Lunacy In The Lap Lane

My husband and I were lounging by the pool at our health club when we were rattled out of our revelry by a commotion in the lap lanes.

For ten minutes or so we had been chatting while two women were swimming laps in the pool in front of us. They were in separate lanes. One woman was in her mid-40s and the other woman was around 70. Suddenly, the younger woman stopped swimming, and whacked the older swimmer on the shoulder with her Styrofoam kickboard.

She continued hitting the older woman with her kickboard while yelling at her, "You've bumped into me three times! Why don't you watch where you're going?"

She was yelling so loudly that everyone in the pool stopped what they were doing and stared at her. The older woman was shielding herself from the blows and apologizing. "I...I didn't mean to bump you. I've stayed in my own lane. I'm sorry," she said.

"Well, sorry isn't good enough," the younger woman replied. "I take my swimming seriously, and you should learn the rules." With that, she swam off.

It was like a crazy Saturday Night Live episode. Most of the observers were mildly shocked and angered by this woman's behavior. Some found it quite amusing. A few people sitting by the edge of the pool started laughing at the offending woman. Once again she stopped, looked up at the laughing group and said, "Oh sure, use me as your weekend entertainment why don't you?"

Now the kickboard is light and the woman didn't actually hit hard enough to cause physical harm. But the older swimmer was clearly shaken and upset. After a few minutes, she quietly exited the pool and headed indoors.

Regardless of pool rules, there is no question that the younger woman was way out of line. No one wants to belong to a family-oriented health club where this type of behavior is tolerated. I carefully watched the lifeguards and club staff to see if anyone was going to address the issue of inappropriate behavior with the woman who did the hitting. No one did.

One group of club members was so angry about the incident that they wanted the women's membership revoked. Others talked to the head of the aquatics program and requested that she at least address the issue with the swimmer who did the hitting. The director laughed nervously and said, "I don't know what to say to her. Let's just hope it doesn't happen again."

The health club staff's lack of willingness to act on this matter has caused a great deal of frustration with many members. Some are threatening to cancel their membership. As customers of the club, they feel they have a right to expect all members to adhere to the rules of etiquette and courtesy.

Their lack of ability to take action in this matter will cause the club to lose good members. Ironically, the woman who caused the problem is still there swimming laps as if nothing had happened. I haven't seen the older woman since that day.
Employees need to be trained and empowered to deal with customers who act inappropriately. When the nasty behavior of a single customer is not addressed, it can do considerable damage to the image of a business. It compromises the quality of service that all of the other customers receive. It also lowers the credibility of all employees who are present.

You owe it to your customers to deliver great service in an environment where they feel valued and safe. This means that no behavior that it offensive to other customers can be tolerated. The employees at my health club clearly were ill-equipped to handle this type of situation. Conflict management training is essential for employees who work in organizations where there is considerable interaction between customers.

Turn Off Your Toys During Meetings

At a recent sales convention, the CEO of the company walked up to the microphone and stepped into the spotlight to make a speech. The house lights were lowered for dramatic effect. The room became dark, except for an eerie blue glow that could be seen emanating from seats throughout the ballroom. It was the glow of cell phones, PDAs and pagers.

There is nothing more insulting to a meeting facilitator or the other people in attendance, than a co-worker who is pulling out electronic gadgets to check or send messages. Put your toys away. It is not only rude, it sends a clear signal to your boss that your mind isn't 100 percent on your job. Your calls can wait until your meeting is over or until there is a break. Remember, there was a time before we had cell phones.

Turn off your cell phone, pager, palm pilot or Blackberry and laptop before you enter the meeting. Even if your gadgets are turned off, do not leave them hanging on your ear or lying on the table in front of you. Your laptop should be closed. When you are invited to attend a meeting, your focus should be on the discussion taking place in that meeting, not on your toys.

If you must have access to your electronic gadget, you need to explain the reason to the group and request their permission to leave it turned on. For example, others may need a quick way to reach you if you are dealing with a family emergency or there is a potential crisis brewing within the company. If you must turn it on, make sure that is set on the vibrate mode. If a call comes in, quietly excuse yourself from the room before you answer.

Unless you have received permission from the group, turn off all electronic equipment. Better yet, don't even bring it. Glancing at your phone, sending a text message or checking your email during the meeting will communicate that you are uninterested, bored or distracted. But the loudest message you will communicate is, "I am immature and unprofessional."

Setting behavioral guidelines for meetings is an excellent way to eliminate the use of gadgets and other disruptive behavior during meetings. You can learn how to set meeting guidelines and the secrets of planning successful meetings when you order the Teleseminar CD, "How to Manage Effective, Productive Meetings."

Caution: Robots at Work

I stood in line at the grocery store behind a 5-year-old girl and her mother. As they approached the cashier, the little girl looked up at her mom and said, "Paper or plastic, Mommy?"

All the customers, including me, cracked up laughing. But when the laughter subsided, I overheard a number of side conversations taking place. People began chatting with one another about their awful customer service experiences. The more they shared, the more annoyed they sounded.

That little comment from an innocent child was a reflection of a big problem I call "robotism." Robotism occurs when customers are treated like numbers instead of human beings.

When evaluating the quality of your organization's customer service, it's important to focus considerable energy on the human side of the business. Look for ways to shift your service delivery from being task-oriented to relationship-oriented.

Task-oriented service focuses on getting the job done quickly and efficiently, "Thank you, have a nice day. Next!" But it does not add the human touch and does nothing to build positive, lasting relationships with your customers.

Because loyalty needs to be built one customer at a time, emphasis must to be placed on building rapport and trust through careful listening, empathy and personal touches such as using the customer's name. It is the customer's perception of his experience with your organization that can create or destroy loyalty. Evaluate the quality of service through the eyes of your customers.

Show Your Customers How They Can Save Money

The most important aspect of sales is going out and getting the customer. But getting customers is meaningless if you can't keep them. With each customer interaction you are either building or compromising your reputation and the reputation of your company. Due to tightening budgets and increased expenses, customers will greatly appreciate any effort you make that can help them to save money.

It's important to build trust with your customers by helping them to identify ways to get the most value when they make a purchase. When you show your customers how they can save money, you demonstrate that you have their best interest in mind. Customers are quickly turned off when they think all you care about is making the sale.

For example, I called Apple technical support to inquire why my son was unable to access the iTunes Store online. It had worked fine for two years, but lately he's been experiencing problems. The technical support representative who took the call looked up his serial number and said, "I'm sorry. His telephone technical support coverage has expired. You will need pay for additional coverage and I will be unable to assist you at this time."

I quickly replied, "Okay, but before I hang up, may I just ask you a quick question?"
"Sure." she said. Then she proceeded to spend twenty minutes on the phone helping me at no charge.

When I asked her why she decided to stick with me and waive the fee she said, "This was an unusual circumstance and, regardless of our policy, I just don't feel right brushing off a customer who has a legitimate complaint."

Was it worth it for her to waive the fee? You bet. I will be a loyal Apple customer for a long time to come just because she saved me time and money. She even went the extra mile when she followed up with an email that offered more suggestions on how to resolve this type of problem.

Here are some ways that you can create partnerships with your customers by helping them to save money:

• Bundle services or products and offer your customer a package discount.
• Show your customer time-saving ways to access your services.
• Teach your customers how they can handle their tasks more efficiently in order to save them money.
• Offer to use a less expensive shipping option.
• Pass along an annual "loyal customer" discount. Unexpectedly apply a 20% discount to an order just to thank your customer for doing business with you.
• Periodically waive a service or shipping fee.
• Give your customer more than he or she ordered. For example, I ordered workbooks from my printer for a seminar. The day I picked them up I received a call from my client saying there would be five additional participants. I asked the owner if she could quickly print five more books. She replied, "No problem, we already printed extra copies just in case something like this came up for you." She did not charge me for the extra workbooks.
• Throw in a surprise bonus for your regular customers, such as gift card, box of chocolates or a calendar.
• Be creative. A major client of mine mentioned that he was starting a remodeling project in his home. After I completed an on-site seminar for his company, I sent him a card thanking him for his business and enclosed a $25 Home Depot gift card to help him purchase supplies for his project.
• Offer discounts for large or pre-paid orders.
• Keep in mind that time is money for most people. Teach your customer time-saving tips. You can take it a step further by taking care of work they are normally asked to do, such as filling out paperwork.
• Don't nickel and dime your customers by tacking on small, insignificant service fees. For example, I do not charge my customers for mileage expenses when I present a program at a location within a 100 mile radius of my office.
• Ask your customers for suggestions on how you can provide more cost-effective services.
  Whatever you do, never come back to a customer and tell him or her that you need to charge more because you miscalculated the original quote. I worked with a vendor who was going to handle some editing for me. He quoted me a price of $65. When the job was completed, he sent me an invoice in the amount of $90. I called and said, "You made a mistake. You said it would cost $65."
• He replied, "Oh, yeah. I'm sorry, I misquoted and forgot to take into account your request for adding the sidebar quotes. It's actually $90 and that's a bargain." It didn't feel like a bargain to me and he was determined to stick to the invoiced amount. He got his $90, but at what price? I will never refer any customers to this gentleman and I now work with a different editor.

Your customers rely on you to be completely honest and they will love you when you can show them ways to save money.

Most businesses work in a vacuum. They spend their time just trying to keep up with day-to-day demands—rarely do they get a chance to observe what other businesses are doing and learn from them. From time to time, we need to pause, to step back from our routine, and look outside our walls. What’s going on “out there”? What are others doing in the business neighborhood? We should open a window and look out. We might all belong to different industries, but we share a single goal: to cement customer loyalty. What’s more, the principles that create customer loyalty cross industry lines. In that respect, we can all learn from each other, whether we bake pound cake for a living or operate an airline. You'll learn creative ways to exceed your customers' expectations when you order the instantly downloadable eBook, The Extra Mile-15 True Stories of Exceptional Customer Service.

Think Before You Speak

The package I dropped off at the post office had $3.00 too much postage on it. I had mistakenly used a flat-rate priority mail box, instead of the lower rate box. Since it weighed over a pound, I was required to hand it directly to one of the postal employees. After I turned in my package, I walked over to another area to pick up some envelopes.

The employee who had accepted my package apparently thought I had left. Holding my package up in the air, she yelled across the post office to a co-worker, "What an idiot. That woman put way too much postage on her package. She used the wrong box." Her embarrassed co-worker pointed out that I was standing less than 20 feet away and had heard her insult. So had all the other customers who were standing in line. Everyone was silent as they waited to see what would happen.

It was tempting to defend myself, but I was so angry that, rather than say anything, I just kept quiet. I smiled at the woman who had insulted me. Rather than apologizing, she started lecturing me by saying, "Well, you should have used the right box and weighed your package more carefully. You just wasted money."

Again, I didn't reply. Instead I headed for the door. Because I'm a regular customer, another employee ran after me to apologize on behalf of his co-worker. His explanation? "She doesn't always think before she speaks."

This was a blatant example of name calling, but less obvious examples of this problem take place in workplaces all the time. Your customers pick up on more than you think they do. If two employees are whispering to one another, customers may think they are the subject of the conversation.

When the offensive postal worker called on the next person in line, the customer responded, "No, thank you. I'll wait for a different window!" The other customers giggled and one gentleman applauded. I felt redeemed.

An employee who gossips or makes snide remarks about anyone in front of customers will quickly earn a reputation as unprofessional, immature and offensive. If at all possible, regular customers will go out of their way to avoid interactions with that employee. An employee who maintains a friendly, nonjudgmental demeanor, at all times, will earn the respect and appreciation of customers. He or she will also earn the positive attention of the boss. These types of employees are more likely to be promoted.

If your customer or a co-worker makes an obvious mistake, position yourself as a coach, rather than a critic. The postal employee could have earned huge points in my book if she had simply said, "Let me show you how you can save money on your future shipments."