Six Ways to Great Customer, Colleague and Friend Service!

Posted in "How To.."

Whenever we deal with companies, we expect a certain level of service. And, whether we get good customer service or bad customer service we tell our friends about it. If it’s good, we get excited and recommend the company to our friends. If it’s bad we let ‘em know not to use that company.

I’ve been thinking about the personal customer service we give to people (customers, friends, colleagues). Think about it. How do you want people to talk about YOU? With a glowing reference of praise, or with a bitter word of gossip? Well what sort of ‘service’ do you give to them?

Here are six things (from Dale Carnegie – The Master of Service!) you can do to give your customers, friends and colleagues great service.!

1. Smile

How many times have you been served in a store by someone smiling, geninuely happy to be serving you? How many times have you experienced the opposite? Which do you prefer? I know I prefer the smiler, because he makes me feel good, like someone is pleased to see me. And how do we feel about people who make us feel good. Well I class them as my friends and try to do the same in return, make ‘em feel good.

It sounds simple really. That’s because it is. When someone smiles at us, we automatically smile back. And when we smile, no matter what mood we are in our spirit is lifted.

The following poem, adapted from an advert published by a New York department store one christmas, sums up the value of a smile

It costs nothing, but creates much.
It enriches those who receive, without improverishing those who give.
It happens in a flash and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.
None are so rich that they can get along without it, none so poor that than cannot afford to give one away.
It creates happiness in the home, fosters good will in a business and is the countersign of friends.
It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad and nature’s best antidote for trouble.
Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen, for it is something that is no earthly good to anyone until it is given away.
And if you should see someone without one give them one of yours, for no-body needs a smile so much as those who have none left to give.

So our first key to good ‘Friend Service’ is smile. Not the forced smile of a terminal grump, that just gets us down. Smile a genuine smile of joy, it’s contagious.

2. Remember Names

How do you feel when someone you have only met once remembers your name? I often think, wow, I must have made an impression! (Although I probably didn’t.) But it sure makes me feel valued and important that someone remembered MY name.

People are so proud of their name. We all get excited when we read our name in the newspaper. Or if we see someone with the same name on T.V.

People strive to perpetuate their name, usually at great cost. For centuries nobles and weathly men have supported artists, authors and libraries to have their names attached to ‘stuff’ that will last longer than they will.

Names are important!

However, half the time we are introduced to a stranger, we chat for a few minutes and have forgotten his or her name by the time we say goodbye. So what can we do.

Well, Napoleon the Third, Emperor of France, boasted that he could remember the name of every person he ever met. His technique? When someone was introduced to him, if he did not hear the name clearly he said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” If it was unusual, he asked how it was spelt. During the conversation he took the trouble to use the name a number of times. As soon as he got a moment, he wrote the name down.

If I am introduced to a group of people, that I have never met before. When the introductions are finished, I go round each member of the group and say their name in my head. I’ll do it three or four times until I have everyone sorted. It takes a little effort, but then when I come to chat to someone personally later in the meeting, I can call them by their name. It is amazing the surprised reaction I get.

3. Listen (and hear!)

Here’s a quick exercise for you. Clear your mind, close your eyes and count slowly to 50. While you are doing that you must not let another thought enter your mind. The only thing you can think about is maintaining the count.

How did you do? It’s simple isn’ it? Or maybe not. If you are like most other people, somewhere around the 20 – 30 a nagging thought entered your head.

This is what happens when we listen to someone. They say something and it triggers a thought in our mind and we either interrupt, or spend the next two minutes thinking what we are going to say in reply and we miss what is said. Or we catch a distraction out of the corner of our eye and glance over and starting thinking about the distraction and suddenly you realise you have no idea what’s been said in the last 30 seconds.

However, we all love to be listened to. We all feel great when someone has truly listened to us; when we have been heard. There is a contented feeling of being valued. So here’s what I suggest. The next time you find yourself in conversation, don’t interrupt; don’t finish their sentences; don’t say, “I knew that”, don’t even agree; don’t let your eyes wander. Just ask intelligent questions about what has already been said and let the other person talk!

If all this sounds a bit much to remember, why not practice the exercise at the start until you can do get to 50 successfully, then go out and find a conversation.

4. Make them feel great!

Something that makes me feel really good is being useful. If I feel I have a purpose and I’m not redundant then I generally feel good about myself.

One of things that I do when I meet new people is I work out what gifts they have that I don’t have! What knowledge do they possess that I lack? Then I ask for their opinion. I might say, “I am not very knowledgable about this area, but you seem to know lots, what do you think about….” I give them a chance to show off their abilities. I have given them value. They feel important and they feel needed. Without them, we would not have been able to get a certain answer, or understand a particular issue.

I’m not talking about looking at everyone for what they can offer, or treating people as a commodity. I am talking about finding out what a person can uniquely contribute and building them up in that area. Praising their success by given them an opportunity to shine!

So number four is give people every opportunity to shine and feel great.

5. Raise issues in private, praise issues in public.

When dealing with people we need to realise that we are not dealing with creatures of logic, but individuals with emotion, bristling with prejudices and motivated by feelings like pride and fear.

Criticism is generally futile. It puts a person on the defensive and makes them try to justify themselves even if they know they are not right, which is not a comfortable situation to be in. Do it in a room full of people and things can get very ugly!

The trouble we have today is that public criticism and gossip are a way of life. There is an entire industry based on talking about people when they are not there; publically destroying individuals who cannot answer any criticism. From magazines to TV channels to sports commentators. I hate it.

If I have an issue with someone, I discuss it with one person only – the individual concerned! I raise any issues I have in private. I deal with them with the person involved (and it usually turns out to be a misunderstanding).

On the other hand, when I am around other people I choose to praise. I build individuals up in front of other people. This does two things. Firstly, the individual concerned feels great and loves you for it; secondly, you go up in other people’s estimation too, as they realise that you don’t talk badly about them either.

Remember any fool can criticise and most fools do, but to praise is far harder to do and far more effective!

6. Admit when you’re wrong.

It’s simple really. There is nothing more annoying than someone who is wrong, but wont come clean. Everyone else knows they’re wrong, but they just wont accept it.

We all get stuff wrong. Welcome to life!

Albert Einstein said, “If you don’t make mistakes you’re not working on hard enough problems.” I agree! If you’re never wrong, you’re drifting though life on the easy road, which leads nowhere worth going! So don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Don’t be worried about getting things wrong.

Just remember, when you are wrong, admit it, because it’s far better to save friends than to save face.

So…

1. Smile.
2. Remember names.
3. Listen and hear.
4. Make ‘em feel great.
5. Raise issues in private and praise in public.
6. Admit when you’re wrong.

Six ways to build great and lasting relationships.