Organizations can assume that their customers are as educated on their internal processes as their employees are. This assumption will cause customer alienation if practiced too frequently.

For example, because of staff cutbacks, the library has done a very good job of training us to serve ourselves, from ordering books to check out. So interacting with a live person is an anomaly. But I couldn’t order this book without a librarian’s assistance. With my librarian, I ordered a book from a neighboring library system. He explained that it would take a little longer than an in-system borrow, and I’d get an email when it arrived.

A week later, the email arrived so I went to pick it up. I perused the usual book hold area to no avail. There was a line at the librarian’s desk so I decided to call later to ask, thinking the notification had been in error. Later that day I called and got voice mail. I left a message as well as emailed the library.

Five days passed and I knew if the notice was correct, the book would be returned the next day, so I called again and got the head librarian. He said, “It’s here waiting for you.” I told him I’d be right over.

Again, I searched the hold area but no book was awaiting in my name. I inquired at the check-out counter, and the librarian said, “Here it is” as she reached under the counter. I calmly asked, “How would I have ever known that the book would not be in the usual book hold area?” She said, “All books from outside our system are held here.” I again asked, “How would I have ever known this? The librarian I ordered it through didn’t say anything, the librarian I talked to earlier today didn’t mention it. I could have had this book a week earlier if I’d had any idea I had to ask at the counter.” She said I could speak to her supervisor.

It turns out he’s the one I spoke to on the phone. I suggested that when patrons order books from outside the system, they be informed where the book will be held so they don’t get frustrated looking in the normal, but wrong, place. He explained the system, as the previous librarian had, but seemed not to grasp that patrons wouldn’t know that their system meant a very different process than the patron was used to. He didn’t seem to understand the importance of explaining to the patron when something different than the norm was required to get what they needed.

It made me wonder how many other organizations expect their customers to understand their processes, without ever educating their customers. Ideally, the initial librarian would have told me where the book would be located when I came to pick up the book. Then the email could have reiterated that. But knowing that some email systems are nearly impossible to change, how about putting a note in the book-hold area with my name on it, as is the norm, but then telling me to pick up the book at the counter?

Patrons can’t easily take their business to other libraries. But customers can often effortlessly take their business elsewhere if the organization is too narcissistic, expecting the customers to bend to their processes with no thinking of how these procedures affect the customer.

How do you know if you’re irritating your customers by expecting them to know how you work? Interviewing your customers will yield gold. You’ll find out what you’re doing that may cause your customers inconvenience or downright anger.

Remarkable Customer Service...And Disservice

The book Remarkable Customer Service…And Disservice is chock-full of other examples of good and bad service. Order now!

If you missed my live webinar for Citrix called “Effectively Growing Your Key Sales and Service Talent: Are You Sunlight and Water or Just Manure?” you can watch the recording for free.

My fabulous graphic artist Kimb Mason has produced a new magazine, “Today’s Professional Speaker” to showcase her many speaker clients. This inaugural issue features articles for newer speakers. She asked me to contribute my article, “Thriving In Today’s Business Climate.”

Download your free copy today.

• Sally is rigid with long-term customers even though she has the power to be flexible and make modifications.

• Paul is accusatory to other departments’ managers, making erroneous assumptions based on little information.

• Bill doesn’t carefully read emails so asks the same questions again and again, doesn’t respond to colleagues’ direct questions, and flames them about things that were covered clearly if he’d taken the time to read the communication.

• Laurie insists the customer service reps communicate only by text because that’s easiest on her, even though it is much easier for them to communicate by email.

• Fred stubbornly requires that other managers give him what he wants the way and when he wants it, without any willingness to discuss what would work for both parties.

• Sue Ellen gets defensive when anyone suggests a way to accomplish a task that is different than hers, repeatedly citing that any “reasonable person” would see that her way is the only way that makes any sense. She has determined that she is the sole arbiter of reasonableness and is not willing to discuss any other options.

• Justin has no concept of “win/win.” He only sees “win/lose” and will do nearly anything, at the cost of relationships with customers and coworkers, to ensure he is the one who wins. No one wants to work with him, let alone be around him.

• When Theresa finds folks aren’t agreeing with her, she makes up what she says the dead founder would have said to do, even though she barely knew him.

• Jeremy argues that he is right even though others who are more level headed disagree. He will not back down.

• Marilyn cheats on her expense reports and when asked for receipts and explanations, gets defensive and seems incredulous that she isn’t trusted. Only under duress and many requests does she produce partial documentation.

• Simon drags his feet on his part of a project. When cost overruns are certain because of the slipped deadlines, he accuses everyone else of being the problem and says they should be liable for any overage.

Do any of these sound familiar?
These people are wrecking havoc in your organization. They may be costing you customers and/or valuable employees. Their insistence on their way being the only right way is not only off-putting, it’s infuriating to those who have to work with them.

They’ve gotten away with it for so long because they may be the one with the most knowledge in an area, they’ve intimidated their boss, they’ve threatened a grievance or law suit if disciplined, or they are related to someone at the top.

Not only are they dangerous to the health of your department or business, but they can be literally dangerous if they work in a safety-critical area. I know someone like this who works as a nuclear power operator, in charge of monitoring the machines that determine if the reactor is running properly. Because this person displays all the behaviors listed above, I wouldn’t want to live near their reactor, as they so frequently misunderstand common communication I wouldn’t trust them to interpret internal communication properly.

What do you do with people like this?

• Don’t put up with their bullying and rigid behavior. Nip it in the bud. Don’t let it go or they will think their behavior is acceptable — meanwhile they’re alienating your best customers and staff.
• Don’t give into their demands, as that just reinforces that they are “right.” They don’t understand that acquiescence isn’t agreement. Be professional but firm.
• If the behaviors don’t change (don’t plan on them to, as they see nothing wrong with how they’re acting), do what you need to move them on. You can’t afford them poisoning your business. Make sure to do everything by the book as they will come back to haunt you if there were any missed p’s and q’s.
• Give your other staff training on how to stand up to overbearing, self-righteous people. Of course, you can’t exclude them from coming, but they will get nothing out of it and may try to belittle and bully the instructor!

“Effectively Growing Your Key Sales and Service Talent: Are You Sunlight and Water or Just Manure?”

You know you have a huge competitive advantage in your sales and service representatives. They can either make your customer relationships bloom and grow or die on the vine. As a manager, you can make a huge difference in how your people nurture your customers.

You need to ask yourself some hard questions: Are your team members growing or shriveling? Are you enabling them to flourish or causing them to wilt? How can you grow your own skills as well as nourish those with whom you work? How can you ensure even exemplars to grow their skills?

If you’re like most entrepreneurs, managers or executives, you know if you aren’t enhancing your people’s customer contact skills, you’re going to lose your customers.  Your competitors are like weeds — ready to overtake your best customers – and perhaps your stellar employees.

You need to keep your and your team members’ skills sharp, but not sure how to do that on a limited (or no) budget. Rebecca will share her thoughts on keeping growing to thrive and not let your business die from lack of tending.

Rebecca will discuss:
·    Why your best sales and service employees may be ready to leave – and your best customers might go with them
·    Why maintaining status quo means you’re losing ground
·    How you can develop your people with limited – or no – budget
·    How to get the highest ROI from any development effort

Thursday, June 10
11 AM (PDT)/2 PM (EDT)
Register here.

This was not what I expected to hear from the clean-cut, college-aged young man sitting in the parking attendant booth.

Handing him my parking ticket, I asked, “Do you get a lot of studying done?”

He enthusiastically responded, “Absolutely! I read a book a day. I’ve figured out that I work about 30 minutes a day. So I get paid to read. I have the best job in the world!”

How many people would consider a tedious, minimum-wage job the best in the world? Not many. A lot of people would complain that they weren’t using their brains, how mind-numbing it was to wait and wait and wait for a customer, and then in 60 seconds the transaction was over, and they’d wait and wait and wait again.

Most parking attendants I’ve observed listen to music or talk on the phone in between transactions. Few, in my experience, use their time to better themselves.

I, too, had one of those best jobs in the world. It was between my freshman and sophomore years in college. I worked alone in a tiny donut shop on a main thoroughfare. Mostly my customers were construction workers on their way to or from a job. And most of the traffic, as you’d guess, was early in the morning. By 9:00 my customers had trailed to a trickle.

I busied myself reading, writing letters (on paper — remember when we used to do that?), or doing embroidery while listening to favorite radio stations. I got a lot done that summer and, like the parking attendant, felt I had a great job to be paid to do what I’d do at home. Since there were so few interruptions (customers), I’d have long stretches to really focus on my other activities.

Since few jobs allow us to do our hobbies at work, the question then becomes how can we turn any job into the best job in the world? Even with little “free time” at work, how could we don the perspective that this job is the greatest?

For example, instead of bemoaning challenging customers and coworkers, we could look at them as a chance to try some new approaches to getting along. If we feel inundated, we can seek out colleagues that can give us some new methods to attack our workload. If we’re feeling uninspired, we can explore how we can get excited again about our projects.

Every job could become the best job in the world if we decide to make it so. And if you’re a manager, how could you create an environment where each employee thinks their job is the best?