Would love to meet you “live” at HDI
I am excited to be less two weeks away from speaking at the HDI Annual Conference and Expo in Orlando. My session is scheduled for Friday morning at 10:15am. If you will be there, please let me know - I would love to meet you in person. Send me an email and we can schedule a time to talk! http://www.thinkhdi.com/hdi2010/
Simple Words Seem To Be Hard To Say
As I stood in line for my daily shot of caffeine, a guy walked in the door with a coffee in his hand. He sorta
stepped to the front of the line and said, “I just went through the drive-through and this is not what I ordered.” Being a customer service kind of guy, my expectation was that the lady behind the counter would apologize - nothing big or dramatic but a simple “Oh, I’m sorry - how can I make it right?” But the answer did not include one of the most simple tenants of customer interaction; instead she asked him what he ordered? He told her (I cannot remember the details because it was one of those silly multi-word coffee orders that included “extra hot.”) She then said, “what is wrong with it?” He said he was not sure but that he ordered it almost every day and that in addition to not being extra hot, it did not taste right.
Again - she had the opportunity to apologize but failed again - saying, “OK - I will remake it for you. They must have not included the caramel.”
Now, the funny part was that there were only two people working - she, as the coffee barister and the person working the window - which means she was the “they.” With that, the conversation took another turn. Instead of taking responsibility for the mistake, she was blaming others for the problem.
In a workshop recently I had an employee tell me that she did not think she should ever say she was sorry because that was admitting that the company had done something wrong.
Here’s the question of the day - do your employees feel the same way? Is it OK for them to take responsibility for mistakes? Do they have permission to say they are sorry? If I were your customer - and I walked in and said that my coffee (or product/service) was not the right one, would your employee instinctively say, “I’m sorry” and then attempt to solve my problem? I hope so! You should know so!
Leading While Distracted
I know that driving distracted is a serious issue. Nationwide Insurance recently released a study that that includes data from the University of Utah that says “distraction from cell phone use while driving (hand held or hands free) extends a driver’s reaction as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent.” But, as I was driving through the state of Kentucky this past week, I saw something that hit me as funny. The signs that span interstate 65 had a flashing message that read “Driving Distracted is Dangerous Driving!” Is it just me or is it ironic that the big flashing sign that distracted me was put there to remind me that I should not be distracted? Sorta crazy, huh?
So what does this have to do with frontline management and customer experience? Glad you asked!
Do you have metrics and statistics posted throughout your office or call center that are actually distracting your employees from what is really important? Do you have information posted on service levels or statistics but nothing that focuses on the level of satisfaction or quality?
I have been in many call centers across America that post “talk time stats” and “average answer-time” but not one metric anywhere that show quality scores or customer satisfaction. Yet the leadership told me that quality was a top priority.
So, do this soon - walk through your office for the express purpose of reading posters, banners, reader-boards and bulletin boards. What is the message that you see? Is your culture on display? Is the customer represented? Are metrics internal or externally focused?
Another set of questions to ask: Is the metric actionable? If we are missing the goal, does the management team have a plan to correct the situation? What are the specific plans that accompany the failure to meet the metric goal?
I believe that the messages we post are just as important as the messages we speak! Please don’t attempt to lead with distractions. Distractions are dangerous!
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Bob Furniss
As founder and President of Touchpoint Associates, Inc., Bob Furniss has more than 25 years of experience in the customer service field - assisting organizations to increase productivity and profits by bringing out the best in their people. He has shared his experience in the areas of leadership and service with some of the top companies in America - companies like FedEx, Corporate Express, DePaul University, Delta Airlines, Hanley Wood and more.
Click here to email Bob direct -
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