It is 7:00 am. By this time yesterday morning I was already in my 4th store. Do you think I'm crazy because I went out on this zoo of a shopping day? Maybe I am - after all the first store I went to had 2 local television crews capturing the initial rush of people and madhouse that ensued.
Overall I went to eight stores before I returned home. And while there were crowds of people in each store my experience as a Customer was quite good. A couple of times I wished I could find someone to help me, but that was understandable given the crowds. The Guest Services desk at one store was outstanding, and while I stood in line longer than I would like (again, understandable) my check out experience was great at each as well.
As I review the specific reasons people did well, I found people to be focused on helping Customers, smiling (and some even mentioned they thought the big crowds were "fun") and very proficient.
I applaud the stores I visited for training people to have the skills they needed and applaud the individuals for having a great service attitude, even on what could be viewed as a very tough day.
For more on a recent great Customer service experience, read this entry from Holly Power's blog, Independent in Indy (I'm proud to have Holly on my team and after reading this you will see one reason why.)
p.s. I didn't name any of the stores, because people reading might get clues about what they are getting for Christmas - I can't take that chance! :)
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Thursday, November 11, 2004
A Spelling Lesson
My daughter Kelsey is in kindergarten and has homework each night. Part of her homework involves drawing pictures of words starting with the letter of the day. Yesterday it was T. She was working on that homework and apparently was ready to label a picture. She asked me from a cross the room, "Daddy how do you spell TV?"
I thought for a minute about spelling television rather than TV, but quickly moved past that notion. I replied, "capital T, capital V" with enough pause between the letters for her to stay with me.
After a pause she asked, "Daddy, you just spell TV, TV? Is that all?"
"Yes" I said.
She replied with a smile in her voice, "That was easy."
There are (at least) two lessons in this quick story.
First, practice is a good thing. There is homework every night, but it doesn't take her long. It engages the parents, reinforces the learning and is building a good habit and value around practice and effort.
Second (and the one that really struck me), not all tasks are as hard we thought. Too often as adults we make things too hard. Examples?
- Consultants mystify their work to increase the perception of what they can do.
- People assume a new task will be hard, just because they've never done it before.
- We build processes for things that could be done in less time than it takes to build the process.
I could go on, and perhaps you are in your own mind.
Don't make your work harder than it is. Don't make your training difficult or complex than needed. Don't make your Customers jump through hoops if they don't have to. Don't complicate your messages or tasks as a leader.
I thought for a minute about spelling television rather than TV, but quickly moved past that notion. I replied, "capital T, capital V" with enough pause between the letters for her to stay with me.
After a pause she asked, "Daddy, you just spell TV, TV? Is that all?"
"Yes" I said.
She replied with a smile in her voice, "That was easy."
There are (at least) two lessons in this quick story.
First, practice is a good thing. There is homework every night, but it doesn't take her long. It engages the parents, reinforces the learning and is building a good habit and value around practice and effort.
Second (and the one that really struck me), not all tasks are as hard we thought. Too often as adults we make things too hard. Examples?
- Consultants mystify their work to increase the perception of what they can do.
- People assume a new task will be hard, just because they've never done it before.
- We build processes for things that could be done in less time than it takes to build the process.
I could go on, and perhaps you are in your own mind.
Don't make your work harder than it is. Don't make your training difficult or complex than needed. Don't make your Customers jump through hoops if they don't have to. Don't complicate your messages or tasks as a leader.
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