Do you have a program for customer care or do you care for your customers? There’s a difference! Do you care or are you caring? – Positively Outrageous Service is the Distinction! It really came to me during a hospital visit. For the first time in my life I was admitted to hospital for an illness – not something self-inflicted like a bike crash. It was a fascinating experience. I got there through a misfortune … I had an infection that was not properly diagnosed … [Read more...]
Heroes At The Ready
Positively Outrageous Service is Infectious https://youtu.be/8ZdOVzfNLu4 My brother and I are out on a bike ride. We stop at a red light. It’s a major intersection, multiple lanes, cars coming from all directions and it’s rush hour. As we wait for the light to change, a DHL delivery truck to our left got the green light and turns left in front of us. As the truck turns, making the corner, the side door is clearly unlatched and flies open. With the inertia of the turn, boxes come spewing out. … [Read more...]
A Simple Touch So I Know Where I Am!
For the first time in my life, I spent twenty-two hours in a hospital. Some of the touch points were fantastic, some mediocre and some average. But what irritated me the most was the lack of communication. When you’re in an ER or actually admitted into a hospital, there’s a lot of uncertainty – especially when it’s an undiagnosed illness or infection. Communication is paramount. A week later I’m talking to my friend, Sandi, who spent some considerable time with their child at Texas Children’s … [Read more...]
The Consequences of Inadvertent Service
How do you create a culture of Positively Outrageous Service? You need a team of what we call “service naturals” – those that are keen to serve to put self behind service. But that’s not enough … an organization with Positively Outrageous Service inherent in its organizational DNA must have leaders that think, lead and act with Positively Outrageous Service. Or as John Maxwell so precisely put it: “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” So …. I’m not … [Read more...]
The One Question
How do you measure Positively Outrageous Service? After all you can’t improve that which you don’t measure. Let’s be honest … no one likes to do those lengthy customer survey that are 34 questions long! Really!!! I just did a yoga class at SunstoneFit a couple of hours ago. Before I had even showered … They sent me a 30 second survey … It actually only takes ten seconds or less … They ask the one question – the one and only important question: How likely are you to recommend Sunstone to … [Read more...]
There is an “I” in Team
It’s cute… But it’s wrong. You are used to hearing that there is no letter, I in the word team. Fine. Have it your way. But look a bit closer and you will see there is an "I" in team and it’s a big one! In the real world when a team member is confronted with an opportunity to wow a customer who are they thinking about and what are they likely to think? Well they aren’t thinking about the boss or the customer or the other members of the team. Nope. They are thinking about themselves. And … [Read more...]
Brief, Infrequent Encounters
‘The attention span of a gnat.’ That’s the way Millennials are often described. It’s a fair description…but only if you apply it to all of us… Boomers included. Why? Because short attention spans are not the result of a weird genetic mutation found only by autopsy of Millennials. Short attention spans are mostly the result of allowing technology to dominate nearly every aspect of our lives. Boomers are often portrayed as being slow to adopt new technology and new ideas while Millennials … [Read more...]
A Lazy Man’s Load
When I was a kid my mom seemed to have a saying for nearly every occasion. Maybe that's because we were from Kentucky. I like to say that Kentucky is the only state in the Union where socks and underwear are totally optional. (Don't worry. I have my socks!) If mom caught me trying to carry an oversize load of dirty laundry or groceries or lawn clippings in an obvious attempt to avoid a second trip, she would call out, "Lazy man's load! Lazy man's load!" Inevitably I would prove her right by … [Read more...]
Smell that Positively Outrageous Service
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTC4rh5tN9Y Theatre owners actually have a name for it. It’s called “blow-by.” Believe it or not there are human beings capable of ignoring the compelling smell of, you guessed it, popcorn. What once was a tiny seed of hybrid corn eventually winds up with the power to bring this full-size man to a dead stop and drag me by the nostrils with the promise of an unexpected sample of what is little more than salt and hot air. Customers who stray too close will … [Read more...]
We Want Your WOW Story!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n27-WH3wWec Have you ever had a Customer Service Experience that made you say WOW? That was: Random & Unexpected Out of Proportion to the Experience Playful & Personal to the Customer Compelling & Led to Positive Word of Mouth We think those moments should be celebrated! Submit your nominations via a 1-2 minute video for the service experience that was Positively Outrageous. The winner will receive a $100 Visa Gift Card, the bestselling book … [Read more...]