good. Carry around a dictionary or phrase book. If you get stuck on a word, look it up. Converse with the cashiers and bank tellers in English. If you have a co-worker that you usually don’t talk to at work, tell him that you want to practice speaking your English with them. Don’t be afraid to tell them to slow down if they are talking too fast. Ask them to repeat something you don’t understand. Repeat back to them what they said to you. 

 

Watch T.V., and listen to the radio in English, even if for an hour a day. Watch the news or a funny show and always be actively listening to the phrases. Try to capture the meaning and look up words you don’t understand. One last thing you may try is to get a few children’s books in English. By reading these simple sentences you will learn how to speak correctly.

 Summary of steps for learning English in six months or less.  

• Classes
• Watching T.V. in English
• Listening to the radio.
• Reading children’s books.
• Practicing with native English speakers.
• Carrying around a dictionary.
• Speak without fear of embarrassment – it is better to try than not.

 

If you truly dedicate yourself to learning English, you can accomplish it in less than six months. You will be at a conversational level and able to communicate with anyone in any situation. Your English will not be perfect, but you will be on the path to constantly improving yourself and you will have a basis from which to grow.  Then you will be a more valuable commodity in the work place.  Remember, anything that you accomplish in life takes dedication and practice. Learning a new language is no exception but I know anyone can do it. Give it a try for thirty days of following the above steps. I promise you will see improvement after thirty days and will want to continue from there. Now go for it!

Cultural Differences in the Hispanic workplace

North Americans in the workforce are distinctly known for being direct and to the point.  It often is perceived by the Hispanic culture that the North American in general is rude and uncaring. In a leadership role, it is essential that the leader treats each of his workers as an individual first and foremost. This means using such courtesies as acknowledging everyone in the room. It took many years for me to get used to greeting everyone in an office with a handshake and a good morning as I entered into the Latino work environment. The standard North American entrance is to walk into a room and go directly to the person that you need to speak to, ignoring all the others and then walking out.  For purposes of time it may not be realistic to shake everyone’s hand in a larger office environment. Acknowledging the person with eye contact and a greeting will suffice.  Greeting everyone at once in a large room is also acceptable. The same goes when leaving a room. Don’t just leave without saying “goodbye”, “talk to you later” or the acceptable follow up. You are showing everyone that you don’t care by leaving a room without dismissing yourself.  It is extremely rude to walk up to two people who are together and only speak to one person in the group without acknowledging the other person. Don’t face one person and give your back to other person either. You are basically telling that person that they are not important and are insignificant. At a later time when you need to speak to the second person in the group they are going to remember how they were dismissed.  Don’t walk away while leaving the other person talking, that is incredibly disrespectful especially to the Hispanic.             Eye contact is important when speaking to your Hispanic employee or co-worker.  Due to diversity in educational and socioeconomic backgrounds from the Latin American countries, some will feel it is disrespectful to look their superior in the eyes. As a general rule, though it is the accepted norm to speak with the person and use eye contact to make sure they are following you.   Hispanics as well as any culture do not like to be spoken to in a demeaning manner. Everyone wants to be treated as a person as someone who matters for the organization. That person will do more than is expected of him, if he believes that their superior generally cares about their well being. Since the Hispanic is extremely family centered it is a good measure to find out about their family, where they came from, and what their kids are doing. You will not meet a more hospitable culture as long as they perceive that they are receiving respect.            Don’t assume every Hispanic is from Mexico. There are so many countries in Central and South America that makes up the Hispanic culture. It is often joked about or assumed that every person who speaks Spanish is from Mexico. Mainly because Mexico is our neighbor and there are a larger percentage of Mexicans in the United States.  Nothing is more offensive to a person from El Salvador to be called a Mexican and vice versa.  Learn where they are from. Everyone is proud of where they came from, their roots and their culture. Don’t mix everyone in one category. It is like telling someone from Canada that they are the United States or someone from the United States that they are Norwegian. There are differences of culture in every country in Latin America and even differences within those countries.  In fact, sometimes there is strife or rousing that occurs between different mixes of Latin American co-workers. Make sure that everyone treats all with equal respect and their country of origin is not used as a reason to be harassed.  As a manager, it is not your job or duty to know everything about your co-worker’s country and culture, but you’ll find that most Hispanics love to talk about their countries because they miss their family and traditions.            When someone hands you keys in your hand, you use the keys and then return the keys by throwing them back or sliding them along the desk, you have been offensive. You are showing that person that you do not respect them enough to give them the keys or object into their hands.  The same goes for money, papers or any object that you were handed. “That is how an animal is treated”, is often the thought when items are thrown back at the recipient.            North Americans often joke about mothers and wives and think it is funny. In the Hispanic culture any perceived insult of someone’s family member could spark a confrontation. One time in an office setting my wife was told by the owner that “your Mother doesn’t work here”. For the North American that means that everyone must pick up after themselves. My wife understood what the owner meant, but the fact that he used her mother into the conversation, she was immediately offended and ready to fight. She tried to take it in the context it was given but still did not appreciate the comment. Hispanics will not tolerate disrespect toward their family members. The worker himself might tolerate joking, or verbal harassing, but the instance you include their family member in the conversation be prepared.            You may think that as a manager, you have to work with many cultures and why should you have to specifically cater to the Hispanic culture.  All of the above mentioned items are actually common courtesies that everyone deserves. Courtesy and politeness has often gone out the window in lieu of time and efficiency. The truth is that it doesn’t take that much more time to treat someone with respect or ask about their well-being. You will find that the results you get from all of your workers will be tremendous. A worker will do more for someone that they care about than someone who is just their superior.  We ask our workers to treat our guests and customers with respect and caring, so we must also treat our employees as our customer.  Mutual respect will be reciprocal to the customer who ultimately determines the profitability of any organization.            

Your Physiology affects your Customer Service.

It’s Monday morning and you hate your job.  Your weekend was average. You tried to disconnect from your “prison” as much as you could, but the thoughts of your job still crept into your brain at every turn.  Saturday night you realized Sunday was near. Sunday night you zoned out in front of your television watching the Daily Ten on the E channel where you caught up on who is fat, who is on drugs, who is “hooking up”, and who is breaking up; by the last commercial you realize you have to work tomorrow. Tomorrow is now. Monday morning your alarm goes off for the fourth time of hitting the snooze button and you roll out of bed.  How does your face and body look at this time?  Come on, I know you’ve felt like this at least once in your life. Is your face tense and frowning? Are your shoulders slumped? Do you move slowly and languidly as you approach the shower? I even bet your breathing is shallow and soft.  (By the way if that is the way you feel at your job, get out!)

Erase that feeling of depression for now and think about another scenario. It’s Monday morning and your house phone rings. “That’s weird” you say.  “I never get phone calls at this time of the morning.” The person on the other line says, “This is KWXZ radio and we are calling to inform you that you have won an all expense paid trip to Hawaii!”  You scream, you jump up and down, your smiling uncontrollably, and your face loosens up.  You look like one of those crazy contestants that you use to make fun of on the Price is Right game show after they beat out the other screaming contestants for the Grand Prize.  Above are clear examples of your physiology.

Physiology is the movement of your body.  The movement of your body affects your moods and the moods of others. Physiology is the expressions of your face, the movement of your body, the position of your eyes, posture and breathing. What most of us don’t realize is that we can change our emotions and energy by the way we move.  What if in the morning after waking up, you actually stood up straight, take in a few deep breaths and smiled. Do something crazy.  Pound your chest, and shout a chant; “It’s a great day!” “It’s a great day!” You are setting yourself up to have a great day. You are forcing your body and brain to move into the position of being happy before you even start the day.  That is why some form of exercise or meditation is a great way to start any day because you are moving and breathing in a positive way and your emotions get a jolting charge.

 

 

 

 

How does this relate to customer service? Your positive or negative emotions affect everyone around you.  That is why in the customer service industry we are told to smile, even when we answer the phone. The smiling actually sparks a positive emotion to the customer in front of you. It is important while speaking to the guest to maintain an upright posture. If you are slouching or bent over the counter, you are showing the customer that you don’t even have enough energy to stand up straight and they will subconsciously feel their energy levels drain. 

When I observed the customer service training at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, I witnessed how important the pre-shift meeting was for their employees.  Bernie Vasquez, the Director of Customer Excellence of the MGM described the pre-shift meeting as a way to set the tone for the day.  It’s the opportunity to set the contagious mood of positive energy.

 

Eye contact is the key to any customer service engagement. Looking someone in the eyes while you are talking is a not only a sign of respect but it shows you are paying attention and willing to help them. This means that you are not shuffling papers, browsing your web pages or checking out the good looking patrons that are walking in behind your customers. Eye contact is difficult for some people. There are subconscious self esteem issues that causes some people to not be able to look someone in the eyes for a fixed period of time.  One of the most challenging exercises I did in a Landmark Forum seminar was to stand in front of another stranger and stare into their eyes without saying a word.  You find yourself laughing, looking at a fixed object, fidgeting and even sweating. A few participants even cried, because you can’t shield yourself from someone’s staring eyes.  This exercise really gives you a glimpse into your non-verbal communication and your self esteem issues that you were not aware of. Looking your customer in the eyes shows that you are in control and actively listening.

The tone and speed of your speaking sets the tone of your interaction as well. Did you ever have a teacher that spoke in a monotone voice? You spend part of the class making fun of the voice and the other part of the class drifting off into another world. You do everything but pay attention.  A captivating speaker speaks louder than normal but not too loud, also they use inflection and emphasis.  A good speaker uses good pronunciation for clear understanding. You emphasize certain emotion based words like wonderful view, beautiful weather, or exquisite cuisine.  A good customer service speaker nods “yes” while speaking and eventually the customer will nod and get in the “yes” mode themselves.

There is one final important key to your physiology and how it affects the emotions of your customers.  This final key is what author and speaker, Tony Robbins refers to as “mirror and matching”.  Did you know that if you mirror the movements and speech patterns of another person, they will like you and not know why? That does not mean that you are a mimic. You look for subtleties in the way that they speak. Do they speak fast or slow?  How are they holding their body? How do they move?  I remember observing a timeshare salesperson onetime who would take on the accents of the people in front of her, which I think is taking it too far.  If someone catches on that you are mirroring them, then they will be annoyed of course. The key is that you follow “some” of their patterns and that is how you build rapport with them.  Rapport building is the key to all good relationships because you are discovering a common bond between you.

You can move yourself into a good mood. You can talk yourself into a good mood and your good mood will send an electrical charge to the customers in front of you. You can set the tone and control interaction by keeping yourself charged. It’s not always easy because one negative encounter can zap your power. You must shake it off and say “next”, and pump your emotions up again by moving into it.   My challenge to you is that you try it for a few days. When you feel that you are slouching, jolt your body upright. When your face feels tight, loosen up and put a big smile on your face. Use your positive movements with everyone you come into contact with and see if you inadvertently change the emotions of the room or the customer you serve. Don’t get discouraged when it doesn’t always work. Be committed to conducting yourself in this way at all times and the people will be attracted to your energy.  Now try it!