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.