CUSTOMER SERVICE FROM THE HEART

Everybody says, “Yeah we’re pretty good in customer service,” but how do you measure it? Report cards are great for this because we all know the system. This was our educational system all of our life. We know what an A is; we know what a C is. We know what that means. So let’s have you look at that report card. Notice for an A… You know when people have a great experience with us they advertise for us. I mean, I even had some questions down – we won’t do all the exercises. Write down… you can even think about it, a time when you had such a wonderful experience as a customer you’ll never forget it. You know if we had the time, we could all have the stories, we’ve told those stories. That time you were treated so well. It may have even started out badly, but the way that it ended up was so exceptional you told people about that. That’s powerful advertising. I mean that’s the kind of advertising we want. Now people that grade you an A or B will advertise for you for free! Isn’t that wonderful? The D’s and F’s, they advertise too, except they tell more people. As I like to say, “They’re even more evangelistic.” They tell everybody. I was doing a speech in Woodland Hills, California in Southern California to a group of 400, and all I said was “If someone has a bad experience with a company, they will tell other people,” that’s all I said. A woman in the very back row, waving her arm, and then shouted, “I’d like to tell everybody in this room about the worst company in California.” I was thinking to myself “I didn’t even ask for a volunteer.” Their sound guy was taking a mic to her, and I wasn’t too happy about that either. He’s taking her a microphone and she grabs the mic and she says “its Jay’s Bridal and Tux.” I said, “What happened ma’am,” she said, “That’s where I got my wedding gown.” Now she’s telling her story to 400. “That’s where I got my wedding gown. I went there two days before the wedding for the final fitting of the gown and when I put it on, they had botched it up so bad that it wouldn’t zip. The buttons wouldn’t button, and I said to them ‘You have ruined my wedding gown.” And they said, “Ma’am, it looks like you’ve gained a lot of weight since the last time you…” Do you see the report card grade slipping down a little bit right there? She continues, “I beg your pardon, I weigh less now than the last time. I been losing weight for my wedding. You just ruined it!” They said, “Ma’am, we can still fix it but because it’s a last minute alteration, now it will cost triple.'” I said, “What’d you do ma’am?” She said, “What could I do?” Now, she’s yelling