I don’t understand how people who are hired for jobs that require interacting with customers, either in person or by phone, can retain their jobs while giving the impression that they really do not enjoy dealing with the public. Eighty percent of businesses have direct contact with the consumers they serve, so obviously it is a scenario that employees will encounter far more frequently than not. I guess we would have to take a closer look at a company’s interview, hiring and onboarding practices to determine why in many cases, we could just as easily be assisted by robots. Even Siri has a more pleasant voice demeanor than some folks out there. Often is the case that we receive a lukewarm greeting, if any, and the appearance that helping us is a sour interruption to something of higher importance. Speaking of sour, as the expression goes, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” That is how I am approaching this of late. I am exaggerating my friendliness to start each encounter. My “Good morning.” or “How are you today?” is as enthusiastic as a cheerleader’s cry before the big game. My voice tone is much sweeter, almost singing, than my kids would say I have with them at home. The results? In most cases, it does turn the employee around similar to if I had given them a happy pill with fast acting release. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all and a cast member from the Walking Dead is still staring me in the face. Win some, lose some.

My take on a famous movie line sums up my feelings about continuing to patronize an Italian restaurant chain after attempting to place a phone order for pick up. The phone call lasted as long as it takes me to make chicken parmesan because of the number of times I was put on hold while the order taker checked with others at the establishment. I must confess I was asking for a few modifications to the regular menu.

The restaurant rep’s responses are in bold. “Hi. Can I help you?” “Placing an order to be picked up please.” “Okay. Let me get the person who does the take out.” 4 minutes on hold. “Can I help you?” “Yes please. I am placing an order to be picked up. May I have a lasagna?” “Salad?” “Yes please. A Caesar.” “Hold please.” 5 minutes on hold. “Caesar is extra. Do you still want it?” “Extra? It is just lettuce but yes please.” “Next item?” “Marguerita pizza please.” “Can I put you on hold?” “Sure.” 7 minutes on hold. “We don’t make those.” “Okay. Well, it is just a pizza with the marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella slices and fresh basil. You are an Italian restaurant so I assume you use those three ingredients. Do you think maybe the chef could just make one up?” “Let me ask.” 4 minutes on hold. “I asked the chef and we can’t do it.” There were two other examples of “we don’t have that, that is an upcharge or we can’t do that” but I won’t bore you. If I was asking for ostrich carpaccio then I could understand their inability to accommodate such an unreasonable request. I think large chains with their rigid guidelines to ensure uniformity on a broad scale, miss opportunities to showcase that they can still make us feel like we are dealing with a hometown favorite. I am sticking with Enzo’s from now on. He makes all his diners feel special and his veal ragu is to die for.

I think boards of many companies need to take a harder look at what their checklist includes for deeming qualified candidates for the position of CEO to the organization that they serve. I talk about this in WHY?. Intuitively, I think leadership skills are instinctive and difficult to teach. You either are a leader, or it is not in your DNA. You either have the skills to inspire your employees to be motivated or you don’t.

Evidently, Gallup studies confirm my instincts: “Gallup’s research reveals that about one in 10 people possess high talent to manage. Gallup has also found that another two in 10 people exhibit some characteristics of functioning managerial talent and can function at a high level if their company invests in coaching and developmental plans for them.” HA! I knew it!

So, I ask you. What are the remaining seven out of ten people in upper management roles doing? What they aren’t doing is the reason it only took seven months to write WHY?. Read the full Gallup article here.

The reporting on the airline situation seems to be reduced to a low simmer, but I continue to mull how this happened. My theory is that there is a huge disconnect with whatever their mission statement outlines (which is impossible to find on their website or through other means) and what happened since the ink dried. I have to assume that there is at least a mention of serving customers within the document that is supposed to guide the ship. Don’t most organizations have a hint, if not a direct reference, about being “service–driven” or “customer–focused” woven somewhere into their mission?

WHY? discusses this. It doesn’t happen by just writing it down. It cannot be implemented successfully unless the leaders at the top ensure that their philosophy and actions set the proper stage. They have to live it and breathe it every day. All processes and procedures in place must also support the goal to be customer–driven. This is the only effective path to establishing and maintaining a customer–centric culture. The initial statements the airline put out indicated to me that they are not there yet. I do hope they make good on their more recent statements to take a thorough look at current procedures for crucial improvements. Actually, there are many companies that might want to consider the same review of their organizations.

Don’t wait for a disaster to happen. It CAN be done.

Did you know that tomorrow is National Get to Know Your Customer Day? In fact the National Day Calendar peeps determined that this was so important that it is recognized quarterly – the third Thursday of January, April, July and October according to their notation. I quote, “This is a day to reach out to your patrons and get to know them better.” Wait a minute. Can any business really survive with only being mindful of its customers on four days out the year? I doubt it. Every customer should be made to feel that they are your most important customer of the day – each and every day.

I can’t wait for next week. It is National Bedbug Awareness week. An entire week devoted to bedbugs yet only four days throughout the year highlighting us customers. Something is off there.

I pledged to have exceptional examples of service mingled with experiences that did not quite measure up. While the stellar service examples seem harder to find, I think I found an outstanding example this week that is relatable to many.

At some point, we all need good tradesmen. It was plumbing needs for this household this week. A flush was not flushing and an outside spicket was dripping. I called a company referred to me. It was a ‘family and woman owned’ plumbing outfit, as they proudly proclaim during their opening greeting. Just one forwarding prompt got me to a live person. Love that! This is unheard of these days where there seem to be so many redirected prompts, (which leads me to just banging on the 0 repeatedly) before you hear a voice on the other end. The gentleman listened and made my appointment. A miracle! The technician was at the house within two hours, and he assessed and reported back while he was there. I said “go for it” to his request to order the parts required. Parts were ordered, and he was back here 48 hours later to repair the two issues. He presented a payment invoice and the invoice denoted each charge spelled out, and any form of payment was accepted on the spot. If I weren’t already married, I would want to be married to my new plumbing hero, Marvin.

Why can’t there be more Marvins in the world and organizations like he works for? More importantly, what is Marvin’s company doing to make them more service oriented and efficient than most? Maybe I should try to connect with the “lady at the helm” and ask her.

Perhaps you have, as I do, grocery stores that have incorporated a section of the store that one can easily substitute for stepping into a deli or a salad shop. Mine also has a hot soups section including my favorite – chicken noodle. I divert there on many days, with no grocery item needs, just to get the soup. Sometimes I eat on the fly but on this day, I brought it home and enhanced it with fresh peas, oregano and red pepper flakes. I couldn’t wait to dig in!

Imagine my reaction when an unknown intruder – not chicken, noodle nor carrot – was staring up at me from my spoon. At first, it looked like a long thread of chicken but it refused to break apart when I tried pulling from both ends. I hoped it might just be kitchen string that I myself have used many times to tie up meats but kitchen string isn’t flat and doesn’t stretch when pulled. Now my imagination envisioned some sous chef cutting up chicken and flossing his or her teeth at the same time. My profound gag reflex kicked in. I folded the mystery item into a napkin. I was thinking out of sight-out of mind, but I just couldn’t put the spoon back in the bowl without the gagging commencing again. I gave up – on finishing the bowl AND on ever getting chicken noodle soup from there again.

On this occasion, I did not follow my own advice in WHY? to speak up and demand better. Why didn’t I race back to the store with the proof in my folded napkin, you may ask? Probably the apology offer would have included a refund or a new container of soup. Neither of which I wanted. Besides, if I had to open the napkin to show the store team the evidence, my gag reflex would surely have gone into automatic pilot. I couldn’t take a chance that I would be dry-heaving for the rest of the afternoon.

Is this an abominable food handling story or do you have one that takes the prize?

For those of you born way before 1975 like myself, ONBOARDING = NEW HIRE ORIENTATION. The issue is many companies are skimping on this important indoctrination.

Too busy? You hired an employee to lighten the load but that new hire will be ineffective without proper training.

Too costly? Think again. Surveys show that twenty five to thirty one percent of new hires leave a job before or by the first six months due to lack of training and/or unclear guidelines as to job responsibilities. What a waste of time and money on the employer’s part after the long and tedious recruitment phase you just went through; advertising and posting, sifting through resumes, phone interviews, face to face interviews, narrowing down the pool, final interviews leading to an offer and hiring negotiations. Whew! I am tired just thinking of the efforts needed to fill a job opening.

Please rethink your new hire orientation practices, people! Without extensive onboarding, you could be setting them up to fail right out of the gate. Consider it nothing more than a very important continuation to the already expensive and time-consuming recruitment process you have just completed to obtain the new hire. It CAN be done and your new hires will thank you for it.

Click here to view.

Heartfelt thanks to the Alexandria campus, in particular to Alice Conway, Director, Event Management, for inviting me to speak to the Hospitality and Culinary schools. You can imagine how delectable the refreshments were when created by this professional group of professors, staff and students. You can see photos from the event, including these yummies, on my media page courtesy of John Drew, Professional Image.

How do I structure a talk for folks teaching in or training to work in two industries that already focus on customer service to a greater degree than most other businesses? We focused on two behind-the-scenes positions – telephone operators and dishwashers. We talked about pulling back the onion skin from the basic equipment training required to expanded onboarding to include an awareness of how important a role these positions play in the customer service mission of an organization. Among some considerations to enhance their training would be to include a voice demeanor discussion for telephone operators. How about a face to face meeting with all department heads that these operators are directing calls to? Perhaps a dialogue with the new dishwasher regarding how clean silverware is paramount? Water stains and dried egg yolk between the fork prongs could make or break the tone for the customer’s dining experience!

Employees will be more invested when we ensure they understand that their role is vital to the overall success of the company. How to accomplish this? Providing effective training will set the stage for stronger employee investment to your customer service objectives. In addition, a professional and thorough onboarding will make new hires feel valued. Don’t we all want that?