customer service
Wow Them in the Rain
Next time it rains, meet your customer/resident in the parking lot with an umbrella.
Yes – before they get out of the car.
Be on the look out – see them pull into the parking lot and run out with an umbrella.
It’s an “and one” kind of thing to do.
Your making it memorable Multifamily Maniac,
M
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Customer Service is Comfortably Numb
Developmental psychologists tell us that a willingness to help strangers is a trait that most people show as young as eighteen months.
It’s an impulse to serve.
But to actually serve from this innate part of our being is to live in rarefied air.
Service Sucks Because We Are Comfortably Numb
We are numb to providing stellar customer service despite that we are born with a quality that calls us to serve. Name the excuse – I’ve likely heard them all. I’ve very likely used a couple myself.
Relentless Focus on the Customer
In 2015, Mills Properties has three core mantras, one of which is a Relentless Focus on the Customer or #rfc for short. We are going all out to make sure that customer has a story to tell. Moreover, that we give them the will and the way to tell it/share it.
Not for the reasons you might think. But rather because we look at it as therapy. Therapy that will get us back to our innate need to serve.
Your looking forward to serving in a mindful way Multifamily Maniac,
M
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And one…
You’ve undoubtedly seen the “and one” in a basketball game. A player drives the lane, takes a hack and makes a hoop; the ref, the crowd, the coach and teammates scream – And, ONE!
And ONE for the Customer
I have an idea for you. The next time your service tech is unclogging a bathroom sink drain, make sure they take a quick glance at the counter top. Let’s suppose the resident is nearing the end of their toothpaste tube.
Sticking with our lead theme from above; service tech drives to complete the service request, takes a hack (read: notices the toothpaste is one squeeze past gone), makes a hoop by fixing the clogged sink (read: completes baseline service) and leaves a new tube behind with a handwritten note that reads; “Noticed you were running low on paste; thought we could save you some time.” “Hope your week rocks.” (read: And, ONE!)
Your looking for some And, One… stories in 2015 Multifamily Maniac,
M
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Whose Job is it Anyway?
How many times have you walked into a place of business only to be turned away because the guy/gal in charge of this or that was not in at the moment?
It’s Everybody’s Job – All of the Time
When scaling up a business it is absolutely critical to get every single team member on the same page.
How do you do that?
I happen to think it’s pretty simple.
You pick a few rules, define them very clearly and repeat them often.
Rule number one: everybody knows how to serve the customer.
Businesses are set in place to serve the people that serve it. If you’re a business owner it is absolutely incumbent upon you to train your people the art of truly serving the customer.
Your Relentless About Customer Service Multifamily Maniac,
M
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Staging the Unexpected
I read about the idea of staging the unexpected some time ago. It rung a bell with me – at the time – and I recall starting down the path of thinking about what we could do to blow people away. And then I got distracted so I am just now circling back to the idea.
The story I read involved Macaroni Grill. The unexpected in their case: giving meals away to patrons who were otherwise expecting to pay. They did so on random nights every month of the year. So, instead of receiving a check for their meal, patrons received a letter that suggested that it seemed awkward to charge a guest for a meal. How cool is that?
Blowing People Away In the past, I wrote about a plumbing company that actually took the time to wash a sink full of dirty dishes after completing a routine garbage disposal repair. Boom! Now that has impact.
Not such a far-fetched idea for our industry. Start tomorrow. Consider taking the time to randomly clean someone’s kitchen after a routine leaky faucet repair. Do it with great care and supreme detail. Leave a nice hand-written note suggesting how your service tech felt compelled to ease a small burden in the resident’s day. And – stop now with all the things that are going through your mind: what if we break something, what if we miss this or don’t do that. Who cares! Don’t miss the point with your negative self-talk. Just act. And then come back here and tell us about your experience.
Your loving the idea of staging the unexpected Multifamily Maniac,
M