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.

Confessions of a Customer Service Superhero

Every Superhero has an origin story…

In 1993 I was shipped off to a secret facility in Orem, Utah for eleven weeks. It was billed as a “Management Training Boot Camp,” but after that experience, I was never the same.

Prior to attending this “Boot Camp” I was just a regular guy, not a great employee – I was a little bit selfish, and sometimes I could be a jerk to both my employer and to my customer.

I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I remember one job I had as a busboy; I was the only busser working on this particular Sunday lunch shift, and I decided that since the world revolved around me, I was only going to move at what I deemed a comfortable pace. The line of people waiting for a table kept getting longer and longer. Tables were empty, but they were still dirty so no one could sit there, and I, for some reason, refused to move any faster.

I wasn’t that bad at every job I had before arriving at the Management Training facility, but I wasn’t a good employee by any stretch.

During those eleven weeks I was exposed to a different way of thinking. I was given books like The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, and In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman. I was also taught things like: “The customer’s always right.” and “If you don’t take care of the customer somebody else will.” They’re clichés now, but I had never heard them at the time.

The most influential service lesson I learned during those eleven weeks was this:

THE CUSTOMER IS MY BOSS. I WORK FOR THEM. 

THEY PAY MY SALARY.

Of course the place where I work gives me a paycheck, but it’s the customer who gives them the money. Maybe it was the rebel in me that latched on to this one so ferociously, but I loved the idea and still embrace it to this day.

When they told me this, it was as if these people had placed a little white-hot, radioactive “larva” in my ear, and it squirmed its way into my brain.

As this larva, this worm, began to make its home in my grey matter, I began to see everything differently. I instantly understood that if I truly had the best interest of the customer in mind while I did my job, I couldn’t make a mistake. I looked it up, and dictionary.com calls that bulletproof.

This “radioactive larva” morphed into a “bug” that continued to grow inside me. It not only took over my brain, it took over my life. I began to consume customer service books, and seek out customer service thought leaders.

I became obsessed with the customer experience, which caused me to develop additional... well, abilities. Some people call them Superpowers.

For example, I can now read a customer’s mind. I put myself in their shoes and analyze things from the their perspective. Empathy. By doing this, I can determine their needs, and how best to help them, without them verbalizing anything.

Bullet Proof.

Mind Reader.

These are just a few of the powers I have developed over the last twenty years, and I will discuss more of them as the Blog continues.

If you will allow me though, I will touch on one additional power:

Transference.

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