Great Service Times Three
Some years ago I consulted to a company that wanted to improve customer service. The team that designed the improvement program decided to forgo theory, models, talks, videos, expert input, and any of the other paraphernalia that generally populates training programs. Instead, we gathered employees together, asked them to tell stories about great service that they had received, and then asked them what they might emulate from the stories and what they needed in order to do that. You know it when you see it.
I count this among the best experiences of my organization development career. I heard some wonderful stories and the company found evidence that the program was a success.
I offer the following story in the spirit of that program, the spirit of telling stories as a means to improving service somewhere. In this case, I know not where; trust the universe.
I made a quick trip to the bank last Friday to make a deposit. When I came out my car would not start. It was 110 degrees in Chandler, Arizona, there was no shade in the asphalt parking lot, and I had not brought my cell phone. I went back into the bank where Andrea Townsend, manager of the Chandler Boulevard branch of Tempe Schools Credit Union, met me in the lobby and asked how she could help.
I told Andrea that I wanted to find the phone number for my trusted mechanics, brothers Dave and Mike Theile of Theile’s Automotive Services. Andrea handed me a phone book then went to a computer to search for Theile’s website. The number found, I called and got Dave. He asked a few questions to determine the problem, but no luck. He then suggested I have the car brought to them and recommended Dick Reed of Ecology Towing to handle the job.
I called Dick on a phone Andrea provided and he said he could get to me in about fifteen minutes. Andrea handed me a bottle of water as I headed back into the heat to wait for Dick.
I found shade in a small grove of mesquite trees at the side of the bank building where I could sip water and watch Chandler Boulevard for Dick’s arrival. After about ten minutes I decided to try the car again. It started!
I waited for Dick, who arrived five minutes later. He suggested that I drive the car to Theile’s, declined my offer to pay him for his time and trouble, and offered to follow me in case I had problems along the way. During the drive I determined to pay Dick when we arrived but, as I pulled into Theile’s parking lot, he just kept going.
Dave then fiddled with things in the car, replaced the battery, and all is well. The whole episode took about an hour thanks to Andrea, Dick, and Dave! Count ‘em…three…three great examples in one hour!
It feels amazingly good to tell stories like this one.
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First key to customer service: make sure your people are genuinely empowered to be as good and nice as they are in real life. Everything else is just trim.
You got that right Fred!
I love this story Dick. It’s all about stories, isn’t it? I also love the way your story travels out into the Universe here. It’s bound to pick up travelers along the way.
Dave – it IS all about stories. And I like that you noticed “travels out into the universe” — part of “riding on dragons.”