Email Sucks

In many cases, email is an absolutely terrible way to communicate effectively.  In the The Happy Customer Handbook I discuss “Putting You into Every Client Contact”. 

I discuss the fact that communication experts say that body language and intonation account for 90% of effective communication.  How does email fit into body language and intonation?  It doesn’t.  Often, email communication should be called email miscommunication.

I’ve actually had people tell me they didn’t like the tone of an email they received from someone.  I asked them to send me that email.  As someone not involved in the issue I saw no tone what-so-ever.

Sure, a great writer can put tone into their writings, but to expect that a particular email, that may or may not have been hugely important to the sender, that may have been composed in a matter of seconds was sent with a particular tone is, at best, a guess. 

I often remind our team at that “Email Sucks”.  If you have something important to say and it could be taken incorrectly, “Email Sucks!”

Also, unless you’re willing to upset the recipient much more than you can imagine, you should never send an email that is negative or critical.

Another, rule of thumb that we’ve found that works is, “If you go back and forth about something with email quit typing and get on the phone, or go see the person.”

 You can get my hard copy book (not an e-book), The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You for free at www.HowToControlYourBusiness.com.  I just ask that you pay $2.97 to help cover shipping and handling.

 “Do What You Do So Well
That People Can’t Help Telling Others About You” 

 Keith Lee
www.keithlee.com

Keep Failing and Start Succeeding

The sign off on my email for years was, “Keep thinking, keep trying, keep failing, keep succeeding, keep growing.”  I want to emphasize Keep Failing today.

Fear of failure is one of the biggest detriments to the growth of both people and businesses.

  • Let’s look at just a few historical failures.
    JFK failed the bar exam twice.
  • Mark Twain, Henry Ford, P.T. Barnum, Milton Hershey, and Henry Heinz all went bankrupt.
  • Walt Disney was fired because of a lack of new ideas.
  • Winston Churchill flunked 8th grade.

Perhaps, one of the most famous failures that directly relates to business is Thomas Edison’s statement while attempting to create the light bulb, “I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”.

One of the most important concepts in the Make-You-Happy Management System is getting lots of input and ideas on how to improve from your team.  It’s really important that in coming up with ideas and input that they not be afraid to fail. That they not be afraid to suggest lots of things – things that may not be implemented. If people are afraid to fail in your business the ideas will dry up.

The following is excerpted from Fail Fast, Fail Often: How Losing Can Help You Win by Ryan Babineaux, PhD., and John Krumboltz, PhD.

“There’s something to notice about successful people: they act quickly, even if they may fail.

In the book Art and Fear, the artists Ted Orland and David Waylon share a story about a ceramics teacher who tried an experiment with his class.

The teacher divided the students into two groups.  Those sitting on the left side of the studio were to be graded solely on the quantity of their work, while those on the right, solely on the quality.  The instructor informed the students in the quantity group that a simple rule would be applied to evaluate their grades: those who produced fifty pounds of pots would get an A, those who produced forty pounds a B, and so on.

For the quality group, the instructor told the students that he would assign a course grade based on the single best piece produced over the duration of the course.  So if a student created a first-rate pot on day one of the course and did nothing else for the term, he would still get an A.

When the end of the quarter arrived and it came to grading time, the instructor made an interesting discovery: the students who created the best work, as judged by technical and artistic sophistication, were the quantity group.  While they were busy producing pot after pot, they were experimenting, becoming more adept at working with the clay, and learning from the mistakes on each progressive piece.

In contrast, the students in the quality group carefully planned out each pot and tried to produce refined, flawless work, and so they only worked on a few pieces over the length of the course.  Because of their limited practice, they showed little improvement.

I like this story because it points out an important principle: successful people take action as quickly as possible, even though they may perform badly.

Instead of trying to avoid making mistakes and failing, they actively seek opportunities where they can face the limits of their skills and knowledge so that they can learn quickly.  They understand that feeling afraid or under prepared is a sign of being in the space for optimal growth and is all the more reason to press ahead.  In contrast, when unsuccessful people feel unprepared or afraid, they interpret it as a sign that it is time to stop, readdress their plans, question their motives, or spend more time preparing and planning.”

It is also critical that you not be afraid of failure in marketing and sales. In fact, one of the characteristics of good marketing businesses is that they fail fast!  The faster you fail and get on to the next idea, the faster you’ll find something that works. Even the best marketers have more failures than successes.  If you are interested in this kind of marketing, you can get a FREE Gift at: www.3dMailResults.com.

Do what you do so well
that people can’t help telling others about you

Keith Lee
www.keithlee.com

Lessons From a Wise Friend

I was a volunteer ski patroller for a number of years.  We usually patrolled in a team of two.

One morning, Grandpa Willis and I teamed up for the day. Grandpa Willis wasn’t my grandpa or my kid’s grandpa, but he was a wonderfully, kind, and wise man who my kids called Grandpa Willis.

It had snowed about 12 inches of Cascade Crude overnight.  That thick wet snow that makes skiing a real chore.  I was, and am, a darned good skier, but I was having a heck of a time that morning.  As we stopped on the hill, I told Willis, “I’m having a heck of a time in this crude.”  Willis replied, “Ya, I just can’t get forward in this stuff.”

I thought, “Ya, I need to stay forward too,” and off I went, staying forward and skiing better.  A minute or two later I thought, “Look at him.  He’s not having any trouble skiing in this crude at all.  That was just his, very nice, way of telling me to get forward.”

If I had seen someone skiing like me, I’m sure I would have said, “You need to stay forward in the crap or it will eat you up.”

I’ve used Willis’ wonderful teaching technique many times over the years and think of him often.

Another similar technique is giving people the time, and maybe a nudge, to come up with great ideas for themselves rather than forcing implementation.  This is really effective in your Personal Development Interviews.

Here’s an example.  Johnny The Bagger is a story from the book, The Simple Truths of Service written by Ken Blanchard & Barbara Glanz.  Johnny is an autistic bagger at a grocery store who changes the entire culture of the store.

I introduced Johnny to our entire team here at American Retail Supply by giving each person their own copy of the book and asking them to read it on company time.

Now, I could have then had a company meeting after they read the book and asked each team member to come up with ideas to be Johnny.  I’m sure it would have been valuable.

But I thought it would be more valuable if I just gave them the book and let them do what they wanted.  Shortly, I had a number of people tell me about what they were going to do to be Johnny.

I’m guessing that by them coming up with what they were going to do, it had far more impact on them than me telling them to come up with something.

Now it’s time to combine this teaching idea with “Atta Boys”.  See Secret #32 in The Happy Customer Handbook.  When someone shares what they are doing to become “Johnny” share it with your entire team and watch other “Johnnys” appear.

You can get my hardcopy book (not an e-book), The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You at www.TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com.  Your cost is $2.97 and that includes shipping and handling.

What Goes Around Comes Around Especially When Disaster Strikes

“How the Make-You-Happy Management System Will Help You and Your Business When Disaster Strikes”

What Goes Around Comes Around is one of my wife – Patty’s – favorite sayings, and since we’ve been together since 1970 I’ve heard her say it thousands and thousands of times.

The Make-You-Happy Management System (MYHMS) puts a huge emphasis on respect for clients and customers.  Remember, in the MYHMS clients are the people that most businesses call customers, and customers are your internal customers; team members, vendors, the FedEX guy, the mail man, etc.  This leads to treating all of these internal customers like… CUSTOMERS, and you know, what goes around comes around.

On July 20, 2003 we had a fire at our distribution center in Denver that destroyed everything.  Twenty thousand square feet of inventory, office supplies and fixtures, computer, everything gone, overnight.  I remember the date, because it happened on my 29th wedding anniversary.  Little did I know how much one of Patty’s favorite sayings would affect us over the next few months.

Let’s look at just a few aspects of the MYHMS and how they helped us during this disaster in Denver:

  • The MYHMS with its Z-theory management and emphasis on not only listening to your team members but empowering them creates team members who know they are incredibly valuable, feel appreciated. This, along with the philosophy that all of us who work in a MYHMS business are customers to each other leads to people who truly enjoy their jobs. The way the team in Denver, and our other locations pulled together to get the job done through this was amazing.
  • At the very heart of the MYHMS is a fanatical devotion to Make-You-Happy Client Service. This created loyal clients who rallied around us.
  • The idea that your vendors are your customers creates vendors who help you when you need it.

When you have all of this going for you and have a disaster you’ll truly find out that, “What Goes Around Comes Around.”

Team Members Come To The Rescue

On the sales end, we were fortunate in that we had a show room at the Denver Merchandise Mart.  We added another phone line and were up and going there right away.

Our warehouse staff was concerned that they may not be able to work while the Denver distribution center was out of commission.  I assured them that we would keep paying them.  They could have easily just sat back and collected the money over what ended up being about a month, but each of them offered to take their vacation at that time.

In addition, as soon as anything came up that they could do they went at it full speed.  They shopped for warehouse racking, found storage units, and shopped for new office furniture.

When the time came to start putting things back together the entire staff in Denver came through like gang busters to get us up and going, working weekends and extended hours.

In addition, our staff in Kent came to the rescue also.  We shipped most of the orders that would have come from our Denver distribution center out of Kent.  Like Denver, when needed, our staff in Kent worked long hours, with a great attitude to get the job done.

In addition, our entire staff, in all of our divisions, did an incredible job keeping up with all of the different shipping arrangements that needed to be arranged to take care of clients and get product to them.

I will forever be grateful to our team members… What goes around comes around.

Vendors Come To The Rescue

Our vendors were absolutely incredible!

As a distributor, we buy product in huge quantities, often truckloads.  We store these and ship them in smaller quantities when our clients need them.  Some of our vendors will allow us to drop ship smaller quantities, but they have extra charges to do this.

While we shipped a lot of orders for the mountain states and east out of Kent and charged our clients what the freight would have been from Denver, with the loss of the entire Denver inventory we didn’t have enough inventory in Kent to do this all of the time.

Our vendors came to the rescue and, every one of them, agreed to waive their minimum order quantities and extra charges and ship to our clients directly when needed.  This was a huge commitment from them and their teams as they are simply not set up to do this in the quantities that they did for us.

I will forever be grateful to our vendors… What goes around comes around.

Clients Come To The Rescue

What a time to find out how loyal our clients were!  Things took longer.  For the most part things ran well, but some things simply took longer.  It took longer for us to let them know when the order would ship because we had to be sure whether we were shipping it from Kent or the vendor, whether it was something that could drop ship from the vendor or not, and lots of other new questions.

And then it still took longer, to get the product from Kent rather than Denver.  Most often the vendor simply couldn’t get it shipped the same day like we do.

We were amazed and thankful that our clients (Continued P5 – Disaster Strikes)

stood by us.  In fact, we got letter after letter thanking us for taking such good care of them under the circumstances.

I will forever be grateful to our clients… What goes around comes around.

What Goes Around Comes Around Negatively Also

Over the years I had been approached numerous times by a business associate to buy his business.  He gave me an idea of the price he was looking for and I always told I didn’t think it would fit at the time.

One day he called me and said he wanted to sell the business.  I again told him I again that I really didn’t think it would fit.  He replied, “I’m going to make you a deal you can’t refuse.”  So, I listened.  It was a deal I couldn’t refuse.

The other owner and I had the same supplier for one of our product lines.  In our case they were a significant and good supplier.  For the other company this supplier represented the huge majority of his business.

Over the years the other owner talked to me about all of the problems he had with the supplier and in fact showed me some of their correspondence.  I couldn’t believe the derogatory tone of the letters from the owner of the business who wanted to sell to the supplier.

He certainly had no idea that he and the supplier were in fact on the same team.  He had no comprehension that he should treat a supplier like an internal customer

I found out during the negotiations to buy the business that after years of this derogatory treatment the supplier decided he simply wasn’t going to sell to the other business anymore.

And, in this case the guy who wanted to sell the business did not have an alternative supplier and it was going to take a good deal of time to find one.  The seller knew I had a good relationship with the supplier and that the supplier would sell to me if I bought the business.  The seller also knew that his list of potential buyers was very small, because the seller would not have had a relationship with the new buyer and would see it as still dealing with the old owner.  What goes around comes around.

So yes,

I got the company in a deal I couldn’t refuse

It didn’t surprise me as we trained our new team in this newly acquired business that our Make-You-Happy Management with its emphasis in respect for everyone was a foreign concept.  And it didn’t surprise me at all to learn that the old owner was very much an X-theory manager with the attitude of I’m the boss, I’m the manager, I’m the owner.  I built this business with my blood sweat and tears do what I tell you to do and that’s that!

The new team was thrilled to hear about the new management system.  What goes around comes around.

You can get my hardcopy book (not an e-book), How to Control Your Business and your Life, Proven Secrets to Creating Highly Productive Teams at www.HowToControlYourBusiness.com.  Your cost is $2.97 and that includes shipping and handling.

That Complainer May Be Your Next Great Leader

Here’s an excerpt from John C. Maxwell’s book, The 360 Degree Leader.

 

“Have you ever found yourself saying something like, “You know, if I were in charge, we wouldn’t have done this, and we wouldn’t have done that. Things sure would be different around here if I were the boss”? If so, let me tell you that there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the desire to improve an organization and the belief that you’re capable of doing it are often the marks of a leader. 

 

Andy Stanley said, “If you’re a leader and leaders work for you, they think they can do a better job than you. They just do (just like you do). And that’s not wrong; that’s just leadership.” The desires to innovate, to improve, to create, and to find a better way are all leadership characteristics.

 

So next time you’re complaining about that complainer, you might want to consider that she may just be what you need as a leader.

I tell our mangers in our divisions away from the home office that they, at times, need to be a pain in the butt for me.  It’s easy to tell who is and who is not really trying to improve things and grow.  They are the people who tell you things you don’t always want to hear.

 

Here’s an excerpt from an email I sent to one of our division managers who, in a previous email had apologized for “causing a problem”.

 

“Remember I told you a good division manager would be a pain in the butt at times.  You do that well. 

 

Seriously, thanks for the great comments.  I don’t need a yes lady and I certainly don’t want the responsibility for coming up with all the good ideas or fixing everything myself.”

 

Now, I wouldn’t say it like that to a newer person who didn’t know me, but I could with this division manager.

 

With The Make-You-Happy Management System you don’t just allow someone to complain, you require them to help with a solution when they see a problem.  If they are constantly coming up with problems but don’t have solutions, they just may be an immature complainer and not a true helper.  If that’s the case, you need to quickly train them to have a solution when they see a problem or fire them.   

 

But if it is someone who is uncovering true problems and opportunities to improve, that’s what the Make-You-Happy Management System is all about.  With these people, do not always require them to come up with a solution.  A huge principle in the Make-You-Happy Management System is that a few heads are better than one in solving problems and taking advantage of opportunities. 

 

But does that complainer have what it takes to be a leader?  Sure you want a leader that can recognize problems and opportunities, but they also need to be tactful.  So keep your eyes open (or maybe better yet, your ears) for that person who thinks they can do the job better than you.  You just might have a great leader.

 

Follow the link below and discover How to Control Your Business and your Life with Proven Secrets to Creating Highly Productive Teams

 

https://americanretailsupply.wistia.com/medias/jl3pr8dbpk

 

Stay in Shape and Live Your Bucket List NOW

I was talking with Grant Miller, the owner of Sun Your Buns Tanning Salons in Eire, Pennsylvania, about the Make-You-Happy Management System before I brought it to market and he said, “You’re showing business owners how to ‘Live Their Bucket List Now.'”  Hench, the name of this newsletter.

In living your bucket list I suggest you have at least one bucket list item tied to your health.  With that, instead of eating right and exercise to just stay healthy, you’re eating right and exercise to achieve something specific on your bucket list.

Here’s an example.  We live on a lake in the Seattle area and I’ve been a pretty good water skier since I was in my early teens.  One of the things on my bucket list was to water ski a hard, good, strong slalom run on my 60th birthday.

That meant I needed to stay somewhat flexible, and maintain my upper and lower body in good shape.

In July I crossed “ski a hard, good, strong slalom run on my 60th birthday” off my bucket list.

So now I can relax, and let myself go right… NOT!

My next ‘staying in shape’ bullet list item is, ‘ski (snow) Exterminator, hard and strong with my grandson, Carson.’

Exterminator is called exterminator for a reason.  It is STEEP.  It will be about 8 years before Carson can safely ski Exterminor.  That means I’m going to have to stay in great shape until I’m 68.

But Wait, There’s More…

Whitney turns 2 next year, so it will be time for her to start skiing and of course, I need to ski Exterminator with her too.  So… I’m going to need to stay in great shape until I’m 71, so I can ski Exterminator hard and strong with her!

Learn how to live your bucket list now when your read my book, “How to Control Your Business and Your Life.”

You can get my hardcopy book (not an e-book), How to Control Your Business and your Life, Proven Secrets to Creating Highly Productive Teams at www.HowToControlYourBusiness.com.  Your cost is $2.97 and that includes shipping and handling.

All Wealth is Based on Systems

All Wealth is Based on Systems

My friend and mentor Dan Kennedy says, “All Wealth is Based on Systems”

When it’s time to sell your business, what is it worth if you’re critical to it?  Not much!

What if you’re not only, not critical, but the business gets better whether you’re there or not?  What is your business worth now when it’s time to sell?  You know the answer.

When you get Buy-In from your team, have Systems in place for everything you do, an effective Performance Feedback System, and Systems to consistently deliver world class customer service your business will improve whether you’re there or not.

The goal I have with all of my clients is to make them irrelevant to the day-to-day, then week-to-week, and then month-to-month operations of their business, so they can create real wealth.

A few years ago I went on a three-week Mediterranean cruise.  When I left I told our operations manager what cruise line I was on, and the ship, that’s it.

I knew I wasn’t going to get a phone call.  That’s why I didn’t need to worry about giving her any more information, or getting an international phone number for three weeks.  For the last 20 years, while on vacation, I’ve never gotten a phone call from work.  That’s the freedom you get when you have the proper Systems in place.

But what’s even better than no phone calls, is that when I got back, the business was running better than when I left.  When you have the right systems in place, that’s what happens.

In the E-Myth Revisited Michael Gerber says,

“Let systems run the business and people run the systems.  People come and go but systems remain constant.”

One of the reasons systems give you true freedom is that when you have the right systems in place, and you have turn over in your business, things continue to get better rather than having to learn everything all over again.

When you hire someone, over time, the knowledge the person has at that job rises.

Without Systems (everything in writing) what happens when they leave?  The knowledge is gone and someone is back to training the new person one-on-one in everything that needs to be done.

Over-time you’re lucky if you make any progress.

But what if you have systems?  That is, written documentation for everything that the person does.  What happens to knowledge when someone leaves and you have systems?

It’s that simple.  When they leave, and everything they do is documented, how hard is it to replace the person and get the new person up to speed?  Just think of the amount of time you’ll save.

Watch this hour long video to Discover You Can Create The Systems You Need to Become Wealthy:

Who’s Your Competition

The Competition is Anyone the Customer Compares You to

I learned this from Disney.  One of the ways people experience Disney is by telephone. Disney gets thousands of calls every day.  Many of the calls are from the same people who call businesses that are known for their great telephone service.  Businesses like LL Bean, Cabela’s, and FedEx.

So when the same people who call Cabela’s or FedEx, or anyone with superior telephone service, call Disney, Disney understands that they are being compared to the service people get when calling Cabela’s or FedEx.  Disney then does what they need to do to “compete” with FedEx’s telephone service.

So the lesson is, don’t just think of your competitors as the businesses that sell the same things you do.  Think of the competition as anyone who deals with your customers in any way. Learn the best practices from anywhere you can, determine how you can use them in your business, and implement them.

Here’s an example of how we did this in our business.  Many years ago, we did what everyone in our industry did.  When we got an order for a stock item it shipped two to four days later.  I happened to call Cabela’s to get some fly fishing supplies and they said the order would ship that afternoon.  So, thinking of what I learned from Disney, I said to myself, “We need to do that,” and we did.  Today if an order is received within 30 minutes of our FedEx pick up, it ships that day.

You can get my hardcopy book (not an e-book), The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You at www.TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com.  Your cost is $2.97 and that includes shipping and handling.

Exposed!!! Owner of Company Named, “Best Business To Work For In Washington State” is a “Ruthless Manager

It was reported today that Keith Lee, the owner of American Retail Supply, which was named the Best Small Business to Work for in Washington State by Washington CEO Magazine is a Ruthless Manager.

How is that?  How can the owner of the company named “The Best Small Business to Work for in Washington State” now be revealed as the co-author of the New Edition of No B.S. Ruthless Management of People & Profits?

It was revealed today that Dan Kennedy, the author of numerous No B.S. books, chose Keith Lee as the co-author for his newest edition of No B.S. Ruthless Management of People & Profits.

Our intrepid reporter, Lois Lane, caught up with Mr. Lee as he was sneaking into his office today and asked him how he could head the Best Business to Work for in Washington State and be a Ruthless Manager.

Mr. Lee replied… “I don’t choose the names for Mr. Kennedy’s books, and Dan and I don’t agree on everything, but when it comes to managing a business and the people in it; we agree much more than we disagree.”

Keith pointed to page 14 in the No B.S. book where Dan Kennedy writes about business owners, “And one thing they all have in common: gripes, complaints, disappointments, frustrations, pain and agony with regard to their employees.  Much of this has to do with unreasonable expectations and a misunderstanding of the actual nature of employer-employee relationships.  Some of it lies squarely at the fault of the business owner for failing in one or more of the Three Requirements for Having Employees: Leadership, Management, Supervision.”

Mr. Lee continued, “While I don’t think the nature of the employer-employee relationship need be as adversarial as Dan, the expectations and the nature of the relationship needs to be addressed during the employees’ first day of employment.  With our DVD training business owners who use our Make-You-Happy Management System set those expectations during the first hour of employment.”

Mr. Lee agrees wholeheartedly with Mr. Kennedy’s statement that business owners failing in one or more of the Three Requirements for Having Employees is the cause of many of their headaches.

Mr. Lee says, “Business owners usually lead, manage and supervise as they were led, managed and supervised, or how they learned in business school; neither of which work very well.”

Performance Reviews Suck

Mr. Lee pointed to Performance Management.  Every business owner knows that they need a Performance Management System but the only type of system they know about is Performance Reviews and they know that Performance Reviews Suck.  With this the business owner continues with Performance Reviews knowing that they suck, or they stop them altogether, and are left with no Performance Management System.

Mr. Lee informed this reporter than Dan Kennedy agrees that Performance Reviews are “like looking in your rearview mirror to drive your car.”  Mr. Kennedy’s tells the story of how the late Mike Vance, who worked personally with Walt Disney on the original Disney University and other projects, laughed and scoffed at standardized annual or quarterly ‘performance reviews.”

Mr. Lee’s management system replaces Performance Reviews with Personal Development Interviews.

Mr. Lee went on to explain.  “Just listen to what they’re called.  Which would you rather give… a Performance Review or a Personal Development Interview?  Would you rather review someone’s performance, or develop someone?

What if you’re on the receiving end?  Would you like your performance reviewed or would you rather have someone work proactively to develop you?

Which do you think gets better results, developing people and coaching them or reviewing their performance after the fact?

Traditional management focuses on catching people doing things wrong.  If every time I do something wrong the boss catches me, but he doesn’t catch me when I do things right, my creativity is stymied and I stop using my creativity, stop stepping out front, and stop helping the organization grow by using my creativity.

Conversely, when we start catching people doing things right, we encourage empowerment.  People start to do things in the organization.  Productivity improves on an ongoing basis.  Improvement doesn’t just come from management but from the whole organization interacting with each other and picking each other up.  The organization is permeated with a motivating environment.

Another benefit of this type of management is you create a learning organization.  Researchers tell us that as we move forward, people are going to stay with organizations where they have an opportunity to grow and learn.  There are going to be many more skilled positions than there are people to fill them.  And if there are a lot of skilled positions and not enough people to fill them, money isn’t going to make the difference.  Money is going to be a given.  You’re going to have to pay in the competitive market to get good people.  But they want to work in a place where they can grow, where they can enjoy themselves, where they can use their creativity to help the organization grow, and that happens in a learning organization.  That’s exactly why my company, American Retail Supply was named the Best Company to Work for in Washington, by Washington CEO Magazine.”

You can get Keith’s hardcopy book (not an e-book), How to Control Your Business and your Life, Proven Secrets to Creating Highly Productive Teams at www.HowToControlYourBusiness.com.  Your cost is $2.97 and that includes shipping and handling.

We Always Have Perfect Customer Service – NOT!

We Always Have Perfect Customer Service – NOT!

In all of my businesses, we make mistakes.    We spend lots of time and money to make our procedures as efficient and foolproof as possible, but we still make mistakes.  So, where do I get off telling people like you that you need to have Exceptional Customer Service?

While nobody likes to be at the receiving end of a mistake, we all know that people make mistakes.  Exceptional Customer Service requires that we first person your customer talks to solve the problem?”

Does everyone in your business know how to help an upset customer?

Do your customers know that Exceptional Customer Service is what they should expect from you?

I get a few phone calls each year from customers who don’t think they are getting Exceptional Customer Service from us.  Almost all of these calls start with, “I read in your newsletter that customer service is important to you, I don’t think I’m getting very good service…” or “A few months ago when I was on hold I heard that you wanted me to call you if I had a problem that wasn’t being taken care of…”  Sure nobody likes getting calls like this but in another way I LOVE GETTING THEM!

What’s the alternative?  For most businesses it’s a customer who really doesn’t want the hassle of complaining.  The customer who goes to the competition and not only doesn’t recommend you to others, but maybe even bad mouths you.  I love customers who give us the opportunity to MAKE THEM HAPPY.  Find a way to tell your customers that you want to know if they are not happy.

I stole an idea from Stu Leonard’s Supermarket in Connecticut.  He has a big sign with his picture that says, What Do You Like?  What Don’t You Like?  I’d Like to Know.  Every invoice we send out has a flyer that asks the same questions Stu Leonard asks.  While it is redundant to send it out with every invoice, we do.  I want to be sure that every customer knows that they should expect Exceptional Customer Service and that I want to know if they don’t get it.

Act

The video, In Search of Excellence, says most suggestion boxes get little to no use.  They say the reason is customers know that their suggestions will get no action.  Stu Leonard’s box is filled, mostly with good comments, every day.  Why do people take the time to write?  The video says it’s because they know something will be done.  If customers take the time to contact you, take the time to let them know what you are doing.

Every customer who writes to us at any of our businesses, whether it’s a good comment or a complaint, gets a response.

You can get my hardcopy book (not an e-book), The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You at www.TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com.  Your cost is $2.97 and that includes shipping and handling.