How high is your vision?

Posted on July 8, 2010 by David

“The only person that can put a limit on yourself is you.”
Michael Phelps
14-time Olympic Gold Medalist

When Michael Phelps was 11 years old, he had a vision. His vision, as he recently shared at the 2010 GNC Franchise Convention, was to be an Olympic Gold medalist. It wasn’t enough to just be able to compete at the Olympics. It was more detailed than that. It was so specific that Michael wanted to achieve the pinnacle of perfection and reward in his sport. He surrounded himself with excellent coaches, trainers and he had a support system through his family that helped shape and mold his talent into the greatest swimmer of all time.

Do you have a vision? This can be personal or it can be part of your business environment. Either way, what do you see when you look into the future? If you see nothing, then you are well on your way to a life of ease and you should be able to coast all the way in. Do you surround yourselves with a network of success or negativity? Is it intentional? Are you always in a position where you are drug down and bad things happen to you all the time? Or are you in a position where you are lifted up, given the support of your piers, and have Lady Luck visit you so much you are on her speed dial?

Tomorrow, look at everyone around you. If they are negative, why? What benefit are they to you or your organization? If they are positive, are they having enough of an effect on you to keep you motivated and positive on the hard road ahead? Or are they dragging you down and getting in the way of success? I’m not talking about a wholesale reduction of all your friends, family and co-workers. But if you are putting yourself in a position to be around negativity all the time, what does that say about you?

Chances are you have your vision set too low or you don’t have one at all. It’s not that you lack a certain drive and determination. It’s that you have no clue where you’re going. You need some kind of map or outline. If you want to climb Mt. Everest, you gotta start walking. And do a lot of it! And take along one of those Sherpas who are skilled in mountain climbing.

Write your vision down. Break it down into manageable, meaningful targets so you can track your progress. Follow up at least on a weekly basis until you see some progress. You will not achieve it overnight. It took Michael Phelps 12 years for his vision to become a reality.

How high is your vision?

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Posted in GNC, Michael Phelps, Mt. Everest, Negativity, Support, Vision | 1 Comment

How important is that phone call?

Posted on July 5, 2010 by David

A customer walked in to my store the other day asking what seemed to be pretty basic questions. I really didn’t give any consideration to the fact that she was testing me.

After several minutes of questioning, I find out that this customer had just come from another location just a few miles away. While she was at the other store, the store employee took a phone call, a personal phone call. According to the customer, she wasn’t asked to wait while she took the call. Whatever the reason, the customer’s perception was that the phone call was more important. So she left and came to us.

Had the customer not told me about this incident, I would have never known. But to tell the truth I wouldn’t have changed my approach. Knowing how important everyone is that comes through our door we have to balance taking care of the customer in-store and handling the occasional phone call. It’s happened to you right? What do you say when the phone rings and  you are working with someone already? Do you politely excuse yourself to answer the phone? Could you take down the caller’s name and number in order to call them back?

However you handle it, both customers need to know they are extremely valuable and you are willing to help them in an orderly and timely way. The saying, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression” rings true here.

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VIP Treatment

Posted on July 4, 2010 by David
How regular is your routine? Is it so regular that when you look back, the rut is so deep you are in fear of violating some OSHA code for not supporting the walls around your dig site?

Sure, we have our processes; open store, paperwork, block and face, then wait for the customers/guests to come in. Is your approach to your customers/guests an individual approach or do you tailor your interaction to the person as they come into you operation?

A good friend and mentor writes 5 blogs a day. I’ve told him that there are days when I feel that he writes his post just for me and not for the thousands of others who stop by and view his blogs each month. To me, he is giving me the individualized, red carpet treatment. He is treating me as a VIP, a Very Individual Person.

Part of the process of creating an individualized experience deals with understanding the types of guest that come into our stores. I have identified 4 main categories that most of our customers fall into.

1. Commando – They have their routine. They have a laser-like focus. They walk determined and are ready to get in, get out, and get on their way.
2. Information Seekers – These customers/guests come in and usually head straight for you. They may have heard of a product but have no intention of buying from you. They may just be using you for your expertise but spending their dollars elsewhere.
3. Gliders – These customers/guests wander in at a leisurely pace. They generally stop one or two steps inside the store. They may be looking around just letting the signage, colors and layout sink in. They seem to float through the store as if they were driven by prevailing winds.
4. Deny-ers – These people may have to turn sideways when coming into your operation. Why? The chip on their shoulder is so big or their ego is so huge we need to consider doubling the entry way so they can fit into your shop. They already have all the answers and they want to share their (mis) information with anyone who will listen. Nothing works because they have tried everything. 
Do these types sound familiar? How can you be prepared for each of these guests? Your body language, tone of voice, the speed and volume of your words should mimic that of your guests.
Where this won’t work is with negative emotions. If your guest comes in angry, you remain calm. If your guest is frustrated, you remain reassuring. If your guest comes in doubtful, you remain confident. Adapt your style and your approach to that of the individual. 
Create and individualized approach to make your guests feel like they are walking the red carpet!
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Ya’ gotta have H.E.A.R.T. – Handling Customer/Guest Problems

Posted on May 16, 2010 by David

It’s a pretty safe bet to say that most of us have a heart. Well, at least we have a heartbeat.

Recently, as part of my Disney Institute course, we were asked to have heart. This came from a guest speaker, Matthew, who works with Disney reservations. If you have ever booked a room, a dinner or park tickets, you were probably handled by one of the teams under Matthew’s care.

There are some out there in the service industry who may be breathing but I question whether or not they have a heart. What am I talking about? Here are a few simple steps we all can use when we are handling a complaint from one of our customers/guests or when handling returns. This is not something new. These principles are used in businesses around the world. Some may change the language but the principles remain the same.

H.E.A.R.T.

1. Hear – Are you listening to what your customer/guest is saying? Sometimes, when a difficult situation arises, they just need to vent. A lot of times it is something out of your control. Maybe they are the ones at fault. It doesn’t matter. Simply listening to what they have to say may reveal the truth about some other underlying problem. Generally, there isn’t a problem with the product. It’s a problem with the expectations.

2. Empathize – Do you know the difference between empathize and sympathize? I admit I had to look it up in order to be able to make this point. Empathy is the ability to “put oneself into another’s shoes” if only for a brief moment. You’ve been disappointed before and for whatever reason, you’ve “been there, done that” . . . let your customer/guest feel that too.

3. Apologize – How many times have you heard or read about a situation where the person said, “All I wanted was an apology from _____” and it would have made everything okay? It doesn’t matter if you are the one to blame. A sincere apology can quickly resolve an unfortunate situation. “I’m sorry that (xyz product) did not meet your expectations. Let’s see if we can find something that better suits your needs.” That’s just one example of a sincere apology but does not place the blame or fault on anyone. But this is a great lead in to . . .

4. Resolve the situation – If it all possible, a resolution should happen on the spot. We should have done everything up front to prevent a problem from occurring. Hopefully you have the authority and duty to handle almost any situation that comes through your door. If not, then you were not properly prepared (fault of management). Are you thinking it’s not practical to be prepared for every situation? I say it is. If you are properly trained in every aspect of customer service, there should be no reason why every problem should end with a successful resolution. I would bet that most companies do not properly train their employees before turning thm loose.

Either way use all the tools available to resove the issue with your customer/guest as quickly as possible.

5. Thank your customer/guest – Are you thankful that they had a problem? Are ou thankful your customer may have strange taste buds? No. What you are doing is thank them for bringing these issues to your attention. You are thanking them for the opportunity to solve the situaion.

A genuine thank you can mean all the difference in the world.

There are more things you can do and you can read about it here. My thanks to Jeff Kober, writing on Mouseplanet.com. One of Disney’s favorite taglines is this: “It’s not our fault, but it is our problem.”

Are you ready to assume responsibility for resolving the problem?

Hope so. Come on . . . have a heart!

David

Posted in Acknowledge, Customer, Empathize, Guest, Resolve, Thank | Comments Off on Ya’ gotta have H.E.A.R.T. – Handling Customer/Guest Problems

Who did you meet today?

Posted on April 30, 2010 by David

Who did you meet today? I met a guy picking up trash.

I recently attended some training with the Disney Institute. I was part of their Quality Service program at the Walt Disney World Resort. One of our field experiences included a trip to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

After completing our assignment, (yes it wasn’t all fun and rides) we were making our way back to our rendezvous point when we observed a few in our group along with one of our facilitators talking with a cast member. I recognized him as a cast member because he had one of those trash grabbers in his hand and he was dressed business casual. When we got to the group I overheard this cast member talking and I recognized his voice. Tom, our facilitator, introduced us. As it turns out, he was from a small town in west Alabama. When I mentioned I was from Alabama he gave me a big “Roll Tide” and a huge smile while shaking my hand. Immediate connection. . .

Then it hit me! HARD! This guy who was working trash detail was none other than Rilous Carter. Who is Rilous Carter? Well, for those that don’t know him, I have put in his picture below.

Nice picture, huh? He’s a cool guy. And to save you the time of looking him up on Google or Wikipedia, I’ll clue you in on who he is.

Rilous Carter is the Vice President of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. He’s pretty much the head cheese, second in line only to the boss, Mickey Mouse.

So, pretty neat that the head of the park was on trash duty that morning. But, did you know that everyone is on trash duty? As part of our training on Quality Service, we were asked how many employees there were in Disney’s central Florida operation. Between seasonal, part-time and full-time cast members, there are over 60,000 cast members. Of that number we were then asked how many we thought were janitors in charge of picking up trash around the hotels, restaurants and theme parks. The answer is equal to the number of cast members – over 60,000. Every single cast member is responsible for picking up trash. It’s in every job description.

In your job, is there anything beneath you? When your customers leave, are they going to share the same kind of story? Give them such an experience so when they leave, they want to tell everyone, “Guess who I met today?”

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