North of the 49th | Amway

This is not the story of a really good steak. It should be — after
all, few things in life are as wonderful as a well-marbled, aged, and
perfectly cooked steak. It takes something special to usurp a steak as
the main character in my stories — and this something special was our
waiter, who we'll call Guillaume*.

*Please note that some of the names of the people and places here
have been changed — and I really like the name Guillaume and rarely
get the chance to use it, so I am!

Last night I took my wife and kids, along with my parents out to
celebrate my wife's birthday (I know you're not supposed to reveal a
woman's age, so I'll only give you a few hints — the math whizzes out
there should be able to piece the clues together. I'm 37. Before
yesterday, my wife was younger than me. As of yesterday, she's caught
up. I told you, I wasn't going to make this easy on you…)

We have one major compatibility issue. She's been dying to eat lobster.
If I eat lobster, I die. You can see the challenge on a day-to-day
basis. So for her birthday we went to a local steakhouse that's also
known to do a nice job on Fishy Death**.The food was excellent, the
ambiance was great. Everything was set up for an enjoyable evening. What
made it superlative was Guillaume.

Attentive, courteous, never
pushy, he was everything you want from a waiter. My eight-year-old
daughter obviously wasn't going to make it through a 12-ounce steak, but
he went out of his way to include her in the meal and offer genuinely
helpful suggestions. After we decided she'd order a Caesar salad and
take little bits and pieces from all of our plates (well, except mine –
I ordered my steak blue rare and it arrived still mooing. I don't want
to kill her because of my borderline culinary savagery), he brought out a
small plate of crudites and fruit for her.We didn't ask, he didn't
charge us, and my daughter loved it.

When we left, he waited at the door for my wife to return from the
restroom to make sure he wished her a happy birthday, again.

Obviously, it worked for him — his tip was well over 20 per
cent, but it was well deserved. And it worked out for the restaurant. My
parents have had mediocre experiences at other steakhouses, but they'll
definitely come back now. As will we.

And therein lies the value of customer service — going above and beyond
to make sure your customer is satisfied. Really, what did it cost him
and the restaurant? Maybe 25 cents worth of vegetables and maybe a
little more of Guillaume's time. What did they gain? Well, I'm typing
this aren't I? And I'll be sharing this story with friends and
acquaintances for a while. Guillaume has reinforced us as a repeat
customer and likely has brought my parents into the fold.

If you're an independent business owner, wouldn't that be worth
it to you? Reputation is everything and if you gain the reputation as a
customer-friendly, service-oriented business owner, don't you think that
would translate into a long-term, profitable relationship? This is a business that's built upon a high-tech, high-touch model that encourages more than an over-the-counter approach to selling.

I know our Customer Support staff here at Canuck Central are committed
to working with IBOs and customers alike to provide a superlative
experience. Even if they can sometimes be overwhelmed by the call/e-mail
volume, they truly do a great job in not allowing any frustration or
stress impact their relationship with the person on the other end of
that phone call or e-mail.

I can safely say that most people here work with the end goal in
mind — you, the IBO or customer. In Communications, I know we work
diligently to try to provide you with the best quality resources in a
timely fashion. If we're late with a publication, catalogue, Web page,
etc., we know who it impacts — the IBO.

However, what too many people forget is that trust, respect, and a
positive feeling towards a business or establishment is not a given –
it's earned. And, unfortunately, bad news travels far quicker (and
farther) than good. If you have a negative experience with a business,
how quickly are you sharing that with the people around you? Now, do you
do the same with positive experiences?

I know I try to — and I should be better.

We can't ignore the
negative as being forewarned is forearmed. By sharing our negative
experiences with our friends, we're trying to prevent them from having
the same experience. But I think we should also focus more on the
positive — take the time to recognize quality service beyond a simple
'Thank you' or a generous tip.

Last night, I asked to speak to the manager and relayed our experience
with Guillaume. Whether that does anything, I don't know. I hope it
does. I try to do that with any restaurant experience that goes above
and beyond.

What can you do as a customer? Talk to managers, fill
out comment cards (I did that for the guy who patiently walked me
through putting in my contact lenses for the first time years ago. My
futility — and his patience — were both off the scale), send an e-mail
(I've done that for an employee who turned a negative experience in a
movie theatre [poor sound, etc.] into a positive), and — most
importantly — share that positive story with those around you.

If you go somewhere because of someone's recommendation, let the
establishment know. After all, if they see a return on their investment,
they'll invest further. If they have a staff member that's consistently
drawing rave reviews and bringing in business, hopefully they'll reward
him or her.

And if you're a business owner? Make customer service
(and that means both customers and fellow IBOs) a priority. It can be
through helping a downline succeed, servicing a customer by actively
listening to their needs and then meeting them, or — if you run a more
traditional business — hiring people that do go out of their way to
make the customer feel special, and then continue to show them you value
them.

I've told you what I do — and what I need to do more
consistently. What about you? As a business owner, how highly do you
prioritize customer service? How much do you value it? As a customer, do
you recognize superlative service? If so, how? If not, then do you
complain about receiving poor service?

The comments, as always, are open! Feel free.

**
While it's not the best steakhouse I've ever been to (that honour goes
to Gibby's in Montreal), Despite being part of a chain, I've yet to have
anything less than an excellent meal there. In the interest of
recognizing their efforts, I should share the venue. I suppose it would
be unfair for me to outright publish the name, but I'll give you another
cryptic clue that should take you months and a dedicated team of
cryptographers to break. Here we go: The restaurant's name rhymes with
The Leg.

"Because that's the way we've always done it." That line of thinking doesn't (or shouldn't) fly in today's business world anymore. With changing times, technologies, and attitudes, holding fast to clichés and long-standing tenets often doesn't make sense any longer.

So what about this one? "The customer is always right?"

A little trickier, right? Based upon my experience, I think I'd rather change that to, "The customer is usually right."

I worked some really crappy jobs during my youth. Universally, I found I loved the people I worked with and enjoyed interacting with most of the customers. And whether it was retail (Blockbuster, LoebIGA, or Price Club), journalism, or corporate communications, I've always held one belief near and dear to my heart — always give your best effort to every task because what you're doing is important to someone.

My best example was working for newspapers. Obviously covering a cafeteria opening featuring a giant sub isn't the most exciting thing in the world for most of us — but it's a big deal for the people involved. They feel a sense of pride in their work and their results, and I always believed it was my obligation to give the same dedication and effort to that story as I would a political scandal or sporting championship.

Same went for retail. I tried to do my best, because my efforts could impact someone else's day. A bad movie recommendation or a miserable experience at the check-out counter can really colour your day. We all know that, it happens to us.

That's why I go out of my way to respect the people in retail and the people with whom I work. I know how crappy retail jobs can be — so why would I want to make it worse? And I know how pressed, overworked, and stressed we can be here at Canuck Central, so why compound that with a layer of unpleasantness brought about by complaining?

Unfortunately, not everyone shares that view — and that's why I'd like to stick with "the customer is usually right."

How many times have you seen someone berate a cashier, simply because they're a convenient target upon which their day's worth of frustration can be spilt? What about those who come forth with unrealistic demands and take joy in watching others fail at achieving them? Why do some revel in the misery of others? Why do we even have a word like Schadenfreude?

And what's tough for the average Jill or Joe working a slightly-better-than-minimum wage job is the fact that management won't always back them up? I remember abiding by the letter of the law on Blockbuster's late-fee policy, getting reamed out by a customer, then having my manager not just reverse the charge — but add a credit to the guy's account! I would have been fired for doing that, so my only choice was to take the beating, then realise that this idiot customer was validated for his actions.

So how do you deal with customers like this in your business? Are you a customer like this? In dealing with IBOs here, I can say in all honesty that the vast majority are great people. They are the most appreciative, most validating, and most rewarding people for whom I have the pleasure to provide a service. Then there are others — the small minority of people who abuse their privileges, berate hard-working staff, or expect the impossible and demand accountability when it's not attained. But that's really no different than anywhere else.

I'm lucky. I'm just a semi-talented monkey having fun banging away on a keyboard, so I rarely find myself in a Customer Service role. My interactions with IBOs and Customers (both in person and through the magic of social media) have been uniformly positive. But I'd like to think that my personality and attitude have something to do with that. I try to make every interaction pleasant by being myself — and I think that honesty comes through. Maybe I'm wrong (and maybe it sounds like my head's going to have a hard time fitting through the door…) but I believe the way I act and react impacts the way people act and react to me.

Am I wrong? Your thoughts? Is the customer always right in your business? And how do you deal with those who take the customer/vendor relationship for granted?

All the best,

Jay