The Soft Pitch

Several years ago, I was reading a self-help book, I really can’t remember which one –either from the guru of positive thinking Tony Robbins or from king of the one-line success quips Zig Ziglar or maybe even someone else.  It doesn’t really matter as the lesson was simply around “the most important words in the English language.” Since then, I’ve read many different versions of the same sort of list, but one of the things that strikes me is the list almost always includes “Thank You,” and so I’ve come up with my own list of the most powerful words, and it starts with “Thank You.” Those are short, simple words with a potent punch.  Sharing appreciation by saying “Thank You” makes you step out of yourself even if just for a second and acknowledge to the world that you’re not an island and others are an important part of what happens every day.  These words are so important they can make or break a marriage, because if no one appreciates you, why bother with doing the dishes after dinner or even making dinner to begin with? A sincere Thank You can let a child know how special that hand-made birthday card was to you. Or can let a friend know you appreciate them listening to your latest rant about car repairs. Or let a customer that you appreciate their business.

I was tickled last year when Avnet decided to participate globally in Customer Service Week and adopted the theme of “Just Say Thank You.”  It worked so well, we kept it this year for Customer Service Week again.  So we here at Avnet are celebrating Customer Service Week by doing our best to reach out to thousands of customers this week with a simple little message – “Thank You.”  There are videos from Rick Hamada, Avnet Chief Operating Officer, from Patrick Zammit , the president of our components group in Europe, e-card messages, internal training programs, customer appreciation events with moon cakes and balloons, and a whole lot of thanking going on internally and externally.  The point is to just say “Thank You” to our customers and suppliers for doing business with us.  We want all of you to know, that we appreciate you choosing Avnet. 

So here I am, chiming in to say “Thank You” for reading this blog.  Al and I appreciate your comments, questions and the few minutes you spend with us reading our random musing on baseball and all things Avnet.

Michelle

PS – The other most important words in the English language? Here’s my list: Please, Sorry, and Help.  Do you have a list of the most powerful words?

Forgive the cliché headline, I couldn’t resist. It’s still Customer Service Week for Avnet employees here in the US (I hear in the UK they will extend it another week and participate in some local activities there).  We’ve posted some employee-made videos about customer service on our website for everyone to vote on – if you haven’t already – go take a look and vote for your favorite: http://www.avnet.tv/contest_vote.php .

As promised, here’s another example of an Avnet employee taking that long walk going down the proverbial “extra mile” on behalf of customers.

Rose worked on a large RFP for a customer. She created several options for an entire disaster recovery solution (uspv, uspvm, ams1000, SAN options) from scratch, working closely with the customer. She worked on this solution for three weeks, produced 20+ quotes, and put in 40-50 hours and in the end presented the customer with a complete disaster recovery solution (including SAN). The customer was more than pleased with the level of service and knowledge that Rose provided, and was able to get their quotes to the end user in time, due to Rose’s diligence. Here’s what the customer had to say … “Rose: I was able to get this information into our quote yesterday. We really appreciate your hard work and insight with creating the quotes. We could not have completed our response without you. Thank you! Ricardo, IT Sales Consultant.” And this from her manager: “Rose during this time was also handling normal team duties such as phone lines, the queue and her own inbox full of other quote requests as well. She went above and beyond expected customer service to complete this RFP, and I think she should be recognized for it.”

Yes, I agree, Rose should be recognized for it.  Thanks Rose!  Wouldn’t you like someone like Rose working on your account?  Or I’d at least like to go shopping with her knowing she wouldn’t rest until I had chosen the most perfect-fitting jeans possible.

There’s a few things that no matter what you say or how you write about them, it sounds like “Motherhood and Apple Pie” – an American term for something that’s truly great that you can’t argue with, but also a bit cliche.  Great customer service is kinda like that.  Who’s going to argue with it?  We all want it, we all know when we get it, and we complain to anyone who will listen when we don’t get it.

So, Sept. 29 to Oct. 3 at Avnet is Customer Service Week.  I’d like a slice of apple pie with that, if you please.  But here’s the catch.  Of course at Avnet we strive to deliver what I call the “triple S” – Simply Superior Service. – every day. And I’ve got some great stories to share about our team members doing just that. (I’ve got a few tucked up my sleeve that I’m planning on sharing on this blog during the week.)  Customer Service Week actually reminds me of the old-fashioned customer appreciation days from when I worked in a bank (many years ago, and way before the mortgage debacle).  We’re asking all employees to call one customer each day and just thank them for their business.  No sales pitch, no “Hey did you know about our new service?” Just, “Thank You.”  Thank you for choosing us.  We appreciate it.  We wouldn’t be here without your business. You are important to us. 

The way we figure it, if every employee makes just one call each day that’s more than 60,000 calls during one week just to say thank you.  Pretty awesome.  I’m going to do it too.  I don’t sell stuff, but I do “sell” Avnet to the journalists who cover us.  So, I’m going to call them and let them know we appreciate their interest in Avnet. 

By the way, while I’m at it – let me thank YOU for reading this.  Because like all the things my Mom did for me and for the sweet tang of good apple pie, I appreciate you taking the time to read this post.  Thank You.