It’s snowing in Madison.

Again.

Record-breaking snow in fact.

I’ve spent some time this winter shoveling our sidewalk and steps to keep the walkway open for our Madison friends to stop and shop. Maybe because I’m a January baby I don’t mind so much. It’s important to maintain perspective on snowy days like these, so I took some time to create that little snowman you see on our porch too.

On to the snow service story. First let me start by giving kudos to all the snow plow drivers. The mayor of Madison commented on the Weather Channel that normally they plan for 5 days of plowing and we’ve had 12. So far.

These folks just keep going and going. They’ve got a lot of pavement to clear and when it snows the amount we’ve had and as continuously as it has, they don’t get much of a break. It would be understandable if they just focused solely on the job they have to do.

The hero I want to commend didn’t let the overwhelming job he has to do, keep him from doing something nice for someone in trouble. On my way in to work this morning, I came upon a small car that had slid around in the street to be facing the wrong way. It was a fairly busy side street and he was in the oncoming traffic lane. As I pulled over to help, a city snow plow also stopped.

The driver got out of his truck, in a short sleeved t-shirt and pulling on some work gloves came over to help me push the car out of the snow bank. He commented that it was “too easy” and I said there’d be more difficult ones as the day went on and he said it wasn’t the first time he’d stopped that day. With a wave and smile he climbed into his truck and drove off.

He didn’t have to stop. He’s got plenty to do today. But he did and that made the lady in the snowbank’s day a little easier. We may take for granted the service the snowplow drivers provide but this driver went beyond his responsibilities and that makes him a customer service hero.

I hope to tap into the superpower of not being too busy working to offer a helping hand as I try to be your customer service hero.

Technorati Tags: customer service hero, snow plow driver, record snowfall, Madison, Wisconsin

Did you catch Tony Romo’s performance on Monday night? Some would say Romo didn’t serve his team very well with six turnovers; I say he gave his customers - the fans - a great experience with a Dallas win.

Part of customer service is dealing with errors that are made. When mistakes happen it is an opportunity for your customer service team to make a favorable impression.

Interviewed after the game Romo:

“That’s a sign of a pretty resilient team,” Romo said. “I think our team, outside of me, played an outstanding football game. They dug me out of it. It was tough to go through that, especially on Monday night.”

I have had times when I’ve made mistakes and started to get caught up in an emotional reaction that doesn’t get me any closer to where I want to be and certainly doesn’t serve my customers. It has been the other members of our staff that have helped me get back on track and get the job done right. Their encouragement and focus on what best serves the customer has set a good example of how I need to stay calm and focus.

While Romo made his share of mistakes, he also kept a cool head and kept his mind on the win. It’s easy to get caught up in finger-pointing or in self recrimination. Romo’s customer service superpower is a focus on getting the right end result.

“No one is going to care when it’s all said and done how you won the game.”

And in customer service this is true as well. If you can use mistakes as opportunities to make a lasting impression, you’ll earn loyal customers for life.

[tag] Monday Night Football, Tony Romo, superhero, customer service [/tags]

Ever wonder why Customer Service Week is in October? Well, Halloween is in October: you dress up as make believe characters receiving and handing out sweets. Customer Service Week can be like that too - companies pull out all the stops to create images of themselves as service superheros and give away awards and prizes to everyone around them.

I think the mission of Customer Service Week is a great one. I know folks who have all the giddy anticipation for it that a 6 year-old with a Spiderman costume has for October 31st. Here’s my concern: don’t let this be the only time you put your customer service best on display. Don’t make celebrating customer service a one-week event.

Mark Sanborn talks about the instinct for exceptional service in his book The Fred Factor. He was inspired by his mailman Fred, who exemplefied being personally motivated to give excellent care to customers. He observes:

It is easy to find and point out what’s “wrong” with quality, customer service and business in general. Finding examples of what’s “right,” or even praiseworthy, is much harder. Yet here was Fred, a gold-plated example of what personalized service looked like.

Wouldn’t you like to be known as a Fred? Wouldn’t it be great if your company gave such amazing service everyday that people checked the calendar to see if it was the first week of October? Take note of the following that Mark also says:

To this day, I can’t tell you what motivated Fred. I know he didn’t get paid more for his extraordinary work. I doubt he received any special recognition from his employer (if he did, I never heard about it). I know he wasn’t privy to any exceptional training or incentive programs.

If you think your company needs Customer Service Week maybe you need to freeze the calendar to the first week of October until it becomes an everyday instinct of everyone from top to bottom in every department.

Don’t settle for costumes and treats for one week - challenge your team/department/company to go beyond 5 days of wowing your customers.

Make the effort to become an everyday customer service hero. There’s only treats to be had from such an attitude.

PS - You can take the test to see if you’re a Fred.

Technorati Tags: Customer Service Week, Halloween, Fred Factor, hero

My mom is my hero for a lot of reasons: her faith & strength as she battles cancer, her love & thoughtfulness as a sister, wife & mother, her compassion & kindness as a friend. She’s also a savvy business woman whom I admire for her customer service skills.

As a jewelry stylist for 20 years (check out some of her designs), she’s used her eye for great jewelry to help people find the perfect accessory for their special occasion attire. For the last two years she has been designing her own line of jewelry and learning the craft of bringing those ideas to life. A few weekends ago, I helped Mom at the Lincoln Park Cultural Center Art Fair in Chicago. It was really great to see her in action.

Her customer service superpower is passion. She loves finding the right pieces for each person. She is delighted to talk about the gemstones she chose to use or to show the different combination of necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. She was so thrilled all weekend that people liked her jewelry. I believe I inherited this passion gene - I love it when folks are happy with their Lemonade Stand goodies.

You can definitely tell the difference between someone who is “just doing their job” and someone who is truly passionate about serving people. My mom has the customer service super power of passion in abundance and I can only hope that like mother like daughter.

Technorati Tags: passion, love your job, customer service hero, Lemonade Stand

*There will be no spoilers in this post - I promise!*

There is something that is lacking in a lot of customer service. You hear numerous stories of dissatisfaction - people are much more likely to share their stories about how frustrated, angry and upset they are due to poor service. I believe a big part of this dissatisfaction comes from leaving an interaction with a customer service person feeling there’s no loyalty to them as customers.

That’s why Harry Potter is one of my customer service heroes. Of all the things people have and will say about this character created by J.K. Rowling, it can be agreed that Harry shows loyalty. Throughout our journey with “the boy who lived” we have seen how he came from being an emotionally starved orphan sent to live with uncaring relatives to an intensely friend to his new magical family. He has show deep commitment to those around him from friends at school, to teachers, to magical creatures he encounters. And especially to the cause of fighting evil.

If there is a problem with a product or a mistake is made with an order, I want my customers to know that I understand they are frustrated and I want to do everything I can to take a sour experience and make it a sweet one at the Lemonade Stand. I want customers to know I am loyal to them. I commit to show my dedication to their experience - it should never be about me or company policy.

That’s why Harry Potter is one of my customer service heroes - I am dedicated to fighting the evil of poor customer service and vow to use the superpower of loyalty to do it!

Technorati Tags: Harry Potter, customer service, loyalty

I buy hamburger from a really great guy in Iowa. Because my guy purchases the meat in large quantities from the local meat locker, he gets the hamburger in large ten-pound tubes. Great for price but not exactly convenient when it comes time for cooking! Here’s what’s neat about my guy - he isn’t just a source for the meat, he’s made himself my personal butcher. Gene takes those 10 lb. tubes and gives them a quick freeze. Then he slices the hamburger into patties and wraps the patties up in 1 pound packages for me. He doesn’t charge me any extra for this service, he just does it because it’ll be more convenient for me.

My mom was recently hospitalized for emergency abdominal surgery. During the two weeks it took for her to be released, my dad, siblings and I took turns staying with her at the hospital. My mom’s best friend Julie went one step beyond cards and flowers, she baked. Now some folks would force veggie trays and soups and casseroles into your fridge, reasoning that you need good nutrition. She’s done the meal stuff, but Julie didn’t stop with stew and sandwiches. Just about every other day, she showed up with a plate, or tin, or pan full of some sweet goodness. And it hasn’t stopped since Mom came home - she’s made herself our personal baker. She could feel good about providing meals for a family dealing with major medical situation. She did more because she knows there’s something extra comforting about dessert.

Not long ago we had a rush of orders for our Clean Underpants candles. So many that I had to place a special order with our candle manufacturing partner Soy Works Candle Company. Now normal time on pouring and shipping candles is at least a week. Circumstances beyond their control delayed that order. Knowing that I had Lemonade Stand customers waiting, Soy Works owner & chandler, Heather, emailed asking, “What can I do for your customers since the candles have been delayed?” No excuses or justifications, she was focused on how best to serve my customers - what a great way to serve me.

All three of these folks are my heroes because they each in their own way anticipated not only what would meet my needs, but also looked for how to exceed them. Each took extra time and put extra thought into how to best serve me; how best to make my life easier. Now that’s a customer service superpower I want to cultivate!

Technorati Tags: butcher, hamburger, Iowa, baker, dessert, candlestick maker, Soy Works Candle Company, clean underpants, service hero

To some folks good service is getting done with a customer - making a deal, signing a contract, closing a sale. I think one of the superpowers of great service is conversing with a customer in order to go beyond just what needs to get done.

At my local grocery store in Verona, WI, they not only employ people to bag your groceries, these folks carry your purchases out to your car. Most often in the evenings when I shop, this job is done by teenagers, in large part, boys. There’s one super young man about 16-years-old who I will call Pete. Now I think Pete does a good job as a bagger - he doesn’t overload the bags, he makes sure the bread doesn’t get squished and the eggs get placed on top - but the thing about Pete that makes him my hero is that he talks to me.

As we make our way out the door into the parking lot toward my car, Pete will ask a question. Sometimes about the weather “What do you like to do outside in the spring?” sometimes about the local college sports team “Can you believe Wisconsin lost?” sometimes it’s a simple “How are you?” - he always pays attention to the answer and makes follow-up conversation. No mumbling, no ‘leave-me-alone’ grunt, but thoughtful enthusiastic answers. I’ve heard about his track practice and trips to Badger games I’ve debated with him about whether or not Favre should retire and if global warming is the reason for such a heavy late snow this past winter; he usually sends me off with something about the topic of our conversation - not just “Have a nice day.” The thing that makes Pete my hero is that he talks with me, not at me. He really makes an effort to be in the moment.

Pete’s job is to get the groceries from the store to my car. His superpower is showing that he cares about me beyond being the customer. I hope I do as well with my conversations with the Lemonade Stand customers.

Technorati Tags: Heroes, customer service, groceries, bag boy, Wisconsin Badgers, Farve

Little things make a big difference in customer service. As I reflect on stories of my sales servant heroes, I realize their “superpowers” are little things that they do that make the biggest impact on their service.

Judy Ansfield aka the “Gift Basket Lady”, is the owner of Basketree Gifts here in Madison WI. We’ve been partnering with her for a few years now and working with her is excellent. The thing that makes Judy a hero to me is her super ability to pay attention to detail. Here’s the story of how her superpower was revealed to me:

I was in the midst of packaging up multiple Lemonade Stand orders when found myself without a box to fit a pile of goodies. I had plenty of boxes way too small and a fair amount of boxes twice the size or better than I needed. This package was an expedited one — it needed to go out that day, AND it was already 5 pm, AND the post office closed at 5:30. So I called Judy in a near panic and asked if I could buy a box from her. She said of course and I dashed out the door to go pick it up. When I arrived almost literally huffing and puffing, despite the fact that I drove, she had a couple boxes for me to choose from waiting at the front counter. As I pulled out money to purchase the box, she told me not to worry about it and then she handed me a package of chocolate covered cherries, just because she thought I sounded like I needed them. It made my day. And whether or not the chocolate was key to me making it to the post office on time, Judy certainly saved my day.

Judy’s attention to a little detail, how I was feeling, made an impact on me that day. I really appreciated her thoughtfulness. It’s something that is intrinsic to the service she gives. And now I strive to develop my power of observation with all the people I interact with day to day.

Thanks Gift Basket Lady!

Technorati Tags: Heroes, service, chocolate covered cherries, attention to detail