Change Your Workplace: Turn Transactions Into Connections

When someone enters your shop, your restaurant, your home, your meeting room, your office, this is not the time to be on your mobile phone.

Saying I’m sorry,” it’s an important call, is not enough.”

That’s what I heard from an HR guy at a big investment bank about 6 years ago. I never did any work with him, and I should have told him, “call me later”.

When you’re on the phone when you meet with someone, you might as well say, “you’re not important to me.”

Of course, other people will understand, but no one will be impressed. They’ll probably think you’re a jerk.  I mean it. A Jerk.

I’m more impressed when I have a meeting with someone or I go somewhere and I have their full attention. It’s not an ego thing.  It’s a respect thing.  I give you my time, you give me yours. Even if it’s just a moment. I’ve worked with many company CEO’s.   They shut off their phone when we met, they tell their secretary to hold all calls.

No, this is not a small thing.  It’s a big thing. It’s a quality of work life thing.

There are so many times during the day when we can enrich the quality of our work life and the lives of other people by the very simple things we do.  Simple things like giving the person our full attention.

You can turn the simplest of transactions into a lifelong connection. You can make it something horrible too.

If you run a meeting, here are some other things you can do.

1. Know the name of everyone there.  Call them by their name.

2. Give everyone a chance to talk.

3.  Thank people for coming.

4. Know why you’re meeting and let everyone else know why.

How many times in my life have I heard, “what’s this meeting about?”

5. Make a decision.  No one likes those meetings where nothing happens. A meeting should be for getting things done.

6. Start on time, end on time, and of course,

7. Have a no mobile rule.

If you run a retail shop, a doctors office, a hotel, you can make every transaction and interaction into a much better connection.

1.  No mobile phone rule.  Never.  Want to talk on the phone?  Go to the back room. I’m not in Japan today and almost every place I go , I feel like I’m interrupting the nurses, the retail staff, the swimming pool attendants, since they seem to be paying more attention to their phones than the visitors. Huh?  Yes, even in a hospital.

2.  Know the orders of the regular customers.  I was a bartender. I always remembered people’s drinks. The kid at the Starbucks in Akasaka I went to for a few weeks, always asked me my drink order as if it were the first time I was there–and I always ordered the same thing. The young women at the Starbucks up the hill knew my order from my second visit and they always got a cup of water ready for me–no ice.

3.  Know people’s names too-not everyone, but when you return their credit card to them, call them by name. When you know their arrival time, say their name. It’s not that tough, how many other parties of two are checking in at 11 AM.

4.  Ask, “how can I help you today?”  It’s not the same as “may I help you”.  Focus on service.  There’s a reason why it’s called the service industry.

5. Don’t ever, ever complain to the customer about your working conditions.  Tell it to an employment counselor, don’t ruin the custom experience.

I love the Ritz Carlton for their great customer service.  My favorite restaurant in the world is  L’effervesence in Tokyo.  You’d be right if you said, “it’s the Ritz or it’s a Michelin star restaurant, that’s what you’d expect.

But all of these things I’ve laid out here are cheap,  most are free.

Maybe they’d take a bit more training, but they don’t add very much to your costs at all-and what if they did?

Wouldn’t it be worth it to make life better for the people who visit and the people who work there?

Hard to get good help these days?  Everyone feeling disconnected these days?

What can you do to turn the normal transactions you have every day into connections? Don’t wait for your boss to take action.  Take action yourself to make every transaction a connection

Let me know what you do–and the results..

You can be a leader in fighting isolation and creating community–while you grow your business.

Is Starbucks Losing Its Star? I’m Gonna Just call it ‘Bucks

I spend a lot of time in Starbucks.  It’s where I do my writing and indulge my caffeine habit.  I go to a few of them near where I live depending on my mood.

I read  recently that the stock tanked after they missed the last quarter’s earnings. Financial analysts will certainly offer some reasons why that happened.

I’m not a financial analyst.

I’m more of an atmosphere analyst .  They are losing their star–maybe now it should just be called ‘bucks.

Something’s definitely wrong there and here are my thoughts about why Starbucks is losing its STAR.

1.  Too much product that no one wants.  In marketing language, we’d say too much product diversification or even worse, brand dilution.

Who wants that foolish instant coffee that Starbucks is selling?  I see it in the convenience shops and in Starbucks shops.  If I wanted instant coffee, I certainly would not choose Starbucks.  I want freshly brewed coffee.  The instant stuff for me just cheapens the brand.  Ditto for the stupid “blonde” coffee options they serve.  I want good strong coffee, not stuff that I could get at Dunkin Donuts or from Maxwell House.

2.  Too much training of staff during the day.  Inevitably when I go to a Starbucks, they are training someone new.  The people are cheerful enough, but my transaction takes twice as long.  Please, do the training before the store opens or after it closes.  Not when the place is packed with people who need their fix.

3.  Not enough electrical outlets.  I think they have approximately 2 electrical outlets per Starbucks. Given that the average shop seats around 50 people, those of us who need power there have to either camp out overnight or wait in line when the place opens to get an outlet to power our stuff.

OK. There’s more.   Would love to hear your thoughts too.

Last time I wrote about Starbucks in Japan, I got contacted by a representative of Starbucks offering me a free frappuccino [they didn’t say which size].

I wonder what will happen this time.  Hmmm.  We’ll see.

I used to preach that a great brand listens to its customers. Hmm. We’ll see.

Does Starbucks Care About My Health or Their Wealth?

I’ve been a Starbucks Lover for years.  I’ve written about them before. Starbucks customer service is right up there with the Ritz Carlton.

I can’t quite understand what they are doing now though.  They’re alienating me, one of their biggest fans.

They’ve taken away two things I really like when I go there for my morning coffee. First to go was dark coffee.  [I love a dark coffee, like a French or Italian Roast. Give me those burnt burns with an almost bitter taste.]

Now it’s gone. It’s not to be found behind the serving counter at my local “Starbies”, so I have to settle for Medium. Medium just doesn’t have the kick I need, so sometimes I  drink more coffee at home rather than heading  out.

Why should I have to “settle” when I pay Starbucks coffee prices?

I read here that they have added a very light blonde roast to compete with McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts, but I haven’t read anything about the dark coffee being taken off the menu, and that’s what they’ve done.  Unfair.

Second to go, was half and half, that mixture of milk and cream that makes your coffee taste so delicious. It’s gone. I can’t find it when I go the self service counter to add some white stuff.  The only choices now are regular milk and skim milk.  They aren’t bad choices, but there are those times when I would like half and half.

I’m thinking that there might be two explanations for Starbucks doing this disappearing act.  One is cost.  Perhaps medium coffee is cheaper, and when there is no half and half,  Starbucks saves money.

The second explanation is that  Starbucks cares about my health and they’ve slimmed down the menu in the hope of keeping me around as a healthy customer  bit longer.  Slim down the menu and slim down the customers. Maybe  [I’m not sure] medium coffee is healthier than dark roast, and certainly the milks they offer now are less caloric than half and half.

But it’s hard for me to accept the health reason.  After all, they offer glazed donuts and all of those high calorie frappuccinos guaranteed to add centimeters to your waist.

What happened to the value proposition I expect from Starbucks?  High quality products as I like them served with a smile. Is It Their Wealth They Care About? Even more than my health?

When a premium brand like Starbucks decreases the options it provides to customers, the brand loses its luster.  I’ve been a big fan but now they are pushing me to go elsewhere because they’ve changed the brand proposition. When I think Starbucks, I think options. I think pleasure, I think coffee as I like it.  Not weaker coffee with milk.

Please, Starbucks, make my day. Bring back the things I love. All will be forgiven. Before I walk away.

One note about your business.  Are there things, like services, that you are taking away from customers?  And are you losing customers because of it.

Think of the airlines.  You once could check a bag and eat the food for free.  Now you pay for these.  They took away free bag check-in and free meals.

It makes people angry when you charge them for what they used to get for free, or just as bad, don’t give them what they came to your place to get in the first place.

Here’s How To Lose Your Best Customers

Some companies do very stupid things in the way of “rules” on a daily basis.  We can show what we think of what them  by not patronizing them.

Certain airlines are perfect examples.

I would have thought that by now companies, especially hotels,  would know about basic things like trust and empowerment, but I am wrong.

A quick way to explain empowerment is letting employees make decisions about certain aspects of work that affect them without having to ask their boss  for permission or get an exception to the rules.

The empowerment movement has been around for more than thirty years.  Here’s an example of how it works. When I lived in California, I lost my weekly calendar in July.  I went to the Broadway in West Covina to get a new calendar.  I had the chutzpah to ask for a 50% discount on the calendar since the year was half over.

The sales clerk looked me straight in the face, and said, “sure, no problem”, and gave me the discount. That’s empowerment.

Flash forward to the  4 star hotel where I stayed in June 2012. They’ve done a lot to keep me from coming back here, but I’ll mention just two. [Just as a point of reference, I am a new customer at this hotel, I’ve paid full rate and I have stayed on the executive floor which costs extra and has benefits like the executive lounge. I don’t say this to brag. Just let let you know that I haven’t stayed for free.]

When I got off the elevator yesterday morning it was pouring rain and I had to walk to my appointment a few hundred yards away.  I asked to borrow an umbrella and was led to the bellman, who took out some paper for me to sign even before he gave me the umbrella.  He told me I had to sign for the umbrella and I would have to pay about $20 USD if I lost it.

I signed it but I was a bit surprised.  Couldn’t they just write down my name and room number?  Couldn’t they just trust me to bring back the umbrella?  I guess not.

My total bill at the hotel would turn out to be about 100 times the cost of the umbrella, about $2000 USD.

Did I look like the kind of person who might steal the umbrella. I might lose it, but so what?

Whoever then used the umbrella would be advertising the name of the hotel since it was emblazoned on the fabric.The umbrella is a low cost item anyway.  Getting a good customer is another matter.

How much does it cost to get a customer?  And keep a customer?  More than twenty bucks.  I didn’t like the feeling of distrust. There are signs all over the lobby bragging about the customer service and truthfully the hotel is not bad.  It just seemed they made a lot of stupid decisions about customer service. I don’t blame the bellman or the concierges, but they are not blameless.  Powerless perhaps.

The hotel has customer loyalty programs that must cost them a fortune but if they let the bellman just give out the umbrellas and even let him “lose” a few of them, that would be generate more customer value than the entire customer loyalty program. [Of course, one of the bellman’s performance measures is no doubt number of umbrellas retained.]

Save an umbrella; lose a customer.  It hardly seems worth it.

As I write this, my check out date  is today at the same hotel and since my ride to the airport won’t come until after check out time, I was given “late check out”.  I figured I could wait in the executive lounge where I had hung out for my entire stay and the concierge agreed.

But, she warned me, “you can’t have any drink or food”.  If you do, we’ll have to charge you about $30 USD.

What? I’ve stayed here for ten days, I’ve spent $2,000 bucks and now I can’t even get a free beer or a piece of cheese without paying an additional charge?

I know some people will say, “a rule’s a rule” and  “what if we did this for everybody?”

I say the hell with the rule when it doesn’t make sense and I will say, “they should do it for everybody.”  The Conrad Hotel in Singapore where I have stayed on many occasions, always allows it, and that’s why I keep on going back there.

In any case, I thought I would just say ok, but then I was stewing about it and asked to see the manager.  I explained the situation and he told me ok, I wouldn’t have to pay for the drink and nibbles.  But he didn’t look happy about it.  [I thought he might say something like, “just this once.” but he didn’t]

Why would a hotel have a policy like this that  alienates their best customers, the ones that stay up on the lounge floor?  To maximize profit?  If that’s the case, it’s a misguided policy.

I’m a businessman. [My gallery website here]. I want my clients to be super satisfied, and we bend over backwards to attract the customers and take care of them. It’s true in the gallery business and in my speaking business.

If I ran the hotel where I stayed, I would make sure that every customer left satisfied and I would empower my employees to do the same.

Do you know why the Ritz Carlton and Starbucks are so great? Because they make every point of customer contact perfect.  That’s right. Perfect. That’s why I talk a lot about them in my classes and my talks to other companies.

How about your company? How about you?

Every company can be as good as the Ritz.  It’s not that hard.  Really.

It means putting the customer first, not only in words but in actions too.  It means having the rules focus on serving the customer. And thinking of the bigger picture.  Not just of maximizing revenues today but developing clients for the long term

Are you “valuing the umbrella” and forgetting about the customer?

Want to be a great company with great customer service?  Start “valuing the customer “and “forgetting about the umbrella.”

Want to know where to begin?  Sorry, it’s not with any customer service program or six sigma or Quality Circles.

It’s with something much more basic.

Trust.  Trusting employees. Trusting customers. Trusting yourself.

I’m serious.

Try To Please Everyone

And you please no one.  No matter what field you are in.  You simply can not should not and must not try to please everyone.

It is the same in business, art, life and love.

You are a niche player in whatever you do, whether you are an artist, a business owner, a lover.  You can not produce a product or art or business that everyone will like, something that will please everyone. Nor should you try.

You are not Costco. Or Amazon.com

Who to please first?

You know the answer.

Please yourself.

Work, live and love with dignity and integrity.