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Category: Customer service
Bullying: It’s not just for kids
If you are a parent, there usually comes a moment when your child needs to deal with a bully. I also believe that adults in the workplace must sometimes deal with a bully. According to the dictionary, a bully is, “A person who habitually seeks to harm or intimidate those who they perceive as vulnerable.” In other words, a bully is a coward, and they enjoy picking on someone who lets them. Please note the word enjoy.
I can truly say that I cannot recall allowing myself to be bullied in my childhood or adult life. Many have tried. I learned a valuable lesson early: Bullies like to bully, but only if it is a pleasant experience for them. My commitment was to make sure any bully who tried to pick on me would find the experience unpleasant and not worth repeating. We don’t need to be Chuck Norris, we just need to make sure that bullying us is not a pleasant experience
In adult life we can also be bullied. When someone says something mean to us, we can take a time out with that person and say, “You just said _______. I am not exactly sure what you meant by that. Please elaborate” I would politely and respectfully put them on the spot rather than absorb the hit. They soon got the message that bullying me was not going to be an experience worth repeating.
Many years ago, I was talking with a player on the Chicago Bears, and he mentioned he often had to face Walter Peyton in scrimmage. He said he dreaded having to tackle Walter Peyton. I said, “Gee, I thought he was a nice guy”. The player said, “He is. It just hurts to tackle him.” Tackling Walter Peyton was like trying to stop a ton of bricks. It wasn’t an experience you would want to repeat.
You may be a victim of bullying in the workplace or you may know someone who is. If so, do your best within good reason to make the bully not want to try again.
Developing good email “smarts”
Many years ago there was an aftershave commercial with the tagline: “Hai Karate…be careful how you use it!” When I think of the attributes of email, I often recall that aftershave commercial. Email is a tool, and like a hammer, you can use it to build a house or tear it down. In business, we want to build.
Responding quickly when appropriate: We have all been in a situation where we needed data, a model number, or a code to complete a task. We email someone who we know can help, and we appreciate it when they get right back to us. Downsde: Responding quickly to every email we receive could be a distraction, and affect our time management.
Send on Monday morning: A postal employee once told me that the best time to go to the post office is before 10am on Saturday. They were right! Likewise, here is the rule for sending an important email: Sent it out first thing Monday morning so that it will be at the top.
Using emoji’s: According to email strategist Emma Russell, emoji’s can give us a nice emotional spike, but they work best when sending them to people you know. “Using emoji’s with strangers can have unintended consequences.”
Question: When should we phone rather than email? That’s debatable. My rule of thumb: If someone is writing me an email and I can tell they are upset with me, my response would probably be two words”: “Let’s talk”
The #1 pathway to leadership growth
Throughout my nearly 50 year coaching career there is one question I ask that has generated the most productive leadership discussions. Here it is: “How many can think of a way to improve relationship and leadership growth that does not include improving our listening skills?” From the responses I have received from this question, I can only conclude that improving our listening skills is the best single thing we can do to strengthen relationships.
Yesterday I attended a visitation to pay my respects to a very special mentor who passed away earlier this month. His name was Joe. The funeral home was packed. In the memos, people talked about Joe’s caring and sense of humor. Most importantly, there were many who commented on what a sincere, empathetic listener Joe was. I remember when I talked to him he would focus on me and not get distracted. There was no tension in his eyes, and I could easily see that he was listening to understand rather than respond. It was such a great feeling. When we can listen as well as Joe, we can make people feel good about themselves and build strong trust.
Now would you like to know how good a listener you are? OK. When was the last time you received a compliment for being a good listener? Hmmm…
Two magic words that are still magic
“Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
I remembering once hearing of a conversation between a worldwide traveler and person who was just starting to travel. The neophyte was going for a tour of Europe, and he asked the season traveler for his best advice. The reply was not complex. The travel pro said, “Just learn how to say “thank you” in every language you will encounter, and make sure to always say thank you.” Weeks later, the rookie traveler returned and said to the pro, “That was the best travel advice I have every received!” It reminds me of what we all learned in kindergarten: Say the magic words of “please” and “thank you”.
Last Thursday my wife and I decided to treat ourselves to dinner. We went to a local fast-casual restaurant that belonged to a chain with a reputation of friendly service. The person took our order. His face was expressionless. We paid up and shortly after he gave us our sandwiches with a “Here you go”. I was waiting for a “thank-you”, and there was silence. We quietly walked away with our food. It then began to occur to me that “please” and “thank you” are going out of fashion. That is sad. As customers, we choose to spend our money at certain places, and when we do, we help provide the capability of a business to issue paychecks. Thank you, anyone?
I also realized that recently I find myself saying “thank you” to someone who should be thanking me. It gets worse. When I do say thank you, I often hear, “No problem”. Really? I never thought of myself as a problem. I thought of myself as a customer.
Before the phrase thank you becomes extinct, I encourage you all to use this phrase wherever you go. Did someone do something nice for you today? Thank them. And thank you for ready this blog!
Being corporate without the “corporate feel”
If you own a business, and you overheard someone talking about your company, what words would you want to hear? I am guessing you would want people to say, “Nice play to work” or “Great customer service”, etc. What if someone said, “The working environment feels very corporate”. Such a comment probably would not excite you. The “corporate feel” doesn’t sell like it used to.
For nearly 50 years I have been a loyal follower of a local restaurant chain in Chicago. These restaurants were special places with a lively staff that knew how to have fun and make the dining experience special for you.
In the past few years, I have noticed these restaurants lose their luster. Orders get messed up, people stopped smiling, and things just weren’t the same. Three weeks ago my family and I had such a bad experience that we decided to end our 49-year old tradition. Before I made my final decision, I called customer service and told them of my experience. They promised to get back to me. They did not. It was time to move on. I wish I could say the incident three weeks ago was an isolated incident. It wasn’t. We’ve had several sub-par visits in the past two years. Last week I was relating this story to a stock broker, and he commented, “Oh yeah, that company was sold in 2014 and is now publicly traded.” The lively team spirit this chain of restaurants had built had died a slow death. They now had the “corporate feel”. Do you work for a large corporatation? What can you do to make sure your team has a “caring feel” versus a “corporate” one?