We’ve recently moved into a new house.  I use the term “new” rather loosely as it was built in 1973.  It’s new to us, not new to the neighborhood.  In fact, neighborhood and yard is amazing.  The gentleman who owned the house before us was an organic gardener.  Three rather large plots out back, as well as a mature orchard of about ten fruit trees.

As you can imagine around most of the plots and orchard area there is edging.  You know that lovely thick sharp metal kind.  The kind you hate to hit with a lawn mower and the kind you hate to have your dog step on at a dead run.

Yep, hard, fast running dogs and metal edging are not meant to be in the same yard.  Not a good or safe combination – In My Humble Opinion.

Now, I also think I have the best vet care around, Allpets Clinic in Boulder.

You have a bleeding dog, you call with an emergency, they get you right in and make an immediate initial assessment of the situation.  They made sure Max was stable then came out to talk to me about next steps.

Now here is an occupation where you might think soft communication skills are not always valued.  People are attached to their pets.  Crazy attached to their pets.  At least in most cases.  And sometimes it’s hard to make medical decisions based on your financial situation, but you do.  And the doctors understand that.  Now I’m one of those people who will take care of their pet regardless of cost, but the time spent with me by the doc so I would understand every aspect of what they were going to do was priceless.

She was patient, direct and compassionate about the situation.  I understood what she was going to need to do and how long it would take.  She needed to act and I needed to give her an answer right then and there.  I felt completely informed and I knew Max would be taken care of to the best of her abilities.  Once she was further into the situation, she came out and kept me informed.  Not once, but twice.

I point all of this out because she didn’t need to take that much time with me.  She could have  given me the information in several different ways, but she didn’t.  She could have sent a Tech, but she didn’t.  She showed me she cared about Max as much as I do.  How do you teach that?  Can you teach compassion and caring?

You can teach lots of things needed to be successful in your job, I’m not sure about this one.  It falls under my thought of hiring the right kind of people, with the right kind of spirit and attitude.  You can teach them all of the skills to do the job, but you can’t teach them how to have a good spirit and a good attitude.

Because of who they hire and how I and my animals are treated, I’m loyal to Allpets Clinic.  That’s why Allpets has been my vet since 1992.

M  –  And Max is doing great with a little TLC.

Posted under Customers, Employees, General, Leadership, Shareholder Value

We started last week talking about how you create a valuable customer experience – very much like eating an elephant – one bite at a time.  Again, you don’t do it all at once.

So, let’s talk about Bite #2  –  Teach Me To Fish.

Make sure your Learning and Development areas are providing the best Customer Service training available.  Spend the money and spend the time.  It’s worth it.  It’s worth it more in this area, than in almost any other.  Teach everyone to fish…

Create certifications around Customer Service.  Role Play around Customer Service.  Institute active listening sessions to catch someone doing something right – representing the kind of approach you value.  Celebrate successful customer service practices.  Hold them up – Hold them up high!  Make that your new gold standard.

The largest part of teaching me to fish is also teaching how to listen.  Each one of us has an opportunity to be a better listener.  And in doing so, we hear the real needs of our customers.  Engaging our customer in how to best meet those needs creates superior customer experiences.

As Kristin Anderson and Ron Zemke call out in Knock Your Socks Off Customer Service,  “As far as customers are concerned you are the company. This is not a burden, but the core of your job. You hold in your hands the power to keep customers coming back — perhaps even to make or break the company.”

Now that we’ve Hired the Right People and we’ve Taught Them To Fish, what’s next?  That’s for next week…..see you then!

M

Posted under Customers, Employees, General, Leadership

You know how the saying goes right?  “How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.”  The same goes for creating valuable customer experiences.  You don’t do it all at once.  Impossible.

But what bite do you take first?

#1.  Hire the Right People! Another old saying…”Hire for attitude, not just aptitude” or “Hire for attitude, train for skill“.   (Side note – great article by Peter Carbonara in Fast Company)

We’re working with Walker Information on creating a stronger Customer Loyalty program.  One of the first things we are choosing to focus on is our number one customer – our employees.  If we don’t have engaged employees, why would our customers want to engage with us?

Employee Recognition is front and center for a successful Customer Loyalty program.  From our highest leader, we walk the talk and work to create a recognition environment everyday.  In creating and maintaining a strong Recognition culture, Gallup’s research shows that for employees to feel valued and committed to a workplace, they need to receive some form of recognition every seven days… Something to think about.

As employees feel valued and engaged, the customer’s experience improves and the business performance is enhanced.  How much it is enhanced is up to you.

What are some of the ways you can think of to recognize your employees?  Are you doing it every seven days?  Put it on your calendar.  Make it a priority.  It makes a difference.

Bite #2, next week….

M

Posted under Customers, Employees, General, Leadership