“It was the best of experiences. It was the worst of experiences. “ – TK

With all due respect to Charles Dickens, I borrowed his poetic creativity as an opening to talk about two very different customer experiences that I had this week.

I was in downtown Nashua, New Hampshire this week and had a couple errands to run.   Killing time, I stopped for a morning bagel at Bagel Alley. Upon entering the shop, I was greeted from behind the counter by the owner (I know it is the owner since there is a photo of her on the wall.)  I think calling the interaction a “greeting” was probably being too kind.  She  greeted me with a brisk and unfriendly, “What do you want?”  It was so unfriendly that I actually chuckled.

Once I gave her my order, she then made it with no other comment to me and as my toasted salt bagel with lox spread was complete, she literally threw it across the counter at me.  This time I laughed out loud and mumbled as I walked out the door, “Never coming back here”.  This was a tale of a woman who either hates what shes does or was having a very bad day.  Either way, her metaphorical “customer support city” is completely aflame.

I ate my bagel as I walked down the street to a coin shop, Gate City Coin & Jewelry, to pick up a birthday present for my dad.  The coin shop was small and was also manned by the owner.  The gentleman was beyond friendly and unbelievably helpful as I picked out some proof sets for my dad.  He gave me guidance and was chatty through the whole shopping experience.  Upon leaving,  I told the owner, “I will see you again soon.”  His superb customer support and demeanor ensured that.

The bottom line is that human interaction is what produces value in most businesses.  And companies that learn this grow and ones that don’t eventually die.

About the Author: Tracy Campbell is CEO of Simplicated, LLC, Productivity Consultant, trainer and speaker.

I recently spent an extended period of time in a small Montana town with a surprising selection of gastronomic offerings; Mexican, Thai, Italian, Greek, wonderful bakeries and at least two creperies.

During a conversation with a local grad student she summarized her reluctance to visit one of the creperies by commenting “I prefer food without the anger, thank you very much.”   Her comment referenced an employee who worked for one of the creperies and practiced the consistent habit of taking an order without even the glint of a smile (more likely one of annoyance).  Pouring the batter on the griddle, this employee would proceed to slap the customer’s chosen ingredients on the crepe with an attitude of anger and unrest.  Extra cheese??? (heavy sigh), Ham…Ka-whack!  Detaching the delicate creation from the griddle this employee would slap it on the plate and shove it towards the intended recipient before proceeding to delight yet another customer…..yes, this was consistent, predictable behavior, not just one bad day.

Wow, what a story and what a poignant end result: a non-raving fan.  Looking for the learning in this story?   If you own a business where you and/or your employees interface with the public, be mindful of the attitude you portray to your customers.  Sure, all of us have challenging moments (a recent Jet Blue flight attendant comes to mind) and times when we are not at our best, but in this case the behavior was so predictable that the patron opted to no longer frequent the business.

I believe every business with a public/consumer interface will experience invaluable benefit (and ROI) from integrating personality profiling into their hiring practices. A simple profile can provide accurate information about an individual’s skills and temperament, enabling you to place them in a position where they and your business will thrive.  Well known profiles include DISC, The Keirsey Temperament Sorter, Meyers-Briggs and my personal favorite, the PREP Profile, which can be customized to job position and existing management personalities.  In Jim Collin’s phraseology: It’s about “getting the right people in the right seats on the bus.”

About the Author: Elinor Stutz is CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC, International Author, Sales Trainer & Coach, and Motivational Speaker.

Do you handle an upset with confrontation or with relationship building that gets results?

Last month, I registered for a two-day intensive coaching session. I was a bit surprised to receive neither thank you note nor recognition of my registration. Even more surprising: the details weren’t forthcoming. I became concerned because hotel and flight arrangements were necessary and the date was the beginning of a national holiday.

The situation grew worse. I called the office several times on several different days and explained that I would cancel my payment if I did not hear from anybody. Not only did I not hear from anyone, I was treated as an annoyance. The coaching for which I registered was not inexpensive. The coach himself receives praises wherever he goes, so I couldn’t understand why he would allow such poor customer service. I arranged to cancel payment.

Wondering if this gentleman knew what was happening back at the office, I wrote Brian, the coach, a factual and detailed email describing what took place. I advised poor customer service will sink a thriving company faster than almost any other criteria. For final measure, I added, “I’m writing this as a friend because I admire what you stand for and do not wish to see you hurt.”

Within minutes of receiving my email, Brian returned my call.

Brian executed his response perfectly:
1. He first apologized
2. Brain then shared, “Never employ family; you try to help but it becomes tricky.”
3. In gratitude that I held a helping hand rather than expressing 4 letter words, Brian told me he would be my mentor for the entire year!

Brian turned an almost lost prospect into a repeat and returning client, who has already begun communicating how terrific he is.  When you strive to help people turn lemons into lemonade you get what you wish for!

It becomes a win-win for all concerned and a very Smooth Sale!

When I moved to New Hampshire, I was surprised to learn that people were responsible for their own trash collection.  Every place I had ever lived, trash collection was just handled by the city or county where I lived.   But in New Hampshire, where everyone is a “live free or die” mentality, individual independence and choice is key.  And they express their independence by allowing people to hire their own “garbage men”.  Six years ago, my choice for garbage collection was Waste Management.  A huge multi-national company with a large world footprint.  They did a fine job and my garbage was always removed and I was a happy camper.

About 6 months ago, we made a switch in our service.  This switch was precipitated by great work by a start-up, Buckley Disposal.  In this local operation, I think there are some great lessons to be learned for any start-up:

• Marketing works – Buckley did a direct mail postcard campaign that was action-oriented and simple-messaged.   For$7 per week, they would do curbside trash removal.  This was 40% less than Waste Management.
• Provide a good product – The process of trash disposal is not a sexy product, but to get customers you need to have a good product.  Mr. Buckley told my wife about how his process works and how they aggressively recycle on the back-end of the process.
• Provide great customer support – Buckley’s really gets that personal care is what is needed to win in a competitive environment.  Recently, we were going on vacation so we emailed in to let them know they could skip our house for the week.  Mr. Buckley actually called back and told us that he got our message and that he would credit us the $7.  We didn’t ask for the credit, but he just offered it.  Super customer support always wins over customers.

Most start-ups are in battles with large, established companies.  Maybe you can look at the efforts of Buckley Disposal in your business and find ways to beat up the big guys.