2011 February

Are You Gonna Eat That?

On a recent trip to Portland, Oregon, Ken Munday, Teresa Duke, and I finished up our Pastor’s Luncheon and took a scenic drive through the back country. If you’ve never been, it’s very beautiful. Lots of tall trees and tons of ferns. We drove along a winding river where every now and then we would see someone taking advantage of the day with a fishing pole and a dose of patience. The sun was shining like Teresa’s face (her fourth grandchild was born the night before), and the temperature was fantastic!

After driving for a while, we were all pretty hungry, so we stopped in at a roadside restaurant that had “Darned Good Food.” It said so right on their sign, and we all agreed that sometimes you find the best food at the shack on the side of the road. As we entered, we quickly realized that including us, the customer count was now at five. We sat down and got our menus, and we were all drawn to a particular item that sounded awesome – a triple-decker Reuben sandwich! Oh man! We all decided immediately that this was a must-have.

When the waitress came to take our order, we all just said, “Reuben!” Okay, that’s what Teresa and Ken said. But if you know me, my response was a little more complicated. (And the whole Live Events team yells, “Amen!”) I’m a foodie, which means I will try something that I don’t normally like if it blends well with what I’m eating. So I had an interesting conversation with the waitress that went kinda like this:

CLo: “I see that the Reuben comes with sauerkraut. Let me ask you, is that a must on this sandwich?”

Waitress: “No, not at all.”

CLo: “I mean, does it make the sandwich? Like, am I crazy if I don’t get it on there? If so, I want it.”

Waitress: “Well, yeah, it’s really good.”

CLo: “Okay, I’ll take it.”

Waitress: “The truth is, you won’t even notice it on there. Hehe.”

I’m sorry? I won’t even notice it on there?

CLo: “Ummm…then don’t put it on there.”

Now, let me emphasize that our waitress was as sweet as can be, and she really took great care of us. I did think, however, that her response was quite funny. If I won’t notice it, why would I want the extra product? Even though she’s a waitress in a small, roadside restaurant, she’s still a salesperson.

As a salesperson, you should know everything there is to know about your product. On top of that, you have to believe wholeheartedly in the product, or you don’t need to be selling it.

“Chris, aren’t you taking this a little too far?” Uhhhh…no! Obviously, I’m now making a general statement to all salespeople, but it applies whether you’re selling an $8 Reuben sandwich or a $1 million cooling system. Your job is not the sale, it’s the service. Any good businessperson understands how important it is to have happy customers so they will be repeat customers.

So instead of telling me that the extra product – sauerkraut, in this case – didn’t matter, she could have said:

“You know, if sauerkraut isn’t your thing, this sandwich is still killer without it. Either way, you’re going to be pleased!”

Tell me, what’s your “sauerkraut” story?

What Is That?! Part 2

Continued from What is That? Part 1

She grabbed the curtains with both hands and threw them open with the strength of a body builder. As the curtains flung to each side, I’ll never forget the words that left her mouth. This is how the conversation went:

DLo:  What is that? What is that?

CLo: It’s fog.

DLo: I can see that it’s fog. What’s it doing here? Where’s the sun? There are people walking on the beach with jackets on in July!

CLo: Yeah, it’ll be okay. It’ll burn off in a bit.

DLo: Chris, there’s no way that’s burning off! That’s a lot of fog!

CLo: I promise it’ll burn off. A mile inland it’s 90 degrees without a cloud or hint of fog in the sky. This is just what happens here in the summer. Trust me.

You see, most people don’t know that the Pacific is actually colder in the summer and warmer in the winter. It has something to do with the way that the tides do their tide thing. The hot air from the inland crashes into the cold air from the ocean and creates fog. That’s why I’ve always said that the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. I took Debbie to breakfast, and sure enough, as we headed inland, it was like God lifted the veil and there was nothing but immense blue sky.

Later I learned that the problem wasn’t the fact that there was a bunch of fog on the beach. She was disappointed because I set up a specific expectation of there being a beautiful, sunny beach. And when she awoke, that expectation was not met. I wasn’t worried about her initial disappointment because I understood that the fog would burn off soon and her expectation would eventually be met. I was perfectly fine with the situation.

Where I had fallen short, though, was in building up her expectations and then deflating them simply because I didn’t share all of the information about the area ahead of time. If I’d let her known it would be mid-morning before the sun blasted through, she could have gotten out of bed more like the Wicked Witch. Haha. Wicked Witch. I crack me up!

As a leader, it’s your responsibility to make sure you are sharing all of the information with those involved. In “Please…Say Something!” I talked about my mistake of assuming everyone knows what I know. Therefore, my communication has a tendency to stink at times. If yours does too, it will show up in your team’s failures. If you hold back information that would make them successful, they have few options but to fail. They might be strong enough to figure it out, but usually they don’t know what it is that needs figuring out.

The moral of the story? Over communicate. Don’t leave your peeps in the dark. Share as much as you can that is related to the subject. Then, as I always say, ask them if they have any questions. Give them the opportunity to fill in the blanks in their minds. This way you won’t have a “What is this?” moment.

What Is That?!

Right around the fourth of July in 2003 I took my wife to Northern California to experience some of the beauty it has to offer. She had only been to the L.A. area and hadn’t had the chance to travel outside the city. And she’d only been to the beach in Florida. So I set up a trip that began in Half Moon Bay. In case you’re wondering, that’s exactly what it is. It’s a bay shaped like a perfect half-moon, located a little south of San Francisco. I was pretty excited to get her out there so she could see a little of where I’m from.

I told her how nice the bay was and that I booked a room right on the beach. It was a three-story hotel, and our suite was on the top floor looking out over the ocean. It was a great room! It started with a fantastic king bed, then dropped a step into a sitting room with floor-to-ceiling glass that covered the width of the room. Glass doors opened onto a balcony overlooking the bay. It was the view of all views. .

We left late from Nashville due to work, so when our flight landed, it was pretty late. We were pretty tired, so it was a difficult drive in the dark. Well, for me at least—somebody slept on the way to the hotel. When we pulled up to the hotel you could hear the gently rolling waves as they fell onto the shore.  Debbie commented on how she couldn’t wait to be on the beach. The hotel was perfect.

The morning came, and I woke up at the crack of dawn—that’s just how I am. I let Debbie sleep while I did some work. A little while later, she awoke like Snow White in the forest. There were doves cooing, squirrels…squirreling, and I’m pretty sure I saw deer in there as well. She threw back the covers, put her arms out to the sides and sat up using nothing but her core muscles. She then slipped out of bed and began to dance her way right to the windows where the curtains were still drawn. She only slowed down long enough to touch the very tip of my chin with her fingertips and say, “Good morning dear sir!” She glided toward the curtains that hid the one thing that would make her vacation complete—a blazing sun on a white sandy beach. She grabbed the curtains with both hands and threw them open with the strength of a body builder.

OHHHHHHH! Cliff hanger! You have to come back tomorrow to find out what happened.

So You Seriously Don’t Know?

I want to do a survey. Of those of you who travel, when you stay at a hotel in a strange city, what is the number one question you ask the hotel desk clerk?

You don’t even have to answer, because I know what it is. Because you ask it in every new city you travel to. The question? “Where’s a good place to eat?” That’s it! By far, it is the most asked question.

So if you are a hotel desk clerk, what should your answer never be? “Hmmmmm… That’s a great question. I don’t really know what’s around here.” Seriously? What, were you beamed in from another state to start your first shift two minutes before I asked that question?

This is a frustrating moment not because you don’t have an answer, although that’s pretty bad. It’s frustrating because I’m the 11 millionth person to ask that question. And hotels are in the service industry. You should answer this question before I ever ask it—as soon as you hand me my room key.  “Mr. LoCurto, would you like a list of the local restaurants? I can also offer you my personal opinion as to which is the best in each category. I see that you are staying a couple of nights and wondered if you need something to do. May I also tell you where the best movie theater/park/hip-hop club/Chuck E. Cheese is?” (Okay, maybe just stick to the movie theater.)

As a leader and entrepreneur, this is the kind of response that makes me think, “What the heck does my team do that is just like this?” In what areas does my team not super serve my customer? Heck, what is my teams’ number one question, and can everyone on the team answer it—not just with an answer, but with the best answer?

As a leader, you’re probably not the person on the front lines. Therefore, you have to get information from those folks who might not provide your customers the same level of service you would. And if you’re not big on customer service yourself, please find someone who is!

If you want to take your company’s customer service up a notch , do these three simple things:

• Survey your team members. Start by asking your team to list the five most common questions they’re asked. How do they answer those questions? Then ask what are the unanswered questions? Get your team involved in finding out what’s wrong with the customer experience.

• Survey your customers. Don’t be afraid to ask your customers how they’re being treated What do they love about your service? And what absolutely drives them crazy?

• Be your customer. I believe every leader/owner/salesperson/customer service rep should personally go through every aspect of their company’s customer service process. That’s the only way to get a true feel for the client experience.

If you will always focus on doing a better job of taking care of your customer, you can spend less time worrying about how to get them back!