Mantra Smantra
By Ron Morrison
On the Wall
Have you ever received incredibly poor customer service or paid for an experience that was terrible - at best? While you were receiving that fantastically poor service, or having that uniquely bad experience did you observe the company's “mantra” posted on the wall?You undoubtedly have seen the mantras of which I am writing about. Perhaps they were on posters, buttons, napkins, pens, pencils, receipts etc… You may even know some of them like “We try harder” or “Work hard fly right” or “Catch me doing something right.”
As an expert in organizational development I will tell you that mantra is important, in fact, it is essential in driving an organization to superior level performance! That being said, what I think all business owners and executives struggle to understand about mantra is that it is NOT a mantra that creates a satisfying customer service or guest experience, it is employee behavior!
Buzz Light Year, Guest Service and the Discretionary Dollar
Buzz Lightyear is my all time favorite visionary. If you have not yet seen the Disney movie “Toy Story,” it is a must see. If you have seen it then I am certain you will recall Buzz Lightyear’s highly acclaimed mantra, “To infinity and beyond.” What I admire most about Buzz is that he believed the mantra he spoke AND he actually behaved accordingly! His character became defined by what he believed AND how he behaved. Not only that, I found myself rooting for him throughout the movie because his behavior was an extension of his mantra. He not only said it, he lived it!
As our economy continues to remain unpredictable at virtually every level, more and more people are truly beginning to assess when, where, and how they will be spending their discretionary dollars. Take special note that discretionary income is, according to most economists, becoming less and less. It is now therefore, more important than ever to realize that everyone who operates any type of business whatsoever is, first and foremost, in the customer service business. Your “customer service” competitors may not be in the same field as you but know that they are impacting how your business is perceived!
I am reminded of a check-in experience at one of my favorite hotels. It seems my reservations were messed up beyond belief. As the problems with reservation escalated, the guest service behavior of both the manager and desk clerk diminished proportionally. Finally, their behavior reached a point of total “customer no-service.” All the while a beautiful plaque – stating the company mantra - remained neatly positioned on the wall behind the front desk. It read “Your satisfaction is our goal, and it is 100% guaranteed.” For me, that was an outright lie!
When I think of a company that gets it, I think of the Seattle Space Needle. I recently had the opportunity to "audit" virtually all aspects of the Space Needle's operation. Confirmed on my visit was what I have heard to be true and that is the Space Needle is known for stellar, above average, out of this world, customer satisfaction. When you combine a single Space Needle employee’s customer service behavior with a 600’ dining experience above Seattle, you have all the elements to achieve a superior guest experience virtually every time. Thus, patrons who receive the Space Needle’s out of this world service experience something rare, customer satisfaction. I am not saying the Space Needle owns the market on customer satisfaction, but we are in a time when truly satisfying customer service experiences are diminishing!
So why is customer service at the Space Needle important to you?
Simple, as consumers experience out of this world service at the Space Needle or at a variety of other places, they may begin to expect such service from you! And, when they don’t get it, research tells us they spend less and less. In fact, they may look to take their money elsewhere, especially their discretionary dollars.
Think of it this way, behavior creating quality services or experiences, once given and received, creates a shifting paradigm for what is expected from various other businesses and their employees.
For me, it is my bank. I love my bank. It is Amegy Bank of Texas. My bankers know my name, they say "hello" to me when I walk in, and when I have an issue they actually work to resolve it. Are they perfect, no, but they treat me great!! As a result of my experiences at Amegy Bank I compare everyone to them, my cable provider, my phone provider etc… (I will tell you, not many stack up!) Here is what they understand... it is of utmost importance to keep and hold on to me, the customer that is directly before them. They understand that there is fierce competition in their industry and it is a must to keep me as a customer and that it is much easier to keep me in hard economic times than it is to convince me to come back or give them a trial run.
So keep this in mind, your competition may not always be product-to-product as much as it may be service-to-service or experience-to-experience! Your greatest competitor may be a company that provides a superior service experience to yours! As a result, when consumers spend their discretionary dollars, you may not get them!
What to do?
Develop a Q-GEM philosophy! Q What? Q-GEM, a Quality Guest Experience Management philosophy, not another mantra for the wall! Develop a philosophy that brings to life the delivery of a quality guest experience (QGE). A QGE accelerates spending of the discretionary dollar, brings guests or customers back, and produces patron testimonials that are often shared with friends, family members, and neighbors.
Thrills and frills aside, the primary ingredients of Q-GEM are physical and emotional touch points, and understanding what these are is of the utmost importance. Physical touch points are easily identifiable: Are the restrooms clean? Is the music appropriate to the experience? Are there pleasing aromas in the air? Does the operational environment look good? Basically, are the details in the physical environment appealing to the human senses?
Emotional touch points are less obvious and occur as guests and employees have either direct or indirect interaction. These interactions create an emotional connection imprinting the guest with either a positive or negative experiential memory. Further, employee behavior dictates these experiences and ultimately defines a moment in time when your guest’s perception of service sinks or swims!
How do you insure a positive memory through service?
Simple, by defining, teaching, modeling, and measuring guest service expectations. Consider this three step Q-GEM approach:
1. Define and create a desired standard behavior. Expected behavior must be repeatedly taught, modeled, and rehearsed! In fact, if it is not, the chance of occurrence is nil. An excellent, and often overlooked, modeling opportunity exists in services areas where employees provide service to employees. These areas should not be ignored but in fact should be a modeling and teaching ground for exceptional quality service!
Consider this: How are employees treated at work? As employees pass through security check points are security officers smiling, waving, and providing a greeting appropriate to guest service standards? In other words, are they treated like a guest? If not, a tremendous opportunity to showcase the expectation of guest service is being missed and employees may treat guests in a similar fashion to how they are treated!
2. Inspect what is expected. Managers cannot rely on mystery shoppers and guest satisfaction surveys as sole measurements. Managers need to create formal and informal measurement processes that are tied directly to what has been taught and modeled. During inspection, managers need to correct poor behavior immediately. Then re-inspect the guest service process.
3. Capitalize on good performance. I frequently teach “what gets rewarded gets repeated.” Managers and company leaders need to show public praise and recognition! A celebratory process creates a desire within employees to provide positive service moments in order to be recognized. When these elements become reality, then in challenging moments your Q-GEM will maintain because it is behavior based and not driven by environmental or conditional factors.
(For more specifics, see “Guest Service…Maximizing the Emotional Touch Point.”
Are you kidding me?
As I close this article I want to point out how far reaching the concept of superior customer service is becoming for many in the modern business world. In October, many businesses now celebrate “Customer Service Week.” Yes, customer service week. (Google this if you do not believe me). Apparently October is the time of year to raise awareness of the importance of customer service and let customers know about your organization’s commitment to customer satisfaction. Let that sink in… and let me close by saying this, if customer service is celebrated only once a year in October and customers need to be told – by you - about your commitment to customer service… well… frankly, you are in trouble when economic times get tough and you may not be ready for where you are headed.
Call me, operators are standing by!
