Amaze Every Customer Every Time

by Shep Hyken

  Another great mantra is that of the online retail giant Zappos.com. What is that organization all about? “Delivering happiness.” Considering how often that company has shown up on prominent lists of the best places to work in America, and the high customer satisfaction ratings it routinely scores, it’s a sure bet that its mantra is something Zappos.com’s employees buy into.

  And by this point, I hope you can guess what Ace’s mantra is. It’s one I really love, because its most commonly expressed version is exactly one word long: “Helpful.” The longer version, as previously mentioned, is still short; just three words: “The Helpful Place.” But, for the purpose of this book, I want you to keep your eye on how well Ace operationalizes that one word—“helpful”—for its own people before it expects them to deliver helpful to their own customers.

  In this book, we will be looking at many different ways Ace makes absolutely sure its owners and associates are in full alignment with this powerful and easy-to-remember mantra. In fact, I consider it to be the gold standard when it comes to effective mantras for service-driven companies! Ace has grasped that you can’t operationalize a culture that people don’t remember, can’t understand, or haven’t experienced directly.

  MAKING HELPFUL A DAILY REALITY

  Ace Hardware’s corporate headquarters provides many superb resources and tools to help an Ace owner deliver helpful. But, you are not limited to just what headquarters provides. As an owner, you are free to come up with your own methods of doing business, especially if it promotes the concept of helpful.

  So, imagine that you own an Ace Hardware store. And imagine that you come up with a specific tool to help you create and deliver helpful. By the way, the tool I’m referring to is not a hammer or a saw. This is a business tool, and it is designed to help you build better relationships with your customers by building better relationships with your employees. This particular resource that you really like is an internal initiative known as the Five-Dollar Lifeboat.

  What is the Five-Dollar Lifeboat? Basically, it’s an internal spending policy, one that you, as an Ace owner, can choose to adopt, or not, as you see fit. This policy empowers any associate at your store to spend up to five dollars on his or her own initiative, without prior approval, on any customer, at any time, and on as many individual customer problems as necessary, to solve an individual customer’s problem … and make him or her smile. Whatever form the lifeboat may need to take, if it costs five dollars or less, the associate can toss it into the water, solve the problem, and get the customer back on dry land.

  Great idea, right? If it’s possible to solve the problem for less than five dollars, why wouldn’t you want to empower your people to do so? Why would you want your people to even think about arguing with a customer over a five-dollar solution to a problem? And notice that the first message you’re sending here is not to the customer but to the Ace associate. That message to that associate is both simple and powerful: “I trust you. Do what you think is right in these situations.” That’s one of the critical lessons Ace has learned over the years, by the way: Good culture starts with the employees, not the customers. You may notice that I come back to that theme again and again in this book. It’s that important.

  So here’s my question to you: Once you decide that that initiative is right for your store, how would you launch it?

  Would you put up a poster? Would you send out a mass email and remind everyone to read it? Would you alter the policy manual and send everyone a copy of the new document?

  No, no, and no. If you were one of the successful Ace stores driven by an amazement-savvy entrepreneur, you would amaze your associates by telling, and constantly retelling, this true story.

  Let me tell you about one of the Ace owners from a few decades back, a wonderful guy named Elder Glenn. He owned a store in Chattanooga, Tennessee. One day he saw a customer walk into his store with an agitated look on his face. The customer, whose name was Bill, made his way up to the counter, introduced himself, and said to Elder, “I’ve got a problem.”

  “What’s that?” Elder asked.

  Bill explained that he had bought two products at this particular Ace store, each with the offer of a five-dollar rebate. Bill said he had completed all the paperwork properly and mailed it to the manufacturer. Weeks and weeks had gone by, but he hadn’t received his rebate checks. And he was tired of waiting.

  Elder realized that his customer was pretty worked up about this rebate issue. So he turned to the cashier who was standing next to him and said, “Lisa, why don’t you open the register and hand me two five-dollar bills.”

  Lisa did exactly that, and Elder handed Bill the money and said, “Go ahead and take this. If the rebate check comes in, and you want to swing by the store and give us back the ten dollars, that would be fine.”

  The customer was pleasantly surprised, took the money, and thanked Elder.

  From that moment on, Elder had a customer for life. Not only that—he had a friend for life. Every time Bill came into the store, he made a point of finding Elder and saying hello.

  That’s the kind of result you’re going to have with your customers using Elder’s new policy called the Five-Dollar Lifeboat.

  Look at the four amazing things that this true story accomplishes:

  It shows what the mantra—helpful—looks like in action.

  It tells the associate, “We trust you to do this, and we trust you to do it right.” Trust is a key part of building an employee-centric organization, which is something we’ll be talking about in more detail in part two of this book.

  It tells the customer, “We trust you.” That’s huge, and it’s another point we will be coming back to later on.

  It immediately conveys both the letter and the spirit of the policy, and it does so in a way that is easy for associates to remember and repeat.

  How much is a lifetime customer worth to you? What would you pay? Five dollars? Five hundred dollars? Other organizations have similar policies. The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain empowers its employees to spend up to two thousand dollars to take care of a guest’s problem.

  Obviously, there has to be some training and guidelines shared to make this a successful strategy, be it a five-dollar strategy or a two-thousand-dollar strategy. In just a moment, you’ll see how this story comes to life, as it moves from taking care of an upset customer to helping a customer in need.

  HELPFUL is Ace’s culture in a word—its mantra. It’s essential to have a brief phrase that exemplifies where you’re going as an organization.

  Not long after he had heard the Five-Dollar Lifeboat story as part of his training, a newly hired associate at that same Ace Hardware store made a key for one of his customers—and then ran into a problem.

  The customer realized after the key had been made for her that she had forgotten her purse. She couldn’t pay. She asked the young man if he would mind holding on to the key for her while she went home and got her purse.

  The helpful teenager said, “Don’t worry, ma’am. I’ll pay for it myself. It’s not that much. When you remember, just come on back to the store and we can settle up. Here’s your key. Thank you for your business.”

  She took the key and thanked him, but before she made it out of the store, a funny feeling came over her. Was she doing the right thing? Quietly, she sought out a manager and explained what had happened. She told the manager that she definitely did not want to get the nice young man in trouble, but she also didn’t want to leave the store without making sure the manager approved of what he had done.

  The manager laughed and assured her that the young clerk had done exactly as he had been trained to do. “The only mistake he made,” he assured her, “was paying for the key himself. The company will pay him back. I’ll let him know, and you can rest assured that he’s not in any trouble at all. Exactly the opposite, he will be commended.”

  She left, smiling … and amazed. Another friendship—and another customer for life!

  That’s
what helpful looks like in action. When it’s operationalized successfully, it feels good to the customer and feels good to the associate who provides the service. It also delivers on the mantra, which is also the Ace brand promise: to be helpful—specifically, to be the most helpful hardware stores on the planet.

  YOUR AMAZEMENT TOOLBOX

  To change to a customer-focused culture, start by changing what happens to the employees.

  To deliver customer amazement, employees must first experience amazement for themselves.

  Employees must be in alignment with amazement. If a car’s front end is out of alignment, the car shakes. It’s the same in business.

  Alignment is the process by which every employee experiences and understands the company’s vision and mission.

  Training helps teach the vision and mission, but employees must put the training into action for it to have any meaning.

  A mantra (in business) simplifies the company’s vision and mission into a short phrase that everyone understands.

  Sharing true stories about customer-focused policies like the Five-Dollar Lifeboat empowers employees.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  THE SEVEN AMAZEMENT PRINCIPLES

  * * *

  Moments of Magic are what make amazement possible.

  THERE ARE SEVEN KEY principles that you will need to understand in order to use the 52 Amazement Tools to their full effectiveness. Let’s look at each of them now.

  PRINCIPLE #1: THE MOMENT OF MAGIC

  Have you ever gotten service that was so outstanding that you promised yourself you’d go back and buy from the same place so you could enjoy the experience all over again?

  Maybe you were in a restaurant, and you found the service and food so outstanding that you left an extra-large tip. Or maybe you were in a hotel where all the staff seemed courteous and helpful, and truly made you feel like a VIP. Or maybe, just maybe, you went to a local hardware store, perhaps without even realizing what the name of the store was, and suddenly found yourself treated like a member of the family. (By now, I’ll bet you can guess what the name of that hardware store probably is, but I digress.)

  All of these are examples of what I call Moments of Magic. I’m sure you have some examples of your own that mean more to you than the ones I just shared, experiences of above-average service that stand out in your memory just because, before you had your Moment of Magic, you were so used to receiving average or below-average service. A Moment of Magic entails getting something a little better or a little more than you expected. Sometimes it’s something that’s delivered with a distinctly personal touch. It’s proof that someone cared enough to see that your experience was superior. That’s within the reach of everyone.

  Once you have been treated to a moment like this, you feel extra satisfaction, knowing that someone (or a company) has gone the extra mile to serve you. No matter what business or occupation you are in, you can use the Moments of Magic concept to achieve greater success. When you consistently create Moments of Magic, your customers will want to do business with you again and again—and will tell all their friends to do business with you. Without Moments of Magic, you cannot possibly amaze your customers!

  And by the way, when I say “customers,” please assume that I am using a catchall phrase that also describes patients, guests, subscribers, passengers, and any other label you may choose to apply to those people you want to amaze on a regular basis.

  Now, I’ve mentioned that creating Moments of Magic is about going above and beyond or going the extra mile. There is an important qualifier here, though. Don’t think that a Moment of Magic always has to be a wow experience or something that is truly “over-the-top.” It’s actually much easier than that. A Moment of Magic, at a minimum, just has to simply be above average. So at the very least, a Moment of Magic is just a little above average, and at its best it really is a wow experience. Either way, it’s what it takes to create amazement!

  PRINCIPLE #2: THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

  Now we know: A Moment of Magic is what happens when you receive above-average service. A Moment of Truth is the opportunity to make that Moment of Magic happen—an opportunity that some companies take full advantage of, and other companies don’t.

  Each and every interaction we have with a customer, be it person-to-person or online, is a Moment of Truth. At that moment, we have the chance to leave a positive or a negative feeling with the customer about the experience. That feeling we leave with the customer can make or break our business.

  I didn’t come up with this concept of the Moment of Truth. That honor goes to Jan Carlzon, the author of the book Moments of Truth (Ballinger, 1987), who was the former president of Scandinavian Airlines, better known as SAS. Carlzon defined the Moment of Truth like this:

  Any time a customer comes into contact with any aspect of your business, however remote, they have an opportunity to form an impression.

  Carlzon identified a number of particularly critical Moments of Truth for his airline. These included:

  When passengers make reservations;

  At the curb when they check their bags;

  At the ticket counter when they purchase or confirm their tickets;

  When they are greeted as they board the plane;

  When they are greeted at their destination; and

  At the baggage claim area when they pick up their bags.

  Of course, there are many other Moments of Truth that can happen in between these experiences. A passenger might be walking down the concourse toward the gate and might pass an employee of the airline. If that employee smiles, that might be a positive Moment of Truth. It’s not a main Moment of Truth, but it is still a very important one. Remember that every Moment of Truth, even the smallest interaction, is an opportunity for a customer to form an opinion or impression of the company.

  PRINCIPLE #3: THE MOMENT OF MISERY

  A Moment of Misery is what happens when a Moment of Truth is mis-handled. Unfortunately, this is an all too common experience. If you’ve ever found yourself waiting too long for the server at the restaurant to notice you, or gotten an alarmingly large bill you couldn’t make sense of from an auto repair shop, you’ve experienced a Moment of Misery. Notice again that it doesn’t have to be extreme. This can be a major complaint or problem or just a below-average experience.

  Any Moment of Truth can go well—or go poorly. Even great service companies have their share of Moments of Misery. No one person, no company, is perfect. And the great companies recognize this, but they also know that Moments of Misery can be turned into Moments of Magic. They have trained their people and have systems in place to deal with complaints and problems. It is all in the “recovery.”

  Our job is to take any Moment of Misery, seize it as an opportunity to create a Moment of Magic, and show how good we are!

  PRINCIPLE #4: THE MOMENT OF MEDIOCRITY

  According to Jan Carlzon, the Moment of Truth can go two ways: good or bad. Now you know that I refer to them as Moments of Magic or Moments of Misery. But there is a third possibility Carlzon didn’t talk about. That is the Moment of Mediocrity.

  A Moment of Truth that is just average is a Moment of Mediocrity. It’s neither bad nor good. It’s just okay. Satisfactory. Nothing special.

  Imagine you are walking into a restaurant at the very same moment that I’m walking out. You ask me, “Shep, how’s the food?” I tell you that it’s okay, nothing special. In other words, not particularly bad or good, just satisfactory. Are you going to be excited about spending your hard-earned money at a restaurant that is just “okay”? If you do decide to eat there (maybe you’re short on time), are you going to go out of your way to tell other people about it? Probably not.

  That average, nothing-special Moment of Mediocrity is what too many companies deliver. Even if the customer comes back, at any given time the customer may realize that there is a better place to do business, and most likely will quietly switch to a competitor.

  PRINCIPLE #5: CUSTO
MER AMAZEMENT

  This is what this book is all about: Amazing Every Customer Every Time! That’s a lofty goal—but a very achievable goal.

  It starts with managing the Moment of Truth and creating Moments of Magic. That means that you have a goal that each and every interaction you have with the customer has to be better than average. Just a little better than average!

  It may be as simple as the way you smile and greet someone when they walk through your doors or into your office. Or it may be the amazing experience you create when you really do go above and beyond what is expected. The goal is that every seemingly insignificant interaction, as well as the biggest experience, needs to be better than average.

  Amazing companies don’t just deliver Moments of Magic. They consistently and predictably deliver Moments of Magic. While it is easy for anyone or any company to be above average some of the time, it is the great ones that are above average all of the time. And that is what amazement is: consistently and predictably better than average.

  PRINCIPLE #6: INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CUSTOMERS

  “I don’t deal directly with the public, so my job doesn’t involve customer service.”

  Wrong!

  To understand why this is so, you must understand that there are really two types of customers: internal and external. The external customer is the buyer of your company’s product or service. You also have many internal customers. These are the people who don’t interact directly with the customer but who do affect the external customer experience. In the final analysis, of course, everything everyone in your company does affects the external customer experience. We have to amaze our internal customers if we want our external customers to be amazed!