Did You Just Use The “B” Word?
By Guest Blogger, Corey Jahnke
“Missi, I’m sad now” I said sticking my bottom lip out as far as I could. ”Why?” she said nervously. ”You just used the “B” word in front of that customer.” ”I DIDN’T CALL HER THAT!” she said almost shaking. ”Worse”, I said. ”You called ME that!!”. ”No way!!” she said, VERY nervously. ”Missi, you did too! You said, ‘I have to go ask my BOSS‘ and then you looked right at me” I exclaimed with my bottom lip now almost touching her. ”Help!” she squeaked looking at Debbie who had transferred from Kmart with me. Debbie and I had worked together for about 8 years at that point. Debbie put her hand on Missi’s shoulder and said:
“He hates the word BOSS with a passion!! He believes that he is our coworker, assistant, and friend! You see, in Corey’s mind HE ACTUALLY WORKS FOR US!!” Poor Missi didn’t know what to say. Debbie continued: ”To Corey, if we do something simply because he orders us to, then he hasn’t done a very good job explaining it’s value to us and that kills him. Worse yet, he cares to the bottom of his feet about us and what happens in our lives. He isn’t worried about being in charge!! He is well aware that as soon as something goes WRONG everyone knows who is the manager.”
“How do YOU work for US?” Missi asked looking at me bewildered. My response was simple: ”I define a customer as anyone I could potentially add value to. If I’m not adding value to you, you should FIRE ME!” The look on her face was priceless.
“I only measure myself using two metrics” I continued. ”Metric number one is employee and customer engagement. You are either ALL IN or ALL OUT. Anything short of that, I am doing a lousy job of inspiring excellence. Metric number two is turnover. According to Marcus Buckingham’s clever book ‘First Break All The Rules’ the number one determining factor for employee satisfaction is their immediate supervisor. Consequently, if you are not happy here, it is my fault, and I take COMPLETE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR SATISFACTION!!” ”WOW!!” she said walking away shaking her head.
10 years plus has gone by and Missi still works WITH me and I love her deeply; as I do ALL of my customers. Debbie and I are still as tight as ever, and my last “associate engagement score” was 98%. I’d like to take credit for that but I cannot.
The credit goes to the late great Steven Covey. After reading Steven’s iconic book “The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People” I constructed my own eulogy designed around service to others. Life has been awfully rewarding ever since!! Today whenever a new employee uses the “B” word, Missi is quick to set them straight!! She now truly understands the concept. LIONS DON’T NEED TO ROAR!!
To learn more about how to increase YOUR customer engagement scores, please click HERE to visit www.drivecustomertraffic.com and download YOUR FREE COPY of my very special report “The Top 101 Customer Service Tips For Driving Massive Customer Traffic.”
————————————————————————————————————————————————
Bio:
Corey Jahnke is the author of “We Are Not Here On Rehearsal” and the creator of SuccessEqualsValue.com. Corey is a John C. Maxwell certified success coach AND a Bob Burg certified Go-Giver Coach. Corey’s company, Legend Crafters, helps people go from stuck to unstuck, from unstuck to remarkable and from remarkable to legendary. Will YOU become a legend?
Links:
www.coreyjahnke.com
www.SuccessEqualsValue.com
www.facebook.com/cwjahnke
30 Minute “Exploration” Session.
To tell you the truth, I was a little taken aback by the title of your article. I trusted my instinct and read it, knowing you had written other amazing articles. I’m sure glad I did. Working with people instead of being the “boss” is so much more fulfilling. Trust skyrockets and the results are amazing. It no longer feels like work but a blessing to be part of a team that strive for the same goals of customer satisfaction.