is your company a customer complaint-friendly?

“No company satisfies all of its customers all of the time. But how a company handles complaints makes a big difference in its ability to retain current customers.”  Ron Zemke

Customers today have many options to choose their buying experiences. With each and every buying experience, the customer may sometime encounter a problem. 

When customers feel dissatisfied, they have two options on how to continue the relationship with the service provider. The customer can either share their feedback or they can walk away and never come back.

We must view customers complaints as golden opportunity to strengthen our relationship with the customer. In some places, service providers look at complaints as burden rather than something they can actually benefit from. 

Complaining customers are still talking to us, giving us another chance to recapture their experiences with our product and services. 

So what can we do to ensure we have a place for customer to share their experiences with us?

Here are some ideas to help create a complaint-friendly service culture:

Recognize customer’s concerns

Our customers concerns have to be heard and acknowledged. That’s what relationships are all about. Customers more than any other time want a relationship of trust. 

How can we establish trust without the ability to listen and hear the customer? A great way to recognize the customer concern is by saying, “I sense you are concerned about….How may I help with that?” or “I can see this is very frustrating…let me assist you with that issue.”

Take Responsibility

The last thing the customer would like to hear is blaming someone else for their concerns. Own it right away. You can diffuse a lot of anger from the customer perspective when you take responsibility for any mishaps. 

When you take responsibility, you communicating you care not to pass buck and you understand it’s not the customer fault.  You can alleviate a lot of anger by ensuring accountability and a sincere apology to the customer as they also understand we are not perfect, but we are willing to admit our mistakes.

Communicate what you are going to do

Once you took responsibility and apologized, the customer would like to know how we can solve their concern to their satisfaction. A great way to communicate that you are willing to resolve the customer concern is by saying, “Let me tell you what I’m going to do to follow through on your concern immediately..”  

It shows a sense of urgency and you are communicating with the customer how you are going to take care of the issue. Sometimes, we just assume that we know what the customer wants and failed to have a dialogue on the resolution. The resolution should be an agreement that exceeds the customer expectations.

I would love to read your suggestions for a customer complaint-friendly culture: 

How to bring out the best in others

Great leaders discover the potential around them. As more and more companies are comfortable adding people to their organizations, so is the potential for growth. 

We have an opportunity to develop and mold the next leaders of our organizations. To create the right opportunities for growth, we have to bring out the best in the people around us.

Leaders who inspire employees to stretch themselves to superior performance are the ones making the difference. These are the mentors of tomorrow. And the world needs more of them, especially now, when leaders are expected to do more with less.

As leaders, how can we bring out the best in others?

Become interested in your people

Human Relations and author Dale Carnegie wrote,” Become genuinely interested in other people.”  In today’s world, leaders are respected by the way they treat others. If we can show a genuine interest in the well-being of another, we are creating a positive environment for them to flourish. Everyone has a story to tell, but are we really interested in their stories? Are we really taking the time to listen and relate to their stories?

Discover their strengths

One of the biggest challenges we have as leaders, is to identify each person talent and how their talent fits to the overall picture. Leaders must identify the capacities of their teams. We need to understand how each person can contribute and add value to our team and customers. You have to spend time with your people and see where they shine.  Concentrate on developing those strengths within your team as part of the development and growth.

Learn to be a mentor

Helping others grow is a major part of bringing the best in others. A strong leader has the ability to inspire and develop their teams to a better future. Mentoring happens when we are committed to the growth of another person. We see the potential and we dedicate our time and resources to help them blossom. Most of us have mentors and we value the impact they are making on our lives.Let's take what we learned and do the same thing for others.

Celebrate Success

Last but not least, we must never forget the impact of a positive recognition. Congratulating and appreciating someone creates a lasting memory. It’s the token for a job well-done and celebrating our success together. 

Catching people doing something right communicate we value what they do on a daily basis. It’s the applause at the end of the show. As C.C Colton said, “Applause is the spur of noble minds.”

If you have some ideas on how to bring the best in others, please feel free to share them.

The Three Questions of Caring Leadership

“A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside. “Denis Waitley 

To care for another person, in the most significant sense, is to affirm and recognize another person.  Caring comes from our deep longing to help another person grow and develop. Leo  Buscaglia, a relationship author said, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

Caring can add value to just about every experience we share with other people. You can never go wrong with too much care. Did you ever hear anyone complain because someone cared too much? If we want to make a difference in people’s lives, we have to care. We have to care about their situations, we have to care about who they are and we have to care enough to make a positive impact in their life.

Caring Leaders can ask four questions to communicate care to anyone they interact with:

What can I do to help?

Offer your hand and your heart to another person today. It can be something very small but make sure it’s meaningful. By offering assistance to another person we communicate we care enough about their life. We think it’s important enough to listen and maybe find a way to place ourselves as a resource to improve their situation. 

Some people don’t express the need for help and hope something will change. As leaders, we have to be the light and have the courage to understand others by being there as a support. As a leader, if people don’t come to you for help, maybe that’s something you can work on to listen more, understand better and get better as a leader. 

Colin Powell said, “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”

I want to understand better

When we have a two-way communication and trust, we can be vulnerable to growth. The growth of our leadership doesn’t stop with what we said. It begins with empathy and understanding the other person. Oprah Winfrey said, “Leadership is about empathy. It’s about having the ability to relate and to connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives.” 

As leaders, we can relate and connect better to others by clarifying their messages.  A simple comment such as “I want to understand better,” means you want to take the time to really listen and care. It communicates we are aligned with the situation the other person is having. We are taking the journey together to help each other.

What do you think about…

As leaders do we really care what others think? Are we busy in our own world in trying to accomplish our goals? By asking people to share their thoughts and opinions, we open our hearts and ears to another point of view. It’s what Stephen Covey articulated and taught as the Third Way. It’s not my way or your way but our way together. 

By asking people what they think, we allow synergy to flourish.  We bring another perspective to our leadership conversations because we all have a story to share, a meaning to create. The life of abundance is the life of sharing thoughts and ideas together. 

Trust is built by taking the time to deeply listen to one another and to get to know their thoughts and opinions. It’s a process that can help us embrace more of our human growth by learning how to brings different point of views in the process of cooperation to make us complete.  

It creates a culture of cooperation and partnership. When we see the thoughts of others we show respect and the ability to hear others. Stephen Covey in his last book taught, “Nothing is more crucial in the global culture of twenty-first century than to understand others rather than try to dominate them.”

Three Signs of a Positive Leader

Many of us take a moment to reflect back on our day. We ask ourselves, “did we make a difference today?” but the real question should be-“Did you make a positive difference today?” As leaders, we need to remember that leadership is taking people where they are and taking them on the journey of development and potential growth.

One of the primary things that people are looking for in their work experience is whether they are part of something meaningful and positive.  Leaders have the responsibility to create a positive environment for their people. It’s a win-win situation for both the leader and the people. If your leadership is positive and enriching, it will make an impact on how relationships and the company culture will thrive in the long run.

So what are the signs of a positive leader?

Positive communication

Positive leaders foster positive communication throughout the organization by reaching out to the people and sharing performance goals in an engaging way. Leaders can do that in couple of ways. First, by making sure there is a 360 degree feedback process in your organization. It’s a process that builds on the power of positive feedback by helping individuals support and mentor their performance on a daily basis. 

It’s a process of ongoing dialogue and a two-way communication system that allows people to share observations in a constructive engaging way. Some of the characteristics of positive communication can be encouragement and acknowledgment of the potential each one of us brings to the table. Sometimes leaders wait to communicate with their people only when things go wrong in their organization. Positive communication does not ignore poor performance but proactively seek to ensure the expectations are set in motion before anything else happens.

Positive Meaning

When people feel they are part of something bigger than themselves, the better the performance is in many organizations.  Sometimes leaders take it for granted that everyone can contribute regardless of the work environment. They assume everyone is self-motivated.  A positive leader understands the importance of a meaningful working environment for his team. 

Leaders can shape the culture of their teams by sharing important values that are all part of why we are all here. Leaders can ask, “What is our mission together?”  Or “How can our daily interactions become part of who we are as people, as humans that make a better organization?” “What is our calling together?” Identifying a higher purpose of our work can sustain better service to our customers because we want to be more generous and take care of our business the right way.

Positive Relationships

Positive relations in our organization are the foundation of excellent performance. Without positive relationships, we can’t accomplish very much as team. Relationships can be positive when we recognize that everyone has a unique strength that helps the overall performance of the organization.  Positive leaders can take immediate action to really develop the trust and empathy with each team member. This is a great opportunity to help people with better accountability and build an environment where everyone is appreciated for their thoughts and who they are as people who make a difference.

How to L.E.A.D in 2013

“Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.” Peter Drucker

The new year is just around the corner. 2012 was the year customers began to feel more comfortable by willing to travel more and book their business gatherings at hotels across the world. Hotel managers began to see a positive trend with business travel picking up, creating a new demand that was hard to come by for several years due to economic rollercoaster.

As service leaders, we have to turn up the heat in 2013 and really add more value to our customers. The days of customer satisfaction are gone. The new year will bring opportunities to enrich customer service in a world that’s hungry for beautiful experiences. The next level of customer service will challenge us to create a memorable delightful moments to each and every customer we come into contact with. If those moments will be valuable and meaningful, we will achieve loyalty for years to come.

So how do we begin to L.E.A.D the customer loyalty experience in 2013? Here are some ideas I thought can be valuable to every customer wherever they choose to have their experiences.

Listen to the customer

The gift of our attention and understanding cannot be underestimated. More and more customers are complaining because no one really took the time to listen and understand their needs.  Our ability as leaders to listen and listen well, creates goodwill that brings customer back to our business. We have to be interested in their lives and pay attention to what they are asking of us from the very beginning. To build the bond of understanding, we need a listening ear. Our customers want to feel understood and appreciated for the money they spend. They are spending their hard earned money on our ability to really create an environment for them to be valued and understood. By listening deeply, we make their experience less challenging.

Empathize with the customer

The power of empathy is the essence of all good relationships.  Empathy strengthens our  connection with one another on another level. Empathy allows us to understand the customer better and act on their requests in much more meaningful way. When we are empathetic, we have the ability to understand the customer on a deeper level. It’s an opportunity to make an emotional connection for  understanding them as a people and not just another transaction. When we empathize with the customer, we connect better by helping and reaching out to someone in time of urgent need.

Attention to the customer

Attending to the customer goes beyond being there and showing up to work.  It requires of us to disengage  from our own personal agendas to give more of our attention to the customer.  More and more businesses have invested in their technologies resources and it’s really easy to get distracted and leave the customer behind. As I read and listen to customer’s feedback, I am learning that attention is something we cannot ignore.  We all do more with less and have an extra project to implement but we must not forget to focus on our customers as they keep our doors open and bills paid every month. By giving our immediate attention to customer’s problems and challenges we communicate that they are just as important to our business as any project we are working on.

Delight the customer

Creating a customer for life requires companies to take their customers to the Delight Moments. There is a significant difference between satisfied and delighted customers.  Delighted customers will be more loyal and a business can create e customers for life.  The key for businesses is determined by the right customer experience for the right return. When customers are delighted they share their positive experiences with others. They are raved about the level of service you gave them for their money’s worth. That’s the real value added boost for taking a satisfied customer to a delighted customer. It starts with random of acts of kindness and surprising the customer with something more than they expected . It’s the cherry on top customer experience.

What can I give to life and the world today?

“The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands.”   Robert M. Pirsig

As we wake up each morning, we ponder what life will bring us today? Our day can begin with a different question, “What can I give to life and the world today?”

The question, “what can I give life and the world today,” embodies our sense of purpose to give meaning to our life and the people around us. Our lives begin to have a meaning when we have a burning desire to make a positive difference in the world around us.

How do we define our life’s purpose? How can we create more meaningful connections with others? Harold Kushner remarked, “The purpose of life is to grow and to share. When you come to look back on all that you have done in life, you will get more satisfaction from the pleasure you have brought into other people's lives than you will from the times that you outdid and defeated them. “

To develop our sense of purpose in making a positive difference in our world; let’s practice the four habits of purpose:

Be kinder than anticipated

We sometimes take things and people for granted. The way to make a positive difference in people’s lives is to begin with a mind-set that we are here to be kind to each other. Rabbi Sholmo Wolbe said, “The first step to becoming a kind person is to be aware of the specific needs of each person you encounter.” Sometimes people won’t tell you what they need, but you can reach out and help someone by offering something the person is missing in their life. Kindness can uplift, encourage and influence others for a better situation.

Deliver more than needed

Talking about our purpose is not enough. We have to “deliver the goods.” Are we doing more than expected? Are going the extra mile to give your life a better meaning? We have to be action-oriented if we want to see our life taking a new turn. I was always told there are two kinds of people among us: those who make things happen, and those who wait for things to happen. Deliver the promise!

Inspire and develop others

We need to make a commitment to inspire and develop others. We live to our fullest when we develop the people in our communities we belong to.

The highest call of leadership is taking people where they are at the moment to where they can be tomorrow. Alan Loy McGinnis said, “There is no more noble occupation in the world than to assist another human being-to help someone succeed.” By investing in our future, we dedicate to the growth of the people around us. We care about their hopes and dreams.

Learn more than you have in the past

Learning allows us to pause and reflect.  By earning, we find ways to explore and discover new things. We are never at a point of arrival, but always on the journey to become a better person. Leaders understand that they need to take the time for personal development to continue to grow.  Our effectiveness is determined by our willingness to open our mind to new ways of doing things. Every day, someone discovers another way of doing something. It could be faster or better. In a world of information flow, we constantly have to keep up with the latest discoveries. Mortimer Adler said,” The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.”

What is the best gift you can give someone?

“The best gift you can give someone is yourself-

by giving someone your ear, your hand and your heart.” 

Rick Collins

As part of my preparation last week to deliver customer service training, I looked for stories that I could share as an example to drive home the message of great customer service to our associates.

I came across a story that made me think about my customer service and our team. 

The story was about Rick Collins who achieved the Marriott Award of Excellence.

The Marriott Awards of Excellence were established to recognize the "best of the best" at Marriott. This year, Rick was one of the eight associates who got selected demonstrating the hotel company core values of service. 

The Award of Excellence is presented each year to a select few that demonstrate over a period of time the traits of achievement, character, dedication, effort and perseverance.

I became intrigued with Rick Collins story because he was not a manager. He is the guest service associate at the Courtyard Nashville Downtown. Working at the front desk, Rick became a respected leader in the hotel and the Marriott brand. He is always ready and willing to serve the guest. 

Taking care of the guest was only one element of Rick Collin’s Job. As I read his story, I realized that his mission was to make each person around him better. Although, Rick has faced health issues in the last 14 years, he found the time to coach and mentor his trainees by helping them realize their potential in going above and beyond for the guests.

He takes the time to connect with everyone on his team by encouraging and training them to succeed at their job. He trained almost every employee who works at the front office department and continue to provide support when needed.

So as I learned more about Rick’s service to the guest and his team, I wrote down some pointers to help me discuss it in my training.

What can we learn from Rick’s excellent gifts?

• He makes it his personal mission to put a smile on the face of every team member.
• Each one of us can help listen, care and give our heart to someone.
• Taking team members under his wing. Helping them to settle-in to the front office department and guest needs.
• Rick is always looking for ways to serve others.
• He feels like the hotel staff is his family. Rick says, “Why wouldn’t I love to help my family.”
• Rick “Puts People First.”