Some people just know how to serve.
by Kevin Stirtz
Props to my friend Chris Elliott (over at Elliott.org) for this news item. Chris tells us about a customer service agent at Delta Airlines who understands the meaning of service.
The long and short of it is that several US service men were traveling and their tickets had not been paid yet. This prevented them from getting their boarding passes. A helpful agent at Delta Airlines took it upon herself to get the work done and make sure the guys got their tickets. They made it to the with only 30 seconds to spare. And they only made it because Delta staff worked with security personnel to get them through the security checkpoint quickly.
See the details at Chris’ blog here.
This Delta employee went way beyond her job. She showed the kind of automatic selflessness that is too often lacking in the organizations we do business with. She seems to understand what it means to put others first. Her actions showed it.
This is a good lesson for all of us.
One of the things I preach is that top management needs to be totally committed to improving customer service if an organization is going to be able to deliver amazing customer service for the long term. And this is true.
But this Delta employee shows us that nobody should wait for top management to start focusing on service. Anyone in any organization can deliver amazing service anytime they want. It’s up to each person to make the choice to do it on their own. When enough employees make the choice to be amazing, then it will take hold and happen across the entire company.
Kudos to this Delta employee for being a wonderful example of how to serve others. Let’s hope it spreads.
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Kevin Stirtz is the Amazing Service Guy, a speaker and trainer who helps companies increase revenue and profits by delivering Amazing Service. Stirtz has been quoted in such major media as BusinessWeek, the Boston Globe, Smart Money and the Chicago Sun Times. Get a free copy of his Amazing Service Toolkit.
Event notice - Live Webcast: Ten Secrets for Successful Customer Service
by Kevin Stirtz
Re: Event notice
Format: Live webcast
Name: Ten Secrets for Successful Customer Service
Host: RightNow Technologies
Register here
Just got an email from RightNow Technologies regarding their upcoming live webcast. It’s called: “Ten Secrets for Successful Customer Service” and so, of course, it got my attention.
Here’s how the email describes it:
What are the secrets to managing customer interactions that allow you to deepen engagement and drive revenue while reducing service costs?
Join RightNow to discover how Audible.com, Iomega, and Leapfrog have streamlined their support operations, improved the customer experience, and kept costs under control.
Honestly, it sounds a little like a sales pitch in a seminar’s clothing but I’ll be attending just in case there is some good content. And I’ll blog about it afterwards so if you can’t make it check back here for my report.
Make it a great day!
Kevin
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Kevin Stirtz is the Amazing Service Guy, a speaker and trainer who helps companies increase revenue and profits by delivering Amazing Service. He really likes getting great customer service so he’s dedicated his professional life to helping companies improve how they serve their customers. Stirtz has been quoted in such major media as BusinessWeek, the Boston Globe, Smart Money and the Chicago Sun Times. Get a free copy of his Amazing Service Toolkit.
Assure Your Customers
Kevin Stirtz’s Amazing Service Rule #42
“Assure your customers.”
Customers come to us for one of two reasons. They want our help to accomplish something or to avoid something. They know they outcome they want. They engage our expertise and resources to get there.
And when customers choose us, they do so with a certain amount of risk. They risk their time and money. But, most importantly, they risk not getting what they came to us for.
For example:
When I travel across the country to speak at a conference, I need to rely on the airline I choose to get me there. A lot of people at the conference don’t get what they came for if the airline does not get me there on time. That’s a big problem for me and my client who planned the conference.
So, we can help our customers by constantly assuring them. This should start when they first become a customer and continue throughout the relationship.
It’s especially important during a problem or service recovery. That’s when you want to go overboard in assuring them everything will be okay.
Ways to Assure
Them One way to assure customers is to be specific. For example: “Mr. Smith your car will be ready at 4:15 pm today” is much more specific (and believable) than “Mr. Smith, your car will be ready later today”. Details tell them you know what you’re doing and that you have the situation under control.
Another way to assure people is to make notes. As you talk with them, take time to write down details of the situation. Even if you’re talking over the phone, ask them to pause for a moment so you can take notes. This tells them you are serious about helping them and you want to get all the information you can. Plus it makes it easier to archive that information so your co-workers can access it if you are gone next time the customer calls back.
Make a promise to them. A great way to assure people is to make a promise. Commit to something and give them your word. Then you are honor-bound to get it done. People respect others who make a promise and then keep it. It builds great credibility and loyalty.
When you take the time and effort to assure your customers, you’re reminding them they made the right choice. And you’re giving them something they want: peace of mind and the knowledge they came to the right company for their needs. Do this consistently with every customer and you’ll keep them coming back.
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Kevin Stirtz is the Amazing Service Guy, a speaker and trainer who helps companies increase revenue and profits by delivering Amazing Service. He has a crazy idea that when companies serve people better their customers (and employees) will be more loyal (and that’s good for business). Stirtz has been quoted in such major media as BusinessWeek, the Boston Globe, Smart Money and the Chicago Sun Times. Get a free copy of his Amazing Service Toolkit.
Pix and Notes from Kuala Lumpur
by Kevin Stirtz
Recently I taught a seminar in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Since neither of us had been there before I brought my favorite traveling buddy (also known as my wife, Debbie). She’s always game for a new adventure, especially if it involves travel.
Here are some pictures from our journey you might find fun. First, let’s start with the plane ride because, honestly, it was traumatic. Now I understand why they use a transporter in Star Trek. Much better way to travel!
Flight Path
Minneapolis to Tokyo (6500 miles)
Leg 1: Minneapolis to Tokyo. This image shows the usual flight path. We flew about 600 miles out of our way and actually flew over the Arctic Circle and Russia. The pilot we spoke with said we can now put pins for Russia and the Artic Circle on our “where we’ve been map”.
Total miles: about 6500. Flying time: 12.5 hours. Plane: NWA Boeing 747.
Tokyo to Singapore (3324 miles)
Leg 2: Tokyo to Singapore. This shows both the route to Singapore and the massive amount of water between Singapore and the USA. Much nicer flight on a newer Airbus 330. The movie screens are in the seat backs so we could pick our own movies - yeah!
Total miles: 3324. Flying time: about 7 hours. Plane NWA Airbus 330.
Singapore to Kuala Lumpur (185 miles)
Leg 3: Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Singapore is on the peninsula that Western Malaysia occupies. It’s very close to KL (which is what the locals call Kuala Lumpur) but it’s a different country. My college history professor would call it a “city-state”.
The plane was old but very colorful 
inside. And the flight attendants had the most interesting uniforms. (Picture at right).
The uniform design is called Sarong Kebaya and depicts floral images and patterns native to Malaysia. Quite different from the corporate looking NWA uniforms.
Flying time was about 40 minutes in a Boeing 737. Distance was 185 miles. Our driver from the hotel told us he could have driven us from Singapore to KL faster than the plane ride. The way he drove, I believed him.
The drive from KL International Airport to the hotel was uneventful. Uh, uneventful once we grew accustomed to our driver’s “style” of driving. I think he watched too many chase scenes in American and European movies. He certainly put the Mercedes limo through it’s paces.
Hotel
We stayed at the Prince Hotel and Residences in KL. It’s a 27 story 5 star hotel with all the trimmings. Here (left) is a photo Debbie took as we were walking back one afternoon.
Below is the hotel entrance as we walked in.
The Prince Hotel is the only Japanese-owned hotel in KL, I was told. It was beautiful inside and out. Located in what they call the “Golden Triangle”, aka, the financial district of KL. The Prince Hotel caters to business people, conference-goers and tourists who enjoy luxury and service.
Our room was on the 21st floor. Here is a view from our room at night. (photo at left).
The picture looks straight down the Klang Valley where the city of KL is situated. The Klang Valley “is the heartland of Malaysia’s industry and commerce” according to Wikipedia.
One thing that amazed me was the abundance of hotel staff. Everywhere we went we were greeted by hotel employees. Even if an employee was working or talking, they would always stop what they were doing, make eye contact and greet us. The consistency they demonstrated in this was impressive.
The food was also very good with a mix of Western and Asian foods. For breakfast, the buffet offered steam rice, soup, chicken sausage, eggs, vegetables, pancakes and a variety of things I could not pronounce (but they looked spicy.)
Background
Malaysia is a Muslim country with a mix of people from all parts of the world. English is the primary language and the currency is the Ringat although many stores accept US dollars. It is actually a federation of 13 states with a government similar to that of the U.K. (Makes sense since they were a British colony until 1957. )
Since they drive on the left side of the road we opted to not rent a car. In big cities Debbie and I prefer to walk anyway. When our feet fail there are always taxis and buses.
Here is a view of a road near the hotel. It leads to a shopping area with a lot of locally made clothing and crafts.
Traffic here is like in any big city. You risk your life crossing the street. But the taxis and buses are plentiful so getting around is easy.
Touring the City
These next few pictures are from our various tours around the city. First is a shot of a busy intersection in the city’s shopping district. 
It reminds me of London and New York with all the cars and people and shops. I had to close my eyes to prevent sensory overload.
Next are two photos of Chinatown in KL. And I thought “China Towns” were unique to the USA. Silly me.
From AsiaWebDirect…
“Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, which is based in Petaling Street, is also known as ‘Chee Cheong Kai’, which means ‘Starch Factory Street’;, homage to its roots as a tapioca producing suburb. Today, it is Kuala Lumpur’s own Chinatown where you can find all things Chinese from herbs to dry goods and toys to clothes. The entire street is closed to traffic during the afternoons as traders set up stalls to peddle various merchandise, food and electronics.”
One thing I love about big cities are the sounds and smells. They are a symphony for the senses and every big city has it’s own unique score.
Something we found a little more relaxing and peaceful was the National Palace.
From MalaysianMonarchy.org.my…
“The Istana Negara is the official residence of His Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Her Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda Raja Permaisuri Agong. It was built in 1928 and was originally the residence of a millionaire, Mr. Chan Wing. During the Japanese Occupation from 1942-1945, it was used as the Japanese Officers’ mess. After the surrender of the Japanese, the building was bought by the Selangor State Government and after being renovated, it became the palace of His Majesty the Sultan of Selangor until 1957.”
Here is a picture of the palace. It’s looking through the gates that are located several hundred yards from the palace. While we there they had a “changing of the guards” ceremony which was fun to see but a little anti-climactic. It took about 10 seconds because they only have a few guards. But it was better than watching them stand there completely motionless. (Which reminded me of some fast food employees I’ve seen but that’s a different story for a different time.)
Next we stopped by the Istana Budaya Kuala Lumpur (also known as the Cultural Palace of Kuala Lumpur). This is a national theatre and, according
to Kuala Lumpur City Guide, is “one of the ten most sophisticated and state of the art theatres in the world” . (Who knew?)
However, I was not happy to see they are currently showing the American musical “Mama Mia” . I travel 19,000 miles and I still can’t get away from that silly show!
The Other Twin Towers
No first-timer’s trip to Kuala Lumpur would be satisfactory without visiting the tallest twin towers in the world.
Designed by Cesar Pelli, these are called the Petronas Twin Towers and they measure 1482.6 feet from the street to the top of the spires.
These towers are the heart of a financial, office and shopping district called Kuala Lumpur City Centre or KLCC for short. They are surrounded on one side by a mall filled with pools and fountains. On the other side is a large shopping and dining complex, the KL Convention Center and a large park with paths, flowers and plenty of green space. Not as large as NYC’s Central Park or London’s Hyde Park but it was a nice, just the same.
Here is a shot of Debbie in front of the twin towers by one of the fountains. She is looking for a good place to take another picture. That would be picture number 62,392 I believe (but I could be mistaken).
And, below is a picture of the towers themselves.
The thing you see connecting the towers is a skyway bridge. It’s open to the public for free. Alas, you have to arrive early in the morning (way before we did) to get a ticket that enables you to go up there. “Maybe next time” said the disappointed tourists…
Movie trivia quiz: These towers were the setting for which big budget movie that starred both Sean Connery and Katherine Zeta Jones?
If you answered: “Entrapment” then you’re correct. (Bonus points if you remember how much moolah they stole in the movie.)
People who have traveled with me for more than 2 hours know one of my highest priorities is food. So, after we snapped pix of the towers, I whined until Debbie agreed we could find a place for lunch. That place turned out to be the Dome Cafe, a local bistro with several locations in KL.
The Dome Cafe is modeled after an English pub, which makes it a first-rate 
choice in my book. The decor was fun, service was good but the food didn’t exactly bring me back to merry old England. That’s okay because I didn’t really expect it to.
After that we stopped at the Marks & Spencer store in the mall but we were disappointed. It was only a tiny (tiny, tiny, tiny) version of the real M&S stores they have in London and elsewhere. I guess I’ll have to bring Debbie to London to see the real deal.
The Seminar
Lest you think this was all fun and games, I did actually work. I have a new client who asked me to teach a 2-day seminar. It was called “Mastering Customer Retention and Loyalty: A strategic and tactical approach on how to deliver Amazing Service every time”. (That’s a mouthful isn’t it? You can see why it took 2 days.)
Here are some photos of the sessions.
The people attending were mostly from Malaysia and Dubai. Companies represented were in finance, insurance and telecommunications.
The seminar was geared to mid-level management people. It gave them tools they could use to start changing their culture and to motivate their teams to deliver better customer service.
Some key topics discussed were what values are needed to create a culture of service in your company, how to obtain and use feedback from your customers better and how to engage management, employees and customers in an ongoing process of discovering and delivering what customers want in a way that is sustainable for the organization.
It was a fun seminar and a great getaway for Debbie and me. We met some wonderful people, learned a lot about other cultures and gained a new appreciation for our world (and our place in it).
Though I dislike long plane rides, I do enjoy experiencing other countries and their people. There is no better way to break down the walls that separate nations than getting to know people one at a time.
Thanks for taking time reading about our journey. Before I sign off, I encourage you to consider traveling to some far away place (if you haven’t already). Find a reason to justify the time and expense and just go. You’ll be glad you did.
Thanks for reading!
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Kevin Stirtz is the Amazing Service Guy, a speaker and trainer who has been known to travel to far away places in his quest to help companies increase revenue and profits by delivering Amazing Service. Stirtz has been quoted in such major media as BusinessWeek, the Boston Globe, Smart Money and the Chicago Sun Times. Get a free copy of his Amazing Service Toolkit .
When You Care, Service is Easy
by Kevin Stirtz
My wife and I are pet people. Our pets are our companions. So two years ago, when one of our two dogs died, we struggled with the question of getting another one. Our vet reminded us that our remaining dog, Maggie, would likely fare better with another dog in the house. It was what she was accustomed to. And dogs are pack animals. They often prefer the company of people and other dogs to being alone.
But, we also knew another dog would take more time and cost money. We felt that, with the economy being as it is, maybe we shouldn’t spend the money on another dog.
On the other hand, more and more pets are being abandoned or brought to animal shelters now than ever before. The economic downturn is causing challenges for a lot of people. And, unfortunately, when people have challenges, so do pets.
When pets lose their homes they can suffer. They experience basic emotions and therefore they can feel pain when their lives are turned upside down.
So, we decided to stop worrying about a few dollars and do something to help at least two dogs. By adopting a dog that needed a home, we’d provide a companion for Maggie and we’d provide a good home for the new dog. Both dogs benefit.
So, you might be thinking, what does this have to do with customer service? Turns out, this has everything to do with customer service.
My philosophy is that to deliver amazing customer service, you need to care about others. That’s a value you hold. It’s a part of who you are. Values drive our actions. And the value of caring causes the action of serving. In other words, if you care about others, you will do things that serve them.
To put it simply, to serve, you must care. And if you care, you should serve.
Serving others means putting them first. It means you will do things that help others accomplish what they want. You seek to help them rather than yourself.
As my wife and I tried to decide whether or not to get another dog we were focused on ourselves. The extra time, effort and money another dog would take. What if we get one that has problem or “issues?
But when we stopped worrying about the costs to us and started focusing on helping a couple of dogs, then the decision became easy. Because we value dogs as companions and as creatures that deserve to be cared for.
And you don’t have to be “pet people” for this to work. All you have to do is think about how you can help others in your life. If you care about people then find ways to serve them. If you do this with people in all areas of your life, then you’ll naturally serve your customers better.
When we focus on helping others, our decisions become easier. Then it’s not a matter of “if” but rather of “how” do I help?
By the way, if you are a “pet person” you might like the video below. It shows Maggie and her new companion, Sadie as they meet for the first time.
Thanks for reading and make it a great day.
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Kevin Stirtz is the Amazing Service Guy, a speaker and trainer who helps companies increase revenue and profits by delivering Amazing Service. Stirtz has been quoted in such major media as BusinessWeek, the Boston Globe, Smart Money and the Chicago Sun Times. Get a free copy of his Amazing Service Toolkit.
