That’s fake news. Real news COSTS. Please turn off your ad blocker for our web site.
Our PROMISE: Our ads will never cover up content.
Innovating Service With Chip Bell
Published: Tuesday, April 14, 2020 - 11:02 The “camp” where we board our cat is fantastic. Our cat gets “tree time”—a giant climbing structure with tunnels and carpeted “trees” to climb and scratch. She gets the best of tender loving care, complete with brush-outs and nail trims. But try and contact the camp hands-free from your car, and you run square into “punch one.” This forces you to dangerously take your eyes off the road or pull over into a parking lot to contact them. It is a small irritant, but one we face each time we are en route and need to alert them to get our cat ready for checkout. Compare that small challenge with this one. A guest sees more in an hour than the host in a year. One Friday evening I arrived late at my weekend getaway home on a north Georgia river. Going into the bathroom to wash my hands, I noticed a small amount of water seeping out of the bottom of the vanity cabinet. Opening the cabinet door, I discovered the PVC drainpipe under the sink had cracked. An easy fix with the right part. I dialed the Ace Hardware store in the little town nearby, expecting the after-hours voice message to tell me what time the store opened Saturday morning. Instead, I was met with a big surprise. “Good evening, how may I help you?” the friendly voice said on the other end of the phone line. “Are you guys still open?” I asked in disbelief. “Oh, no,” replied what turned out to be the store manager. “When I close up at 6 pm, I call forward the store phone to my cell phone in case someone has a hardware emergency. Do you need me to meet you at the store?” I assured him I only was seeking his opening hours. As the Polish adage goes, “A guest sees more in an hour than the host in a year.” Be your customer. Call your unit and disguise your voice so you can examine how hard you have to work to get what you want or need. Access is a part of the “convenience revolution,” as my friend Shep Hyken has labeled it. So, try taking the challenges away from your customers. Take an empathy walk with a customer willing to be honest to learn the details of the customer’s experience that are screaming for repair, the ones that we as service providers stopped noticing long ago. Quality Digest does not charge readers for its content. We believe that industry news is important for you to do your job, and Quality Digest supports businesses of all types. However, someone has to pay for this content. And that’s where advertising comes in. Most people consider ads a nuisance, but they do serve a useful function besides allowing media companies to stay afloat. They keep you aware of new products and services relevant to your industry. All ads in Quality Digest apply directly to products and services that most of our readers need. You won’t see automobile or health supplement ads. So please consider turning off your ad blocker for our site. Thanks, Chip Bell has helped companies dramatically enhance their bottom lines and marketplace reputation through innovative customer-centric strategies. For the sixth year in a row, Global Gurus in 2020 ranked Bell as one of the top three keynote speakers in the world on customer service. Bell has authored 24 books; seven are international best sellers. His latest book, Inside Your Customer’s Imagination: 5 Secrets for Creating Breakthrough Products, Services, and Solutions (Berrett-Koehler, 2020), shows how co-creation partnerships enable you to tap into the treasure trove of ideas, ingenuity, and genius-in-the-raw within every customer.The Power of Customer Access
Try taking the challenges away from your customers
Our PROMISE: Quality Digest only displays static ads that never overlay or cover up content. They never get in your way. They are there for you to read, or not.
Quality Digest Discuss
About The Author
Innovating Service With Chip Bell
© 2023 Quality Digest. Copyright on content held by Quality Digest or by individual authors. Contact Quality Digest for reprint information.
“Quality Digest" is a trademark owned by Quality Circle Institute, Inc.