The Secret

I'm currently in the middle of a GREAT read. I can't hardly put this book down.

Now I know I complain a lot about customer service - but I read something this morning that could be the secret. So many times we look to the employee as the one who has the problem. After all, shouldn't they be HAPPY to at least HAVE a job? One would think so, but maybe it's more than that. Maybe it's all in the way they're treated by their employer.

Years ago my father owned his own insurance agency. I used to tell him ALL the time that he was the best boss in the world. I didn't work there, but I saw the way he treated the people who worked for him and I was impressed. Very early on in my life, I learned that if you treat the people who work for you well, you have NOTHING to worry about. Translation: if you trust them and give them opportunities that challenge them and encourage them, you will have an employee for life and it will automatically make them a better employee! I know, it's simple thinking, but I believe SO MANY companies don't get this concept!

I'd like to share with you what I read this morning that, if more businesses put into practice, would improve overall customer service...

"...the most important people in this business are our employees! Some people will say customers are most important, but if we create the right atmosphere where our employees enjoy their jobs and have opportunities for growth, they will get a kick out of their work! Then that feeling will spill right over to the customer!... We remind them that they're not just working for a quick-serve chicken restaurant. They're working to create an atmosphere. "

That's my favorite line.. "They're working to create an atmosphere."

It's true, isn't it? How many times have we said, "I'm not going back there" simply based on the atmosphere or the experience. Here's what I know I'm checking out when I visit a restaurant...

• Friendliness
• Cleanliness
• Timeliness

In that order.

I want friendly service first. If I don't get it - I'm probably not returning.

I want a clean environment second. If I don't get it - I'm probably not returning.

I want my food served in a timely fashion. If I don't get it - I will think about coming back - but only if 1 and 2 are present.

So - this caused me to take a moment to think about the church. Without our volunteers, the church would not, could not, operate! Period. Our volunteers are the heartbeat to everything we do and they better know how much they matter. They better know that they're making the difference. Not just A difference - but THE difference! We're not selling chicken sandwiches - we're selling Jesus Christ. What do you think the list my look like for those checking out church for the first time? I would bet it looks very similar to my list above.

Are we working to create an atmosphere? You bet! Do our volunteers know how important their role is? I sure hope so! And I pray that it spills over to the guest on Sunday morning.

Is It Me?

Okay - so I'm beginning to think it's me. That's it - there must be something wrong with me! My husband told me NOT to blog about this - but I'm going to anyway. I'm sorry - I love you, honey, but I have to get this one out.

So - - last night my family and I took a trip to a local retail store to do a little shopping for some summer clothing. You know - bathing suits, shorts, t-shirts... that sort of thing. One of the things I LOVE about this particular store is their jewelery! They are known for always having quite a variety of colorful, low-cost jewelery, and when I'm visiting the store - I always make it a point to do a pit-stop at the jewelery kiosks first thing!

Last night was no exception.

I found this really cool bracelet. It was made of chocolate and silver beads with pretty shells dangling from all sides. Even better - it was 50% off! I was pretty excited.

I know I get excited by the simplest things.

So - we finish up our shopping and head for the check-out line. It was a long line. I was tired and ready to be done shopping. (Yeah - must have been something wrong with me!) Oh - and I was grouchy because I was hungry too.

Finally it's our turn to check-out and I lay my stuff up on the counter - delicately placing the bracelet up on top of the other items I was purchasing. The guy behind the counter takes the clothes and flips them up and the bracelet goes flying... landing on the cement floor and breaking in half. Not only that - all of the shells went fling and THEY broke in half as well.

Okay - so it's not that the bracelet broke. That's not the point. It was a mistake. Mistakes happen. What I was unhappy about was the way I was treated by the cashier. He simply looked down on the floor and said, "Yep - it broke!" to which I replied, "Yeah it did! All over too! Bummer - I really liked that bracelet!" So what does he do - he takes the pieces from me and tosses them up on his counter, continuing to ring me up while talking to another co-worker about how he "can't wait to get out of here!"

So I ask - shouldn't the sales clerk have said to me "Ma'am, can I have someone get you a replacement bracelet?" or at the very least, "I'm sorry about that."

I received nothing. AND at the end of transaction - not even a thank you, but instead a "Here's you receipt.. you're all set."

Can I just ask - am I the only one who gets poor customer service - or am I just too picky about the way I feel customers ought to be treated during a sales transaction?

Customer Service?!?

Anyone who knows me knows that I place a HUGE emphasis on Customer Service. Whether I'm shopping, eating at a restaurant or attending a recreational park/event, I'm making mental notes on how I am treated and I'm making a determination on whether or not I will return based on my overall experience.


Yesterday was no exception.


I was in one of my favorite local stores. I'm going to avoid telling you where I was at - but just know it's a BIG name store and a place I frequent quite often.


So - I have this coupon for $40.89 that's only good through 5/24. I realize it on Sunday and decide that THIS week I will try to redeem my coupon in full. I'm excited. I mentioned already that it's one of my favorite places to shop, right?


So I get my things and I head to the checkout lane (the ONLY ONE they have opened. At lunchtime when it's pretty busy.)


I finally arrive to the counter and the young girl rings me up. She gives me my total - $45.13. Hmm.. I thought I was being careful to not spend above the coupon. I must have given a puzzled look because to this the employee says, "What?"


"Well - I thought my total would be less than that." "NOPE! $45.13" she says.


Okay... here's where my frustration sets in.


I hand her my coupon. She scans it in and then gives me my new total - $4.24. I give her the money and she takes it, completes the sale and hands me my receipt.


After taking a look at the receipt, I notice that 2 of the items were rung up incorrectly. I ask her about it and sure enough she says, "You're right. I guess I'll have to give you back your change!"


Umm - you think?


She struggles a bit with the cash register, but cannot get it to give me back my change so she now calls over a manager.


For what seems like forever, they mull over the receipt. The whole time, the employee is complaining about the new system. In fact, one time she even goes as far as to say, "This new system sucks!" What does the manager do - she says, "YES it is!"


Oh my word. I'm not happy at all at this point.


To top it off, now the manager is mad and verbalizing her anger at the "system" quite loudly.


Manager: "This computer is CRAP!"


Yes - you read that right - the manager actually said the word "CRAP" in front of me - the customer. The guest.


Long story short - I get my change (finally) and I'm on my way.


It really got me thinking, though, about how businesses treat their customers. Their guests. If I were in charge of this store, I can tell you that these two individuals would be talked to about what is appropriate to say in front of the customer and what clearly - is not!

It got me pondering some questions... Where have our values gone to? Who is in charge of making sure that these two employees KNOW and UNDERSTAND the value and vision of the company? Why is behavior like this so common and even more so - tolerated... accepted? Where do we as consumers draw the line and decide that we don't have to be treated poorly when we can get the same product down the street with better customer service - even if it means paying the few cents or dollars even more for it!

That is why I am so passionate about guest services at Crossroads! If employees for Disney can get PUMPED UP about a mouse - shouldn't we be even MORE PUMPED UP about serving up Jesus every Sunday morning? Guests who drive onto our campus every Sunday deserve to have an experience that EXCEEDS their expectations. I tell my teams every Sunday - we need to BLOW THEM AWAY. We need to give God our best every single week... because anything less is unacceptable!

I know I've promoted this book time and again on this blog - but I'm gonna do it again today. Be Our Guest is a GREAT book about perfecting the art of customer service. It's a great read! I have encouraged those who are on my team to read this book and am challenging my leadership team right now to go through it. We will be spending the summer combing over the book from cover to cover and will begin implementing changes this fall. If you have a heart for customer/guest services - pick up the book! You won't be disappointed!

I'd like to pick one up for the two employees at the store I visited yesterday...

Who are we serving?

This has to be the best blog entry I've read in a long time! Brilliant!

I'm always talking about customer service on this blog... but this one knocks it out of the park as far as I'm concerned!

Who are we serving? Who is our customer? Great questions for the church to ponder.

It's ALL about the Guest Experience!

I have been working hard to take my serving team to a whole new level for 2008. We have some amazing things in the works and I am excited about the direction God is leading us and look forward to ways He is going to lead us in the upcoming year!

I have created a Volunteer Handbook that I am slowly, but surely adding to every couple months. I just finished part 2 and I wanted to share that with you today.

My serving area is all about the guest experience. What we realize is - - there are people coming through our doors this coming Sunday from all walks of life. Some have never been to church before. Some have been scared off from church in the past. Then there are the ones who are skeptical... who aren't really sure about this whole place called church and who this "Christ" man is. Three things I continually stress to my team are:

• We cannot lose sight of why we do what we do!
• There are people who are depending on us week in and week out who need Christ - - we've got to BE ON OUR GAME to deliver the best guest experience possible.
• Christ died for every person walking through our church doors every week... they need what we have - they need to know how much they are loved!

I recently had a meeting with my team and challenged them the following:

To make 2 personal contacts the next time they serve. This should be a "personal" interaction with a new person or someone they've never seen or talked with at church. In addition, I am asking them to do the following:

• Make Eye Contact
• Smile
• Greet them with, "How are you today?", "My name is ____, how can I serve you?" and "I'm glad you joined us today!"

I've asked everyone to report their interactions at our next All Team meeting in January.

What I do know is this... people want to feel that they belong. They want to be included and they want the interaction. We have the opportunity of a lifetime... it's up to us.

The following the addition to your Volunteer Handbook... it's something we're incorporating into our Team's culture. (excerpts taken from "Be Our Guest" Perfecting the Art of Customer Service)

What’s Happening Center Guidelines for Guest Service 11/2007

Make Eye Contact and Smile!
Start and end every Guest contact and communication with direct eye contact and a sincere smile.

Greet and Welcome Each and Every Guest
Extend the appropriate greeting to every Guest with whom you come into contact.
“Good morning.”
“Welcome!” / “Have a good day.”
“May I help you?” / “How can I serve you today?”

Seek out Guest Contact
It is the responsibility of every member of this team to seek out Guests who need help or assistance.
Listen to Guests’ needs
Answer Questions
Offer assistance

Provide Immediate Service Recovery
It is the responsibility of all members of this team to attempt, to the best of their abilities, to immediately resolve a Guest service failure before it becomes a Guest service problem.
Always find the answer for the Guest and/or find another team member who can help the Guest.

Display Appropriate Body Language at All Times
It is the responsibility of every team member to display approachable body language when serving.
Attentive appearance
Good posture
Appropriate facial expressions

Preserve the Guest Experience
Always focus on the positive, rather than the rules and regulations.
Talking about personal or job-related problems in front of the Guests is unacceptable.

Thank Each and Every Guest
Extend every Guest a sincere thank-you at the conclusion of every interaction.Extend a “Thank you for being with us today” or similar expression of appreciation as the Guest leaves our serving area.

Again, I am looking forward to seeing where God takes this team in the upcoming year! I am so blessed to be working along-side of some wonderful people!

Making an Impression

One of the things that we strive to do at Crossroads is make a lasting impression on our guests. To make their first time through our church doors not only a great first impression, but to wow them with an overall terrific guest experience.

I'm reading a book entitled "Beyond the First Visit" and it's about connecting guests to your church. What gets them in the front door and then what keeps them coming back. It's unfortunate, but the church today competes with all kinds of other opportunities presented on Sunday morning. What is the church doing to create irresistible environments where people are excited to come back next Sunday? When was the last time YOU were wowed by your church? This is taken directly from the book (some language altered) and I thought I would share it this afternoon...

If you were a guest visiting your church...

1. Would you be impressed with the facility and landscaping?
2. Would you be able to find the restrooms without asking?
3. Would you feel comfortable leaving your child in kid's church?
4. Would you understand what takes place during the worship experience?
5. Would you feel embarrassed or pressured during your visit?
6. Would you be greeted and accepted as you are?
7. Would you come back next week?

Just some interesting questions to ponder. Let's not get so comfortable with our own environment that we forget about those who have yet to experience the greatness we have experienced! The story we have to share about how much God loves them is TOO AWESOME not to do all we can to make the first visit a great one!

The Starbucks Experience

So - I have this goal for the summer to read at least 15 books! I visited Amazon.com last week and made my first order of 7 books. I'm on my way - AND - getting a head start on my reading! I'm starting with "The Starbucks Experience" and as of last night, I am on page 55. What a GREAT read! Check it out here. It's all about the 5 BASIC principles for turning ordinary into extraordinary and Starbucks seems to have the market cornered on customer service! I don't even like coffee and I enjoy going to a Starbucks simply for their exemplary service!

The five key leadership principles that transformed an ordinary idea into an extraordinary experience are:

Principle # 1 - Make It Your Own
Principle # 2 - Everything Matters
Principle # 3 - Surprise and Delight
Principle # 4 - Embrace Resistance
Principle # 5 - Leave Your Mark

One of my favorite sections in the book (well, so far at least) comes from a quote from Starbucks Chairman, Howard Schultz. He says, "We are not in the coffee business serving people, but in the people business serving coffee... we continually are reminded of the powerful need and desire for human contact and for community... the Starbucks environment has become as important as the coffee itself."

Wow - let's take that in the church environment. We have the MOST important message on the face of the planet, bar none! How can we learn to incorporate the thoughts and ideas from Starbucks to create a fantastic experience for our "customers"? After all - couldn't we say that we are not in the God business serving people, but in the people business serving God? I think we can learn a lot about serving God to people in and through our churches from Starbucks and I am prepared to absorb all I can from this book and put it use within my serving/leadership role in my church.

At Starbucks they have what they all the "Green Apron Book". It consists of 5 basic principles that Starbucks managers have provided to their employees to infuse themselves into their work, so that they can inspire customers in legendary ways. They call these the "Five Ways of Being":

Be Welcoming
Be Genuine
Be Considerate
Be Knowledgeable
Be Involved

These same principles could apply to us as a church body. When serving our guests in church, who have come to hear, possibly for the very first time, the most relevant message on earth, we need to make sure that all of the above are taken into account to ensure a quality experience!

Okay - so you just need to go out an buy the book! I'm giving too much away... more to follow on this topic later. :)

Saying "Thank You"

I was sitting in a drive-thru the other day when I had an epiphany. Well - I don't know if it was actually an epiphany, but it was to me. I had a rather large order and to top it all off, I had a combination of "specialty" items such as "everything except for pickle, no ketchup, light ranch instead of regular, a cup filled with just ice.." You know - I was that irritating customer that we all know and LOVE... :)

Because I have had such poor service at some of these drive-thru's (Rebels excluded, of course) and because I don't have much faith in the entire customer service industry (shame on me!) I had already decided that I would NOT get just what I wanted (Yes, I am one of THOSE people who will sit moments after receiving my food to make sure everything I ordered is in the bag - right down to opening up sandwich wrap to take a look at the actual item).

I was very surprised when I got up to the window and the kind gentleman read me back everything on my order - WITHOUT looking at his screen and included every specification I asked for. I am sure by the look on my face he could tell that I was a little stunned but what he didn't know was that he had indeed won over a customer for life based on that one experience and trust me and let me tell you to win me over in the customer service arena, is hard to do!

I thanked him when he handed me my food but here is where the epiphany comes in. I didn't just say "Thank you" which would be the obvious response to someone who just handed me my order, but instead I said "Thank you for remembering my order so accurately!" He seemed to beam from this thank you - I think I really made his day.

So I got to thinking that we need to be more specific with our thank you's. I have really been working on this a lot this week. When someone calls me back instead of saying thank you, I now try to say "Thanks so much for getting back with me so quickly". When someone helps out in ministry for my church at that last minute I will now say "Thank you for your service you are such a blessing to this team!" I truly believe that being as specific with our gratitude as possible will bless the people receiving it. I am going to try my hardest to really work on this in my daily life - how about you?

Making a Good First Impression

I subscribe to a pretty cool newsletter called "Administrative Professional". Okay - to some of you - this may be more lame then some of the other subscriptions out there - but for my career - it's perfect!

It's funny - I was JUST thinking about this the other day - Making First Impressions. This is so important! I would have to say that the first impressions someone has about us are the most crucial! It's all about what you do and say within the first 5 minutes of meeting someone that will make or break it. As Christians, our number one goal ought to be making LASTING first impressions. I believe that we can change the world one person at a time - and it all begins with that first impression.

Here is what Admin. Pro. has to say in an article they wrote on Making First Impressions...

"You've got 15 seconds to make a good impression when meeting someone for the first time. And after about 4 minutes, people will decide whether or not they want to deal with you beyond those first four minutes. Here are the essentials for making a positive impression - on clients, customers, peers and managers or leaders - every time:

1.) Make eye contact and extend your hand for a hand shake. They're two fo the most powerful actions you can take to make a stong impression on someone.

2.) Ask questions to build rapport quickly. People remember those who show interest in them. Always have stock questions ready, such as 'What do you enjoy most about your work?'

First impression no-no: Talking only about yourself.

3.) 'Mirror' their behavior to send the signal that you're listening. If they talk fast, you talk fast. If they cross their legs, you cross your legs... after a pause. Subtlety is key.

4.) Be nice. The real secret to making a good first impression is making others feel better than they did before they met you."

In self-evaluating myself, I have discovered that I really have some work to do in making lasting first impressions with people... I had to take a hard look at myself and ask "What is it that I want people to see in me? What kind of impression do I want to make on people?" My answer to my own question is simple... "I want them to see Jesus. I want them to feel sincerity in every word that comes from my mouth."

What about you? Have you thought about what kinds of lasting impressions you want to make with people. When someone walks always from meeting YOU for the first time, what do you want them to say that they saw?"