Continue reading »]]> Great customer service is easy.  That’s why it bewilders me that so many companies get it wrong.  Great customer service is a mindset choice of either yes or no.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Companies that are great at customer service first respond to customers with “yes answers” and those companies that are poor at customer service first respond to customers with “no answers.”

Are there times when you have to say no to a customer?  I used to think the answer was yes.  But, the more and more our company steps out and takes a yes first attitude with our customers, the more and more I believe there should never be a time when you have to say no to a customer.

Countless examples come to my mind where a customer contacts us with a problem, or leaves feedback that they’re not satisfied.  Often times that first contact or feedback takes on an attacking tone because they’re ready for a poor customer service experience.  However, the customer becomes completely disarmed when we approach the problem with an attitude of “what can we do to solve this problem that would make you happy?”  Numerous times we’ve been able to turn customers that rate our service poor because on an isolated situation to fans of our company.

Have we had to change how we conduct our business?  Sure.  We take returns on items that, in the past, we would have pushed a “you purchased it in as is condition, and it’s your problem” attitude.  The transition to “how can we make you happy” was a difficult adjustment.  However, we find ourselves spending less time fighting customers, and much more time working with customers to make the customer experience positive.

Despite my attitudes, I occasionally have the displeasure of working with people who take a “no first” approach to life and customers.  I’ve got to say these experiences are some of my least liked experiences.  I think people take this attitude because of a number of reasons – but I sometimes think it’s a mixture of underlying problems.  In particular control issues, power issues, fear of the unknown, and are just a few of the underlying issues that drive the “no first” approach to life and customers.  Granted, I’m often fearful of the response when I give the customer options to resolve a problem, and always include the option “or, some other solution that I’ve not outlined that would make you happy.”  However, not once have I felt taken advantage of by a customer when they’ve selected the “nuclear option” of xyz is the solution that will make me happy.

In the end, if you’re  truly looking to change your experiences with customers, and even your relationships with others, start exploring ways you can answer yes to requests and not make your first jump to how can I answer no to requests.  It’s a mindset change that will have immediate positive results in your business and life.

Continue reading »]]> As you may know, I’m a big fan of Twitter for a variety of reasons.  However, my favorite reason is to create relationships with people and companies with whom you otherwise would not have contact.  Take two recent examples of excellent customer service by two different companies with a presence on Twitter.

First, an experience with Granite City Food & Brewery (@gcfb on Twitter).  I’ve recently committed to making running a part of my regular routine, and as part of this commitment I’ve become much more conscious about what I eat.  To that end, I like to check the nutritional information of restaurants before I eat there, just to get an idea of my options.  It turns out Granite City doesn’t post their nutritional information online.  I tweeted about this, and it wasn’t too long before I got a direct message from Granite City offering me contact information for the proper person to contact about obtaining the nutritional information.  We exchanged a few tweets, and all was good.  I’ve always been a fan of Granite City, and their reaching out to me just increased my fandom.

The second was an equally satisfying experience in the end, but started with frustration on my part, and involved Chipotle (@ChipotleTweets on Twitter).  You see the line was über long, and wasn’t moving.  The staff was cranking out the online orders, and the line grew to some 60+ people standing staring at the staff.  I tweeted about my frustration, and it wasn’t long before I had a response from Chipotle asking me to fill out a form on their website.  I did this, exchanged a few more tweets, and was satisfied.  Fast forward a few days, and I get an email from their marketing department indicating:

I agree with you that there must be a better way to handle the mix of customers and online orders. I apologize for the long wait that you experienced as a result of our poor customer management, I can understand how this would be frustrating. I’ll forward your comments along to our store and local area managers so they can help our teams to better manage these competing needs.

Since we let you down I’d like to try to make it up to you. If you’ll give me your address I’ll send you a Burrito Buck – good for one free burrito, bowl, salad or tacos entree. I’m confident that your next experience will be much more pleasant.

Very cool, and very responsive.  Despite an otherwise disappointing experience, Chipotle reached out to me, validated my feelings, and indicated they’d be discussing their handling of future similar situations.

Often times, when I’ve had a poor experience, I just want to know my concern has been heard, and that my concerns will be used to make my next experiences better.   Both companies did an excellent job of reaching out to me, and addressing my concerns.  Best of all both companies reached out to me without me having to reach out to them directly.  Proactive customer service is even better than the sit back and wait model that seems to be so common today.

Continue reading »]]> Recently, I learned of a new store in St. Cloud that will pay you for your gently used articles of clothing, and then resell them for a profit (actually 3x what they pay you for the item).  At first glance, I thought it was a great idea.  But, the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if it just wasn’t greedy and actually hurting those in need.  Allow me to explain.

On this particular Saturday, our first stop was Goodwill to drop off some articles of clothing, and some other items for donation.  Our second stop was to this thrift store to drop off some better articles of clothing and receive some cash for these items that otherwise would have been donated to Goodwill.  Like I said at first I thought what a great idea, but the more I thought about it, the more I became convicted that something just wasn’t right about the concept.

If the items really are of little to no use to you anymore, why not just outright give them to someone or someplace that can put them to a good use?  Why try to eek out every last cent from an item for which you no longer have use?  If our purpose in life is really to love others, how is being greedy with our leftovers serving to carry out that goal? [note: I am an auctioneer, routinely sell personal property of others, and fully realize that I'm being hypocritical.  I further realize I'd be without a job if the world actually adopted what I'm about to propose.]

Think if instead of trying to eek out every last cent, we found someone who could really use the item, and outright gave it to them.  How would our world be different?  I can’t help but think it’d be an awesome place.  I also can’t help but think that we’d be much happier and content.  In the end, we ended up getting $15 for four items and a bag of clothes that the store wouldn’t take which we ended up taking to Goodwill.  In the end, we would have been better off just giving all the items to Goodwill, or finding someone who we knew would have been blessed by us giving them the items.

In fact, I know for a fact, that when I’ve given things away to others (an iPod Touch, and Garmin GPS are just a few of the items that come to mind), I’ve experienced so much more happiness and joy than had I just sold the item.  After my experience I’m convicted that I need to look at how I use my stuff and how I handle the disposition of my leftovers.  I’m hoping that I continue to challenge myself to give freely to those in need around me.