The Pedestal Group

Service has always been, and will always be in the details.  I recently started working with a company that has three individuals who work with clients.  I can’t market this company until they start getting their service more consistent which I have shared with them.  In the mean time, make sure you aren’t doing the same.

My initial introduction to the organization was through one of their customer support reps, we’ll call her Amy.  I observed her with several clients and each time she was engaged, clearly knew her products, and was able to solve their problems.  Each one left with a smile on her face and with goals and reasons to come back soon.  My second visit involved Jeff.  Jeff is new and the first thing out of his mouth when someone comes in for an appointment is “I’m new”.  Immediately clients move to uncomfortable.  He wasn’t able to answer any of the questions put to him although he promised to find out and follow up, and he really only knew anything about the products he’s used himself, which were few.  At the end of the meeting, the clients had the same or more questions and didn’t look happy.  The third consultant, Lori, had a terrible time with time management.  When I arrived she had one client but as they moved to her office, two others arrived.  She was so concerned about the “back up” she clearly did not give the current customer the time she needed.  Interestingly enough at one point she told the customer that if she “could come back when she had more time” Lori could get into more stuff with her.  The customer then indicated she had “all the time in the world” much to the shock of Lori.  She had transferred her time stress to the client and not even realized it.  In addition, she didn’t listen to the client ask questions and then had to answer what she assumed had been asked.  After the third question that wasn’t answered, the client quit asking although on her notepad she had many more questions.  The fact that Lori didn’t notice the notepad or the list of questions was a surprise to me.

I have given this client a proposal that starts with unifying their offering before we start marketing.  First, we need to get Jeff training on the products as well as customer service.  Inspiring confidence is his number one job so we need to help him do so.  Also, I checked in with him two days later to see if he had followed up on all the questions and he confessed he was behind on that.  We quickly created a system so he can track the questions and answers and learn where to get them as his plan was to “just ask Amy”.  We also put in place a goal of calling the client before she got home so that upon her arrival was a voice mail letting her know what her options were.  This should gain Jeff a strong following. Finally, Lori needs some serious work.   Helping her learn to focus on the person in front of her is job number one.  I would like to see Lori in a situation where there aren’t other customers waiting but I believe there is always something else that needs to be done so I’m not convinced she is cut out for a service position.

Am I really recommending they not market their company?  In the short term, yes!  At this point there is a one in three chance that a customer would receive the products and service we would be marketing.  This will not create the kind of referral culture and customer loyalty we would want out of a program.  Until these issues are addressed, the majority of people will feel misled and unhappy with the company.  Nothing can sabotage a marketing effort faster than customers with bad experiences!

So take a hard look at your organization or hire someone to do it for you.  Have them make sure what you are selling is what you are providing and that customers will have a good experience.  If the problems can be fixed by training, like Jeff, then get the training needed immediately.  If the problems may not be trainable, then find the right people to do the job. And finally, if you have someone or multiple people setting the standard for service, be sure they are rewarded and are recognized for doing so.  The worst thing that could happen to this company would be Amy leaving!

Anyone who knows me knows I am all about having fun. Having a meeting? Do something to make it fun. Balloons are fun – colors are fun – don’t just be boring and “professional”. A person can be both! Today, my husband sent me a link to The Fun Theory. These experiments are part of a contest to find ways to change behavior through fun sponsored by Volkwagen. And what great ideas they are so far! One covers a staircase in material that turns it into a piano. They showed a huge increase in people taking the stairs just to play music. And the thing is, not everyone who took the stairs showed any reaction. They just walked up the stairs as if it were normal that music came out. But, they still took the stairs.

The other one I watched had a noise maker installed in a garbage can so that when you threw something away, it sounded like it fell for miles. The great result of this one was people looked around for trash to throw in it! Not only did this encourage people to get the trash in the trash bin, but also to clean up the park around it!

So what can you do in your business to make it fun? In presentations do you tell funny stories? If you have to complete large forms, is there a funny part hidden in it somewhere? (I know a person who put a clause in every contract he ever wrote that said, “if you find this and call me to discuss it, I will pay you $150″. The bummer thing is no one ever called!) What is the part of your process your customers hate? Everyone has one. What can you do to make it fun?

On 7/30 Fritz, my dog, graced us with his Top 10 Management Tips. Fritz and I spend a lot of time together and I am routinely amazed at what he knows and does. I have always (foolishly) considered myself to be the provider and Fritz to be the customer but I realized this morning, I have that backwards. Fritz is a classic small business executive!

This morning, as usual, I started to close a phone call and Fritz was sitting up, ready to go play / walk / do something. Since we have only worked together for nine months, I was surprised at how quickly I came to expect this behavior. But from Fritz’s perspective, how did he learn what the end of a phone call sounded like? He can’t understand the words and he certainly doesn’t understand what that black thing that is constantly near mom’s head is, so how did he learn? HE OBSERVED. He knew what he wanted (my attention) and he observed what happens right before he could get it. Now he also did experiments – climbing up my chair at various intervals – but he quickly learned that the black thing took precedence. But he also learned over time that there was a certain cadence to my voice as I wrap up a call. “Great! Talk to you soon! Bye” translates to “now I can pay attention Fritz” in his mind.

Okay – that’s all nice Kath, but so what? Well, if you are a small business owner, it is a good bet you don’t have a magic mirror that lets you see into your customer’s operations. You don’t know what they are doing when they finally pay attention to you. So what can you observe? What can you take from Fritz and use yourself to learn how to be ready just at that moment the customer has to choose to make another phone call or pay attention to you? How can you be sitting up ready to play?

The advantage you hold is your ability to communicate. Fritz can’t ask me “what is that black thing and why do you care?” but you can. Talk to your customers about how they made the decision to come to you. How did they remember you were the solution to their problem? What trigger led them to notice you were ready to play?

Think about it, call your customers, try some experiments. For me, well, it is time to go throw the toy in the yard.