What Kind of Experience Does Your Customer Get?

I’ve missed a couple of weeks with you due to family situations. But I learned a lot about customer service—excellent and awful. I want to share my experiences with you and challenge you to grade your firm on how well you provide for your customers.

Primo customer service--in a hospital

The Ambulatory Care Center at Self Regional Medical Center in Greenwood, S.C., absolutely wow-ed us with their level of care, compassion, and communication. A family member was there for a heart catheterization. The medical team assigned to us could not have done a better job. It was obvious they coordinated their efforts so that everyone knew what everyone else was doing. We didn’t have six different people asking us the same questions six different times. The doctors were patient with us and answered all our questions, no matter how silly the concerns may have seemed. Not only did the staff take great care of the patient, but they also cared for the family members. All the staff treated us as if we were their most important concern in the world. Awesome.

It was a far cry from our experience a couple of years ago when my husband was hospitalized in Atlanta—in a very good hospital we always use when needed. Our lasting impression of that experience is of a doctor who was always in a hurry and didn’t want to answer questions. We fired that dude.

Flip side at a car dealership

During the same time frames, my mechanic told me it was time to finally replace my 9-year-old van. It required too much work and money to keep it any longer. I hate buying cars, so this was a big deal for me. I had not been to a traditional car dealership in 9 years. I don’t like those places.

This time, lured by very cheap financing, I thought I would try a traditional dealership and see what had changed. I did all my research and knew what I wanted. I browsed online and set up an appointment for a test drive. The Internet-based customer service rep promised me that Salesman Bob would be waiting for me when I arrived and would already have background information on what I wanted and a car available for me to test drive.

I showed up at the dealership for my appointment a few minutes early. The guy standing out front directed me inside where I could find Salesman Bob. I waited about 5 minutes for Salesman Bob to show up—he was with another customer and did not have any of the information I had given to the Internet guy. Bob promised to send a top sales person over to help me.

Sales people were milling about and chatting to each other. The only person who talked to me besides Bob was the receptionist who offered me coffee or water. No top sales person showed up. The final straw came when a salesman who had been talking with two women went off to get the Big Guy who could make the best offer. The Big Guy shows up and spills the same slimy spiel they were using 9 years ago. Twenty minutes after walking in the door, I left.

I could have raised a fuss, but I didn’t. It was a social experiment and that car dealership failed.

I went across the road and bought from Jim Ellis, a family owned dealership that truly valued having me come in.

Live human beings in a computer store

While all this was going on, I had to buy a new laptop—it was a rough month at our house. After researching it all, I went to a local computer store that has real people to help you –Vision Computers. Within 15 minutes, I had the laptop I needed. The No. 1 selling point at Vision Computers—human beings. There to help me decide which computer was a best fit and there to repair it and answer all questions. They tout that their wait time for technical support is 15 seconds—yep, seconds.

What are your customers saying about you?

Are you driving your customers across the road to deal with your competition? Think about it. Check in with your customers. I know one dealership and several online computer stores that missed out on a good chunk of change because they didn’t really care about me and my needs.

End of the story: Family member is doing well, and I have a new car and a new laptop.

Pam

P.S.: Our new www.WeKnowEngineers.com website is launching in March. It is designed specifically for engineers, with free stuff, historical case studies, best practices, and even jokes. Be sure to check in with us.

Pt. 2: Getting Staff to Understand You

To recap from last week: Glenn, CEO of a midsize engineering firm, is frustrated because he thinks he is communicating his annual state of the company message clearly, but the troops never seem to get it. What can he do?

The Challenges

When you are addressing a large, diverse group of people, you have multiple needs to meet.

1. Some listeners/readers want a history of how we got to where we are. This is a favored approach for many engineers. So, you tell your story from a chronological standpoint. “In 2006, we were here… In 2007, we…”

2. Upon hearing that, other folks will think, “Here we go again. Same old, same old.” And they will stop listening. These are likely the folks who want the big picture: “Where are we going in 2008? What new markets are we looking at? What new and exciting opportunities do we expect to find?” They are looking to the future and new possibilities.

3. You have the group that wants to hear the logic behind these plans. This group can come across as challenging you and your thinking. Consider who we are talking about—engineers. They are natural problem solvers who are going to find problems even when you think you’ve taken care of all the problems. For this group, you have to enlighten them on the thinking behind your decisions.

4. Then there are the folks who always want to know about the impact on the people.

What’s a CEO to do?

Sit back and think about your audience and your message. Start with what you want the outcomes to be from your speech or presentation. Some call this reverse engineering; I think of it as starting from the end and working backwards.

To begin your message, set the framework for what you are going to talk about. For example, “I want to take the next 20 minutes to recap where we’ve been, where we are going this year, and what we expect a couple years down the road.” I’m being very loose in my wording. You would be more specific in terms of “couple years.”

Set the tone of the message. “Last year was a mediocre year. We’re expecting similar outcomes this year. However, we are putting things in place to ensure the firm grows in the next couple of years.” Keep it simple. Be specific. But this is not the place to quote your P&L.

Then tell them the story.

A. Since you have given a framework for your comments, which makes the folks in No. 2 above happy, you can go to No. 1 and give the history and financials.

B. Tell more now about the future and expectations. Remember to convey the logic behind your decisions to keep the folks in No. 3 above at bay.

C. Focus on the impact on your people, point No. 4 above. What opportunities do you expect? What new education can they take advantage of?

D. You’ve heard it before: Tell them what you told them. Recap, highlighting the points you most want them to remember. Listeners and readers always remember the last point they heard before they remember anything else you said. If you want to downplay information, put it in the middle of your speech.

You as Storyteller

You are the Chief Storyteller. Take time to craft a story that conveys your message in a way that your staff can understand.

Remember: Numbers may drive the business, but people drive the numbers.®

Pam

P.S.: We are launching an e-mail newsletter in February. Stay tuned for more great information. We promise to take the mystery out of what they didn’t teach you in engineering school. www.weknowengineers.com