Positively Outrageous Service

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS Create on Purpose … Stay on Course A culture is created and characterized by what you consent to, champion and celebrate. Who you are, is reflected by what you do. What you do reflects who you are. What is a champion? What we stand up for … the flag bearer who defends, corrects and adjusts to stay on course. How do you champion Positively Outrageous Service? Who are your POS champions? How do you verbalize the championing? The power to influence others through championing starts with leadership and then equipping and coaching the next level. In your upper echelon what are you doing to know, and what are you doing to live out what you want everybody else in your team to be doing? It requires vision, leadership sets the example, and stay on course through constant correction. Photo by RUN 4 FFWPU from Pexels

SHOW & TELL The Internet is Loud … Communicate Louder  Repetition reinforces Reputation. Cut through the clutter of marketing messages with testimonials that build “social proof”. Don’t just create Positively Outrageous Service – capture the POS testimonial! The power in video testimonials? The viewer sees, hears and connects emotionally. Video has also become the preferred medium over reading. Easiest method: use your smart phone, ask questions, keep it short, and thank them! Photo by Jeff Denlea from Pexels

REVIEW ME! What are your Positively Outrageous Service Stories?  Before the advent of Social Media, one would on average share a positive experience with nine people and a negative experience with sixteen people. Now we share customer experiences with hundreds, if not thousands of people with a potential rippling effect many times more. Encourage your clients, customers and guests to share their Positively Outrageous Service story. Story Structure: What happened specifically? What was the impact? How you felt about it?

MY BOSS NEEDS SKILLS Toxicity is Viral Too  Toxic bosses or behavior seeps into your customer service. The #1 reason people leave their jobs is not the work but the boss! Are you crafting positions that employees enjoy and leverage their strengths? Joy is contagious and will infect your customer experience positively. Good bosses influence behavior and draw the best out of one allowing one to give. Toxic work environments inhibit happiness hindering the release of Positively Outrageous Service!

TWO FACE Is Your Internal and External Face Congruent?  You can’t behave one way with a customer and another internally. Negative humor and sarcasm WILL spill into other areas of your life. Two faces lead to silos, communication breakdowns between departments and defensive postures. Consistency is key. Create WOW internally; it’s infectious creating WOW customer experiences naturally, organically. The antidote is “be for me”, body language, consistency, and disarming through “un-offend-ability”. Photo by Jeff Denlea from Pexels

SUPER HEARING “I am for you” What Are You Hearing? Hearing Past the Situation.  When we get emotional we push out the logic in a service situation. Diffuse negative emotional situations through “super hearing” creating the bridge from where a customer is emotionally to redeem the solution faster. Start with open-ended powerful questions. “Tell me more” “What else?” … dives deeper into the root of the problem or situation. “What would you like to see happen?” Super Hearing is about “I am for you” Listen to what’s going on situationally and emotionally.

BULLET PROOF Inoculate Yourself Against the Tornado  Develop your super-hero powers in toxic environments and situations. “I’m so glad you got me!” “You’re not yelling at me … you’re angry about the situation.”  Diffuse the initial confrontations by not taking it personally and being “unoffendable”.

ALIGNMENT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING Begin by Defining POS for YOUR Organization  “The fish stinks from the head” First, leadership must define and align an organization’s service expectations. Second, align your departments, (in a larger organization). Third, create alignment in your hiring practices to the organization’s service expectations. Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash

Our Periodic Riff on Behaviors That Really Bothers Us! Clearly not Positively Outrageous Service! “There is a certain degree of patience and impatience in everybody. How to balance patience and impatience, and when to show which of them is the very thing everybody must endeavor to master.” ― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah Hiding behind the uniform, kiosk, or desk? Your first duty is to serve! Use your position to engage, deliver what's needed, and love your customers and employees!  Don’t project your tornado on another. Everyone has challenges - they're just different from yours! Making false assumptions about the person in front of you. Don't forget what A.S.S.U.M.E. stands for!  Dismissing someone because of your authority. Use your power to love, not to look down on another!   Not acknowledging the presence of your customer. Heads up please - that's displaying Positively Outrageous Service!

REALLY? Tell me this didn't happen... It Did!!! "Although your customers won't love you if you give bad service, your competitors will." - Kate Zabriskie, Founder Business Training Works Boasting about your great customer service is NOT a good idea! “Pride comes before the fall.” You also take away a key principle of Positively Outrageous Service: “RANDOM and UNEXPECTED. Andrew’s real-life scenario gives us three valuable lessons that we can all learn from.