Onstage vs Backstage

A couple of weeks ago in a post called Deliver An Excellent Experience: Make Your Customer The Star, I talked about Customer Service in terms of a movie scene, today I’ll talk about it in terms of the theater. In the theater there are only two places a actor can be during a performance, and if you looked at the title of this blogpost then you already know the answer: Onstage or Backstage.

Everything that happens Onstage is purposefully designed for the complete enjoyment of the audience. Every place that an actor stands, every where that an actor walks, every word out of the actors mouth, even the actor’s hand gestures are designed with the audience in mind.

It isn’t until they leave the stage that an actor even thinks of tending to their own needs. If they need to get something to eat or drink, they do that Backstage. If they need to adjust their wardrobe, or smoke a cigarette, or check their email, they take care of those things Backstage. Basically, Backstage is where the actor does anything they want to do that doesn’t have to do with their audience.

So why have I spent three paragraphs talking about the theater…? Because the same rules should apply in your place of business.

Everything that takes place on the floor should be for your customer’s benefit. You shouldn’t be taking care of YOU on the floor. That would include but may not be limited to eating, drinking, chewing gum, sleeping, spitting, picking your nose, and watching the latest viral video. (Yes, I’ve seen all of this and more right in front of customers.)

Let me say it again:

When Service Superheroes are Onstage, 

everything they do should revolve around the customer.

If you’re behind the counter having a conversation with a co-worker and a customer comes up, stop talking to your buddy, and start talking to the customer. “Are you enjoying your stay?” or “Is there a question I could answer for you?” You can always pick up the conversation with your co-worker later.

One last time, if you are on the floor, you should act like you’re Onstage performing in front of a live audience, and everything you do should be geared towards relating to and pleasing your customer.

Tune in next time for more adventures from a Service Superhero.

Remember, I can transfer my abilities, or Superpowers, to anyone that truly wants them. Let me know if you'd like to set up a training seminar for your service team, so you can begin to deliver "Superhero Service" to each and every one of your Guests.

If you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said here, or would just like to share a Service related story or insight, I'd love to hear from you. Please post a comment below.

The 10-Foot Rule

“The 10-Foot Rule” is a very simple rule, but it’s not so easy to implement at first. However, if you can figure out how to incorporate it into your daily life, it’s magical. At work it will improve your relationship with your customer, your teammates, and even your boss. And if you use it in your daily life you’ll find that you live in a much friendlier neighborhood. Pretty cool, huh?

First the bad news. 

We’ve got tons of baggage, or preprogramming, that that often keeps us from doing the simplest things in life, and this is one of them. 

 “Don’t talk to strangers.” Sound familiar? As children we were all taught this in hopes that it would keep us safe.

Another one, “Speak only when spoken to.”

These are probably good things for us to learn as kids, but as adults this kind of ingrained instruction hurts our ability to connect with others.

Old habits die hard.

As a result of this ingrained training, even as adults, we move through our daily lives keeping to ourselves. We often don’t look at people we don’t know much less engage with them. And if we have to spend much time around them (i.e. on a bus or a subway) we plug in the headphones so we can completely ignore them without seeming rude.

Sometimes I wish there were a switch that could shut off all the things we’re supposed to do as a child, and turn on all the things we’re supposed to do as an adult. Until we find that switch we have to figure out something else.

Zig Ziglar, a motivational speaker with a “folksy” way of communicating says, “The best way to get rid of weeds is to plant crab grass.” His point is, the best way to eliminate an old habit is to trade it for a new habit. That’s where the 10-Foot Rule comes in.

The 10-Foot Rule: 

Warmly acknowledge EVERYONE that comes within 10-feet of you.

Yup, that’s it! Give a big grin and a warm “Hello” or “How ya doin’?” to everyone within a 10-foot radius of you.

Imagine for a moment that you are standing still (I know, in the customer service game it’s hard to imagine right, but give it a shot). Now imagine that there is a big radiant glow emanating from your body in a 10-foot radius.

I picture it like a giant glowing hula-hoop shaped force field that’s always attached to me, and I simply acknowledge anyone that breaks the edge of the force field.

If you put the 10-Foot Rule into practice at work your ability to connect with your customer will dramatically improve. And if you begin to acknowledge those that break your “force field” in your daily life, you will be surprised at the positive response you will get from those in your community.

Tune in next time for more adventures from a Service Superhero.

Remember, I can transfer my abilities, or Superpowers, to anyone that truly wants them. Let me know if you'd like to set up a training seminar for your service team, so you can begin to deliver "Superhero Service" to each and every one of your Guests.

If you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said here, or would just like to share a Service related story or insight, I'd love to hear from you. Please post a comment below.

4 Ways To Make Sure Your Customers Have No Bad Moments

Legendary filmmaker Howard Hawks said that to make a good movie you needed “Three good scenes and no bad ones.” If your customer’s visit is a film where they are the star, and we change the term “scene” to “moment”, we now have a tangible roadmap that will ultimately lead to a great Customer Experience. Last week we looked at the first half of that statement in How To Create 3 GoodMoments For Your Customer, and this week we’ll tackle the last portion.

Do these 4 things to avoid any Bad Moments with your customers.

1.     Engineer their experience – Carl Sewell has a chapter in his book Customers For Life called “Systems, Not Smiles” where he covers the fact that having the right systems in place will help ensure a great experience for your customer. He claims that systematic approaches are 80% of customer service, and I agree with him 100%.

You want your customer to be able to flow through the process of interacting with your company. The best way to make sure your system flows is to walk through it yourself. I covered this in a previous blogpost, Improve Your Customer Experience Today. Make sure that you have the right systems in place. Remove all obstacles!

2. Tell ‘em what your going to do for them, and them make them a promise – Tell your customer about the experience they’re going to have and then look them in the eye and tell them what you’re going to do for them. Let’s say that you’re the only bellman and there are two guests checking into your hotel at the same time. When the first Guest is ready to go, tell the second Guest:

                       “I’m going to help these folks up to their room with their stuff. When 

                       you get done checking in, feel free to head on up to your room, and I’ll 

                       be right behind you with your bags.”

          Or, let’s say you work in a clothing store, and a customer hands you a claim ticket to pick up               his altered suit:

“I’ll grab your suit, and get you into a fitting room. Then I’m going to make sure that it fits you like it’s supposed to. I’ll be right back.”

           Tell them what’s going to happen, then look them in the eye and tell them what you’re going              to do for them during this process.

3. Deliver more – Certainly deliver everything you’ve promised, but if you stop there, how memorable was that interaction? You have met their expectations. That’s like getting a “C” in school. You have to go above and beyond, you have to deliver more. 

In his book What’s YourPurple Goldfish Stan Phelps introduces a Creole word “lagniappe” (lan-yap) which means “the gift” or “to give more”. The extra thing could be a tangible item, or simply some bonus information. The point is, you MUST give them something of value that’s unexpected.

4. Tell ‘em what you’ve done - Make sure to tell them about the extra thing you’ve done for them. It’s not bragging it’s just informing them. If they’re unaware of it, it didn’t really happen. It’s like that old saying, “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one hears it, did it make a sound?”

          Don’t just fold their merchandise and wrap it in tissue before putting it in the bag, as you hand             them the bag say, “I just folded up your stuff and made it look all pretty for you.” The first part             of that sentence conveys the gift that you’ve given, but the most important two words there are            the last two: for you. That’s what makes it special.

If you do the above four things every time with every customer, they will have zero Bad Moments. Combine that with the information in last week’s post, and you’ve got a formula that will ensure a great Customer Experience every time. Deliver consistently at this level, and you will become the service superstar in your industry.

Tune in next time for more adventures from a Service Superhero.

Remember, I can transfer my abilities, or Superpowers, to anyone that truly wants them. Let me know if you'd like to set up a training seminar for your service team, so you can begin to deliver "Superhero Service" to each and every one of your Guests.

If you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said here, or would just like to share a Service related story or insight, I'd love to hear from you. Please post a comment below.

How To Create 3 Good Moments For Your Customer

We spent time last week in Deliver An ExcellentExperience: Make Your Customer The Star establishing that when your customer enters your place of business, they are the stars of their movie. We also established that Service Superheroes should embrace the role of a supporting character.

If we are going to look at your customers visit to your establishment in movie terms, then maybe we should take a deeper look into movies in general, and see if there’s anything else we can learn from this medium.

There is a famous quote in Hollywood by legendary filmmaker Howard Hawks who said that a great movie is comprised of “three good scenes and no bad ones.” If your customers visit is a film, and we change the term “scene” to “moment”, we now have a tangible roadmap that will ultimately lead to a great Customer Experience. 

Three Good Moments

It’s kind of easy to imagine movie moments during a Guest’s stay in a hotel; we’ve all seen Pretty Woman. Hotels lobbies are beautifully designed like film sets, and there’s plenty of time during their stay to create 3 good moments, but I’m going to show you how to do this, regardless of your place of business, or how long your customer is there.

Let’s say that you run a cheap jewelry store in the mall, and Mary comes in and buys a pair of earrings. (I guess I should’ve prefaced that last part with SPOILER ALERT. Yes, Mary buys the earrings).

Mary’s going out tonight and she’s looking for a specific pair of earrings to wear. She’ll probably only be in your store for a total of five minutes. I hear your question, “How could we possibly have time to create three good moments in this scenario?” Let me show you.

1) Connection – When Mary met Sally

Mary enters your store, and is greeted warmly by your best sales associate, Sally, who initiates light banter. They start talking about, well… anything but jewelry. Through this brief conversation Mary discovers that Sally has similar interests, or a good sense of humor, or a shared concern about frizzy hair with regard to the humidity. The point is, they are talking about stuff that they have in common.

This moment is called a connection, and it happens when Mary begins to feel that Sally is more then just a salesperson; she’s an actual person. It doesn’t need to take long at all. In fact, I’ve seen it happen in 3 seconds over a sports jersey. Actually connecting with someone is a really good moment, because it doesn’t happen all that often.

2) Listen – There’s Something About Mary

Mary tells her new friend Sally, that she’s looking for a pair of earrings. Sally doesn’t start showing Mary anything at this point because she’s not trying to sell Marry a pair of earrings. Sally’s job is to try to solve Mary’s problem, and at this point she doesn’t have enough information yet.

Sally instead asks some follow-up questions in order to really understand what Mary’s got in mind. She lets Mary explain about the event she’s going to, the color of dress she’s looking to coordinate with, what her date will be wearing, and what ever else Mary is concerned about.

Once Sally feels that she understands what Mary’s looking for, she takes Mary to the area of the store that has earrings that match the criteria that Mary has laid out. Sally shows her a few choices, and then leads Mary through the narrowing process based on all the information Mary has given her.

When is the last time someone listened to you, and truly got what you were talking about? That’s a good moment!

3) Good Value – My Fair Lady

Perceived value is sometimes a tough thing to gauge, but Mary walked into this particular store because she anticipated that they would have earrings in a specific price range. If the price is WAY out of line with her preconceived notion, this would not be a good moment. But for this example…

Once Mary has selected the “right” set of earrings, she flips over the card that they’re attached to, and she notices that the price seems fair.

Sally then takes Mary to the register, rings her up and hands her a small bag with her purchase inside. Mary takes the bag and as she exits the store, she reflects back on her experience…

No she doesn’t. If everything happened like I’ve said, she’s checked earrings off her list, and she’s on to the next thing. 

Wait, what?!?

We did all this work and she isn’t even going to think about it? That’s right, if everything goes right, there’s no need for Mary to keep this experience in the front of her mind. The only time she'll ever need to think about her experience at your jewelry store is if she’s reminded about it: for example when someone comments on her earrings and asks where she got them.

Service Superheroes are working for that moment, because nothing will ever be as persuasive as Mary telling a friend about her experience at your store. Those three good moments will be recalled fondly, and her friend will be able to tell from her facial expressions, the tone of her voice, and the light in her eyes, that she’s speaking the truth.

Tune in next week for more adventures from a Service Superhero, where we’ll look at the other side of Howard Hawks quote and discover the 4 steps that will keep “Bad Moments” from happening.

Remember, I can transfer my abilities, or Superpowers, to anyone who truly wants them. Let me know if you'd like to set up a training seminar for your service team, so you can begin to deliver "Superhero Service" to each and every one of your customers.

If you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said here, or would just like to share a Service related story or insight, I'd love to hear from you. Please post a comment below.

Deliver An Excellent Experience: Make Your Customer The Star

We are each the stars of our own movies, that’s just how we’re wired. But when it comes to delivering a great Customer Experience, you’ll have to accept a supporting role in their movie.

When I walk through the door of my favorite coffee shop my theme music kicks in. As I sit down to write a blogpost, like this one for example, all of the people sitting around me become characters in my movie.

There’s the young girl to my right who is frantically flipping through the piles of paperwork on her table, desperately searching for… Quite frankly I don’t really care what it is, because it doesn’t affect MY movie.

There’s a man sitting at the table in front of me, I’m guessing he’s a screenwriter. He seems to be struggling to craft the perfect scene in a film destined to win an Oscar, if he can just figure out the “cute-meet” between the two romantic leads… Truth be told, I have no idea what he’s working on.

Speaking of romance, there’s the cute girl sitting a few tables away in her baseball cap looking all, well… cute. (hey, I’m a blogger, not a poet). 

You know what I’m talking about right? Well, maybe not the theme music, but all the rest of it. If all I do is sit here and stare at the cute girl, she’ll never become anything more than an extra in MY movie. Our brains are full of important things, and by tomorrow I will have forgotten about her, and all the rest of these people, because there was absolutely no interaction between us.

As many of you already know I used to be in the Entertainment Industry, first as an actor, then as a director, and finally as a screenwriter. During that time I heard it said that an extra is like a living, breathing, potted plant, like expensive set decoration. To emphasize this point, these actors are often called “background.”

When your customer first comes into your place of business, you are no more then an extra in their movie. Your job is to work your way up the ladder and become a supporting character.

The difference between an extra and a day-player, is that the latter has lines. A supporting character takes it a step farther, and actually interacts with the lead. In a screenwriting class I took, the instructor said, “The best supporting characters don’t support, they push.” These supporting characters are so influential, they impact the main character’s life, and cause them to make choices that alter the course of the film.

Lets see how all this works in the real world. 

Say you’re the only one working today in a jewelry store, and Sam walks in while you’re with another customer. While Sam hovers around the watch case, both you and the other customer are extras, or background, in HIS movie.

When your customer leaves, you approach Sam and ask, “Looking for anything in particular?” Congratulations, you’ve just become a day-player in HIS movie. If Sam says, “Just looking.” and you leave to go do your paperwork, you probably will never become anything more.

According to the definition above, if you are able to sell him the watch he’s been looking for, you’ve just become a supporting character because you had a meaningful interaction with him. This is better for all concerned. Sam got the watch he needed, and he can stop wasting time in his “movie” looking for it, and you made a sale.

But if while you’re working with him, you discover that he’s been dating his girlfriend for nearly five years, and that he’s been considering proposing to her. You, being a good salesperson, take him over to the ring counter. Now, if while you’re working with him, he makes the decision to propose to her, and buys a ring from you, you’ve become a much more important supporting character in Sam’s movie. His interaction with you has caused him to make a choice that will forever alter the course of his life. This is where “Best Supporting” Oscars get earned.

This kind of a life-changing event would be considered an act break. Sam’s whole life up to this point was going one way, and in this moment, he will begin to chart a new course.

William Shakespeare, who knew a thing or two about storytelling has this quote that puts it all in perspective:

“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”

As a person delivering Superhero Service, your job is to embrace your supporting role in your customer’s movie, and ensure that you have an impact in their life.

Tune in next week for more adventures from a Service Superhero, and I’ll show you how to turn your Customer’s Experience into a great moment in their “movie” by following the advice of a legendary filmmaker.

Remember, I can transfer my abilities, or Superpowers, to anyone who truly wants them. Let me know if you'd like to set up a training seminar for your service team, so you can begin to deliver "Superhero Service" to each and every one of your customers. 

If you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said here, or would just like to share a Service related story or insight, I'd love to hear from you. Please post a comment below.

G-U-E-S-T

Acronyms are often used as a mnemonic device to help folks recall new information or sometimes to remember the order in which things should be completed. Basically it’s a great way to learn things.

I heard a great acronym for the term “Guest” that I’d like to share.

Greet – Greet every customer you come near with a warm smile and an open attitude, ready to receive what ever they are interested in sharing with you, be it good or bad.

Understand – Make sure that you completely understand what the customer is sharing with you. Feel free to ask questions. Whether it’s a complaint about something in your place of business, or feedback on the restaurant down the block where they just ate, it’s important to “get” what they are saying.

Empathize – Empathize with the customer. That means put yourself in their shoes and observe their experience from their perspective. This is very important on a regular basis, but even more so if your customer has a complaint.

Suggest – Make a suggestion. This is your house, in your neighborhood, and the person in front of you is your friend. Let them know what you think, and why. Or tell them what you would do, and why. Bottom line here is information is power, and you should be arming your customer with all the information you can so they can be the powerful one.

Thank – At the end of every customer interaction, thank them. Whether your customer brought you a complaint or a complement, it was information that you didn’t have before, and it will elevate the service you provide in the future. For that, they deserve “thanks.”

A service provider who keeps this acronym in mind, and uses each of these points in order when they deal with their customer, will improve the service they provide, and will be well on their way to becoming a Service Superhero.  

Tune in next week for more adventures from a Service Superhero where we’ll explore another aspect of providing great customer service.  

Remember, I can transfer my abilities, or Superpowers, to anyone who truly wants them. Let me know if you'd like to set up a training seminar for your service team, so you can begin to deliver "Superhero Service" to each and every one of your customers.  

If you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said here, or would just like to share a Service related story or insight, I'd love to hear from you. Please post a comment below.

How To Affect Your Customer’s Experience

Last week in Customer Experience: Future, Present, Past we discussed in detail the three phases your customer goes through when they deal with your company. I’ll give you a brief recap of last weeks post for context, but you should click the above link, and read it before you continue.

Phase One is primarily a left-brain, cognitive process that takes place when your customer plans his or her visit to your place of business. This is where they set their expectations.

Phase Two is where they actually visit your establishment, which is primarily a right-brain, sensual and emotional experience.

Phase Three is also a cognitive process, but it’s a different part of the brain. This is where your customer reflects back on their emotional, sensual experience and tries to put it into words. 

Maximize Your Impact During Each Phase

Let’s once again follow Stan through the three phases as he visits your hotel, but this time we’ll look at the best ways to positively affect his stay in each phase.

Phase One: The Future

In Phase One, Stan’s setting his expectations of his trip. It seems like in keeping with the adage “under promise, over deliver” we should lower his expectations, but that doesn’t work. If Stan’s not excited by the prospect of staying at your hotel, then he’s not even going to give you a chance.

While your potential customer is in Phase One, you need to sell the hell out of your place of business. You need to communicate everything you intend to provide: nothing more, but definitely nothing less. You need to tout all of the amenities that will be available, and all the services that you will provide.

In other words, you need to tell your potential customers about all the things he or she can expect to find when they arrive.

Feel free to use all the emotional language you can think of, because the left-brain likes to pretend it understands the feelings attached to those words, and it will paint an even better picture.

If done correctly, Stan will book the room, and leave Phase One, excited about his future stay at your hotel.

Phase Two: The Present

Once Stan actually arrives at your property, you need to deliver on all of the things you’ve promised and this will satisfy his left-brain. Once he’s gone through his mental checklist, comparing what you’ve promised with what you’ve actually provided, this hemisphere basically goes on vacation because it’s no longer needed.

As explained last week, Phase Two is both sensual and emotional. It’s all about the right-brain, and because the two hemispheres of your brain don’t use the same language, they have difficulty communicating to each other. Consequently, Stan has difficulty measuring whether or not his stay is meeting his expectations, so he trusts his gut, and if he’s having a good time, he’s happy.

While Stan is in Phase Two, your goal should be to stimulate his right-brain as much as you can by attaching a sensual or an emotional component to every element of his stay. This will elevate each experience to an event. Strolling mariachis while he eats, or a mint placed on his pillow are great examples.

The language barrier between the hemispheres provides you an opportunity, which you should take full advantage of. Since Stan is assessing his stay based on how happy he is, you should actively seek to anchor those feelings by using these two steps:

1. During his stay you should seek opportunities to makes him smile, or preferably laugh. This fully engages his right-brain and puts him in his happy state. It also instantly warms him to you.
2. While he’s in this state, ask him if he’s enjoying his stay. This question, coming right after you’ve made him smile, makes him feel like you really care. The question itself forces him into his left-brain to answer, and since in that moment he’s happy, his answer will generally be something positive.

If this sequence happens often enough during his stay, when he moves into Phase Three, which again is a cognitive process, he will recall all the times he reported having a good time, and he’ll tend to remember his stay more favorably.

Phase Three: The Past

I had lunch the other day with a friend of mine, and when I shared my theory of the three phases of a Customer Experience, she addressed Phase Three by telling me about a 1995 study designed to measure people’s recollection of pain. Click here for the abstract.

The study focused on the recipients of a colonoscopy, an uncomfortable and painful procedure. They interviewed the control group immediately after the procedure to determine a baseline of just how painful the procedure was. The patients seemed to remember the moment of peak pain, and the pain experienced in the final minutes of the procedure.

The next group, according to my friend, went through the exact same procedure, but instead of removing the scope immediately after, it was left in for an additional three minutes and then removed. When this group was asked about their experience, they reported that the entire procedure was much less painful then the control group.

Same procedure, three minutes longer, but perceived as less painful because the final minutes were relatively pain free.

Our takeaway from this study is that regardless of how good or bad our customer’s experience was, we can make it better if we take these two steps:

1. Don’t screw up their departure
2. Slow down their final moments with us

Regardless of how hard we try, things happen from time to time, and not every customer is happy when they leave. Let’s imagine that despite our best efforts, Stan’s stay at our hotel wasn’t great. A number of things happened and overall he wasn’t happy. The front office manager, who has had several conversations with Stan over the course of his stay, is not looking forward to reading his TripAdvisor review. Let’s also imagine that I’m the bellman.

Step One – On Stan’s final morning, he calls down for luggage assistance, and advises us that he’s in a hurry to get to the airport. If I show up to his room quickly and none of his items falls off the cart, we’re halfway done with Step One. If, when he gets to the front desk his bill is right, then we have arrived. His final moments with us will have been without incident. Whew!!! Step One complete.

Step Two – I’ll spend time with Stan until his car or a taxi shows up. I’ll engage him in conversation, and if he insists on talking about how crappy his stay was, I’ll empathize with him, but quickly change the topic. My goal is to get him to talk about anything positive.

When Stan’s car arrives I’ll open the door for him, this way I’m in control of when it shuts. I’ll demonstrate that I care for him by making sure that he has directions to his destination. I’ll take a second to thank him for staying with us, and, if he’s made me aware of his troubled stay, I’ll apologize once again. I’ll give him a warm smile and invite him to give us another chance in the future. Then I’ll gently shut his door, and my final gesture will be to smile warmly and give a quick wave good-bye as he drives away. Step Two complete.

This whole departure routine might have taken an extra fifteen seconds, probably less. It was quick, but it didn’t feel rushed. By winding down his stay, I kept it from feeling like someone had abruptly removed a colonoscopy scope.

This two-step departure process will, to some extent, have positively colored the end Stan’s experience with us. Based on the results of the study, his recollection of his stay won’t be as bad because the final moments were “pain free”. Consequently, when he does write his review, it won’t be quite so harsh.

I’m sorry about the length of this post, but I had a lot of information to give you, and I didn’t want to leave anything out. 

Be sure to come back next week for more adventures from a Service Superhero. 

Remember, I can transfer my abilities, or Superpowers, to anyone who truly wants them. Let me know if you'd like to set up a training seminar for your service team, so you can begin to deliver "Superhero Service" to each and every one of your customers. 

If you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said here, or would just like to share a Service related story, or insight, I'd love to hear from you. Please post a comment below.

The Three Phases of a Customer's Experience

When we talk about the Customer Experience, what exactly are we talking about? A lot of people just focus on the time that a customer actually spends in your place of business, but I think it starts way before that, and ends way after.

The Customer Experience should be thought of in three distinct phases. Each phase has its own rules, and the customer behaves completely differently depending on which phase of the experience they are in.

The three phases are: Future, Present, and Past.

Why do I start with Future? Because when we look at the Customer Experience, we have to do that from their perspective. As we go through the process, I think you will understand. Lets take a few minutes and examine each of these phases through the eyes of a Hotel Guest named Stan.

Phase One: The Future

Stan has to fly to a part of the country he’s never been to before, and he needs a place to stay, so he does what most of us do in the age of the Internet: he goes online. He may go to third party sites like TripAdvisor, Expedia, or Yelp, or he may go directly to the website of his favorite chain.

Stan looks at all of his choices, and using his intellect to begin to narrow things down. He selects a location that is relatively close to where he needs to be, and in a price range he can afford. He reads the reviews, and further narrows his selection based on the feedback of others.

Once he has his shortlist, Stan begins to use his imagination, comparing what he thinks his stay will be like at place “A” versus place “B” and so on. He looks at pictures of the property and tries to imagine walking through the lobby, or staying in the room, or eating at the restaurant. At some point Stan makes what he thinks is an informed decision about where he’s going to stay. He hopes he’s made a good choice, but he can’t possibly know for sure.

The entire story so far has taken place in Stan’s head. It has been a cognitive process that has taken place primarily in the logical left-brain. He has spent this entire time thinking about what his stay will be like when he finally gets to the hotel, sometime in the future. 

This process, has created benchmarks, or minimum requirements. If those expectations are not met, Stan's hopes for an enjoyable stay will begin to fall. 

Phase Two: The Present

Stan has now arrived at the hotel, and is greeted with sights, sounds, smells, and things to both touch and taste. There will be moments of cognitive processing, primarily when he checks in and out (how much is parking?!?), but for the most part, his stay will be filled with sensual and emotional input.

The thing to keep in mind is that Stan is actively trying to take measurements periodically throughout his entire stay. When he's asked, "Are you enjoying your stay?" he trys to determine whether his actual experience is meeting, or exceeding his previously imagined experience. This however, is not an easy task.

Remember, in Phase One, Stan created his future stay primarily in logical, plan-making, left-brain, and now his actual experience is taking place in the emotional, sensual, right-brain, and these two hemispheres don’t use the same language. He finds that some of the things he thought were going to be important, don’t matter after all, and things he didn’t even think of, have become vital to his enjoyment. 

When it comes to determining whether his actual experience is measuring up, the best he can do is to trust his gut. If he’s having a good time, if he’s happy, then he assumes that this stay is meeting, or exceeding his expectations.

Phase Three: The Past

Stan has now returned home, and as he reflects on his trip, he is using yet another part of his brain. His memory of his trip is filled with his experiences, both in his hotel and elsewhere, and his recollection is of the emotional journey he was on during his visit.

True, this is a cognitive process, but this is nothing like the Phase One planning phase. Here, Stan is trying to make rational sense of the sensual and emotional experience he had. As he attempts to answers the requisite question from friends and family about his trip, he tries his best to put his experience into words, but often words just seem to come up short. Depending on his audience it may turn into a one-line summation, “It was great!”

If Stan is going to write a review about the hotel he stayed in, this is the mental state where it would be created. If you think about it, this is where all reviews come from. If you’ve ever told someone about a movie you’ve seen, or about a meal you enjoyed at a restaurant, or a sculpture you loved, you’ve experienced the difficulty of putting your emotional experience into words.

So the question is, now that we understand that there are three phases to consider when thinking about our Customer’s Experience, how can we use this information to our benefit?

Tune in next week for more adventures from a Service Superhero where we’ll answer the question, “What can we do during each of the three Phases to positively impact our Customer’s Experience?”

Remember, I can transfer my abilities, or Superpowers, to anyone that truly wants them. Let me know if you'd like to set up a training seminar for your service team, so you can begin to deliver "Superhero Service" to each and every one of your Guests.

If you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said here, or would just like to share a Service related story or insight, I'd love to hear from you. Please post a comment below.

Improve Your Customer Experience Today

Customer experience seems to be the latest buzzword in the customer service world. All the Blogs, podcasts, and books that have come out over the last buncha years have been touting the customer experience as the new standard in customer satisfaction. This seems like a no-brainer to me. How can you possibly hope to provide great customer service if you don’t take their experience into account?

For us in the Hospitality Industry to be able to assess our Guest’s experience, we need two ingredients: empathy and imagination.

Empathy:

Motivational speaker Jay Cuccia once used this example to explain the difference between sympathy and empathy:

“Let’s say you’re on a boat and this guy gets seasick. He’s all leaning over the side of the boat throwing up. Sympathy just means that you feel bad for the guy. Maybe you go get him a towel or something. Empathy means that you go over to the side of the boat and start throwing up with him.”

That explanation has stuck with me for years. Without empathy there is simply no way that you can begin to gauge your Guest’s experience.

Imagination:

In order to fully understand your Guest’s experience, you need to imagine you are your Guest. You need to experience everything your property has to offer as if you are seeing it through their eyes, listening to it through their ears, smelling it through their nose, and, well… you get the idea. What I’m saying here is that you need to use all your senses to gather as much information as you can about your property.

All of your preconceived notions about how things are, or explanations about why they are not the way they should be, will not serve you. You need to clear your mind and just allow the things you encounter to wash over you.

Field Trip

So, if you’re ready to improve your Guest experience, it’s time to take a field trip. Get up from your desk, and walk out the front door of your property. This is not a mental exercise. You actually have to exit you hotel in order to get the full benefit. Now take a deep breath, clear your mind, and imagine that you are your Guest. 

Ready? 

Walk into your hotel through the front door. What do you see? Hear? Smell? What is the impression you get from the entryway of your property? Be honest. Admire the good things, and make a mental note of the things that needs attention. Don’t stop to fix anything right now, there will be plenty of time for that later. For now, just keep going.

Walk to the front desk how does it look? Are there lights out? Scuff-marks? Are there scraps of paper lying around, or is it a clean and orderly? How do the associates look? How about their uniforms? What impressions do you get when you look at them?

Now go over to the elevators and punch the button. Does it light up? When the elevator arrives does the indicator ding and light up like it’s supposed to? If so, great. If not what kind of an impression does that make on you. I could go on, but I think you’ve got the idea.

This is what Service Superheroes do all the time, everyday. They look at things from the Guest’s perspective, and make appropriate changes when they see something that needs to be fixed.

Tom Peters, in his book The Pursuit of WOW!, talks about the importance of the first time your customer comes in contact with your product, good, or service. He says that a benchmark is set in that moment.

A Guest in your hotel makes a determination about his or her entire stay based on their first moments on your property. This is the beginning of their experience, and if it’s anything less than, “WOW!” then there’s room for improvement.

If you’ve determined that there IS room for improvement, then I’ve got two pieces of great news for you:

1. You now understand what the problems are, so consequently you are in a better position to fix them. 
2. Fixing most of these things will not require a tremendous capital expense.

If you want to deliver Superhero Service to your Guests, this is where you start. When you use your empathy and imagination to look through your Guest’s eyes, and then make changes based on what you see, your Guest’s experience will instantly increase… like today.

Tune in next week for more adventures from a Service Superhero where we’ll delve into the future, present, and past of your Guest’s Experience.

Remember, I can transfer my abilities, or Superpowers, to anyone that truly wants them. Let me know if you'd like to set up a training seminar for your service team, so you can begin to deliver "Superhero Service" to each and every one of your Guests. 

If you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said here, or would just like to share a Service related story or insight, I'd love to hear from you. Please post a comment below.

What’s After “Hello”?

 Standard (stan’derd) n. An average or normal requirement, quality, quantity, level, grade, etc. – Dictionary.com.

Today’s super-cool, neat-o thing is tomorrow’s standard, and if you ain’t got it, you're behind.

Let’s say it’s the 80’s and you’ve bought a new car with all the bells and whistles imaginable. Your new car is so cool that your valve caps tell you the tire pressure of each of your tires. You’re showing off to your friends over wine coolers, and everyone agrees that yours is the coolest car around.

A few years later every car company has valve caps that tell the air pressure of the tires. This previous luxury item is now standard. It’s expected and if someone is looking at a car that doesn’t have it, that car just feels like it's missing something… like it's cheap.

I know I’m “dating myself” here, but when I was a kid and my family was on a road trip we’d pass a hotel occasionally that would boast on their marquee: Free color TV. Free color TV was novel. Prior to that point in time, TV’s in hotel rooms were black and white, and you had to put some money in the slot in order to watch anything.

Soon every hotel had free color TV. It had become the standard, so you began to see “Free HBO” on the marquee’s to try and entice the weary traveler to stay there. Now, if you check into a place and don’t find 520 channels of basic cable, plus 160 HD movie channels, plus “On Demand” programming, all delivered on a flat-screen the size of a school bus, you’d pack your bags in an instant and head for the door.

OK, so I exaggerated a touch there at the end, but the point is valid: Yesterdays perk is today’s necessity. I hear what your saying, “What does any of this have to do with taking care of our customers, our Guests?” My answer is this:

If everyone answers the phone on the first ring,

then the only difference is what happens after “Hello.”  

When your Guest’s make contact with you, what is that experience like from their perspective. And more importantly, how is it not only different, but also better than what they get when they deal with your competition? What is the “extra” that your Guest's get from dealing with you?

Tune in next week for more adventures from a Service Superhero. I’ve got a lot to say about the topic, and next week I’ll show you the two ingredients necessary in order to assess your Guest Experience.

Remember, I can transfer my abilities, or Superpowers, to anyone that truly wants them. Let me know if you'd like to set up a training seminar for your service team, so you can begin to deliver "Superhero Service" to each and every one of your Guests.

 

If you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said here, or would just like to share a Service related story or insight, I'd love to hear from you. Please post a comment below.

Guest with a capital “G”

One of the requests I got from readers of last weeks post, Confessions of a Customer Service Superhero, was for more book recommendations, so I figured I would both move the story forward, and give you a few more books to put on your wish list.

I confessed last week that I was a pretty bad employee prior to 1993, but my life took an unexpected turn when I was shipped off to a secret facility in Orem, Utah for management training. That's where they implanted a radioactive “Service Larva” into my brain, and that began my transformation into a Service Superhero. As this Larva lived inside my head it began to grow, and so did my desire for more information. I became obsessed with customer service, and I began to consume whatever I could find on the subject.

I had been pursuing a retail management career at the time, so I grabbed The Nordstrom Way by Robert Spector and Patrick D. McCarthy to learn about this retail giant’s commitment to their customer. I learned that they began as a family run shoe store, and that their entire service philosophy was formed kneeling at the feet of their customers. By reading about the lengths that they would go to take care of their customers, I began to understand what a true Service Superhero could be. To this day, when you walk into a Nordstrom’s, everything and everyone in the store is there to make your experience more comfortable. They're always thinking about you. Often they’ve even got live piano music wafting through the store, because it makes your time in their store a little nicer.

I also studied Disney. Did you know that visitors to their theme parks are not called customers? They are called Guests, and every time they write that word they spell it with a capital “G” to indicate the importance they place on these folks. When I learned this, my brain started working overtime.

Words are powerful, and when I thought about the word "Guest," I thought about someone staying in my house. There are a lot of things that I might do to a customer that I would never do to a Guest in my house. For example, I wouldn’t think twice about making a customer wait in line, I’ve been to the grocery store, that’s what customers do, but a Guest in my house… Well, I wouldn’t want my Guest to have to wait for anything.

Customers buy goods and services, and I thought back about the expressions I’d heard growing up “You get what you pay for.” and “Buyer beware.” These expressions always made me feel like I had to keep my guard up. Although I was a customer, I was made to feel like the person I was giving my money to was trying to take advantage of me. No one would treat a Guest that way, would they? 

The government has even felt the need to step in and protect the customer on several occasions throughout history. “Lemon Laws” were enacted so that a customer that got screwed when buying a car, had recourse. Conversely, a Guest in my home is someone I take care of. I’m the one concerned with their well-being, and if I can do anything to help them out, I will. My Guest doesn’t need protection from some third party, governmental source; they've got me. 

If you're interested in learning more about Disney’s customer service philosophy, you should read Be Our Guest by The Disney Institute with Theodore Kinni. 

Studying these, and other titans of service, helped shaped my philosophy when it came to serving a Guest. It nourished the worm in my brain, which grew and morphed, transforming into the “Service Bug” that has since taken over my life. It has changed me, forever, into a Service Superhero. 

Remember, I can transfer my abilities, or Superpowers, to anyone that truly wants them. Let me know if you'd like to set up a training seminar for your service team, so you can begin to deliver "Superhero Service" to each and every one of your Guests. 

Be sure to come back next week for more adventures from a Service Superhero. 

If you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said here, or would just like to share a Service related story, or insight, or if you’d like to mention your favorite service related book, I'd love to hear from you. Please post a comment below.