Little things to create “Impact” forever
Staff Cafeteria, locker rooms, employee notice boards often carry posters that say “Customer is the King/Queen” and “Customers pay your salaries” & many more.
Many organizations put up these colorful words with the hope of reminding their employees that business does not exist without customers. Unfortunately, the employees treat these statements rhetoric and pay little attention to them.
One way to emphasize and engage employees to provide excellent customer service is for business leaders and managers to keep their eyes and ears open, recognize employees for every little act that created an impact. Let me highlight a couple of such subtle but caring service actions;
A letter received by the Ritz Carlton President Simon Cooper said “One of your employees and I got into an elevator in your hotel. I pushed the sixth floor button and he pressed none. Instead of getting off with me on the 6th floor, your Gentleman simply said, “Have a nice day”. Upon exiting the elevator, I asked “Where are you going? Aren’t you getting off here? The employee replied, “No, I am going back down to the 5th floor.” The guest goes on to say that he couldn’t believe that the “Ladies and Gentleman” at the Ritz hotels put their guests needs above their own even in such little things.
I read Brad Montgomery’s (Motivational humorist) experience at Starbucks in the book written by Jo Michelli. It’s a quick little act but Brad remembers to narrate it and that’s what matters. Here’s what Jo writes, “According to Brad, “I was chatting with the woman behind the counter at Starbucks. She was a fun person with a big smile. When she returned my credit card after settling the bill, she held it out for me to take it back. But here was the great part: when I grabbed it, she did not let go. I pulled but she hung on. I looked up and met her eyes and bingo! A huge smile was on her face. She was doing it. She was using that tiny bit of humor on the job to inject a playful moment into that day”. She just created a magical moment to last forever.
If you are a manager, encourage your team members by telling them such stories to start and they will soon begin to display similar acts on the job automatically. Get them to feel proud to share how they created the “IMPACT” for the day.
You may create customers – it will will be difficult to keep them, unless your employees engage in building relationships. What’s important to understand is that one does not necessarily have to always go the extra mile or do something out of this world to produce these “Magical Moments”.
Finally, I will not feel convinced having made my point if I fail to include Barbara Glanz’s “Johnny the bagger” story. It’s a true customer service story to prove that employees at any level, any job can create lasting impressions by providing “Simple & Straight from the heart” service.
