What could be the world’s first complaint about shoddy service is on a clay tablet that was first sent about 3,800 [BCE; they forgot to add 2,018 CE years to the total–ed] years ago in southern Mesopotamia from the city of Ur…
Here is an excerpt from it.
Tell Ea-nasir: Nanni sends the following message:
When you came, you said to me as follows: “I will give Gimil-Sin (when he comes) fine quality copper ingots.” You left then but you did not do what you promised me. You put ingots which were not good before my messenger (Sit-Sin) and said: “If you want to take them, take them; if you do not want to take them, go away!”
What do you take me for, that you treat somebody like me with such contempt? (…) Take cognizance that (from now on) I will not accept here any copper from you that is not of fine quality. I shall (from now on) select and take the ingots individually in my own yard, and I shall exercise against you my right of rejection because you have treated me with contempt.
What I found most interesting is that the complaint wasn’t limited to the shoddy product or the initial lies in service of making the sale.
It sounded angriest at being “treated with contempt.”
Update the product and delivery method and it could be a template for almost any 21st Century customer unhappy with a product or service.
Decades ago rotten customer service was more a function of little-to-no training and draconian scripts, but the advent of technology raised rotten customer service to new heights — think Ma Bell and Comcast.
And it was tech companies that added contempt to the rotten customer service recipe in ever larger doses.
If contempt is yin, then arrogance is its yang.
And there is no question that tech companies excel at arrogance.
Now a Carmine Gallo, a much bigger name than me, has written The Storyteller’s Secret, highlighting the importance of story from building a culture to building a brand or entire company.
Vinod Khosla, billionaire venture capitalist here in Silicon Valley, where I live, tells me that the biggest problem he sees is that people are fact-telling when they pitch him. They’re giving facts and information and he says, “that’s not enough, Carmine. They have to do storytelling.”
When Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, another big venture capital firm, tells me the most underrated skill is storytelling, or when Richard Branson, who I interviewed, said, “entrepreneurs who cannot tell a story will never be successful”
Of course, what can you expect from generations that don’t read much and think communication is an email or, worse yet, texting?
Every day at the Ritz-Carlton there is a brief morning meeting of housekeeping.
And they ask the question of the employees: “Is there a great customer experience that you’ve been a part of, that you can share with the rest of us? (…)They start sharing stories with one another, and then they start competing for who has better stories. They get recognized publicly.”
Southwest’s success is the result of a masterful storytelling culture.
So they created what’s called a storytelling culture, where every week the HR teams go out, and they take videos of real passengers who have had a struggle, or have maybe almost missed a funeral or a birth, or a life-changing event, and stuff like that. But they were able to do it because of Southwest.
Apple is a giant at storytelling, as is Microsoft and Zappos.
So is Whole Foods, KPMG, every farm-to-table restaurant and even ugly food.
Just don’t kid yourself about why the stories work.
The work because they are real, true, authentic or any other adjective you care to use.
The stories are based on/backed by employee actions, which is what makes them resonate.
That means the CEO and all the executive team not only believes in the importance of customer experience, but also knows that the experience is created and facilitated by their people at all levels — especially the front-line people.
First, I had reason to contact CrystalTech (my host) and had another great experience. In spite of being acquired over the years (twice, I think) tech support has always been fabulous. The reps spend as much time as necessary on the phone with me until this tech dummy understands.
Second, I came across an old video that, along with being hilarious, is a graphic answer to what customer service is NOT.
If today has any unifying theme it’s a focus on management being smart, instead of the opposite.
Let’s start with my favorite customer service example, and one I’ve written about often, Zappos. CEO Tony Hsieh has a fierce focus on his customers that he fosters with a culture of fun for his people.
Michigan’s Dan Mulhern focuses on the importance of good corporate culture, especially in a downturn. He says that now is not the time to ignore culture even with the extra-challenging circumstances that Michigan faces.
Can a large corporation learn from its mistakes? Many don’t, but BMW did. It botched it’s acquisition of Land Rover by trying to impose it’s own culture on a totally different product, but avoided making the same mistake with the Mini Cooper.
Finally, can the people who built mint.com find happiness inside the large corporation that acquired them? They seem to think so.
Let’s skip all the guru talk and in vogue words and go straight to the crux of the matter.
You want a
productive, creative, committed workforce; and
loyal customers.
That pretty much covers it, but buying a bunch of new apps won’t really cut it (as yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday so elegantly pointed out).
Changing how you communicate isn’t quite as simple as throwing software at the problem, but it works better and is a lot cheaper.
Here is a simple way to start.
Internally, develop a strong sensitivity to people, all people, not just stars and acknowledge that hiring all stars (even if it was possible) won’t guarantee your company’s success.
Externally, treat all your customers the same as you would your favorite relative.
Steve Harrison, author of The Manager’s Book of Decencies: How Small Gestures Build Great Companies., says “…decent leaders all have one common trait: humility. Unlike star CEOs who seek the limelight, these low-key leaders are ambitious for their companies, not for themselves. They avoid executive pomposity like the plague. All that stuff about pretentious perks and rank having its privileges – for them, that’s not what leadership is about” and cites Colgate-Palmolive Co. chairman Reuben Mark; Nucor Corp.’s former CEO Kenneth Iverson (who died in 2002); Campbell Soup Co. president and CEO Douglas R. Conant; Southwest Airlines Co. chairman Herbert Kelleher; and Dial Corp.’s former president and CEO, Herbert Baum as executives who get it, but there are many more.
What better, simpler, cheaper approach can you find?
Think about it.
All you have to do is be considerate and respectful of others and practice the kind of manners and politeness that seem to be out of date.
In other words, learn to think them, them, them, instead of me, me, me.
Restaurants have much in common with other businesses, especially when it comes to innovation. Like lemmings they copy each other, trying to keep both customers and the Center For Science In The Public Interest happy. Not an easy task.
However, anyone who ever watched Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Channel knows that not all toe the line; there are plenty that focus on pleasing the former and say to hell with the latter.
It’s called thinking way outside the box and the Heart Attack Grill in Chandler, AZ is the leader of the ‘to hell with’ pack.
Heart Attack Grill is a great example of how an innovative combination of delicious, socially unacceptable food and a culture of exceptional customer care turned a restaurant into a destination and a major hit with people who aren’t intimidated by the food police.
Robert Nardelli, best know for almost killing Home Depot by trashing its customers and ignoring its culture and poster boy for the platinum parachute, is back in the news.
For those of you vacationing on Mars (the only way you could have missed it) last August, Cerberus hired him to run Chrysler.
A year later, in a marriage between surreal and oxymoron, Nardelli is teaching executives how to create a a quality-based customer-centric culture.
It’s a sweeping change in MAP, but apparently he read a book and was converted.
Wow! As Kevin Meyer said over at Evolving Excellence, “I guess I better get a copy of that ice cream book. It must really be something.”
But before you get too excited, let it be noted that Nardelli hasn’t actually talked to any dealers or showroom customers—probably too mundane and not measurable enough.
Don’t miss Robert Reiss’ interview with Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh.
Hsieh believes that Zappos incredible customer service is the number one driver for sales growth that skyrocketed from $1.6 million in 2000 to more than $1 billion in eight short years, while powering straight through the dot com bust.
Hsieh believes that to be successful you “need to be truly passionate about whatever you’re in the business of doing—it should not just be about making money.”
Zappos.com’s incredible customer service is embedded in its culture and Hsieh explains in depth that the culture is protected by a unique “two-step” hiring process that in its second-step concentrates on Zappos’ corporate culture and its core values. Hsieh says, “We make sure the people we hire have similar values. We won’t hire them if they are not a “culture-fit even if they are technically strong.”
The company focus is obvious—listening to its customers to hear their requests and understand their needs.
Hsieh’s says, “We place a lot of value on the interaction with customers. We want and take the time to talk to our customers.”
The man’s on to something. In an age when most customers are left with the feeling that the company is doing them a favor by taking their money for the product/service and their desire for decent (not even great) customer service is at best an annoyance listening to Hsieh is not only refreshing, but offers tangible proof that a focus on company culture and superb customer service pays.
You tell me—it great customer service common sense or rocket science?
There’s a lot content out there right now on how to recession-proof your company. Most of the advice is good and much of it is similar, but…
Yeah, you knew there’d be a ‘but’.
It all revolves around stuff that should have been happening all along under the categories of good business practices, long-term strategy and positive corporate culture and driven in part by the historically taught lessons that business is cyclical and what goes up must come down.
Companies are being told to focus on innovation and superb customer service, among others, but neither is a turnkey system that can be ordered and installed.
When done suddenly, these actions may come over as panicky when you need them to reek of authenticity.
I’m not saying don’t do them, but be aware that if you just slap them on the surface with no preparation and expect them to work they’re unlikely to produce the results you want.
So this week I thought we’d talk about how to implement the ones most likely to move you forward—that way your company will do more than just survive, it’ll thrive.
Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.
Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,
If today has any unifying theme it’s a focus on management being smart, instead of the opposite.
, says “…decent leaders all have one common trait: humility. Unlike star CEOs who seek the limelight, these low-key leaders are ambitious for their companies, not for themselves. They avoid executive pomposity like the plague. All that stuff about pretentious perks and rank having its privileges – for them, that’s not what leadership is about” and cites Colgate-Palmolive Co. chairman Reuben Mark; Nucor Corp.’s former CEO Kenneth Iverson (who died in 2002); Campbell Soup Co. president and CEO Douglas R. Conant; Southwest Airlines Co. chairman Herbert Kelleher; and Dial Corp.’s former president and CEO, Herbert Baum as executives who get it, but there are many more.
and was converted.
Don’t miss Robert Reiss’ 
There’s a lot content out there right now on how to recession-proof your company. Most of the advice is good and much of it is similar, but…
