Happy Sunday Everyone.
Hope you fathers are off to a great start today. Our family takes our individual holidays serious…..like I’ve been looking forward to Father’s Day since the day after my birthday (8/14). I have my perfect day in store. Typing this from backyard, listening to Girl From Ipanema Pandora station (a must), drinking coffee, followed by a run, breakfast made by kids, swimming in pool all day, watching the U.S Open, then Warriors, while having fried chicken at my parents house late afternoon (some decent wine might be involved)…PERFECTION.
My team and I have been laser focused the last few weeks on the concept of our clients dealing with us because of the way we make them feel. Everything we’re focusing on right now is how we make people feel. Being purposeful with how we make people feel. Questioning if our actions are in alignment with how we want them to feel. Yes, I purposefully said the same thing 4 times to get the point across that I believe not many things are more important than how we make people feel. It is true, without question, that our systems need to be buttoned up, we need to have competitive rates, we need to be consistent in how we operate and we need to deliver……those are givens. I have written on top of our initial call form the following ” PEOPLE REMEMBER HOW WE MAKE THEM FEEL, NOT ALWAYS WHAT WE SAY. WE WANT CLIENTS TO FEEL LIKE THEY’RE DEALING WITH PERSONABLE, INTELLIGENT, CARING, PROACTIVE, CUSTOMER FOCUSED INDIVIDUALS WHO EXPLAIN THE PROCESS WITH CLARITY AND EASE”…..a lot goes into each word. we are training around each word, so the team understands what actions need to take place to ensure our actions are in alignment with those specific words. A simple example is in hearing someone’s name, immediately stop and ask them how they’re doing today and use their name. Might sound silly but you think about how many outbound calls you make to various businesses. Your feeling is created in the first 30 seconds. I call some of your teams to talk to you and it can feel like an interrogation…..that can’t happen, others know who I am, make me feel welcome…we need to make strangers feel welcome. Think of calling into a restaurant and the difference between “I’m so sorry but can I put you on hold for one minute” and actually waiting for you to reply with a “yes/no” vs. “please hold”…and a click.
This is a very tactical view of the concept of “how we make our clients feel” and something we need to consider daily. As I think through this though, how we make people feel in life isn’t, and shouldn’t be, considered a “tactic”. I think it diminishes the importance of the topic. There is a much more important life lesson in how we make people feel. Bottom line for me, I want to make people feel like I support them, like I care about them, and that I have their best interest in mind. If I know that’s what I want, then it’s pretty easy for me to question if my actions are in alignment with those very important words….Truth be told, it’s not always the case but knowing it, helps me shift gears faster than not and get back to what I want to be vs. what I currently am.
Off for a run!! Happy Father’s Day!!