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| Humor at Work |
ISSUE 463 - Nov 14, 2012 |
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Service With a Smile
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Great customer service isn't about blindly smiling at the customer and pulling the string to recite a scripted response that sounds forced and unnatural (as hilariously mocked in an old Saturday Night Live skit with Helen Hunt and David Spade playing cynical flight attendants saying, "And bye-bye" to all the departing passengers).
Great service is about being real, being fully present, making a connection, building trust, and ideally transferring a smile onto your customers' faces. That's why the online shoe business Zappos allows their call center employees to put their own personal spin on how they answer the phones, or why Southwest Airlines or WestJet Airlines allows their employees the freedom to have a little fun when doing the announcements (check out the Rapping Flight Attendant, who, incidentally, garnered loads of free publicity on major news shows across the U.S.).
Which is not to say that these employees aren't given any expectations. Zappos call center employees, while not given a script, are given intensive training, coaching and feedback on their calls to ensure that they are coming across as professional and effective. Zappos focuses on the end result of building relationships, but leaves the "how you get there" up to the creativity and judgment of the individual employees. Not only is this a great recipe for better customer service, it's a surefire recipe for happier, more engaged employees.
This also means you need to measure the right stuff! Zappos, for example, is concerned about the quality of the calls, never the quantity - so employees aren't measured by how many calls they respond to, but rather how effective the employee was at building a relationship with the customer.
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Mike's Fun at Work Tip |
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Speaking of getting your customers (whether they be your team mates or external customers) to smile, try this wacky contest that a few of my clients have done with great success: Hold a contest for a day to see who on your team can generate the most number of smiles by the end of the day. (By the way, anyone who has tried this has told me they couldn't help but stay in a great mood all day!)
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Quote of the Week |
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"The struggle of maturity is to recover the seriousness of a
child at play." Friedrich Nietzsche |
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It's a Wacky World |
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Older executives in Britain are undergoing "voice lifts" to make them sound younger! (So they can do a better sale pitch?) Wow. Face lifts...tummy tucks and now we can't even sound our age!
On a different note...and speaking of lightening up....happy "Loosen Up, Lighten Up Day everyone!"
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Inspiring Reading
From the archives: A hilarious look at why it's key to Hire for Attitude
Inspiring Savings
Huge cost-savings to bring Mike in to speak:
December 3-5 in Winnipeg, Manitoba;
December 10-15 in
North or South Carolina;
March 29 - April 10 in South Africa.
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Copyright © 2012 Humor at Work. All Rights Reserved.
mike@mikekerr.com
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