Question: What do you get when you walk from Target to Books-A-Million? Answer: A face full of smoke. Confused? Stay with me here, I’m about to explain. In one of my favorite shopping centers, smack-dab between Target and Books-A-Million, sits Circuit City. Now, I’m not here to blast Circuit City per se (not today, anyway), but on every trip I’ve made to that shopping center, I have seen at least three employees smoking on the sidewalk in front of the store. And not just employees – managers, too. There they stand with their massive clumps of keys chained to their pants, puffing away like there’s no tomorrow and throwing their butts on the sidewalk and into the landscaping. Some customers, those fortunate enough to spot the break-in-progress in advance, detour into the parking lot to avoid the billowing smoke. Not so lucky are the customers enjoying a cup of coffee and a scone on Books-A-Million’s patio. That smoke has to go somewhere, and it always seems like the wind is blowing west (guess which direction BAM is located in relation to Circuit City?). Smoking is a personal thing. It’s not for me, but if you want to do it, go right ahead. But not in front of the store! I’m obviously not alone either; here’s a look at a few comments I
found on the Web:

“…the front reeks like a dirty old ashtray and cigarette butts litter the entry way.”

“You would think that [this store] could at least provide their employees with a decent smoking area so that the non-smokers do not have to navigate through the fog to gain entry to the store.”

“I defy anyone, smoker or not, to tell me seriously that having half a dozen employees smoking (with all the attendant garbage and inevitable littering) outside the main entrance to a public place/business projects a positive image.”

How many customers do you suppose Circuit City has lost because they didn’t want to “navigate through the fog”? All things being equal, I can imagine hundreds of customers over the course of a year would decide to go across the street to Best Buy where the air is cleaner. Take heed, Circuit City, before your ashes turn to dust!

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It’s no secret that our economy has seen better days. Prices are up on everything from gasoline to rice, while employment rates and consumer confidence are down. Businesses are hurting. What should they do to stay afloat while the undertow of an unsteady economy sucks the others under?

 

Recent studies reveal that a customer-centric approach to business is the equivalent to a life jacket in a sea of economic uncertainty. If research doesn’t move you, look at computer giants Dell and Apple. Why is one trading at a dismal $21 a share while the other is soaring at $187?  How do they differ? You might answer, “Well, their marketing strategies are different.” I agree.  Or you might say, “Apple has more innovative products.”  Again, I can’t argue with that.  But what I think makes the most difference is the manner in which each company treats their customers, current and potential. 

 

Case in point, here’s a clip of an alleged call between a potential customer and a Dell telephone salesperson. I say “alleged” because it hasn’t been definitively proven whether the call is real or not. However, based on personal experience, I’d be more surprised if it’s a fake than I would if it’s real. 

 

To listen to the call, press the Play button below:

Entire websites are dedicated to the widespread hatred of Dell and how it treats its customers (www.ihatedell.net, www.ihatedell.org and others).  Yet Apple, through its superior products and a unique, positive customer experience, has managed to avoid such a fate.

 

Businesses, heed the lessons of Dell and Apple. While other companies seem to be sinking in an economic whirlpool, keep yours afloat by treating your customers like they matter. You will keep them happy, loyal and coming back for more! 

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Now and then, I invite other respected industry professionals to share their frontline experiences with my readers. Recently, a recount of a Ritz Carlton snafu and recovery by consultant and coach to corporate executives, professionals, and independent business owners, Liz Bywater, PhD, caught my attention. Here’s a snippet of her story:

Several weeks ago, I attended a charity event at the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia. I drove up to the hotel, handed my car keys to the valet and stepped inside. The event was lovely. I met some new people, caught up with old acquaintances, sampled the hors d’ouevres, paid the valet and drove home.Fast forward to last week. I was sorting my mail when I spied an official looking envelope from the City of Philadelphia. With some curiosity and a bit of trepidation, I opened the envelope only to find a parking ticket in the amount of $101. The date and time of the violation just happened to correspond to my recent visit to the Ritz-Carlton. Naturally, I called the hotel to figure out how this had happened. I explained my situation to the front desk clerk, who then transferred me to the valet, who referred me to his manager, Louis - who happens to reside somewhere in Southern California. I left Louis a voice mail, relaying my story for the third time. In truth, I wasn’t entirely hopeful that he would return my call. I braced myself to start all over again with the hotel and, if necessary, fight this out with the City of Philadelphia.  Much to my surprise, Louis called back. In fact, he called just minutes after I’d left my chagrined voice mail. He was pleasant, respectful, responsive and apologetic. He explained that I never should have received that parking ticket, that indeed I never should have been aware of the problem at all. (As it turns out, the Ritz-Carlton gets these tickets all the time. They simply can’t move the cars off the street fast enough and they end up paying literally thousands of parking tickets, usually without the guests ever being the wiser. Every now and then, however, a ticket - like mine - slips through the cracks.) Louis immediately investigated the problem, ascertained that the ticket had, in fact, been paid, and got back to me within 30 minutes to assure me that all had been taken care of. His phone call literally put a smile on my face.

Here was a clear example of a company representative accepting responsibility, providing excellent customer service and working quickly to correct a problem. I thank Dr. Bywater for sharing her experience. For the full story, visit her ezine article. To learn more about her visit her website.

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I recently mentioned “pesky little details” in another entry, (See “If Your Bed Isn’t Made…”). However, on a recent visit to a luxury resort on Pensacola Beach in Florida, I was confronted with evidence of something else pesky, and it had left some details of its own. Condominiums at this resort are valued at $700,000, and with the beautiful views, excellent service and luxurious accommodations, it’s easy to see why… at least it was until I settled in for a long, relaxing bath. As I admired the luxe ambiance, I was startled and disgusted to find mouse droppings in a vase on the tub mantle. Yes, I said mouse droppings!!! And they were covered with a layer of dust, which means they’d been there for a while and no member of the cleaning staff had been thorough enough to notice and get rid of them. Imagine realizing the last tenant to inhabit your room may have been an uninvited guest!!!

 When running a business - especially one that promotes luxury - plush beds, spectacular views, and smiling service are often a given. Yet, in an effort to provide those things, managers and staff should not overlook the common aspects- such as dusting, proper extermination and detailed cleaning. Remember, in the service industry, your frontline team doesn’t simply consist of the sales staff and concierge. You can’t put a mint on the pillow in the bedroom and neglect the pellets around the bathtub… or the next time, it may not be the paying guest who eats that mint.

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At Customer Service Vigilante, we bestow the label ‘Rotten Egg’ on companies as our way of pointing out the horrors customers face at those stores every single day.  People definitely have grudges to bear… with good reason.  I totally understand.

However, don’t forget there are also amazing companies out there, and they deserve to be recognized, too. It is much more thrilling to see a Starbucks than a K-Mart any day. Being screamed at because of bad policy and bad leadership will never keep great people attracted to your organization. I have a competitor, a very smart man named Arcadio Rosselli, who says, "Whether you’re great or bad, business is hard, so you might as well be great."

I read an article by Michael McKinney, posted on Leadership Now. Michael says it eloquently:

1.       You attract the people your system invites

2.       It’s no secret that healthy environments attract healthy people

At Customer Experience Vigilante, we poke fun, BUT we are fair. We understand many companies are aware they have work to do to improve, and many great companies are rigorously trying to control arrogance to stay smart. Only a few bad leadership decisions or unwise hires can take a company from hot to not in a nanosecond.

So, what is the most important rule in the game to becoming great?

HIRE A-PLAYERS. Pay the money. Hire, promote and retain these people only. Unless you do this and create a culture that measures whether managers are consistently doing it, you won’t get there.

We’ll have more on A-players later: How to find them, how to assess them, how to keep them, and what you can expect from them. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, please comment and give us three recognizable companies you know that consistently hire great people. Maybe we’ll chat with them to see how they do it. 

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In the hotel industry, strategic development and marketing folks work hard to put a competitive package together. The package is meant to help all of the franchisees of the brand compete.  

Look at this picture perfect mimic of Westin’s Heavenly Bed™. 

 The Holiday Inn is heading in the right direction. They have delivered a competitive edge to their business owners.

 But…

 It is all in the execution, isn’t it?

 So, you might be saying, "Everyone has a bad day, right. Well in this case, it is the speaker of the client’s event I was attending. As you can see, they did not heed my advice the evening before, when I advised that they should put the doors back on the room. Thus in the middle of the event, the fellow pops in and begins drilling away. <cringe>

What happens when it is almost there, but those pesky little details crop up like a blister on a 7 day camping trip? It is every business leader’s worst nightmare. So how do you tackle performance-related problems with franchisees? The brand has every right to hold owners to the terms of their franchise agreements. Our clients use both systematic and random secret shopping approaches to stay current on franchise quality and service delivery issues. Tagging certain actions to poor or failing compliance scores, lets franchise owners know what is expected of them. Perhaps the owner should have to pay for training, quality audits and secret shops until they are back in compliance. Isn’t that a small price to pay to ‘get right’ with the brand as a whole? They are doing damage to competitive franchise owners who do ‘get it right’. Think about it. Do you say, "Wow, this owner really screwed up?" No, you say, "Holiday Inn sucks."

In order for the brand to stay strong, the Holiday Inn and other hotels must reinforce the non-negotiable standards of service execution with fervor or they will be replaced by stronger executors.

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