Empower your employees to bend the rules
By Gordon Hecht, YSN Contributor
Friends and readers often ask me, “Isn’t exhausting to travel weekly for business?” I usually tell them it’s one of my favorite parts of the job. I get to see cities and towns and tiny burgs. Nothing beats meeting people where they live.
While I spend more time in locations with populations of less than 50,000, this week finds me in New York City.
People say New York is expensive; it’s only true if you think a French toast breakfast should cost less than $85 for two, or that a pair of cocktails for $69 plus tip is a lot of dough.
The city is home to 8 million people and nine public restrooms, which brings us to today’s topic: customer service.
They Wrote the Book
Every organization needs some set of guidelines to operate cohesively. These are general principles, normally set by the organizer or owner. You’ll see that those guidelines are based on the belief system of those forming the organization.
James Cash Penney believed in the Golden Rule. He ran his first store based on “do unto others …” principles. Richard W. Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck (who we like to call “Curt”) believed in satisfaction guaranteed.
In the early days, no customer was ever disappointed.
As organizations grow, sometimes those original beliefs that formed their culture get diluted or misdirected. As a result, policies go into effect and written rules are trained and enforced. (You’ve heard of the Policy Police!) Rules were meant to be followed, obeyed and never crossed. Soon the warm and fuzzy goodwill that James Cash, Richard W. and Alvah Curt built their business upon were washed away.
New York City has a certain vibe to it. I think it’s because they crammed 8 million people into a small island and some outlying boroughs, and then add 608,000 daily commuters — as many people as live in Baltimore. With this mass of humanity, New Yorkers develop an ability to size up people and situations quickly … one might say, “in a New York minute.”
When Nature Calls
This came to life for me when I shopped a little vintage thrift store on the Lower East Side. I spent about 30 minutes looking at treasures from the 1950s to present, all designer labels and in like-new condition. I noticed a sign on the door, and another inside the building, “No Public Restrooms.” This is quite a common sight in the big city! I paid for my selections and then got a call — it was from Nature!
I figured I’d give it a shot and asked the cashier where the closest public restroom was. She very politely said, “We have a private room for staff only, but I’ll let you use it.” The rules were shattered, the policy ignored and crumbled to simple guidelines. All in the name of good customer service.
I saw this repeated a few more times. The next morning I stepped into a self-service coffee shop, which was fairly empty at 7 a.m. It normally takes two cups of java to get me going in the morning, so I like the idea of serving myself. Taped to each of the four coffee urns was a sign “No Free Refills.”
Policy is policy, and who am I to argue? I grabbed the largest paper cup they had and filled it to the brim. I stepped to the register to pay for the java and two bananas ($2.29 each, mind you!). I knew that the 20-ounce cup was not going to do it for me, so I asked the cashier if I could pay for a refill now. He quickly replied, “It’s on the house.”
Again, policy smashed, resulting in good customer service. I saw similar actions at a specialty restaurant where I told the waiter I was a first-timer. He responded, “Welcome home.” Throughout a city renowned for its brash populace, I encountered continued acts of kindness.
Yes is the Answer
Whether your retail empire consists of one location or dozens, I know you need documented rules and an action plan for customer and employee interactions. It’s so much easier to ignore a situation and say “No” than to assess the environment and say “Yes.”
If it is ethical and legal, saying yes may mean exchanging a pillow because it was uncomfortable, or delivering outside your normal area or time frame. It may mean moving an existing mattress to the basement for a customer, or completing a service call just to plug an adjustable base into the outlet behind the bed.
Give your team the authority to say yes, or at least “I’ll check” when it comes to creating or saving a sale. Take care of the people who visit your website or travel to your store (start with clean, well-stocked restrooms and end with umbrellas at the door to walk them to their cars). Stick to guidelines and beliefs and become famous for legendary customer service.
Gordon Hecht is a business growth and development consultant to the retail home furnishings industry and a regular contributor to YSN. You can reach him at Gordon.Hecht@aol.com.
