Archives for July 2007

Blindfolded Cliff Diver Service – It Hurts!

July 21, 2007 by Leave a Comment

I’ve heard it said that great customer service is sometimes invisible – you don’t even notice it.  While this is occasionally true, it’s not always the case.  For example, why do you go to your favorite restaurant?  It’s probably because you like it.  Duh?  Well, why do you like it so well?  You know what to expect. 

Now, what happens when you go to a restaurant for the first time – maybe one where you have heard good reports from friends.  You have expectations, but they may not be clear.  So, what happens first?  The waiter or waitress approaches and there is a conversation?  But is it a meaningful one?   It’s up to you as the customer to let those serving you know what you want.  Conversely, it’s up to you as the service professional to clearly determine what the success criteria are.   If you are serving your customers and just guessing about their needs, then you deserve those issues that inevitably arise.

Cliffdiver_6 Serving your customers is a challenge predominantly because you are not clear about how to please them.  Let’s face it, some customers play a game where they want you to figure it out – offering only fragments of information and then complaining when they don’t get what they want.  In my business I’ve always found it’s best to keep asking until you are perfectly clear.  Here’s my simple formula — 1. Ask what your customer wants from you in a way that has them imagine the perfect project, the perfect transaction – IN THE FUTURE.  Then, all you have to do is deliver that future.  Yes, you have to get them to say it.  Of course, this can be difficult because some folks really don’t know what they want.  What can you do?  2. Keep asking!  3. If that doesn’t work, give your professional opinion.  Whether they like it or not, it moves them one step closer to defining what they want so you can serve it up.   Would you dive off a cliff not knowing what’s on the other side?  I thought so.  So stop practicing ‘blindfolded cliff diver customer service.’  You know it’s gonna hurt!

Can't Get No Balance at Work? – Measure It!

July 14, 2007 by 2 Comments

I was recently asked to write an article on work-life balance for Snow Business Magazine.  If you have any knowledge of the snow business, you know this is an unpredictable, high-intensity business.  It’s a business where the best laid plans – well, they get buried under the relentless, ferocity of the next storm.  Yet, it is a highly profitable business if you can manage to keep your head, whether the storm is ‘perfect’ – or as Bob Dylan once said – ‘outrageous!’

The snow business tends to attract those individuals who thrive on the adrenaline rush of doing battle with mother nature.  In some ways, it’s like climbing a mountain.  If you are daring  – there just ain’t no mountain high enough to keep you from your mission — until you hit the wall from fatigue.  This fatigue reminds you that you are not in control of many things – your work, your free time, the needs of your family, and so much more.

How do you find balance between your work and personal life in any business?  The first step is knowing who you are and being sure you are doing what you love.  I’m reminded of The Rolling Stones tune Satisfaction.  You can get a lot of outside signals that .. ‘tell you how white your shirts can be’ (when you’re) ‘doing this and signing that’ …. in short, you have to do the right work for you in a way that works for you and your family.  Only you know what is going to work in your individual situation – because these situations are as different as each one of us. 

Mickjagger

Some of us love our work so much it can be a drug – it’s an energizing rush!  But of course, any drug should  be taken in moderation.   You build up a tolerance to the drug until eventually the results just aren’t there.  It’s up to you to communicate your needs with everyone you work and play with to arrive at the best solution.  That’s how you find balance – a balance that’s different for each of us.  I suggest you write down what those things are and make sure you are mindful of them – even measuring them.  Measure how much time you devote to your children, your spouse, your health.. to whatever is important to you in achieving balance.  As they say in business, if you don’t measure it, you are saying it’s not important.   Most of us measure profits, but do we measure balance?