WORK IN PROGRESS
(Life, Me, You, This Newsletter)
Vol. VI, Issue 4, February 15, 2002 ><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>><<>>
In this issue:
Personal::::"I feel so good"
Business::::It only takes one... (bad apple)
Retirement revisited
Recommended reading
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"I FEEL SO GOOD"
There is a saying, "Laugh, and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone." We are encouraged to emphasize the positive, to focus on our strengths, and to give thanks for all the good that happens to us. So, some of us do, and quite rightly and wisely.
However, there can sometimes be a flip side, a dark side to our happiness. It is that to some people we may come over as being unbearable smug, and this can be hurtful when they seek solace from us.
"Smug" says my dictionary--"highly self-satisfied, self-righteous."
For example, say that a friend feels that his world is coming to an end, that the sky is indeed falling, and has no prospect of ever returning to its proper place above us. How do we respond? It may be that, were we in his place we MIGHT focus on the fact that we still have our health, a roof over our heads, and people who love us (assuming that these things are true). But for us to point out to our friend that these things are true for him, in an attempt to point out that the world is NOT ending, may be the last thing that he needs to hear at this moment.
Though given with the best intention in the world, and with nothing but comfort in mind, such a response may be akin to the problem-solving mode into which some people go just when a loved one seeks to unload. If we are seeking be HEARD at the emotional level, then all the intellectual problem-solving in the world will not help how we feel. In fact, it may make us feel worse, because there is an implication that the intensity of our feelings is invalid when it is clear that the problem can be solved. In fact, feelings are never invalid. Feelings just ARE. They may be based on an inaccurate assessment of the situation, but they are still valid based on our perceived reality at the time.
In the same way, there may be times when our focusing on the positive, just at the moment that the individual needs to express his distress, feels like an invalidation of that distress. It can also feel too much like a smug focus on how much "better" we are in our handling of problems than is our friend.
Perhaps there will be a time later for a gentle nudge, even a series of nudges, towards positive thinking and a focus on what is going right. However, that time is probably not just when the pain is bubbling over into expression and the most urgent need is to be heard.
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IT ONLY TAKES ONE...
As business owners look for places where they can pare down their budgets, one of the first is often in training. Yet beware that a lack of training does not offset the pluses of other investments. For, sad to say, just one employee whose customer service attitude is lacking can, in a minute or less, result in serious and lasting harm to a business. Several times in the last few months I have been impressed by the extent to which one apparently poorly trained employee, or one with a negative attitude, can negate the spending of thousands of dollars on advertising.
Not long ago a garage door that would not open caused me to call for repairs. Because I had seen the name of a particular company every day for years, advertising on the television alongside my local news, I naturally picked that company. We made an appointment. The day of the appointment someone called me to change it to another day. The garage door remained closed. We made another appointment for another day, working around some times when, as I firmly told them, I could not be available. The evening before that appointment they called me to say that they would be out... at exactly the time I had told them I could not be available. When I pointed this out, a surly voice informed me that I would "have to" leave a key somewhere where they could find it. Hah!
It took their competitor two hours from my phone call to arrive and have the door back in fine working order. When that door needs replacement, or other work needs doing, who do you think I'll call, regardless of television advertising? The first company may have a huge advertising budget with winning slogans and great graphics, but one lackadaisical appointment scheduler threw away all the benefit of it, as far as ever getting my business. Might that have changed with a bit more training?
Something similar happened this week in regards to getting a piece of jewelry mended. Again, a large company with a huge advertising budget attracted me into its store based on its commercials and its convenient location. And again the behavior of an indifferent sales clerk lacking in knowledge of her business caused me to drive far out of my way to another company, where the needed work was cheerfully done in ten minutes, while I waited and was made to feel welcome. At a cost of $5.00 this was not a huge interaction. Yet... when I am in the mood to buy jewelry, which place do you think I will choose? Which do you think I will recommend to others?
If you, as a business owner, are spending money on advertising, or on other ways of attracting customers, it is important to be sure that your staff are not canceling the effect of that effort by driving away the potential customers who do show up. The difficulty, of course, lies in knowing how your staff treat customers when you are not around.
In case you have never considered it, it really is worth your while to use a mystery shopper on a regular basis. You do not have to hire a professional mystery shopper, although that is a possibility. You can ask a friend or relative who is not known to your employees to call for an appointment and see how s/he is treated. S/he can go to your place of business and act like an ordinary customer. Explain in advance what to look for in terms of how s/he is treated. If you really want to be effective, don't send someone who looks like your ideal customer. Rather than sending someone hip and smart and with the look of wealth, try sending Aunt Mary or Uncle Pete. You might suggest that they not dress their very best and, obviously, not let anyone know that they know you. How do your staff treat them when you are not around? Are they welcomed? Are their questions answered? Better yet, send Aunt Mary on her own. Older women are among the most poorly served customers in many businesses. If she is well looked after then you can be fairly sure that other customers are also well-treated.
If she is not treated well, not welcomed and paid attention to, consider whether some additional training may be worth your while. If it means taking a few dollars out of the advertising budget... perhaps in the long run it will be well worth it.
(For some customer service training suggestions, see Recommended Reading below.)
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PLANNING FOR THE EMOTIONAL SIDE OF RETIREMENT - REVISITED
After I addressed this issue in the last issue of WIP I received more passionate and thoughtful responses than I have received on any other topic in the past. This is an area on which I do coach some people, but I also recognize that one-on-one coaching is not financially possible for many of the people for whom it would be most useful.
Here's an idea. Supposing I were to set up a group coaching program so that you could be on the phone in a group coaching situation, with a number of other people with the same concerns. Supposing that for a set fee quite a lot lower than a one-on-one coaching fee, you could do this twice a month and perhaps also have one one-on-one coaching call with me. (You probably know that most coaching is done by phone anyway.) Would that interest you? Let me know. If there is a demand for it, then I'll make plans to start such a program.
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RECOMMENDED READING
The Big Book of Customer Service Training Games: Quick, Fun Activities for Training Customer Service Reps, Salespeople, and Anyone Else Who Deals Wit by Peggy Carlaw, Vasudha Kathleen Deming
"Designed for anyone who manages front line service workers, The Big Book of Customer Service Training Games contains 50 creative activities that teach the basics of treating customers with respect, listening well, smoothing out ruffled feathers, and all the other skills an employee needs to sell and serve customers."
To learn more and/or order, click on
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0070779740/personalandcareeA/002-8534146-380480
Customer Satisfaction Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty Is Priceless: How to Make Customers Love You, Keep Them Coming Back and Tell Everyone They Know by Jeffrey Gitomer
"To longtime sales and customer-service pro Jeffrey Gitomer, boasting about a near-perfect customer-satisfaction rating of 97.5 percent is a major mistake. 'That means 2.5 percent of your customers are mad and they're telling everyone.' This book outlines his formula for making customers so faithful they 'will fight before they switch--and they will proactively refer people to buy from you.' Regularly employing oversized type in screaming bold fonts to grab the reader's attention, Gitomer breathlessly recounts his start-to-finish approach to becoming 'memorable' to consumers."
To learn more and/or order, click on
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D188516730X/personalandcareeA/002-8534146-380480
Customer Service For Dummies* by Karen F. Leland, Keith F. Bailey
As usual I detest the "for Dummies" part of the title, but I have to admit that some of the books in this series are excellent. Of this one, says one reviewer,
"I've worked in the customer support field now for seven years and I consider myself somewhat of an expert in the field. I bought this book because I thought that I could use a few suggestions or reminders to help me hone my skills. What I found was a goldmine."
To learn more and/or order, click on
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0764552090/personalandcareeA/002-8534146-380480
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Copyright 2002 Diana Robinson, Ph.D. Work in
Progress may be reproduced in its entirety only,
including this copyright line. Disclaimer -The contents herein are solely the opinions of Work in Progress owner, and should not be considered as a form of therapy nor advice. There is no guarantee of validity or accuracy. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, services of a competent professional should be sought.
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