May recap

The first 14 ways are in the March and April recaps. Here are several more based on the May posts:

15. Greet your customers by name.

See Shep Hyken's piece on the power of using names to create a most memorable experience. What's in a name? A sense of respect for you, an openness to welcome you, a genuine caring about your experience today.

16. Use names consistently to create an exceptional experience.

A greeting by name is nice, but you do have my reservation and should know. The second greeting by name gets me to start thinking - it's nice! I'm feeling like they have a customer service "program" here, and that's a good thing! The third greeting by name get's me wondering that this is quite an exceptional place. I'm quite comfortable; it feels like everyone really cares about my well-being and experience! The fourth greeting by name confirms you mean it! I love it! Be consistently positive to be most memorable.

17. Pay attention to detail.

You reveal everything you are even in one simple display or fixture. Take pride in who you are and what you have to offer.

18. Figure out what your customers need to trust you.

See Bettina's experience of all Creatures Great & Small for a most positive and memorable experience. Your customer is buying peace of mind - and all that you do is designed to create trust and confidence in who you are and the service you provide.

19. Create an integrated set of positive experiences.

Your on-line experience is positive. Parking is positive. Check-in is positive. Breakfast is positive. Check-out is positive. Create a cumulative positive, positive, positive - at all touch-points.

20. Pay even more attention to every little detail.

Everything matters!

21. Create an impeccable environment.

Keep everything clean, mindful - and take pride in who you are and what you offer.

22. Always have something unique for your customers to take away.

Create unique "souvenirs" - they are always memorable! You can show a sincere appreciation and create memories if you choose.

Over

Consumer View: Customer Obsession

Bettina Grahek shares a most positive and memorable experience in an article originally featured in The CEO Refresher.

My dog runs in the front door, whips his body around the corner and lands his large (no doubt about it) round snout in the middle of box of sausages strategically placed on a low counter and pulls one out. Then he pulls another one out. And then still a third. Happy, happy, happy! Betty steps around the corner, applauds my dog's assertive attack on the sausages and welcomes him into her business. My dog is ecstatic - and I'm absolutely thrilled!

I'm a consumer. Like most pet owners, I love my dog - enough so that I have just spent an entire Saturday afternoon (and not that I have time to do this) driving from town to town visiting local veterinarians and snooping around in their kennels trying to find a perfect fit for my beloved dog. I know what I'm looking for though honestly have never seen it, much less found it. In the coming year it is expected that I'll spend 7 consecutive weeks away from my pooch, and for my own comfort, I need to know that he will be loved and taken care of in my absence. Am I desperate for a particular kind of business? I'd say quite a bit so.

With a greeting smile and a warm "hello" and hug (for my dog) Betty takes Luke to the counter and feeds him delicious treats while I stand in awe of my most recent finding. My dog is happy - I'm happy. When Luke is thoroughly saturated with canine goodies, I ask Betty if she'd mind showing me around the business. Remember? I'm soul searching kennels…I know what I'm looking for, but have never seen it. Off we go down a long hall to the kennels. "It's a kindergarten for pets!" I nearly fall over. Not just a kennel, not just a boarding facility, but a "kindergarten." Yes, that's what she said. Even her vet brings his dog here. And the going rate for this kindergarten? $14.50 per day! (That's nearly double the rate I encountered while visiting the local vets.) Will I pay it? Read on.

Everything is clean. The walls are white. The kennel floors are painted a bold pink - my favorite color. Am I happy that my dog will sleep on pink floors while I'm out of town for 7 weeks? You betcha. Animal prints, paintings, and sculpture line the halls. Does this business worship the customer? I'd say so!

Betty takes me from room to room sharing and pointing out the details of her business that convince me I've found the perfect "home away from home" for my beloved pet - a kindergarten camp for my dog. Each kennel is separated in part by a concrete divider about 3 ft tall - an important detail and necessity, she tells me, as a means of keeping each pet clean and free of debris from neighboring pets. Each pet not only has his own sleeping quarters, but also a lambskin cot and a little blue towel (detail, detail!) added to absorb any moisture left behind during cleaning. Can you believe this? Each of the sleeping quarters has an adjacent runner through which access to the kindergarten "recess and recreation" yard is acquired. Does this business owner have toys in the yard for her customers? Absolutely! Down the hall we go to the next chamber where each feline has his/her own multi-level condo complete with resting mounts high above the canopy for cats who aspire to thrive in jungle-like conditions. Yes, the big cats are quite at home here also!

Well enough of the details (yes, there are plenty more) - you get the picture. This business is completely devoted to its customers. It's a true customer-focused, customer-centered, customer-driven and customer-obsessive business. I am absolutely sold on this business. And from the number of dogs, cats, and iguanas, "campers" as Betty calls them, camped out at this facility, clearly others are equally sold as well. Betty's business is memorable.

Theory to practice.

I left Luke with Betty for a few days during the next week while I attended a conference in Charlotte. Family members of other "campers" were there the evening when I arrived back to pick up my dog. Recognizing that I was a new customer to the business, from the line of people just behind me came the faint words, "Wait till you see what you get before you walk out the door." Just at that moment, on the counter, Betty had placed a little green "Camper Report Card" - just the kind I received when I was a little girl in elementary school - only this one had a star on it. Luke's first report card! "And you'll never believe some of the things they have to say about our pets!"

Good businesses are easy to find. Great ones? A bit more difficult. But customer obsessed businesses are rare and truly a pleasurable experience for the consumer. All Creatures Great & Small is an exemplar of the best in quality service for the customer obsessed business.


My favorite business is All Creatures Great & Small!

All Creatures Great & Small is owned and operated by Betty Kronenwetter. For further information, you can reach Betty at All Creatures Great & Small, Rt. 5, Box 16C, Hwy 701 South, Whiteville, NC 28472 (910)640-1909.

Bettina Ann Grahek is an educational administrator with a passion for teaching and leading new thinking, new beliefs, and new practices for leadership in education.

Thank you for your outstanding service!

I have to post this one from my archives. It's from the late 90s and I'm still telling this story as an example of impeccable service. Wow!

I had the pleasure to stay at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and Resort in Banff, Alberta, Canada and to discover that outstanding service is indeed alive and well in the brisk and fresh air of the Canadian Rockies. I value great service and I know it's rare, and when I encounter it and experience it, I have to acknowledge and celebrate it. To all of the associates of the Banff Springs Hotel I say thank you for your great service. I enjoyed my stay. Your attention to detail, your warmth and efficiency made my stay very relaxing, pleasurable and memorable. I will definitely return, and I will tell everyone I know about your commitment to incredible service. ( I am telling everyone I can about you!)

It wasn't a very challenging trip but one that I needed to tack on a weekend in the mountains for inspiration. Toronto to Calgary, dinner with a client, then off to Edmonton for some business and a evening with a friend. Early morning back to Calgary, business in the afternoon, re-union with friends in the evening, and then Saturday morning off for the drive into the mountains.

The trip wasn't such a big deal, but the 'context' was - a few 'major' things going on and I was not in any mood for any aggravations. I needed the weekend get-a-way and looked forward to being in the mountains again - to feel insignificant. Hey - I may be insignificant - but it's another thing to truly know you are insignificant. The mountains do that for me, and in a strange way it inspires and energizes me to be more significant.

The reservation was painless - very efficient. Checked the website and made one call and that was it. I liked that! I want to be there Saturday evening, standard stuff, and it was done. And everything worked, first time, no problems. I didn't even think about it again until I arrived. I like having that kind of confidence when I'm travelling.

So ... here I am driving up in an 88 Olds borrowed from my pal in Calgary, wearing bluejeans and boots and looking a bit like a dot com type who's lost his way and I pull into the arrivals area - valet parking I presume. First impressions are lasting impressions, and this very friendly character pops out of nowhere as I open the door with a great welcome to the Banff Springs! He's smiling - and seems incredibly 'in' to what he's doing. In a flash he's advising me of where to go, where he will put my car ("a classic," he says), how to get my car in the morning, where to check in, how to get my bags in - I feel very welcomed. Off with the bags and then into this incredibly beautiful lobby. I can feel the history. I like it.

Check in - extremely painless. No more than 30 seconds and I'm in - Wow! And my attendent is smiling. She seems happy. I'm happy. I know where to go and she told me about breakfast and the speedy checkout! What a lovely young lady! It's almost like she likes working here - wow! So far all I've met is happy, smiling people who seem to like working here - makes me feel very good that I'm staying here.

The room - perfect. The bed - wonderful. Room service - impeccable. An open window with the cool mountain breeze made everything truly outstanding. The only thing I could even dream to complain about was the elevator - it was slow - but only once. (They're under renovation and a few elevators seem to be out of service.) But with the frame of mind I was in that just gave me a few more moments to reflect on what an incredible service experience I was having.

Breakfast - a smiling face at about 7:30 was great, and the wonderful young lady led me to a table with the best view of the mountains and outlined the intricate details of the amazing buffet and stayed to chat for a while. Hey - she didn't even think about putting me behind the pillar, she wanted me to have the best view, which I appreciated very much. And you could see she liked her job. She enjoyed her work. She was my tour guide. She seemed to be sincerely and genuinely interested in my enjoyment of the food, the hotel facilities and the view. She made my day. The other servers were wonderful - attentive, talkative, efficient - breakfast was fine - and life seemed to be unfolding as it should.

Check out - fast, very fast and efficient, with smiles, and thank you's, and come agains. A call for the car - and it's on the way. A few minutes to wait but that's no problem because it provides a few more minutes to take in the view and the fresh mountain air. I get my keys and a smile and a thank you - to complete a wonderful and very memorable experience.

Wow! I am very impressed with the consistent and absolutely wonderful attitude and execution of service. And here's a kicker. There's no doubt that I paid more than compared to a few alternatives in the area but you know ... it doesn't even enter into the picture! I wanted the best and my expectations were exceeded! The service delivery was superb in every respect!

A week later I get a call at home in Toronto, from a very professional and courteous lady to do a follow up survey. I hate telemarketing calls, but she is very careful and considerate and sensitive to the time of day and my availability. She is so very pleasant. Of course I agree. The survey is very thorough. The questions relate to every service encounter - valet parking, check-in, the room, room service, specific restaurants, check-out - every aspect that a customer would ever encounter in a stay at the hotel. I answer every question with excellent, excellent, excellent! Will I return? Most definitely! Will I recommend the hotel? No doubt - to everyone! Overall rating? Outstanding! I value customer service and I will acknowledge it and celebrate it wherever I encounter it! Now I'm double wowed! I was absolutely wowed by the experience and again wowed by the survey! What an incredible commitment to service!

Overall? An absolutely perfect service encounter! Impeccable! Outstanding! Superb!

To the management and all associates of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel:

Thank you for your outstanding service! You are indeed the best and an inspiration for us all!

Pay Attention to Detail

I find it absolutely amazing to see what focusing on the details can reveal. Retail is detail they say, and although we all love to get into the big picture, the proof seems to always be found in the detail.

A former associate in specialty retailing once showed me how everything in a store is revealed from the detail. As an area manager charged with execution of the strategy and standards Dan could tell all from a very detailed examination of only one fixture. He would walk up to any fixture and observe - the product - was it appropriate, the folds - were they crisp, the sizing - was it easy for customers to find, the cleanliness - did anyone care, the inventory - was it replenished or in the back. From one fixture he could tell if the manager and staff were 'with the program' and cared and took pride in their work and their store, or didn't. And from that he knew what to expect with shrink results, store standards, training, selling skills, paperwork and almost everything else. All from one fixture - any fixture, as any one reflected the commitment, pride and attention to the detail of execution.

The Power of Using Names

Shep Hyken has another powerful way to wow your customers!

Want a simple strategy that will help build stronger relationships with anyone you work or do business with? It really is simple. You already know it, but it is worth reminding you of it. It is… using names.

Several months ago I was invited to a beautiful resort on an exotic island (Nevis) to present my program at a business meeting. As I walked off of the plane there was a representative from the travel company greeting me, holding a sign with my name. As soon as she identified me, she started using my name. She helped me get a cab and told the driver where to take me.

While we were driving to the airport the driver asked, "Where are you from, Mr. Hyken?" It wasn't the question that surprised me. It was that he used my name. We had a nice conversation on the way to the hotel.

Once at the hotel, the doorman greeted me by name. "Welcome to our hotel, Mr. Hyken." It was obvious that the woman at the airport informed someone I was on my way.

When I checked in the person didn't ask my name. She already had it.

The manager came out and introduced himself to me. He didn't have to ask my name. He already knew it.

On the way to my room, the bellman used my name.

I met the housekeeper later in the day. When she greeted me she asked if she was pronouncing my name properly.

Every time I walked through the lobby someone from the hotel staff acknowledged me by name. And, all of this started with the person who met me when I arrived at the airport. She had put the system to work by simply letting someone at the hotel know that I was on my way.

This was a great experience. I was truly impressed. I can't exactly describe how this constant use of my name made me feel, other than to say it was great. I felt more at home, more at ease, more comfortable – more of a guest than a customer.

It is obvious that the Four Seasons on Nevis has customer service down to an art. They are recognized as one of the top resort hotels in the world. It takes a lot of things, some big and some small, to be great. I would put using a customer's name down as small thing. It is almost just a detail. But, sometimes it is the smallest things that make the great ones great.