Six Steps to Recover From Service Errors

No matter how well you design your products or refine the customer service skills of your employees there still will be times when your customers are dissatisfied with your company.

Even “five star” properties and companies known to produce superior quality merchandise have product defects and service lapses. No one can satisfy all of their customers all of the time. But the truly successful companies know how to recover from their service mistakes. They know how to turn around dissatisfied customers so they leave happy and remain loyal to the business.

There are six things you can do to recover from service mistakes.

First, apologize for the error. The more serious the infraction, the more profuse the apology should be. Express sincere regret for the difficulty or inconvenience the error has caused the customer. Accept responsibility, even if you are not personally responsible for the mistake. The customer does not care who is responsible. They expect you to make amends and fix it.

Unfortunately, some service providers see an apology as a sign of weakness or an admission of guilt. They hesitate to apologize for something someone else has done. Yet a sincere, first-person apology is the fastest and simplest way to minimize a customer’s irritation and recover from service mistakes.

Customers with problems are miffed. Although they eventually want action to be taken to rectify their problem, customers first need to feel that you understand and accept the “hassle” you’ve caused them. Even though they probably realize you personally may not have caused their problem, they see you as a representative of the enterprise that did. An honest, “I’m sorry that this has happened,” shows that you accept personal responsibility for the mistake, thereby speeding up the recovery process.

After having apologized, you need to listen with empathy and ask open-ended questions to get to the heart of the customer’s concern. Let the customer talk. Be extremely attentive when the customer is explaining the problem. Do not be quick to judge or be in a hurry to move to resolution. Let the customer vent. Sympathize with their situation and acknowledge their concern. Sometimes venting is all the customer needs in order to feel satisfied.

These first two steps in the service recovery process are extremely important. Too often service providers jump too quickly to resolution. For many customers, the resolution of their problem is less important than a simple acknowledgment of their concern. Usually you need to fix the customer before you can fix the problem. Sometimes an immediate apology and a sincere listening ear are all that a customer needs to turn the situation into a positive service experience.

After you’ve identified the customer’s concern, you need to do something about it. Solve the problem quickly and fairly. Find a resolution that is acceptable to the customer. For most service errors a simple apology or replacement of a faulty product is all that is required. Most customers complain merely to bring the problem to your attention so you – the company – can be better. In these cases the customer doesn’t expect anything from you other than your assurance that the problem will not happen again.

However, in more severe service failures, or with extremely difficult customers, you may need to atone for your service transgression. In some situations you must make amends – or suffer as the customer has suffered – before the customer will be satisfied. Your atonement may be a product upgrade, a small gift, a future discount, a free offering, or, in worse case situations, a complete write-off of the product or service.

After telling the customer what you will do to rectify the problem, be sure to keep your promise. Don’t make promises you cannot fulfill. Once you’ve made a promise make sure you carry it out fully. Be sure not to over-promise. It’s always best to under promise and over deliver.

Finally, you need to follow-up. Don’t assume the customer is satisfied just because you fixed the problem. Check with them. Ask if there is anything else that you can do to meet their needs. Don’t consider the situation closed until you know the customer is fully satisfied. If the customer seems content with the solution but still dissatisfied with your company, apologize again. Ask if there is anything else you can do to satisfy them. Listen again with empathy and try to identify other dissatisfiers that you can resolve.

Not all dissatisfied customers can be turned around. But by following these simple steps chances are even your most dissatisfied customers will leave feeling they were treated fairly.

Let me give you an example of two converse situations that happened to me that illustrate how important these steps are to creating loyal customers.

In the first example I had leased a car that turned out to be a lemon. I took the car into the dealership several times for repairs. Each time I returned to the dealership I became more and more dissatisfied as the repairs were not done properly. And each time I received more hassles from the dealership when I brought my car back to be fixed right. I eventually ended up writing a complaint letter to the president of the Chevrolet division in Detroit.

Not once did I receive an apology from the dealership. Not once did I feel the dealership cared about my problem or me. Nor did I receive a follow-up call. But boy, did they atone for their sins. Because of the intervention from Detroit I ended up not having to pay any of the payments on my lease agreement. Yet, even though I basically had a free car for two years, and this happened more than twelve years ago, I’m still peeved at the hassle I had to go through. And, consequently, I have never bought a Chevrolet since then and highly recommend that no one else does either.

An opposite experience occurred several years ago while I was vacationing with my family at Disney World in Florida. We had booked our stay in the apartment-like suites at Disney World Village. As we were getting settled into our suite I noticed the refrigerator in the kitchen did not work. I called the front desk and told them about the refrigerator. The front desk attendant immediately apologized for the inconvenience and said he would have a repairman to my room within 15 minutes. I told him we had not been inconvenienced because we didn’t need to use the refrigerator. I also told him we were leaving to go inside the park, so there was no rush to fix the refrigerator. We would be gone for many hours.

That night when we came back to our room after the park closed we found a fruit basket on our kitchen table next to a handwritten, personally-signed note from the hotel general manager. He first apologized for the inconvenience the broken refrigerator had caused. He then stated what action had been taken to fix the problem. He referenced a small gift-wrapped box that was next to the fruit basket and said it was a small token as an apology for the inconvenience of the broken refrigerator. Inside the box was a porcelain Mickey Mouse statue.

While my wife and I were marveling at all of this, the phone rang. It was the night manager. She said she was calling on behalf of the hotel general manager to apologize for the inconvenience our broken refrigerator had caused. She wanted to know if there was anything else she could do to overcome any dissatisfaction we might have.

How amazing! First, we were never dissatisfied. We weren’t even upset. We really didn’t care whether the refrigerator worked or not. We weren’t planning on using it. I had only called the front desk to let them know so they could fix the refrigerator for the next guest who might use the room.

Second, how did they know we were back in our room at one o’clock in the morning? Sure, the park closed at midnight. But we could have come back early and been long in bed. They must have had someone watching our room. Or they just kept calling every few minutes until they finally reached us. That is what I call amazing follow-up.

It's been almost 15 years since this incident and I still have that porcelain Mickey Mouse sitting prominently on my desk to remind me of the remarkable service we received that day.

In reality, you don’t have to provide the whiz-bang service I received at Disney World. It usually doesn’t take much to turn around dissatisfied customers and maintain their loyalty. You just have to follow six simple steps.

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Innovative Management Group offers one, two and four-hour Customer Service Training courses that teaches customer service skills and service recovery techniques to managers and employees. IMG also offers a one-day “Creating Customer Loyalty” workshop that shows executive leaders how to create a strong service culture designed to attract and retain loyal customers. To find out how to apply these concepts in your business, please call IMG at 702-258-8334, or by e-mail at mac@imglv.com. Also visit our website at www.imglv.com

How to Disagree With Others Without Being Disagreeable

Someone once said, “Everyone has the right to his own stupid opinion.” Another person of the same ilk said, “You can disagree with me if you want. But you’ll still be wrong.”

We’ve all been in situations where we’ve disagreed with someone's idea or opinion. Differences in opinions often lead to defensiveness and closure. One of the difficult challenges of interpersonal communication is having the ability to disagree with someone without causing them to react negatively to the dispute.

As a management consultant I’m often called upon to mediate conflict between members of work groups or cross-functional teams. My role is to help people stay open as they work through their differences. I try to provide people with ways they can respond to each other that will encourage open dialogue rather than cause people to close down.

Here are nine techniques I teach people to use when they find themselves disagreeing with another person. These skills allow you to disagree without sounding disagreeable.

Since people always seem quick to interrupt someone when they are in disagreement, the first skill is to keep yourself from jumping into the discussion prematurely. You cannot argue with a point you have not heard. Most people start arguing at the first point of disagreement in a discussion. They don’t listen to the other person’s entire statement. This is what I call “arguing in process,” or disagreeing before the person is done. Many times, after being forced to stop and listen to the entire statement, you’ll find there is no disagreement once you’ve heard the entire message. You only thought you were in disagreement because you prematurely judged what the other person was saying.

This leads to the second confrontational skill. Make sure you understand the other person’s perspective first before stating your view. Or as Steven Covey says, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

Ensure you have a clear grasp of the other person’s position. Find out why they see things and do things the way they do. As disagreements arise use statements like the following:

• “Help me to understand the reason why you do it that way.”
• “Walk me through your thought process so I can understand how you made that decision.”
• “What procedure do you follow when you do X?”
• “Let me make sure I understand where you’re coming from.”


Sometimes when people disagree they really are closer to agreement than they suppose. Unfortunately when disagreements arise most people go straight to the point of contention rather than stating the items on which they agree. This quick rebuttal makes the other party think there is disagreement on every aspect of the issue when, in fact, the person may only disagree on a few minor points.

By breaking down the various points of the discussion you can state where you are in agreement first. Identify what you like about the other person’s idea or actions before you address where you disagree. Tell them how close you are to agreement.

For example, you could say:

• “I agree that we should do X and Y. I’m not so sure about Z.”
• “I like what you’ve proposed about X and Y. I don’t think Z should be changed at this point because . . .”
• “I’m about 80% in agreement. I just have a couple of questions I need answered before I’ll be fully convinced that it will work.”

Some people ask a lot of questions because they’re trying to convince themselves that the idea or opinion is right. Others ask probing questions or make contrary statements because they want to see how committed the person is to his or her own idea or opinion. In these cases the person actually isn’t in disagreement, but the rapid-fire questions make it appear that way. Likewise, some people play the role of "devil's advocate" as a means to further explore the validity of an idea. But the devilishness of the advocate often hides the virtue behind the questioning.

To keep from being seen as an adversary, you should state when you’re playing the devil’s advocate role. You also should state why you are taking a contrary stance. The majority of people who play devil’s advocate do it to discover loopholes or problems with an idea or opinion. They do it to make the idea better, not to shoot holes in it. They do it to help solidify the idea or opinion, not to destroy it. On the other hand, if someone plays the devil’s advocate role just to stir up trouble or to be divisive, this individual should be the target of feedback about their disruptive behavior.

In all aspects of your discussion you should avoid using the word “but”, such as in “I agree, but . . .” Instead, replace “but” with “and,” or end your comment with a period where you would normally say “but.”

• “I agree with Z, (but) and I think we should consider replacing X and Y before implementing Z.”
• “There is validity in your point (but). Let me share another perspective.”
• “You’re right, you have been coming in on time lately (but). I expect you to be on time every day.”

Before you start offering suggestions for improvement, ask the recipient if they would like your input.

People are more receptive to feedback when they have asked for the feedback. However, there are times when you need to give feedback to people who have not asked for it. Since the probability is high that at some point you will need to give a colleague feedback, you should establish a “groundrule” in advance for how this is to be done should the need for feedback arise. Ask people in advance if they’d like input from you. Also ask them in advance how they would like to receive that feedback. For example:

• “I don’t have any ideas right now, but if I ever see something in your area that needs improvement, how would you like me to pass that information along to you?”
• “I have a couple of thoughts on how you might be able to do X faster. Would you like to hear my ideas?”
• “We have an interesting way of handling problems like that in our department. Would you like to know how we do it?”

Whenever you give someone feedback on how to improve, don’t load the dice. Give them only one or two issues to work on at a time. If you have several concerns, break up your feedback into separate sessions. Let them fix one problem at a time. Compliment them for taking action on the first issue, and then share another concern.

If you want to sway other people to your point of view it is best to acknowledge the other person’s position before you inform them about your view. Acknowledge their opinion or idea before you share yours. Verify your understanding of their perspective before you try swaying them to your position.

When you acknowledge the other person’s view up front with a responsive statement they normally will be more receptive to listening to your take on the issue. Examples of acknowledging statements are:

• “That’s an interesting idea.”
• “I can see how you could draw that conclusion.”
• “You’ve obviously put a lot of thought into this.”

Sometimes all a person needs to not feel offended is a simple acknowledgment of their concern or opinion. Men (who are from Mars) often raise the ire of women (who are from Venus) when they quickly inform her of what can be done to fix a problem without taking time to hear and acknowledge her frustration. Too often parents are quick to inform their teenagers of their reasons for saying no before they understand what really is being sought by the adolescent. The lack of acknowledgment of the validity of the teen’s request leads to feelings of rejection and resentment.

Finally, you need to understand that you cannot move another person until you move yourself. If you want to get other people to accept your perspective or move to your position, you’ll move them a lot faster by first moving yourself to their perspective. Once you have walked in their shoes or seen things through their eyes, you’ll have a much better chance of bringing them over to your idea or opinion.

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If you would like more information about how Innovative Management Group can help build effective teams within your company, please contact us at 702-258-8334, e-mail to mac@imglv.com, or visit us on the web at www.imglv.com.

How to Get the Work Done With Less People

If your company is like most businesses during these distressed economic times, you’ve been forced to layoff staff in order to improve the financial viability of your business.

What you hope is that the remaining employees will understand the business imperative for the layoffs and continue to perform at acceptable levels without adversely impacting the customers. To most managers this typically means you hope your employees will maintain the same level of production that was being achieved before the layoff -- only with less people. And you hope the quality of the work doesn’t diminish either.

This, of course, is impossible.

A building contractor cannot build a specified building with less material without reducing the quality of the building. A symphony conductor cannot eliminate a section of the orchestra without impacting the quality of the music. Likewise, a report that previously has taken four full-time employees a week to produce cannot be completed in the same amount of time with only two employees. A waitress who can provide great customer service to ten tables at one time cannot cover 15 tables equally well at the same level of quality.

If your employees are already working at or near full capacity, it will be almost impossible for them to do more with less staff without adversely impacting the quality of their work.

I like to demonstrate this by holding up four 3x5 cards, each representing 25% of an employee’s time. If 100% of an employee’s time is taken, and you want to give that employee more work to do (represented by another card you wish to add to the deck of four), how is it possible to add more work to the employee’s schedule when 100% of the employee’s time is already gone? The obvious answer is the employee must somehow find time to do the additional task. Or the employee must reduce the quality of the work being done on one or more of the already assigned tasks.

Historically employees somehow find the time to accomplish the added tasks when bosses load them up with work. But where did the additional time come from? If it’s true that 100% of the employee’s workday is filled, then the only way one can complete the additional work is to come in early, stay late, or reduce one’s lunch or break time to get the added work done. However, there are better ways to accomplish more with less people, as I outline later in this article.

There is an adage at work that says: “If you want to get the work done, give it to your busiest worker.” This tends to be true because your hardest worker usually is your most responsible employee. Responsible employees tend to do whatever they have to do to get the work done, even if it means sacrificing their own time.

Human beings have a great capacity to “kick it in gear” to get work done in a pinch. They can do more in less time. They can give 110% of their effort. They can sacrifice their families and personal time for the good of the company. But they can only do that for a limited time before they burn out.

It is possible to go to 110% percent on a nuclear reactor and get greater production by doing so. But staying “in the red” too long can have dire consequences.
The same is true of people. It is possible to push people in times of great need to do more – to give 110% – but they cannot do so forever without causing damage to themselves or the company. Eventually, the stress of working beyond normal parameters will cause a “meltdown.”

Consequently, if you've downsized your staff and still want to get the work done, you need to take certain actions as a manager. One of the greatest problems after a downsizing is that managers typically don’t do anything different from what they were doing before the layoff. They continue going about their work as if nothing has changed. But a great deal has changed; which means the manager must change, too.
Just like your employees, your workload increases the moment you lay off staff. There are numerous managerial duties you must perform immediately after a layoff if you want your employees to continue to perform at acceptable levels.

The first thing you need to do after a layoff is to identify what work is core to the business and what work is not. It’s easy to believe that everything you and your employees are doing is important, but when business is going good businesses typically become bloated and bureaucratic. “Pet projects” and “fluff” are easily allowed when a company is profitable. A downturn in business forces you to look at what you’re doing to determine what really matters to your customers. I can assure you that some of the work your employees are currently doing really doesn’t matter to your customers. They don’t care. Nor does it positively impact the bottom line of your enterprise.

You need to take a hard look at everything your staff is doing. Identify the work that is core to the business, and get rid of the rest. Be very clear about what things you will stop doing since you no longer have the staff. Remove all unnecessary tasks and responsibilities from your surviving employees before giving them the additional duties of the downsized employees. Pull unnecessary “cards” from their deck of duties before adding new cards to the deck.

While you’re looking at core work – what is and isn’t important to your customers – you also should identify which quality and service standards matter to your customers.

People’s expectations change as situations change. For example, customers who never would have shopped at Walmart during prosperous times may suddenly find Walmart quality to be acceptable during a distressed economy. Customers who expected attention to detail and added-value perks when flying high during the economic boom may quickly lower their standards when forced to pay extra for such privileges during a recession.

You may have to lower your quality or service standards during a recession since you may not have the staff to perform at a higher level after a layoff. The good news is that your customers may find the lowering of such standards to be acceptable, provided you know what is and is not important to them.

Obviously, one of the most important things you can do after a layoff is to prioritize the work. During stressful times people can easily lose focus as to what is important and what is not. They can spend too much time on trivial issues and too little time on major priorities. You need to help your employees identify where they should channel their energy and effort. You need to help them focus on the things that matter most. This is particularly important when new duties have been assigned to them that previously were not their responsibility. People tend to do what they have always done unless specifically instructed to do otherwise.

When people have been given additional duties, you may have to specifically teach employees how to multi-task. Don’t assume your employees will know how to link previously unassigned tasks with their current assignments. You may need to walk your employees through each step of their work processes and show them which steps can be optimized, minimized, synthesized or altered. Teach them how to do several tasks at once.

Look to your exemplar employees to discover ways to perform better. Your most productive employees have discovered little “tricks” to perform better, cheaper or faster. The best food servers, for example, have learned to scan all of their assigned tables while walking to or from the kitchen. They’ve discovered how to carefully stack the dishes on their arms so they can carry more plates in less trips. They mentally know how much time it takes to cook certain orders so they can perform other duties while they wait. They carry a water pitcher and a coffee pot at the same time, knowing someone will ask for one or the other as they pass by.

The most efficient production line workers in a manufacturing plant know exactly how to hold a tool or position themselves on the line to better reach the equipment they’re working on. The best auto mechanic can quickly diagnose a problem by asking a few simple questions or probing certain areas of an engine.

Every exemplar employee has discovered tricks that help them perform well. You need to teach the performance enhancing tricks of your exemplar employees to all of your workers so they can perform equally well.

By now you should realize that a company downsizing means you have to train and cross-train your employees to do the new tasks assigned to them. I’m continually amazed at the number of managers who assign the duties of laid-off employees to surviving workers and expect these workers to pick up the new tasks and perform to standard without significant training. Obviously there will be learning curves on newly assigned work with a decrease in quality and performance while that new tasks are being learned. You must expect diminished performance and implement the training necessary to bridge the gap between the employees’ current skills and those needed to accomplish the tasks.

Of course, the best scenario is one where the employees don’t have to learn the new tasks because you give the tasks to your customers instead. This may sound strange, but you may be surprised to discover how many tasks your customers are willing to do themselves. For example, when there are less bellmen at a hotel due to downsizing, sometimes all a company needs to do is provide self-serve bell carts at the front desk so customers can take their bags to the room themselves. Customers may also prefer a self-serve kiosk rather than having to stand in line for a human attendant when staffing levels are low.

If you use technology instead of people, you many find you don’t have to on-load as much work to your reduced staff as you supposed. During prosperous times companies tend to use human beings to add a “personal touch” to their business. But this personal touch may be completely unnecessary. Some customers may prefer automation, self-service, on-line purchasing, push-button technology and other means of conducting business rather than having to deal with over-worked and stressed-out employees. Never do manually what could more easily and more cheaply be done through technology.

Finally, from everything stated above it should be evident that your primary responsibility before, during and after a company downsizing is to clarify roles and expectations for your employees. Workers need to know exactly what is expected of them. They need clarification regarding the standards to which they must perform. Managers must take the time to clearly explain how each employee's work has changed in the new economy.

As can be seen by the comments above, it is unrealistic for you to expect fewer people to perform at the same level that the full compliment of employees did before the downsizing without significant changes to the way you manage. Life is significantly different for all surviving employees in a company after a layoff, and that includes you. You must manage different. You must undertake specific and deliberate actions to maintain the performance of your employees if you wish to satisfy your customers and keep your employees motivated and happy.

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Innovative Management Group can help you maintain the enthusiasm and commitment of your employees, even in distressed times, by focusing your efforts on the things that matter most. For more information, contact us at 702-258-8334 or email to mac@imglv.com.

Four Feelings to Evoke From New Employees on Their First Day at Work

Public speakers and people being interviewed for a job know they have just a few minutes to make a good impression with their audience. They know rapport and relationships will either be solidified or damaged during those precious moments.

In a like manner the quality of your company’s new employee orientation and departmental training programs, to a great extent, determine the quality of performance you will get from your employees later on. Many managers miss the wonderful opportunity to capture the initial enthusiasm a new employee brings to the company on the first day of work. Yet doing so can keep that enthusiasm going throughout the employee’s tenure at the company.

An employee’s first day at work sets a precedent and makes an indelible impression on the employee. How she or he feels at the end of the first day determines whether the worker’s enthusiasm and commitment to the job will wax or wane. Your job as a manager is to make sure your employees feel good about the work they do, feel good about the company, and feel good about working for you. The key determining factor of how well an employee will perform is how good they feel at work. People who feel good generally do good.

According to a Staffing.org survey, companies spend anywhere from $2,000 to $11,000 to hire a new employee, but few put much effort into helping workers acclimate and become productive once they are hired.

If new hires don’t receive proper training and support early on, 47% leave their jobs within the first six months. This means the most important training a company can provide to its employees may be that which occurs immediately after the employee is hired. Unfortunately, many companies have weak or non-existent new employee orientation or on-the-job training programs, thereby missing a great opportunity to capture the enthusiasm and commitment from new employees from their first day at work.

I’ve been designing new employee orientation and other employee training programs for companies for over 30 years. I’ve become adept at delivering high-quality training products at a very low cost because I have a systematic way of developing courses that achieves very specific performance and behavioral outcomes.

The strongest indicator of a training course’s impact and effectiveness is how the participants feel at the end of the session and how capable they are to carry out the needed tasks at the desired performance level. Both the right capability and the right feeling are necessary for employees to fully internalize what is taught and to actualize the performance behaviors they’ve learned.

Over time I have concluded that, regardless of content, every training – particularly new employee orientation and on-the-job training – must result in four essential feelings at the conclusion of the event. To succeed in their jobs, new employees must feel comfortable, confident, proud, and included in order to perform at acceptable levels. The sooner the employees exude these feelings, the sooner they will perform competently in their positions.

Consequently, new employee orientation should be designed to help employees feel comfortable with their new company, work environment, job classification, manager, and colleagues. People in new situations are out of their comfort zone. They are unsure about who the key players are in the organization. They don’t know where things are. They are uncertain about what is or is not acceptable behavior in the company. They proceed cautiously, hesitant to make even minor mistakes.

On-the-job training should anticipate the discomfort new employees experience and design into the training ways to alleviate the uneasiness of the workers. Everything possible should be done to lessen the stress of learning a new job.

New employee orientation and training at both the company and department level must provide the employees with the requisite knowledge, skills and behavior to perform all job requirements without hesitation or timidity. By the end of the training new employees should feel confident they made the right choice when they took the job. They should feel fully capable of performing their assigned tasks at the performance level required.

Self-confidence is the key to self-action. The more a company does to build the confidence of its employees the greater the chances are the workers will perform at optimal levels.

When designed properly, orientation and training programs ought to make the employees feel proud of their new company, department, and team. The content of the training should instill a sense of ownership and wholeness within the new employees. The greatest indicator of successful training would be for employees to leave the session telling others how proud they are to be a part of the organization or group. Proud employees are the best recruiters for future employees.

Finally, the orientation session should ensure the new employees feel included as bonafide members of the team. By the conclusion of the training the employees should be viewed and treated as fully functioning, contributing members of the team, not as rookies. They should feel a sense of unity and oneness with the group. Most importantly, they should feel they are on the same level with other employees in the group.

Those companies who consciously and deliberately design their orientation and training programs around these four critical feelings will ensure their employees literally hit the ground running from the first moment they step into the workplace. More important, good leaders will realize these four feelings are what employees must feel each and every day they come to work, regardless of how long the employees have worked at the company. These four feelings are the keys to maintaining the commitment of employees over the course of their careers with your company.

Colin Powell's Lessons on Leadership

Colin Powell, former Army Chief of Staff, Colin Powell, outlines six “rules” of leadership he discovered while in the military.

First, Make the Difficult Decisions. “Being in charge means making decisions, no matter how painful," Powell says. In today’s businesses we need leaders who will do what is right, even if it is politically painful. Powell continues: "If it’s broke fix it. A leader cannot allow the majority to suffer under a bad situation to spare the feelings of an individual, or an organization.”

Second, Don’t Punish Every Mistake. “No body ever got to the top without slipping up. When somebody stumbles,” Powell explains, ”I don’t believe in stomping on him. My philosophy is: pick ‘em up, dust ‘em off and get ‘em moving again.” Too many managers spend inordinate amounts of time and energy criticizing every little mistake employees make. There are so many little things that just don't matter. Don't sweat the little stuff.

Third, Have Clear Objectives. The Vietnam war was a perfect example of the failure that can occur when the objectives are not clear. “Leaders must establish clear, achievable objectives and apply the means to accomplish those objectives,” Powell says, “or they are just wasting time, resources, and, tragically, lives.”

Fourth, Make Your Team Feel Important. “Find ways to reach down and touch everyone in a unit. Make individuals feel important and part of something larger than themselves.” Or, as Ken Blanchard has promoted for many years: "Catch people doing things right!"

Fifth, Be Skeptical of Experts. “Don’t be buffaloed by experts,” Powell warns. “They often possess more data than judgment.”

As I have often said, too many organizations rely on external consultants when they have the abilities and experience within their own employees. Use the talents within your company first. Then look outside for additional support.

And finally, Never Beat Down Enthusiasm. When employees get excited about something, get out of their way and let them do it. You’ll be surprised at how much they can accomplish when their excited. “Enthusiasm can overpower incredible obstacles,” Powell says.

“During my years in the Field, I learned what makes American soldiers tick,” Powell explains. “They will gripe about being driven to high performance. They will swear they would rather be somewhere else. But at the end of the day, they always ask proudly, ‘How’d we do.’

Powell concludes that “Americans love to win. They respect leaders who hold them to high standards and take them to the limit — as long as they see a worthwhile objective.”

Good advise for every manager!

Four Types of Employees and Four Reasons Why They Work

Once, while enjoying a dinner social at my church, it dawned on me that there are four types of church members when it comes to cleaning up after an event. There are chair-carrying members and non-chair-carrying members. In other words, there are those who willingly help out and those who absolutely refuse to help out. The non-chair-carrying members stand there while others work around them. Or they leave immediately after the event so they don't have to do anything.

In between the two continuum extremes of chair-carrying and non-chair-carrying members are two additional categories of church members.

The third category includes people who will carry chairs, but only after they are asked. They only become aware that assistance is needed when it is pointed out to them. Then, having been asked directly, they chip in and help with the work.

Finally, the fourth category includes those who will carry chairs when asked, but they only do the minimum amount of work to make it look like they are helping. These members typically sneak out after fulfilling their minimal obligation. They hope no one will notice their laziness.

Employees seem to fall into these same four categories.

There are those employees who always work hard and regularly pitch in without having to be asked. There are those workers who when asked, will do exactly what they are told. There are those who, when asked, will do the minimum amount necessary to make it look like they are doing what is asked. And there are those employees who won’t do anything, even when asked.

Upon reflection I’ve also noticed at church that people keep the commandments for four different reasons. Although the results may be the same, the quality of the experience is vastly different.

Some people maintain the standards of the church out of obedience. They do it because they have been commanded to do so. And they fear the consequences if they are disobedient.

Others keep the commandments because it is their duty as a member of the sect. They feel they must model certain behaviors because it is expected of them; and they dutifully comply.

Still others obey because they know when they do so they will receive the blessings that are associated with keeping the commandments. They are motivated by the promise of a higher status if they perform well.

Then there are those who are truly converted. They keep the commandments because they love to serve, they love their fellow man, or they love God. They don’t do it for blessings, out of duty, or fear of disobedience. They do it because it is the right thing to do. They do it because it is who they are.

Not surprisingly, employee motivations seem to fall under the same four factors.

Some employees only do their job because they have to. They obediently comply because they have been commanded to work. But compliance is not commitment.

Other workers do their duty by doing exactly what they are told. Still others do it for the money, the status or other rewards that come when one performs well.

But the best employees are those who love their job, love their colleagues, and love to fulfill their tasks because they know it is the right thing to do. They do it because of an inner resolve and a personal commitment. They do it because it is who they are.

Why Is It So Hard to Deliver Good Customer Service?

Delivering good customer service seems so simple. So why is it so hard for so many service providers to get it right?

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really tired of being treated so poorly by people who are supposed to be serving me. I’m not that demanding as a patron. I don’t need that much. I just want the basics of customer service. I want people to give me what they would expect if our roles were reversed.

This past week I was up in Canada working with a client company. I was staying at the “finest” hotel in the area. But they couldn’t even get the basics right. All I wanted was a clean, safe, quiet, comfortable, and fully-functional room. They missed on all five critical points.

I think guestroom attendants must clean the hotel rooms in the dark. That’s why they miss so much when they clean. This also would account for why they didn’t know that the light bulbs were burned out in the bathroom. Not a single light in the bathroom worked.

These same guestroom attendants also must not know people want to sleep in. I guess they assume everyone wants to get up early since they have to get up early. That’s why they stand in the hallway outside the hotel room and talk to each other in loud voices. I have no idea what they think the “do not disturb” sign on the door means.

But I really wasn’t sleeping anyway. In fact, I hadn’t been asleep all night. In order to save money (I assume) the builders of the hotel used only a single door between adjoining rooms. The thinness of the door allowed me to hear every word of the conversation of the people in the room next to me. They must have had a lot to say because they stayed up all night talking.

My next fun experience was in the shower. In another effort to save money the hotel didn’t provide bar soap in the room. Instead they had a soft soap dispenser in the shower. What a hassle! Do you know how many times you have to push the button on the dispenser in order to get enough soap to clean your entire body? Later that day I went to the store and purchased a bar of soap so I wouldn’t have to go through that experience again. I don't understand why I have to bring my own supplies to a quality hotel.

They also didn’t have a drain plug in the bathroom sink. Well, actually they did. It was one of those little rubber stoppers. I haven’t seen one of those rubber things since the 1800s. But it certainly works. The trick is unplugging the drain afterwards. I had to reach my hand into the dirty, scalding water to pull the plug. Not exactly what I consider to be a quality hotel experience.

As I left my room that first morning I noticed that the door to my room was open. Apparently the door did not close fully on it’s own. I hadn’t noticed. That meant the door was open the entire time while I “slept” that night, while I was in the shower, and while I was getting dressed. I’m glad no one came in and saw me in my unaware.

I think hotel owners and employees should be forced to spend several weeks living in their hotel so they can suffer what their guests suffer. Then they would see what I have to go through each week when I travel. Again, all I want is a clean, safe, quiet, comfortable, and fully-functional room. It can’t be that tough to get it right, can it?

The other day my wife and I went to a movie at the theater. It was a very suspenseful movie. Just at the most intense part of the movie near the end two theater employees in the projection room started a loud, lighthearted conversation. We could barely hear the movie over their laughter. When we complained to the manager she grilled us with the third degree. We had to be mistaken. There was no way we could have heard theater employees talking in the projection room. Then she went on to complain that other patrons had complained about the noise too. She never offered to investigate, never said she’d take any action, and never apologized.

Why did we even bother to tell her? Because we thought management would want to know so they could do something about it. But no one seems to care anymore.

I avoid using drive-up windows at fast food restaurants anymore. The odds of getting the wrong order are increasingly high.

I ordered a pizza delivered this past week. I didn’t notice until after the delivery person drove away that it was the wrong pizza. I wish I hadn’t tipped him so much.

I seldom ask clerks in stores technical questions about the merchandise. Most clerks have no idea about the products they are selling. It used to be that salespeople learned about their products and those of their competitors so they could help the patron make an informed decision before a purchase. But now, it seems, clerks only know how to ring up the sale on the cash register. Unfortunately, some don’t even know how to do that.

I wish when clerks asked if they could help you, they really could. I wish people in the hospitality industry would be hospitable. I wish service providers would provide service. I wish I didn’t have to wait for waiters. I wish I could trust that I would get good service wherever I go. I wish I had confidence when I patronized a business that it would be a good experience every time.

I would be such a loyal customer to a business that merely gives me what I want, how I want it, when I want it. I really don’t expect that much. I want my hot food hot, my cold food cold. I want what I ordered. I want things I buy to work. I want my bill to be accurate. I want a good night’s sleep in a hotel. Is this too much to ask?