Dennis Snow’s Service Excellence Blog

As a customer service speaker and author, I spend most of my time talking or writing about what organizations can do to be better service providers. In this post I thought I’d divert from my usual theme and spend a moment talking about a different, but certainly related subject. Being a better customer.

More times than I can count, I’ve stood in line at a coffee shop, fast food restaurant, or store observing an employee trying to take the order of a customer who is chatting on his or her cell phone. Everything gets slowed down as the customer tries to order and talk on the phone at the same time. The employee often doesn’t know if the customer is talking to him or to his phone companion. The employee gets frustrated; the other customers in line get frustrated. And the phone addict is oblivious to it all.

I can think of few customer behaviors ruder than disregarding everyone around in order to hold a cell phone conversation. What the offending customer is saying is, “I’m more important than the rest of you.” Most employees I’ve observed have handled the situation in a patient manner, but you know they’ve got to be silently shouting, “Get Off The Phone!” I know I am.

Another common breach of cell phone etiquette is the customer who boards a plane while talking on the phone. They juggle the phone and boarding pass while ignoring the gate agent. Most frustrating of all, the rest of the boarding passengers are delayed as the cell phone addict tries to put luggage in the overhead compartment with the phone tucked under the chin - and it never works. And other passengers and the crew are the ones who suffer as the perpetrator obliviously chats away.

I firmly believe in employees doing what it takes to provide great customer service. I make my living helping organizations and employees do just that. But I also believe that customers have a responsibility to be reasonable customers. There are plenty of other examples of rude, arrogant, or uncaring customers. And employees need to be able to graciously handle those situations (unless it crosses the line of being abusive). But the cell phone talker is a special case because his or her arrogance impacts everyone around them. I guess it can be called “exponential arrogance.”

Let’s be sure we are good customers by respecting those who are doing their best to serve us and by respecting our fellow customers.

Tags: Commentary by Dennis Snow
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Yesterday I received an email from an employee of one my clients. The email shares a story of a recent visit to Disney World, comparing the experience to other theme parks. I thought it was a good example of how people make the difference. I’ll share the actual email a bit further in this post, but I want to make a couple of comments first.

In the case of a theme park, certainly the rides and shows must be great. But that’s not enough. There are lots of places with great rides. But if you combine a quality product with great service delivery, you have something special.

As you read the story, think about your own organization. Think about ways that you can build meaningful relationships with customers. Think about the types of interactions that result in customer delight and how you can create standards that make customer delight “business as usual.”

 Last week, I was on vacation and decided to spend a few days in the Orlando area. I purchased 3-day passes from Disney for myself and three teenagers (ages 13, 14, and 15).  As usual, we had a great time visiting all the Disney theme parks.  We purchased the tickets with the “Hopper” option, so we spent our days running back and forth from one park to another.  This time around at the parks, I took a special interest in observing customer service.  As usual, it was very, very good…I really should probably write “excellent.”  I was amazed at how one cast-member managed to still smile when I asked him where the Toy Mania attraction was even though I was standing almost directly in front of it.  The whole magic really did shine through every minute I was there. It’s almost too difficult to explain what makes Disney’s so successful.  

While in the Orlando area, we had dinner one evening at NBA City in City Walk, adjacent to Universal Studios.  I can tell you that while making my way to City Walk, I noticed that what sets Disney apart from the competion is quite simple; their cast-members and customer support.  City Walk employees looked like maniacs scattered throughout while trying to keep the “cattle (us)”  in control.  A large crowd should not have been the issue; trust me, Disney seemed to have the same sized crowd.  I really looked at the faces of Universal Studios employees and I could swear they were just different.  No calmness there.  I appoached two employees, to be exact, and they appeared to be aloof and distracted….one was on their cell phone.. I had to wait about  30 seconds (believe it or not) for the person to answer my question.  I thought to myself, “does Univeresal focus on customer service, at all?”

After spending a few days in the Orlando area, I continued on to Tampa, where we visited Busch Gardens (yes, I was on theme park binge).  There too, I noticed how different customer service was from that at Disney.  I remember asking two employees walking by if they knew of any restaurants in the park which offered a salad bar.  You would have thought I was asking the most ridiculous question in the world.  One of them was twisting her hair with her fingers and looked like she just wanted to carry on her conversation with her friend.  She clearly thought I was interrupting her very important conversation.  I remember that as I approached them, they were discussing how one might be sent home and she was not going to stand for it. She was clearly not happy with her employer and others were probably hearing the same conversation I was.  

I wanted to share the above observations with you.  What is the secret to the Mouse’s success?  I don’t know.  Do you think it’s something in the water at Disney grounds?  Could be!  I couldn’t tell you and I’m sure you must have a much better idea than I do.  I do believe though that Disney has struck gold.  They have the same product as their competition (Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, etc) and they obviously know it.  However, they have found that differentiating factor and know how to keep it going strong.

When you look closely at the behaviors the writer describes from the Disney experience, nothing there is really extraordinary. Mostly it’s about paying attention, caring, and being empathetic to guests who are out of their comfort zones. The writer’s examples show how a focus on simple, customer-focused behaviors make all the difference.

In the next few days I’ll be announcing the release of my new book, Lessons From the Mouse: A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life. The book addresses how Disney instills that service attitude in its 55,000 cast members.

In the meantime, keep focusing on wowing your customers!

Tags: Commentary, Lessons From the Mouse, Service Analysis by Dennis Snow
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Assisting an organization with a customer service initiative (or any other organizational development project) can be very rewarding; especially when the leadership team is truly committed to long-term success. When everyone is involved and engaged, amazing results can be achieved.

Getting everyone involved, however, can also cause mind-numbing frustration. Anyone who has ever participated on a project team or a steering committee knows that a beast is always there waiting to strike. The beast’s name is Project Creep. You know Project Creep has arrived when input from others regarding the initiative transforms into demands that must be a part of the outcome.

When Project Creep insidiously inserts itself into the mix, what started as a clear, straight-forward initiative becomes a runaway freight train. And the result is often a train wreck. The original purpose of the initiative disappears and the outcome is a bloated, meaningless mess.

The most common example of Project Creep is the development of a typical company’s mission statement. What should have been 2-3 inspirational sentences that provide clear direction end up being two pages of corporate-speak that mean nothing to anybody. Everyone ends up frustrated.

A spot-on video was posted on Alan Weiss’ blog, Contrarian Consulting. Showing this video should be required at the beginning of any new project and shown again at the first sign of Project Creep.

The original purpose of an initiative or project should be the lighthouse that guides the initiative or project safely into port. Yes, get input from as many sources as possible, but don’t let Project Creep take you off course.

Tags: Commentary by Dennis Snow
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One of the blogs I regularly read is Customers Are Always, hosted by Maria Palmer. She just posted a great article, “Proactive Behavior: A Sign of Service Excellence,” which was written by a guest contributor.

I have experienced the situation the writer discusses (picking up the wrong bag at the airport), and certainly agree that the type of proactive behavior described results in walk-through-fire customer loyalty.

See what you think about the article - I’d love to hear your feedback. 

Tags: Commentary, Service Analysis, When Great Service Happens To Good People by Dennis Snow
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What a difference a caring employee makes. You can observe two employees doing the identical job, but one is creating great customer experiences while the other employee just goes through the motions.

A recent client arranged for a Town Car service to take me from the airport to the convention hotel and then back to the airport the next day. It was a fairly long ride, about two hours, but it was through beautiful countryside so I didn’t mind.

The driver who picked me up at the airport was wonderful. She had a chilled bottle of water waiting in the car along with a fresh copy of the local newspaper and the Wall Street Journal. She asked if I had been in that part of the country before (I had) and off we went. I appreciated her smooth and comfortable driving style with no fast accelerations or quick applications of the brakes. I felt safe.

She made the ride pleasant by sharing information about the areas we drove through, while always gauging my interest based on my responses and questions. Along the way I had to do a bit of computer work and she respected my need for quite during that time. The only time she interrupted was at the half-way point to ask if I needed a restroom break; which I did.

Dropping me off at the hotel, the driver was complimentary about their facilities and sincerely wished me luck on my presentation. It was a great customer service experience.

The return to the airport was another story. Same Town Car company; different driver; very different experience. The driver greeted me in a disinterested manner and put my bags in the car. He then proceeded to accelerate the car like Mario Andretti accelerating out of Indianapolis Speedway’s pit row, throwing me back in my seat. We were off on what proved to be a nerve-wracking ride to the airport with quick starts, stops, and lane changes. I certainly wasn’t going to get any work done on that ride.

To make things a bit more comfortable I tried to make some light conversation, but his manner clearly indicated there would be no chit chat. And there was no offer of a restroom break at the half-way point - I had to ask for one. We arrived at the airport, he put my bags on the curb, and drove off as I stood there wondering what had happened to make him so bitter.

I share this story because it demonstrates the behaviors that differentiate great service from poor service:

Accuracy - The first driver was a good driver and she immediately made me feel safe. The second driver was an erratic, aggressive driver, who made me wonder if I would make it safely to my destination. Being good at the job technically is a vital part of customer service.

Responsiveness - The first driver was talkative when it was appropriate, and was also quiet during the time I needed to do some work. She was responsive to the moment-by-moment needs of her customer. The second driver, on the other hand, was simply performing the task of getting his customer from Point A to Point B. Being genuinely responsive to the customer demonstrates a willingness to move beyond simply completing a transaction.

Care - The first driver is clearly a professional who cares about her customers. She made the trip interesting and wowed me with little details like the bottle of water, the fresh newspapers, and the offer of a restroom stop. The second driver only cared about finishing his shift and listening to the radio (his choice of station, not mine).

Accuracy, Responsiveness, and Care. Those three little words, when translated into action, make all the difference. One driver saw her role as an ambassador of the Town Car company and of her community, while the second driver saw his role as a driver.

Same job, but a completely different experience.

Tags: Commentary, Service Analysis, Tips for Better Customer Service by Dennis Snow
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I’m constantly amazed at the lengths to which some companies will go in order to alienate their customers. They may have clunky processes, poorly trained employees, or any of a multitude of customer-alienating practices.

But the one that really fries me most is when a company distrusts their customers. Sure, there are those customers who take advantage by doing such things as returning clothes after they’ve attended the prom, returning furniture after the party, etc. But those abusive customers are in the minority. Some companies, however, build rigid policies to protect themselves against the advantage-takers and end up alienating the majority of customers who would never dream of trying to rip off the company.

This all leads to a story a colleague shared regarding a damaged cake. When she contacted the company, it’s clear that the owner of the company didn’t trust the customer’s story, even though she offered to send a photo of the damaged cake. After reading her description of the event, click on the icon to see a photo of what she received (read the narrative first).

Today in the office a customer service nightmare unfolded. A bakery shipped a cake that arrived in such a mess the recipients couldn’t tell what it was. They called the company to kindly let them know; the owner was angry that she’d done so and denied there was even a problem even though the recipient offered to send a photo of what she’d been delivered. It was a strange kind of denial and she got very defensive. What is happening now though is that the photo is circulating and the story is getting around, which will obviously hurt business.

Click HERE to see the photo!

Imagine how different this customer would’ve felt if the owner had sincerely expressed her dismay at the condition of the cake, apologized profusely, and immediately sent a replacement - which the customer didn’t even ask for. My guess is that the next time this customer wanted to send a cake as a gift she would’ve immediately chosen this company because there would’ve been a high level of trust that things would turn out fine.

Instead, this customer is circulating the story, along with the photo and the company’s name, to everyone she knows. Remember, it costs five times as much to attract a new customer as it costs to keep a current one. I hope this cake company has a big advertising budget.

Do your company policies ever penalize and alienate your honest, loyal customers because of the actions of the small fraction of customers who try to take advantage?

Want to share your story? You can submit it here.

Tags: Commentary, Service Analysis, When Bad Service Happens To Good People by Dennis Snow
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This is a follow up to my post this past Monday, “Respecting Those Who Serve Our Customers.” In that post, I discussed leadership behaviors that can make employees feel undervalued or “invisible.” The very next day the Wall Street Journal printed an article that focuses on a related subject - “Bad Firings Can Hurt a Firm’s Reputation.” The article discusses the insensitivity with which layoffs and terminations are often handled. Reading some of the examples provided, you can’t help but wonder about the impact on the loyalty and commitment of the company’s remaining employees.

Most of us who have been in leadership roles have either had to fire people or lay people off - or both. The Journal article makes you reflect on how you handled the process. I hope I was much more sensitive than the bosses sited in the article - but it did make me stop and think about what an outside observer might have said having witnessed my handling of those situations.

Check out the article and please comment back to me if you have any of your own examples you’d like to share.

Tags: Commentary by Dennis Snow
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The CEO letter at the beginning of almost every company’s annual report will include the statement, “Our employees are our most valuable asset.” That is a true statement - our employees are the organization’s most valuable asset. But just saying it isn’t what makes it true. Through their behaviors, leaders must demonstrate that their employees are truly valued.

So, here is a pet peeve. I can’t stand it when leaders refer to their employees as “headcount.” I don’t know for sure, but it’s likely that the term came from the cattle industry. Headcount = how many of head of cattle on the ranch. And even if that’s not where the term comes from; it sounds like it.

As I waited in the audience to present a customer service speech at a company’s annual retreat, I had the opportunity to hear one of the company’s senior executives give the audience a state-of-the-company speech. It was a good talk except for the fact that he kept calling the employees “headcount.” And all of the employees were in the audience to hear it. “We have x number of headcount this year,” “We’re going to have to reduce some headcount next year,” “We’ve got manage our headcount carefully,” etc, etc.

I believe that when we talk about people in a certain way, we start thinking about them in the same way. If we talk about our people as simply headcount, we naturally start thinking about them as numbers. And pretty soon we start treating them as numbers. “Reducing headcount” is simply a sanitized, clinical way of saying, “We’re taking away the livelihood of some of our people.” Circumstances may necessitate a layoff, but I believe the boardroom conversation is quite different when the focus is on how a layoff will impact real people and not simply on how a layoff will improve the “headcount.”

Click here to read an article I wrote titled, “Invisibility.” It discusses some of the leadership behaviors that make employees feel invisible and therefore unvalued.

Think about how invisible, unvalued employees treat customers. Beyond the fact that treating our people well is the right thing to do, it makes good business sense to respect those who serve our customers.

They’re not headcount - they’re people.

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This is the tenth in a series of ten blog posts that provide a brief synopsis of the chapters in my upcoming book, Lessons From the Mouse - A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life. You can view previous posts from the book by clicking on the Lessons From the Mouse category on the left column of this page.

Lesson #10: Take Responsibility for Your Own Career.

Walt Disney World is committed to employee development and provides many opportunities for career enrichment or advancement. However, in such a large organization, with over 55,000 cast members, there is a lot of competition when those opportunities come along. It’s easy to get lost in such a vast sea of employees, and many do - often due to their own negligence. Some cast members wait to be discovered, wait to be noticed, wait to be given more responsibility, wait to be promoted, etc. And they grow frustrated when it doesn’t happen.

Other cast members, however, take charge of their own careers. They let their managers know about their goals, they develop new skills, and demonstrate that they can be depended on. They don’t delegate responsibility for their careers to someone else. They see their careers as their own responsibility.

It’s a sad truth that some employees believe good things should just happen without doing what it takes to make them happen. And each time they get passed over for a promotion or assignment, they grow bitter and begin a downward spiral into a victim mentality; which eventually dooms any chance for future opportunities. On the other hand, companies and bosses love employees who take charge of their own careers. Responsible, self-starters are a welcome relief from the whiners.

There’s an old saying that there are three kinds of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened. People who make things happen will always be in demand.

Questions to consider about Lesson #10:

1. What opportunities have you asked for lately at work?
2. What specifically have you done recently to gain new knowledge or skills in order to increase your value to your organization?
3. What can you do to take more responsibility for your career?

To be released this summer

Tags: Commentary, Lessons From the Mouse, Tips for Better Customer Service by Dennis Snow
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This is the ninth in a series of ten blog posts that provide a brief synopsis of the chapters in my upcoming book, Lessons From the Mouse - A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life. You can view previous posts from the book by clicking on the Lessons From the Mouse category on the left column of this page.

Lesson #9: Figure Out What Ticks Off Your Customers - and Do Something About it.

While Disney World’s mission is to create magic for guests, sometimes less-than-magical events occur. Rain, closed attractions, and long wait-times are just a few examples of circumstances that can result in guests being ticked off. Guests often save for years to visit Disney World, and their expectations are understandably high. Any glitch in the experience can easily cause frustration that is out of proportion to the actual problem - but the guest’s perception of the problem is the only perception that counts.

Rather than ignore those problems, however, Disney faces them head on. Over the years, for example, Disney “Imagineers” have addressed the wait-time issue in a number of ways, such as posting wait-time signs, providing entertainment while guests stand in line, and designing the queue into the story of the attraction. Most recently Disney World created Fastpass^TM - a process where guests can make reservations to go on major attractions, reducing wait times dramatically. These are all examples of finding out what ticks off customers and doing something about it.

Most customers have experienced company processes that just don’t make sense and that cause them intense frustration. Sometimes a particular process has been in place so long that the organization simply forgets how irritating it can be to customers. Other times the organization decides that their convenience is more important than the customer’s convenience, such as the appliance repair company that says they’ll be at your house sometime between 1pm and 5pm. Clearly, their convenience trumps the customer’s.

All it takes to successfully apply Lesson 9 is an understanding of how customers interact with your organization and to identify any “points of pain.” When asked, most customers are quick to share what frustrates them. Frontline employees are another source of information regarding customer frustrations. After all, those employees are usually the ones who bear the brunt of the customer’s irritation.

When a company identifies customer frustrations and takes steps to alleviate the problems, they set themselves apart from the competition. Customers think, “Why can’t other companies do it like they do?”

Questions to consider about Lesson #9:

1. What are some frustrating processes you’ve endured as a customer?
2. What do customers find frustrating about doing business with your organization?
3. What can your organization do to encourage greater sharing of ideas for improving the customer experience?

To be released this summer

Tags: Commentary, Lessons From the Mouse, Tips for Better Customer Service by Dennis Snow
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