Happily giving back on July 22^nd. Libraries across the country, in particular in small towns like where I grew up in Maine, are having hefty budget cuts that require skillful creativity to sustain operations. Reading is a basic skill that children need to succeed. Everyone deserves access to resources that promote reading. Support your town library!

Most of us have certain routines we subconsciously perform. How we brush our teeth. How we dry ourselves after the shower. How we position ourselves when driving. No thinking needed. It is just autopilot. The same can be said for business operations. Many have autopilot procedures and systems, some of which might not be the optimum way to ensure an excellent customer service interaction. I fell into this trap myself recently.

I am getting a house ready for summer weekly renting. All I focused on was clean and cozy. I thought I was a genius for coming up with the idea to label all the light plates so folks would not have to flip four switches to turn a correct light on. The young lady helping me, Paige, services other turnover properties in the area. She offered several ideas that she has seen at some of her other rentals, none of which were anywhere on my radar. Fresh flowers and welcome note when they arrive; a basket of local products to greet them; a file of brochures of things to do in the area as some examples. Now my rental is not only going to be immaculate but personalized. Step back and take a look at whether or not your company’s best practices are ideal in setting the stage for a stand out customer experience. Or, like me, ask your Paige.

God bless companies that actually answer their phones.

God bless companies that have friendly smiling employees.

God bless companies that are customer-centric.

God bless companies that know It Can Be Done.

WHY? Because You Get Paid to Smile and Serve. Available now.

We come to an area in the summer that is known for being a family vacation destination, therefore, quite crowded in the summer. The local economy depends on that as winter brings a significantly more scarce population. The region is also home to one of the country’s wonderful national parks.

My kids can confirm. For the last three years, I grumbled about what a bad impression vacationers get when they arrive based on the terrible road conditions. Most probably go home and make a car alignment appointment before they even unpack. Evidently they heard me. Road repair has commenced. I know it is difficult with a short fair weather season to get these projects done, but please. Traffic is backed up for miles all day and they do diversions to back roads that even I never knew about. This takes at least twice as long to get where you are going. If you are a regular summer visitor, you are probably pretty annoyed. If it is your first time visiting, you may never come back. Did they think this through? Familiar with work shifts at night?

July 4^th is going to be an utter disaster–capital D. Oh, wait. Fireworks are legal here. I hope they have some of those that burst into red, white and blue for my stay-at-home display. Fire extinguisher at the ready.

An unbelievable–well not really–phone system set up at my specialty pharmacy. I use them because they do such huge volume that their prices are deeply discounted. I am beginning to think I would rather pay the higher prices at a conventional store. Otherwise, I will surely begin needing an additional prescription for the high blood pressure they caused while trying to reach them. The kicker is how they set it up. The first thing you hear is “Press 1 for Accutane or all other callers remain on the line for the next available associate.” While on hold, I looked it up. Why in the world do they single out one acne medication for a different line? After a few minutes, “Press 1 to leave a message or all other callers remain on the line.” The third time, “Press 1 to remain on the line or wait for the beep to leave a message.” See that trick? Twice they said stay on the line to continue waiting and this time you need to be listening intensely to catch the fact that you need to press 1 to continue holding. Two minutes later, fourth prompt, “Thank you for calling us. Please leave your name, number, and a brief overview of why you are calling and someone will get back to you.” I told you it was unbelievable.

Does an organization with specific job descriptions take a risk of creating a “not my job” atmosphere? It could. Successful organizations can have descriptions and not foster territorial employees if they also have one very important component. It must be coupled with a customer centric vision that charges each and every employee accountable to contribute to the effort. Granted, there may be technical elements of a few positions that only particular employees have expertise in. There are far less of these than examples of how most employees can venture outside their written responsibilities to assist in creating an exceptional customer experience. Leadership has to create an atmosphere of empowerment and send a message, loud and clear, that everyone has to be ‘all in’ to provide outstanding customer service. It needs to be emphasized in training and frequently reinforced in a variety of ways. When you see a manager cross trained to answer the phones when the receptionist needs a break, you know that company is ‘all in’. When you witness wait staff clearing tables outside their assigned station, you see ‘all in’. When a department head shares a systematic approach proven to provide improved results with another department that is struggling, you see that company is also ‘all in’.

Is your organization ‘all in’?

WHY? is a customer service satire, poking fun at many industries for a lack of pleasant and efficient customer service. It was only fair to offer one chapter devoted to obnoxious customer behavior. I call them the BCCs. Badly Behaved Consumers. At best, you have been waiting your turn when you have had the pleasure of witnessing an exchange of this impolite behavior. Or worse yet, you might be one of those joining in on the party. So it is the age ol’ chicken or egg story. Which came first: bad service or badly behaved consumers? Another question to ponder, folks.

Thank you Connelly School of the Holy Child!  I had a great time speaking with the Junior class as part of their Entrepreneurship Program.  My topic?  What else?  Customer Service. It would be easy to put the service aspect on a back burner with the myriad of additional important matters demanded of a new business owner.  My goal was to help them see the benefits of having a customer focused approach front and center at all times.  We talked about first impressions the customer will make, choices the consumer has these days as well as how important the hiring and training aspects of a business are for success. No Slurpee stands for these Juniors.  The tech savvy gadgets, apps and other creative concepts they have laid out as their business plans are sure to be very attractive to their target audience.  Looking forward to hearing their presentations at the school’s own version of Shark Tank today.   Best of luck, ladies!

In this case, the expression ‘worth the wait’ does not apply. I am looking for a new primary care doctor.  I am making my decision of which practice to sign up with by how long I was on the phone during the initial call to inquire if they were taking new patients and what insurance plans they accepted. The number of redirected prompts, the hold times, and the receptionist’s receptiveness are all weighing into my decision. I might be missing out on a great doctor choice by my elimination method but the first impression is important. A lengthy phone call, talking with computers, gives me the impression that this first encounter is probably an indication that the level of personal attention will follow the same pattern as the phone system. Companies that care about customer service, in any industry, know that first impressions will likely determine if customers want to continue the relationship. After all, there are many alternatives to choose from. It is sort of like dating! Organizations could benefit from a call to their own phone lines to listen to what they instruct us to do. The majority of leaders that do this exercise would more than likely say, “We need to do something about this.”.