I see it as an opportunity to blow our customer's mind. At The DiJulius Group, there have been situations where someone didn't receive an order of books or CDs. When that happened and our customer was inconvenienced, we re-sent the order and added additional products for free.
One particular incident stands out in my mind. A company hired me to do an all day workshop with their entire organization. They brought over 300 people in from different locations throughout the United States. When I arrived that morning I learned the 300 SECRET SERVICE books they had ordered never arrived...
The CEO wanted to surprise all his employees with a book to keep the momentum going after my workshop. Obviously this wasn't our fault. We had shipped these books out in plenty of time for them to arrive before the day of the event. However, I realized this was our problem. Not only were they not going to get the books that day, but I also couldn't do a book signing for them as we had discussed. Then, when the books finally did arrive, they would have to be shipped to each of the various locations where these 300+ employees worked.
How did we make it right?
Easy.
My assistant, Kristen, got on a plane with over 300 books and personally delivered them a few hours before the workshop ended. The CEO was blown away and in his closing remarks, he shared with everyone that The DiJulius Group truly walks the talk and told everyone about how well we handled it.
When it came time for that CEO to pay my invoice, I wasn't too worried when he read our UNCONDITIONAL GUARANTEE: "Please pay what you think is fair" Over sharing As much as fixing a problem can showcase your company's ability to deliver world-class problem resolution, companies don't need to create problems.
I was in Nashville speaking for CJ Advertising, a World-Class service organization in the advertising industry. Mark Scrivner, Director of Operations, picked me up from the airport and took me to the hotel. As we checked in, the hotel front-desk person could not find my reservations. Mark gave her the confirmation number and she then said, "Oh, here it is. Unfortunately we had you down checking in last night and checking out today." Mark said, "Are you sure? That isn't the way we scheduled it."
The receptionist said, "I am positive, let me see if I can give him a room for tonight." While she was able to find me a room for that evening, the question that remained is: Did I need to know all that? In this instance, I never needed to be made aware that there was even a problem in the first place. When she found my reservations and saw that there was a mistake, she could have easily checked and seen that there was availability that night, and placed me in that room.
Over sharing makes the host company look bad, and does nothing to enhance a customer's perception of the company as a whole. If you own the problem, you own the customer. If you lose the problem, you lose the customer.
John Di Julius III is the Author of Secret Service, hidden systems that deliver unforgettable
customer service, president of John Robert’s Spa, one of the top salons & spa’s in the country
and president of Minding Your Business, a business consulting firm, specializing in helping
companies become World Class Customer Service Organizations. You can reach john at
216.839.1430 or john@johndijulius.com.
