The Nordstrom Way

Ask any CEO, Vice President, or Manager of a service business and they will all tell you they offer exceptional customer service. Really? I don’t know about you, but I have seen a serious drop off in the level of service across the board. I have to confess my wife works for Nordstrom so my standards are pretty high but lately I have seen employees drop the ball, kick it, and then kick it again. So why are higher ups so confident their company cares about the customer? Could it be there is because there is a disconnect between the executives and frontline employees? Executives believe everyone was trained properly, pays attention to details, is passionate about service, and puts the customer first. Good luck with that.

So why do companies like Nordstrom, Apple, and Trader Joe’s (and others) do such a great job of making people say “Wow!” (in a good way) while others make customers say “Ow”? I hate to say it but you can’t teach people to be nice, pay attention to details, become passionate about the products, treat customers well, and do and say the right things in the right way at the right time. “The Saturday Night Live” skit where the flight attendants say “Buh-Bye” to each passenger as they leave the plane with plastered on smiles is a perfect example–it seems disingenuous. What makes Nordstrom so much better is they hire genuine, sincere, and nice people and then trust them to do the right thing.

http://www.collectiveinktelligence.com/customer-service-the-nordstrom-way

http://money.msn.com/investing/the-2011-customer-service-hall-of-shame.aspx?cp-documentid=6821116

End On A High Note

Making a good first impression is important, leaving a lasting one is even better. While I was working on my next book “Fumble! How To Not Drop The Ball On Your Customers” I realized scoring a touchdown with clients is more about the follow-up and follow-through than the initial impression. I must confess, my wife is an executive with Nordstrom so I know what exceptional service looks like. Interestingly, the legendary retailer she works for is best known for the ease in which you can return something—the back end of a business transaction. What we can all be better at is the after-the-sale stuff that often gets overlooked. A simple thank you note is an inexpensive but powerful way to remind a customer how much you care about them. Sending a birthday card or an anniversary gift of when you first did business together is even better. It doesn’t take much to exceed people’s expectations, and most people will be pleasantly surprised by a person or organization that takes the time (and cares enough) to follow up long after the sale is completed. Last year Susan Guzzetta and I decided to award the top two meeting planners of the year. We had awards made up and then sent them to David McCabe and Kim Pasquale. We will soon be sending our awards for 2011 to acknowledge the people who made us say “Wow!” What company made you say “Wow!” because of their exceptional service? What did they do that you can use in your business?

What Would Jimmy Buffett Do?

Success leaves clues. Whenever you are unsure what to do next ask yourself, “What would Jimmy Buffett do?” The first thing that may pop into your mind is to chill. In fact, Buffett once said, “If life gives you limes, make margaritas.” The truth is, Jimmy Buffett is actually not the same person as his persona. Mr. Margaritaville is actually a driven, determined, and disciplined businessman. In fact, there is a long list of rock stars who are better at business than you might think—Sammy Hagar, Gene Simmons, and David Bowie instantly pop into mind. In addition to turning to rock stars for ideas to make my business better, I also learned how to make my presentations more exciting, engaging, and entertaining by follwing their lead—and it worked. Success leaves clues and no matter what we want to do, someone has done it before and all we need to do is to follow in their wake. After the success I had in emulating rock stars I did the same thing with best-selling authors like Seth Godin and Tom Peters for insights on how to build my website and get my 17 books on the best-seller list. Whom do you admire? What have they done that you haven’t? How did they do it? The answers will help you become someone so successful others will want to emulate you.

Beyond Busy

Despite what we have been told, we can’t do it all, so we must focus on our top ten. Most of us are multi-talented and interested in a lot of things. As we know from Malcolm Gladwell (“Outliers”) it takes 10,000 hours to be considered a master at something. In other words, we need to focus our time and talent on the things that make us happy, we are good at, and will pay off-—the things that matter most. In order to put first things first we must know what those things are—the ten percent of tasks that bring us 90 percent of our success and happiness. One way to do this is to take a stack of index cards and on each card write down one task that takes up your time. Then on the back of each card in your stack put a heart if you love it. Put a star if you are good at it. Add a dollar sign if it makes or saves you money. Add a check mark if you must do it or else bad things will happen. Finally, put a plus sign if doing this makes a difference in the world. It will quickly become clear which things you do during the day are most important.

 

Take This Job And Love It

Love your job or hate it, the work remains the same. Einstein described his theory of relativity like this: If you put your hand on a hot stove, one minute feels like an hour. If you are doing something you enjoy, one hour feels like a minute. When it comes to our work, we spend a great deal of our lives on the job and it makes sense to find ways to enjoy it so that time flies because we are having fun and getting good things done. How do we find joy on the job? The first step is to get real. What I mean is nobody loves everything about their job. In fact, if you find that half the time you are happy you are ahead of most people. It is also true that we are so busy and so connected today we don’t take the time to slow down long enough to savor our successes and enjoy the things about our jobs that make us happy. For one day take a picture with your smart phone of anything that makes you smile. At the end of the day you will see so many small things you may have overlooked. You can use the best pictures from the week, month, or year to create a mini movie in iPhoto or PowerPoint that you can watch (all set to your favorite song) whenever you need a pick me up. Or, imagine yourself without a job–that usually does the trick.

The Wild Idea Club

When we focus on solutions instead of complaining about problems and blaming others we see possibilities that can turn any negative into a positive. Where we are is the result of our choices and what we focus on. If we blame the economy (or others) or make excuses about why we can’t do something we become victims. Smart people (like us) see problems as our time to shine. We do that by focusing on solutions.

In business the secret to success is to find a problem and solve it. In life, we all face challenges. Winners reach down in their resources and rise up to meet those challenges with innovative ideas allowing them to succeed. When we become solution-oriented we can’t help but be more optimistic and see opportunities that we would have otherwise missed with a negative mindset. Surround yourself with others that share this approach and bounce ideas around to come up with what you need to get to the next level.

When I started my first “Wild Idea Club” it was a chance to talk to other speakers over breakfast about our unique (and sometimes frustrating) industry and figure out ways we could all become better at what we do. The results were amazing. We honestly critiqued each other, offered ideas and support, and challenged each other (and everyone was held accountable) as we all reached the next level in our business and careers. Start your own club today with your peers to do what you can’t do on your own. Pool your resources, take advantage of your collective genius and use the power of “group think” because none of us are as smart as all of us.

It’s Not You, It’s Me

We can’t change people, but we can set a good example for them to follow. When we are the change we want to see at work something amazing happens, we create a ripple effect with our positive example. As others begin to emulate our words and actions things change for the better. In my workshops we experiment with making a better first impression which begins with our greeting. When someone asks us how we are, our response sets the tone for the rest of the conversation—good or bad. Oprah said, “What you put out you get back.” We can only control what we say and do, so start the new year with an improved salutation. Mine has morphed into something more upbeat, positive, and shows I care but isn’t so over the top people think I’m medicated. When you change your words you change your world. (Watch this video clip for a perfect example of this idea in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU.) The other thing we can do is set a good example for others to follow by always doing the right thing. Others follow your lead (good or bad) so show them how to do things the right way.