The Radiance of Knowing

This was supposed to be one of those sleepy flights that leaves late, crosses two
time zones, and arrives at 11:00 p.m. But it wasn’t.

Yes, everyone is okay. Yet the three hour delay, a night in jail for one of the
passengers, and a possible lawsuit could all have been avoided.

Here’s the story and the lessons we can learn from it.

The passenger sitting across the aisle from me asked for a drink of water.
Apparently the attendant walked by, ignoring her request. So the passenger went to
the front of the plane to obtain a drink of water. An argument followed and the
passenger returned to her seat, wrapped herself in a blanket, and lay down. A
second attendant approached and the passenger announced, “I’ve been harassed
and I’m going to file a complaint.” This attendant left and the first attendant came to
the passenger and demanded, “What’s your problem?” The passenger replied, “Leave
me alone.” This exchange went back and forth a few times and then the attendant
said, “You’re a freak. I’m going to have you taken off the plane.”

After the attendant left, the passenger sat up. She faced me and said, “You’re a
witness. You have to tell the truth about what happened.” Tears flowed down her
cheeks.

We talked. In the course of our conversation I helped her calm down and I counseled
her to tell the attendants that she felt fine, that she was no longer upset, and that
she was sorry for anything that she might have said. I suggested that if she behaved
otherwise, the attendants would use her actions as evidence against her.

When we landed in El Paso (a scheduled stop), an airline representative asked the
passenger to leave the plane. The passenger was met by police on the exit ramp
who took her to the police station in the airport and placed her in jail. Hours later
four agents from the FBI came to interview the passenger, me (as a witness), and the
attendants.

The next day the FBI released the passenger because they concluded that she was
innocent. I know this because she phoned me the day after to thank me for my help.

Lesson One. This event illustrates the psychology of disrespect. When a person is
treated with disrespect, they feel a loss of freedom. Loss of freedom feels like a
threat, which causes fear. Most people respond to fear with anger.

In this case, both people perceived disrespect. The passenger didn’t receive a drink
of water and complained. The attendant didn’t receive an explanation about the
passenger’s complaint and had the passenger removed from the plane.

Lesson Two. Sometimes disrespect starts a nasty sequence of actions. Powerful
Party A treats weaker Party B with disrespect. Party B reacts by complaining or
counterattacking. And then Party A punishes Party B for reacting.

People in positions of authority have an extra responsibility to apply effective,
respectful communication skills. If they don’t do this, they can make criminals out
of innocent people. The attendant, for example, could have avoided the entire
situation by using techniques that I teach in my workshop on the human side of
communication.

You will find details at: http://www.stevekaye.com/workshop-communicate.htm

Lesson Three. In our relationships, we want to avoid starting situations where we
must depend upon the other person to respond with greater maturity or decency
that we have demonstrated.

For example, angry bosses and hostile colleagues depend upon their targets to
refrain from retaliation.

Lesson Four. If you are treated with disrespect, you must avoid counterattacking.
This breaks the cycle and prevents you from taking actions that could warrant
punishment. In general, you want to be the most mature, most decent person in any
conversation or exchange.

- - - - - - - -

IAF Certified Professional Facilitator and author Steve Kaye works with leaders who
want to be more effective. His innovative workshops have informed and inspired
people nationwide. His facilitation produces results that people will support. Call
714-528-1300 or visit his web site for over 100 pages of valuable ideas. Sign up for
his free newsletter at http://www.stevekaye.com

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Benefit 1 - You get to understand them better

Almost everyone wants to know that their manager is
genuinely and positively interested in them. They may not
always give that impression by their demeanour but trust me
- they want to know you care; they want acceptance from you.

If they know you care about them, then your relationship
will be much more productive.

Benefit 2 - You find out how they’re handling the job

As well as getting to know your team from a human or
personal basis you need to get to know them on a business
basis. How are they getting along with the job? And it’s not
a matter of asking - “How’s the job going?” If you ask that
then you may get a list of complaints or you may just get -
“It’s all going fine.”

Benefit 3 - It helps you deal with problems

One of the main benefits of spending time with your team is
that it lets them know you’re there to help with problems.
Of course, you’re not there necessarily to solve their
problems but to coach them to solve their problems.

Benefit 4 - They get to know you

Your team will want to know about you at both a personal and
business level. Again, that doesn’t mean sharing your
intimate thoughts but it’s similar to the things you want to
know about them.

Even although team members don’t ask you about yourself -
tell them. Reveal bits and pieces about yourself over a
period of time.

What you’re really saying is - “I’m human, I’m like you and
I experience the same situations.”

Benefit 5 - You have the opportunity to give them feedback
and coach them

This is one of the most important things the successful
manager can do. This is your opportunity to tell them the
things that you do like about their performance and also the
things you don’t like. Too often managers leave feedback
until a performance review and often these are only once or
twice a year.

Benefit 6 - They have the opportunity to give you feedback

Now this may make you feel a bit nervous and it certainly
can be scary when you’re not used to it but it is very
motivational. If you create a healthy open environment in
your team then they should feel comfortable giving feedback
to you. It may not always be what you want to hear but it
can certainly improve your relationship with them.

Benefit 7 - It encourages opinions and ideas to flow from
them

It’s often the case that members of your team have positive
suggestions that will benefit the team, the business and
you. However, they may not always be willing to seek you out
and tell you about them. Perhaps they may feel foolish or
embarrassed in front of their colleagues.

If you’re spending time with them - then this is the ideal
opportunity for them to give you their thoughts. Of course,
you sometimes have to dig this out and encourage it.

Benefit 8 - It allows you to explain the company’s mission
and the team’s role in this.

When you spend time with each individual it gives you the
opportunity to explain how the business is going and how the
team is performing. This is often done at a team brief and
that’s okay. However in a one to one situation you can
discuss in more depth and encourage ideas and feedback from
them as described above.

Discover how you can generate more business by motivating
your team!
Alan Fairweather is the author of “How to get More Sales
by Motivating Your Team” This book is packed with practical
things you can do to get the best out of your people.
Visit http://www.howtogetmoresales.com

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People in leading positions are often in a dilemma: on one hand they are supposed to give great performances, make the right decisions and so forth; on the other hand, they have to fill the role of a very confident and self-assured manager. This may be considered a dilemma because CEOs are expected to be almost supernatural, and asking for assistance in what is supposed to be their core competence (leadership!) simply does not fit the picture, no matter how necessary it may be.

It is interesting to draw a parallel to sports. I don’t know of any world-class athletes who do not have coaches or trainers to assist them in the development of their core competency (e.g., golf, tennis, etc.). It seems that in the area of sports, it is generally accepted that top performers need top assistance, i.e., coaches. Also, nobody in sports seems to feel the necessity to hide that they employ a coach. Meanwhile, many of the top CEOs (at least in the US) have coaches, but very few want to admit or even talk about it.

CEOs are usually in a situation with a unique handicap: being on top of an organization, they must demonstrate powerful and wise leadership but may not be able to share their doubts with others in the organization, as this would not fit the expected image.

A trusted and competent executive coach can take over this necessary function of a sparring partner. The coach can mirror the existing options and reveal blind spots, share his experiences, and challenge limiting beliefs of CEOs. Additionally, a trusted coach can help CEOs in dealing with ethical and personal issues that may influence performance. All in all, the coach can be the competent and equal (!) partner, which many CEOs need in their unique and exposed position.

It seems there is still a long way to go before CEOs will be able to speak about their coaches as lightly and as naturally as top athletes do. A great first step is to recognize the benefits a coach provides to a CEO in his professional and personal life. Top CEOs know this already and benefit from coaching through better performance, a greater feeling of security and a more stable work-life balance. Again: top performers need top assistance, and professional coaches can be a crucial element of a strong support system.

About Charlie Lang

Charlie works with senior executives who are already successful and want to stay at the leading edge. They are often challenged by issues like:

- How to improve staff retention, especially how to keep top performers

- How to achieve a corporate success culture that guarantees longterm success

- How to create new levels of excellence through high employee engagement

- How to transform the business results through a different approach towards sales

Charlie, an executive coach & trainer who is known for his innovative approaches towards leadership, change processes and sales, assists his clients in mastering these challenges. They achieve outstanding results through Charlie’s unique application of latest findings in research combined with his own experience in international management and leadership.

Charlie is the author of numerous articles and of the book The Groupness Factor. He delivers speeches and keynotes on sales, leadership and coaching.

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We all know (well I hope we do) that part of being a good leader is in the art of delegation, trust, and looking after the people who look after us (good topic for another article!!!)

BUT who looks after us, how do we look after ourselves?

How do we make our job(s) any easier?

Based on the premise that it helps to be reminded occasionally of business basics or best practices, I thought it would be worthwhile to share this snippet with you…

Priority Vs Sequence

Two of the worst inventions are the brief case (Flappsie Happsie Bags) more about that in a few days and yellow stickies (unless you are the manufacturer of course).

OK, yes I know, these little stickies are wonderful, they come in so handy. But they grow, and grow and grow.

There you are, the night before or first thing in the morning…

you have planned your work for the day

you have prioritised it and you are set

you know exactly what very important tasks you are going to work on

You know what your priorities are. BUT, what about the sequence?

You see, apart from those very important work related tasks, we also have the ‘other stuff’ - the calls to make, the photos to email to the family, other emails to send, and the rest.

“I’ll do those later, when I stop for lunch”, in fact, before I start on my priorities, I’ll just jot down the other things I need to do on yellow stickies - they’re great as ‘reminders’.”

So there you are, in front of your PC, or at your desk, surrounded by 5 yellow stickies as you start your first priority.

You know, I know, we all know what happens next - they start to grow! They yell at us ‘READ ME, READ ME? They go through this transition from gentle reminder to nagging monster.

Result - concentration down to 60% AND we still have those less important things to do AND we still have those yellow stickies!

OK, Andrew, cut to the chase.

Simple, make the less important things the priority and get them out of the way.

Unless they are time dependent, they’re done, they are out of the memory bank and our concentration is back to normal, focused on what we wish to achieve AND there are no more yellow stickies!!!

Try it, and let me know.

Providing a focused problem solving approach through our personal and business coaching (especially to small businesses). This approach is linked to providing work at home businesses, affiliates and online businesses with PROFITABLE INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS.

Our primary theme and overriding goal is to provide you with the right choices that fit your needs, solve your problems.

Our website ‘http://www.youraffiliatecoach.com’ is content rich with useful information, articles and resources.

More importantly there are free to subscribe opportunities to help you by answering questions, offering guidance and our newsletter ‘The Webcoach News’. Why not check them all out?

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You’re at a networking function and you’ve made that all-important contact. You want to get help from this individual but you know that you need to start working on building a relationship with them first. How do you do that?

The hardest thing for people to understand about networking functions is that very little real business gets done on an initial contact at these functions. If you go into the function NOT EXPECTING to get business, but to make contacts, you will have a far greater success rate. When your approach is one that is obviously intended to drain your current contact of all of their contacts and resources, you will be met with opposition.

You need to draw the attention away from yourself and onto the business prospect at hand. I have found that a great response when asked to introduce myself at a function is to state my name, and my company’s name, followed by “I am here to see how I might best be able to refer some business to your firms”.

Yes, you read that right. I don’t make any attempt to talk about what I do. “But”, you say”, how will I get any business for my firm if I don’t TALK about my firm?”. You won’t get any anyway, in most cases…People have no relationship with you. But they will if you take this approach. This opens up a whole new avenue of discussion- THEM!!

People love to talk about themselves. They could spend DAYS at it. The conversation should center around THEM- what they do and how they do it, how they got their start in that field, what changes they have seen in their industry- anything about THEM.

The goal here is to find a reason for a follow-up contact. A contact that can be made away from this group environment. In other words- a one-on-one contact. I have gotten into the habit of writing notes on the back of business cards about points brought out by the prospect which could aid me in a follow-up contact.

This follow-up may be business or it may be personal. I have found information in the newspaper about a firm’s competition and forwarded it to my contact with a note saying- “Thought this might interest you”. I have also heard about people’s families and seen info about their children’s Little League team and forwarded that.

It doesn’t matter what prompts the follow-up as long as it PERSONALLY matters to the prospect- to their work or to their family. It proves that you were listening and that you are willing to give before you receive.

It also sets you apart from all the people who are at these functions trying to push their own business. It helps you get past the “gatekeepers” when you can say “I’d like to speak to Mr. Jone’s about the info I sent him about his son”. You always get connected to him and remembered by him.

I attend many functions and never mention to anyone anything about what I do. I spend the whole time listening and writing. I understand I am not going to “close any sales” then. These people don’t know me. But before I leave, I know a lot more about them.

Next time: What do you say when someone finally does ask you, “Well, what do you do?”.

Nancy Roebke, is the Executive Director of Profnet Inc, a professional business leads generation corporation. We bring business professionals together in a non-competitive environment to help each other make more money.

mailto:execdirector@profnet.org http://www.profnet.org

Copyright c Nancy Roebke

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If you’re old enough and were living in America about 30 years ago, you may remember the scandal in the motion picture industry known as “the Begelman affair” or “Hollywoodgate.”

A skillful analysis of the crisis that rocked Columbia Pictures, a leading company in its field, is presented by Steven Fink in his book, “Crisis Management: Planning for the

Inevitable.” I am telling the tale over, but not for the sake of relating a “juicy” story (such pastimes being hardly something I care for).

Rather, I believe there’s a message for us here, primarily for business and professional people maybe, but also for husbands, wives, parents, educators - or mere “social animals”. To paraphrase a popular saying, one real life case is worth a thousand sermons.

At the time our story opens, Columbia Pictures was riding the crest of the wave. Just about everything - profits, stock prices, reputation - was moving in one direction: UP.

For its president and CEO, Alan Hirschfield, things were looking pretty good, to say the least. He was loved by his family, admired by his peers, and respected by the thousands of employees under his command. He was very highly regarded in Wall Street. As for his material situation - well, comment is hardly necessary.

His right-hand man, David Begelman, head of the Columbia studio, wasn’t doing too badly either. As one of Hirschfields most trusted and highly compensated employees, he was said to be

the man who actually ran the company in many ways. And as subsequent events indicated, many of his colleagues and associates thought the world of him.

Then the trouble started.

In early 1977, the accounting department sent actor Cliff Robertson an “IRS 1099″ form. This official statement of earnings for tax purposes showed that the actor had been paid
$10,000 by the studio the previous year. Robertson knew that this was incorrect, and asked his secretary to investigate.

A supervisor at Columbia looked up the Robertson file and found an endorsed check for $10,000 made out to Robertson. The signature on the back looked suspiciously like Begelman’s…

Five months later, the matter reached the ears of Alan Hirschfield, and a question was raised with Begelman. The latter said he would take care of it. And he did.

Begelman told Cliff Robertson’s accountant that a fictitious young man in Columbia’s New York office had written a check to Robertson and forged his endorsement. As a result, the tax form had been issued in error, but certainly the Internal Revenue Service would be issued a correction. Of course, the youngster had been fired, and who’d have the heart to prosecute
a kid…

There the matter might have rested, if not for Robertson’s insatiable curiosity. How, he wondered, could a kid in New York have cut a company check, cashed it thousands of miles away, got away with forging the signature of a famous name, etc., etc…?

As Arthur Conan Doyle put in the mouth of the immortal Sherlock Holmes: ” When you have eliminated all that is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

But in this instance, the stark truth wasn’t something that the people at Columbia Pictures could easily come to terms with.

Could a man like Begelman have been so desperate to lay his hands on a “trivial” (in their eyes!) $10,000? Even if he was, he certainly didn’t have to forge or embezzle to get an
amount like that out of the studio. There were many easier, legitimate ways.

When Alan Hirschfield first confronted Begelman, only a small number of inner-circle people knew about the studio head’s “indiscretion”. If Hirschfield had fired him and rumors had began to circulate regarding the reason, Columbia could have stated openly with a clean conscience: as a result of some irregularities with company funds, Begelman had “resigned”.

But, as author Fink points out, even this, only slightly uncomfortable, scenario need not have taken place. If Hirschfield had indeed fired Begelman at that early stage - as he surely should have - there could easily have been a jointly approved statement that nicely explained away the studio head’s departure, without even hinting at the truth.

But Hirschfield missed that opportunity. Then, Begelman’s many powerful friends on the board of directors started putting pressure on Hirschfield to give the man a second chance.

Begelman himself, having confessed to the embezzlement, begged for a second chance and said he would seek professional help.

Then three additional improprieties came to light, including a $35,000 contract and payment to a certain architect for acoustical work done on the motion picture “Tommy”. In reality, Begelman had hired this architect to design a screening room in his home.

Hirschfield did make some attempts to oust Begelman, but the latter’s friends on the board thwarted all of them. One day Begelman was out; next day he was back in again - either in his old position, or as an “independent producer” working with Columbia.

Finally, the media began snooping around.

All hell breaks loose

Now, all hell broke loose. The press went to town with “Holywoodgate”, and the entertainment media had a field day, and more. Law enforcement agencies initiated investigations, and
because Columbia is a public company, the Securities and Exchange Commission began one of its own.

Needless to add, the price of Columbia stock grew anemic. Talented people Hirschfield wanted to hire wouldn’t dream of working at Columbia.

Hirschfield’s own reputation plummeted, and his wife’s moral character and integrity was impugned. There was no solid basis for the accusations, but it was an easy way to hurt her husband.

For Hirschfield, the Columbia crisis ultimately came to a head at a July 1978 board of directors meeting, when the board voted not to renew his contract. (Ironically, the very board members who had been grumbling about how Hirschfield was “running the studio, had been making it all but impossible for him to do so.

Fortunately for him, he soon bounced back to a new business career at Twentieth-Century Fox.) For the company itself, the climax came with its sale to Coca-Cola for $800 million.

And why did all this happen?

Because of one man’s actions (Begelman’s), yes. But even more so, because of one man’s lack of action. If only Hirschfield had done the right thing at the right time…

What do you think? How would you have handled the situation in Alan Hirschfield’s shoes? How would you have reacted as a member of the board?

More significantly - does this sad episode have a lesson for us? As entrepreneurs and managers? As employees? As spouses, parents or teachers?

Hopefully, you’ve never had contact with criminals, but does some aspect of this story ring a bell? Remind you of something in your life?

Azriel Winnett is the creator of Hodu. com - Your Communication Skills Portal. This popular website helps you to improve your communication and relationship skills on all levels, in business and professional life, in the family unit, and on the social scene. New articles added almost daily.

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Last month’s edition of Footprints and Monuments was about living your life going Mach3 with your hair on fire. Learning from the past, but passionately waiting for tomorrow to get here. The featured person, Richie, recently came to a goal setting seminar that I was leading. Last month you learned that Richie was setting twenty-year goals even though six weeks prior he had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. It saddens me to have to write that Richie died just a few days ago.

Vowing to not let his life, and death, be in vain this month’s edition of F&M is about priorities. Possibly in a way you have never thought about priorities. I once heard a story (summarized here for the sake of time) about a teacher that held up a completely empty two-gallon jar in front of his class. He began to fill the jar with large rocks. When the jar was full to the top he asked his class if it was full. They all responded with a unified, “Yes!”

He then told them that they were mistaken and pulled out a bucket of much smaller rocks and began to pour them in to the jar. He again asked them if the jar was full. The students being a little bit wiser didn’t know how to answer. Some thought yes, others no, and some not sure.

He then pulled out a final bucket full of sand and began to pour it in to the jar. He poured, and then he shook the jar good, and then poured some more until the jar was full to the brim. Finally he asked his students if the jar was full. Most responded affirmatively, “Yes!” He then told them they were right.

The moral of this story is: large rocks must go in the jar first. The same is true of our priorities. Our “big rocks” must come first or they will never make onto our calendars, to-do lists, or prayer lists. The question is, “What should our big rocks be?”

With many rocks to choose from, it is my opinion that there are four that need to go into the jars of our lives first. They are, listed in order, our faith, family, faithfulness, and fun. I understand that there are many more rocks to choose from. For instance, friends, finances, future, and frustrations are important - but we must keep our priorities in line if we are going to end our lives looking back saying, “Well done.”

Our faith needs to be our first big rock. It is God who saves us from eternal death, becomes our best friend during the lonely times of our lives, heals us when doctors give us no hope, and allows peace to rest over us when our lives become chaotic.

Our family must fall in line second, not our careers. There has never been a person on his or her deathbed that wished that he had spent more time working and building his career. Most, if not all, wish that they had spent more time cultivating their family relationships. This was the wish of my friend Richie, something that he tried to do after he was diagnosed with the brain tumor that eventually took his life.

The word faithfulness is not often used in our American culture. The definition of faithfulness here is: Being there (being faithful). Many parents make decision and choices that result in being too busy to “be there” when their child scores the winning touchdown or sings their first solo. Business people routinely make promises that they can’t possibly keep, and marriage vows are broken everyday in our country. God does call us to be faithful, faithful to Him and to others.

Fun is the last big rock in our jars. It is my opinion that many live their lives in a ho-hum routine; working, cooking, cleaning, sleeping, and doing it all over again the next day. I challenge you to spice up your life a bit by adding times to just have fun to your schedule. Do something that you don’t ordinarily get to do. For instance, after the family has retired for the evening, grab a good book and head for a hot, steamy bath (guys this works great for us too).

The little things (small rocks and sand) in our lives are important too. Our friendships make life much more rewarding. When you can help that new widow get from today to tomorrow without shedding a tear you know you have been a friend. Our finances are also important. God tells us in His Word to provide for our family and our future. He also tells us to be content with what we have. If we focus more on what God wants for our lives and not what we want then our future will turn out just right.

The last little rock or sand in our jar are our frustrations, these are the small things that seem to keep us from focusing on the more important things. There are times when we must “sweat the small stuff,” but we must keep our priorities in perspective.

I hope that you will take a close look at your life’s jar and the rocks that go in first. And, like last month, I challenge you to live like you are going to die tomorrow, while at the same time like you are going to live forever.

Footprints and Monuments is a free monthly leadership and motivational e-newsletter. No names receiving this e-newsletter are sold or distributed to any other source. You are encouraged to forward this monthly article to anyone in your address book. To un-subscribe please reply back with “Un-subscribe” in the subject field.

About The Author

JL Earlywine - www.jeffearlywine.com

jeff@jeffearlywine.com

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About 20 years ago while I worked for American Stores Company
(now part of Albertson’s) I headed up a customer service program
named “Smile and Speak Up.” Employees attended a two-hour
customer service training class and then tried to be seen being
courteous to customers by mystery shoppers who visited stores
twice each week for ten weeks. An employee could win small cash
rewards plus the recognition of being a winner. My job was to
organize the program and take to various groups of stores.

Most people associated with the Smith and Speak Up program
praised our efforts to improve customer service in the stores.
The wife of the chairman of the board, for example, once told me
that she could see a difference where the program had been
implemented. But even with the general acceptance of the
program, I was never convinced of its effectiveness. This is
why.

True customer service in a retail store is a combination of five
basic elements: (1) organizational culture, (2) employee
temperament, (3) leadership example, (4) communicated
expectations, and (5) man
agement leadership training. My good friend Chuck Coonradt
once defined organizational culture as the way things
really work when the boss isn’t looking. At a Nordstrom
department store, for example, I generally experience superior
customer service, even when the boss of the clerk serving me
isn’t looking. That’s because over an extended period of time
Nordstrom has created an organizational culture of superior
customer service. How was this accomplished? The leaders of the
organization had to not only communicate the importance of
exemplary customer service, but they also had to personally
demonstrate high levels of service with their own actions. Then,
over time they created a culture helped define employee
behavior.

The second element is employee temperament, which is a
technical term for what we commonly call personality. It is true
that some temperaments are better suited to deliver superior
customer service than others. Sorry, but it’s true. But that
does not mean that those of us whose personality isn’t naturally
well suited toward customer service can’t improve our skills
above our natural inclinations. As evidence, stores that have
consistent customer service are not staffed with employees of
the same personality. Rather, the store has set a high standard
and communicates its expectations to every employee, regardless
of his or her personality.

The third element is the example of customer service
demonstrated by the leaders. It is foolish for a leader to
expect his or her employees to deliver customer service at any
level higher than what the employee sees on a daily basis from
the leader. In other words, the leader determines the upper
control limit of service in a department, store, or company.
Watch the company president, vice president, or district manager
while visiting a store and you’ll see a demonstration of the
upper control limit of service. As an example, for over 20 years
I have shopped a supermarket only a few blocks from my home.
Without exaggeration I have shopped that store over 1,000 times.
And in all of those visits there have been five instances where
an employee has spoken to me on the sales floor. Lately I find
myself playing a game of walking near employees, just to see if
I can hear a “Hello,” or heaven forbid something like, “What
could I help you find?” What’s the problem? At the least it’s
the example set in store and company leadership by example.

The fourth element is the extent to which the leaders have
effectively communicated their expectations to the
employees. It’s not enough to merely set an example,
employees must hear, and hear again, specifically what is
expected of them with respect to customer treatment. I once
encountered the president of a retail chain who told his
employees, “Whenever one of our faithful guests has a question,
I want you to remember my motto. My motto is ‘The answer is yes,
what’s your question?’” He communicated his expectation that
loyal customers were the life-blood of the store and everything
within reason should be done to keep them coming back.

Customer Service and Man
agement Leadership Training is the fifth element. Because
everyone isn’t naturally effective at delivering customer
service, and there are some techniques that work better than
others, it is vital that every employee receive adequate
customer service training. In fact, to create a culture of high
service, employees must receive regular training. Management
leadership training creates a front-of-mind-awareness that
determines not only what is important, but also how things are
to be done. Unfortunately, most customer service training
consists of nothing more than “retail charm school.” Smiling and
speaking up to customers you encounter in the aisle isn’t
enough. Real opportunities for customer service all too often
happen when something goes wrong. For example, out of stocks,
price checks, voids, refunds, returns, and exchanges are prime
situations where a customer can be won or lost, depending on
what the employee says and does while handling the transaction.
Employees must be trained in specific methods and techniques of
how to handle these special situations, or customers can be lost
for life.

The five elements of customer service are a framework to develop
a climate or culture for consistent superior service. It’s
important to remember that the issue really isn’t “customer
service.” More accurately, it’s creating a memorable experience
for customers. Don’t forget that customers return to stores that
are memorable, and they don’t return to stores that are
forgettable. What are you creating in your store, a memorable or
forgettable climate?

Consider the PE formula where P equals the customer perception
of what actually happens while shopping in a store. And E equals
the customer’s expectation of what will probably happen when he
or she does shop a store. If P equals E then the store did
exactly what the customer expected. If P is less than E the
store fell short of the customer’s expectation. And, if P
exceeds E the store did something more than what the customer
expected. The only truly positive memorable experience is where
P exceeds E. That must be our goal.

Superior customer service, that is memorable, can be defined as
a situation where the shopping experience exceeds the customer’s
expectation of what was going to happen. This means a clean and
safe store, where desired products are in stock and easily
located, where employees are friendly and helpful, and where the
checkout is accurate and fast. Effective customer service is far
more than merely being caught by a mystery shopper saying
something nice to a customer. That’s why I had a problem with
the smile game I played 20 years ago. It was nothing more than a
band- aid or a temporary fix to a very complex problem. The good
news is that I think I’ve learned a lot since the Smile and
Speak Up days.

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