Executive development program that give you the edge

4. Achieving Excellence in Customer Service

What is Peak Performance In Customer Service?

What are your people saying about your business?

The Unfair Advantage

Innovation: New or Old?

What is Peak Performance In Customer Service?

by Terry Power

Last year I was working at a conference in Adelaide. My schedule was such that I had already worked the day of my flight and when I arrived at my hotel after nearly six hours travelling (including taxi rides) I was feeling pretty tired. I knew I was working early the next day and so, feeling and looking very dishevelled, I was ready for bed - A fact that would have been easily transparent to even the most casual observer. At the hotel lobby I asked for my room, only to be told that there had been some "mix-up" and my room was not available. I was primed and ready to become a disgruntled customer.

"Don't worry Mr Power" Kylie said - the employee from behind the service counter - "I can see you're tired and this is my problem and I will sort it out". Turning quickly on her heels she disappeared to return only a few minutes later. Handing me my card-key she flashed me a big smile and said "When you get to the room I've allocated you, I hope you find it to your satisfaction". I did. To say the room was spacious would be a gross understatement. It was plush, well appointed and huge (my whole family could have had a disco in it - and I have five kids!).

Lying back on the enormous silken covers, I was feeling pretty chuffed. Just then all of the phones rang (there were three). It was Kylie. "Everything to your satisfaction Mr Power?"

The way I see it, the way that hotel employee handled what potentially was a disgruntled customer, is an example of peak performance in customer service. Now, I don't know whether or not it is company policy to automatically provide an upgraded, richly appointed room to any dishevelled and disgruntled customer that looks ready to explode. I suspect not. But I do know that the way I was treated reflected favourably upon the entire hotel.

So what is a customer service peak performance?

Peak performance customer service acts are those times when an employee goes the extra mile as a matter of choice. Kylie chose to take ownership of the problem. She chose to give me an upgraded room and she chose to follow up. I believe Kylie would still have her job at the same salary level had she not done any of these things - Indeed, I have experienced very different receptions at the same hotel chain (which is why I have declined from naming the hotel). Fortunately for me she chose otherwise.

Peak performance, then, is a matter of choice. It is that discretionary behaviour between the minimum accepted and the maximum possible. Employees in the service industry have an enormous degree for scope in the area of discretion. In other words, there are plenty of opportunities to go the extra mile. It is this desire to rise above the "just-enough" behaviour that encapsulates the peak performer. It is a commitment to their job and to their organization.

The effective manager recognises that whilst the success of their business is not in the lap of the Gods, it comes close to being in the laps of their employees. Just as we cannot legislate to make people treat each other fairly, neither can we put rules in place to ensure customer service excellence. In the final analysis, the success of any service organization relies on the discretionary behaviour of its employees.

Specific Actions for Today

For Managers:

Creating employee commitment to peak performance does not happen by default. It needs to be fostered, acknowledged and encouraged. Some things that you can do to begin the process:

Today: Actively seek an employee doing the right thing and acknowledge them for it.

This week: Listen to an employee's ideas on going the extra mile - and then support them in doing so.

This Month: Lead by example. When dealing with your employees, you go the extra mile for them.

For Employees:

Go the extra mile today. Render more service - and better service - than you are being paid for. It won't be long before you are being paid what you are worth.

This article may be copied and forwarded to others as long as the author's details and copyright attribution is forwarded.

What are your people saying about your business?

by Terry Power

Towards the end of a busy contract, I decided to take some colleagues out for a ‘thank-you’ lunch. We chose a nice, local restaurant. The restaurant had been recommended by another colleague, who said that the food was delicious, and so I was looking forward to the experience.

As it was mid-week we were the only group in the restaurant and so expected, and got, prompt Service. Our waitress was a pleasant young woman, probably still in her teens and quite chatty, which made for a friendly, homely environment. Perhaps too homely. I’ll tell you why.

Some Homely Memories

When I still lived at home with my parents – during my teenage years – I vividly remember quarrelling with my brothers and sisters over who would get to lick the mixing bowl. Amidst all the squabbling, our fingers dipped, stirred and dabbled in many of Mum’s cooking bowls. Not the most hygienic situation, I’m sure, but okay amongst siblings.

Not so in a restaurant.

Joking with the chatty waitress was fun – until she revealed what might be going on in the kitchens.

‘Do you recommend the Tandoori Chicken?’ my colleague next to me asked her.

‘Oh, I’m not that big on white meat,’ she replied. And with a wry smile on her face she added, ‘but whilst I’m in the kitchen, I do try to have a little taste of most things.’

Visions of her prodding at the stuffing materialised in my head. Something must have shown on my face, but she obviously misinterpreted it. Leaning closer she whispered, ‘Yeah, we try to have a little fun while we’re working.’

My imagination, mixed with memories of what friends had told me about their ‘kitchen days’ was now starting to get the better of me.

Some Teenage Memories

Well, you know what teenagers are like. One of my friends who worked in a fast food outlet that shall remain nameless told me they used to play football with the frozen chickens just before they...‘cooked ‘em just the way you like it’. Perhaps that is why they tasted so tender. Another friend told me that they used to stick a foot up the rear end of chickens – one on each foot - and ‘roller blade’ around the kitchen in them. Skin-less chicken?

Needless to say, for me, the chicken was off.

Now I come to think about it, this could have been a contributing factor in my now avowed vegetarianism. And if this wasn’t enough, her finale delivered the final blow. Bending low over the table in a clandestine voice she whispered, ‘If you want my opinion...’ I didn’t. But she gave it anyway. ‘I thing the Tandoori smells awful.’

I don’t go to that restaurant any more.

What your employees say about your organisation does affect the way your customers think about your organisation. What are your employees saying about yours?

Action Steps

Openly discuss with your staff their opinions of your service, or bring in someone objective to do it for you.

Create a culture which encourages your staff to speak about how things can be improved and be acknowledged for doing so.

This article may be copied and forwarded to others as long as the author's details and copyright attribution is forwarded.

The Unfair Advantage

by Terry Power

An excerpt from Focusing on the Invisible

Ever since leaving school all I’ve ever wanted in anything I did was an unfair advantage. It's taken two decades of business, three university degrees and more failures than I care to remember, but I think I’ve finally got a clue as to where that advantage is hidden. Maybe I just learn slower than others.

And the great revelation?

The key to business success comes in two parts. One, how we Serve our customers. And two, the internal organisational Culture that drives that service.

Okay, it's not rocket science. It's not even really a revelation. But it is still critically important. Given that, why does it seem so many organisations stuff it up?

I reckon it's because many of the things needed to build a Culture which satisfies, delights and makes customers feel good are nigh on invisible. So, it's easier to forget them.

Now, I don’t mean invisible like mysterious poltergeists, ghosts or things that go bump in the night. Although that can satisfy some customers, depending on what line of work you're in. I mean those things that seem so small as to be almost invisible. The unseen attention to detail, those little common courtesies and the unspoken thoughts, about ‘how we do business around here’. Important? Yes. But easily forgotten.

It is in those all-too-rare moments when these intangibles are present that customers feel special and important. In the final analysis, Service is about making people feel good.

I don’t mean roll-over-and-fall-down-drunk good, I mean feeling good about themselves and feeling good about doing business with you. When you boil down all the hype and all the pompous theorising, that’s all Service is really.

Making people feel good. Good about themselves, good about being a customer, and good about doing business with you. Don’t get me wrong. I understand that there is a lot more to this than a dopey smile and a warm handshake. But don’t discount the power of making the people you deal with feel good. And its not so tough. People feel good when they have received excellent value for money. When a competent and caring assistant has served them well. When the product has surpassed their wildest expectations (don’t laugh, it does happen). These and a raft of other big and little things make people feel good. Put these together and you have the foundation for a Culture of Service Excellence.

Specific Action Steps

Take a look at the strategies you have in place which ensure your customers, clients or colleagues feel good. Then create a few more.

Do something today, anything, that will put a smile on those you interact with. Consciously attempt to make someone feel good right now and discover just how much everyone benefits.

Innovation: New or Old?

By Terry Power

Innovation is about change and in today’s business environment change is about survival. Right now, we are experiencing more change than ever before. Think about it. The population is increasing, technology is multiplying and doubling its power at a break-neck pace, and Service is slipping into the doldrums. That’s how I see things as a customer and all my research supports this view. A whole raft of studies confirm that the gap is widening between the customer’s expectation of Service and the actual Service delivered. The gap has widened to a chasm. Despite this malaise, all too many management teams mosey along oblivious to the madness whipping around them. Like being in the eye of a storm, they sit contented in the calm of their office, wondering what all the fuss is about. If only they were to step outside, reality would drag them into the spinning madness around them. Innovation is the furthest thing from their mind. But unless we take time to stop to think, it is easy to believe that we are sitting safely outside it all. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s time for these managers to wake up and stick their head out and move on to the ‘shop floor’. The most innovative way to manage has always been and always will be by getting out there amongst the workers and listening to their ideas, their dreams, their aspirations. It is at the ‘coal-face’ that leaders get a feel for what their people are thinking and by extension what their customers are thinking. In my experience what many of them are thinking is “We don’t matter much”. Innovation in this new millennium is about finding creative ways to let them know they do matter; about finding ways to make them feel important. Do that and the culture of your organisation will change for the better. One easy way of letting your people/clients know they matter is getting inside their dreams, desires and aspirations. Then work with them to help them set and get their goals. Remember the little things make a difference...find out what important things are happening in others lives and make these important in yours. Maybe their daughter just had a baby, send a small gift. Maybe it is the anniversary of when they started with the organisation, throw a small office party. Once you get to know people, really know people, the ideas are limited only by your imagination.

Actions Steps:

Today: send a hand written card to someone you want to thank. It could be a staff member, the local shopkeeper, or a major client. The important thing is to do it now. Often we think about doing good things, but thinking alone is not enough. Go ahead do it now, write that card and send it.

This Week: spend some time each day talking to your colleagues, your staff, even your loved ones and ask them “What is really important in your life right now?” Make a note of it and see what you can do to show that it is important to you too.