Isn’t this the way customer service is supposed to be? Isn’t this the type of interaction you wish you had every day? Yet the problem of poor customer service only seems to get worse.
Every once in a while, however, we as consumers have a truly wonderful experience as a customer of a company. These interactions leave us feeling so positive about our purchase, our relationships with the company, and ourselves that we say, “The experience was magic!” From LL Bean to American Century Investments to Nordstrom, there are a select few organizations—some you have heard of and some you haven’t—that serve their customers at world-class levels day in and day out.
Although our opening story describes no more than five short minutes in one woman’s life, those five minutes were certainly memorable. They were, indeed, MAGIC. (Throughout this will use the word “MAGIC” to describe any contact that “Makes A Great Impression on the Customer”—it’s also the name of our customer service training program.)
Unfortunately, in many customer service interactions, five minutes can just as easily turn “tragic” instead. To illustrate this, we’ll share the story of another colleague of ours.
Five Tragic, Memorable Minutes
“I recently had a very unfortunate phone call. I had discovered that I was not receiving certain e-mails.
“My conversation with the computer help desk person was like a ‘Who’s on first?’ routine. First, he tested my computer and told me it was fine. No problems whatsoever. I told him that I knew of at least two e-mails that I had not received, and I was concerned that there were more. As I sent e-mails to myself, I received about nine out of ten. He sent me two, which I received, so he said all was well. I was not convinced.
“As a way to solve the problem, he wanted me to send him all of the e-mails I had never received. I’m not kidding! He needed to know when they were sent and how large they were. I tried to explain that I could not forward nor provide detailed info on e-mails that I never received. But he never understood.
“He never solved the problem. Later, I figured out that I had my e-mail open on another computer in the house, and it would download e-mail automatically every fifteen minutes or so. Those e-mails were counted as ‘delivered,’ so they never showed up in the e-mail box of my primary computer.
“No matter—thanks to that phone call, my frustration level was through the roof.”
Everyone knows what it feels like to be in the shoes of our second colleague. You want to scream (and sometimes you do)! After those five tragic minutes that our colleague spent on the phone, she felt angry and frustrated—and certainly not likely to call technical support again. In contrast, the five MAGIC minutes described in our first story created a warm, pleasant memory that will be not only remembered for quite some time but retold again and again. Interactions like these, as short as they may be, can have a surprisingly strong personal impact, and they often affect how you feel for hours, days, and even months after they occur.
EFFECTIVE, MAGIC COMMUNICATION
Experiences such as these happen to all of us every day. It is exceedingly important to recognize both types of interactions and their effects. They represent two everpresent, distinct possibilities.
The disparity between those two possibilities carries far-reaching ramifications well beyond customer service interactions and into your personal, everyday life.
How you communicate is the most dominant factor in your relationships with others—and, in turn, in the satisfaction you derive from your career and personal life. Simply put, your communication affects how others see you. In that sense, effective communication is at the heart of your ability to create an impression that puts you—your career, your business, and who you are as a person—in the best possible light.
Being a truly gifted communicator doesn’t come naturally to most of us. In fact, communicating effectively today might even be more of a challenge than it was in the past. Today, we are all forced to contend with e-mails, voice messaging, and a wash of technology that, despite its claims to help communication, often serves to muddy waters that are already sufficiently murky.
But effective communication is within everyone’s reach. One of the first steps toward this goal is recognizing that communication means more than a set of skills that someone can learn and practice. Instead, it begins with a mind-set. The right mind-set reflects your implicit respect for everyone around you and a commitment to demonstrate that respect. A courteous mind-set not only can mean better communication skills with clients and customers but also leads to a happier, more fulfilling life away from work.
MAGIC provides the gold standard of behavior that will motivate the people in your organization, delight your customers, and improve business results.However, the principles and power embodied by MAGIC are there to serve everyone, from corporate executives addressing an auditorium of shareholders, to two neighbors chatting over a picket fence.
Naturally, we hope you read it in its entirety, and we suggest you read it in order. Understanding this as a whole is critical to embracing the concepts of MAGIC and, from there, putting them into everyday practice. However, you may be confronting a particular communication issue in either your business or your personal life. If that’s the case, you may wish to pay particular attention to the part of the most directly related to your area of interest.
MAGIC and Tragic Moments
MAGIC and Tragic Moments are real-life illustrations from customers, colleagues, and friends, and depict the various types of communication challenges we all face.
We will explore each of these examples and demonstrate how you can address these challenges simply and effectively. They may make you smile or laugh, and they will perhaps trigger some of your own pleasant and not-so-pleasant memories of moments past.
Experiment with MAGIC
For this to truly function as a learning tool, helping you reach your goal of becoming a more effective communicator, you will need to practice the skills we describe. The Experiment with MAGIC sections describe exercises that will help you better grasp MAGIC concepts and apply your new skills to your own daily interactions—personal and professional.
MAGIC Maxims
At the end of every chapter, we include a special feature we call MAGIC Maxims, a concise summary of the major ideas addressed in that particular chapter. They’re an effective way to refresh your memory about the MAGIC concepts presented, as well as a way to think about how you might apply them.
Ultimately, we hope this will do more than help you gain just one or two new skills, but instead will lead you to adopt a new way of thinking, a new mind-set.
Think of this as a learning tool and coach for improving your daily business and personal interactions. Use the exercises. Review the maxims. Empathize with the characters in the stories. By doing so, you will be well on your way to improving your communications and creating MAGIC moments in all your relationships.
Up to this point, we’ve used the term MAGIC to describe a truly positive and memorable customer experience. And, to a certain extent, we’ve hinted at what that term implies. Now we’ll move on to the details.
MAGIC is an acronym for Make A Great Impression on the Customer. This is a straightforward concept; everyone in business wants to interact positively with customers and clients. You want them to feel good about what you do and how you do it. You want that feeling to be so persuasively positive that the thought of doing business with you again isn’t even a debatable point—of course they’re going to come back!
The same is true of your personal life. If you enjoy someone’s company, you’re naturally going to want to extend that relationship into the future.
But MAGIC is about more than just positive interactions. It is also about managing perception. It’s been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and nowhere is that more applicable than in your communications with others. The quality of your communication—be it with customers, friends, or family members—is really measured by how others perceive you.
You must make a choice—the choice to manage that perception, create a “quality” interaction, and make a great impression on the other person. Once you have made that choice, positive behavior follows.
MAKING THE CHOICE TO BE MAGIC
The importance of choice is the first central concept of MAGIC—one that you will see repeated as you proceed through the material. Perhaps the best way to illustrate the power of choice is to start off with a short anecdote: It was four days before Christmas, and I had a minor emergency. I backed my car into a rock and needed the car fixed right away.My insurance company was of little help, and they were anything but empathic.
I found a local mechanic, Bill, with whom I had no previous experience.
Not only did he repair my car, erasing all the remnants of the rock, but he personally delivered it to my front door on Christmas Eve.
Here’s the clincher: I hadn’t even asked him to do so. As if he thought nothing of it, he simply said, “I didn’t want you to be without your car for the holiday; and I know you have guests, so I brought your car to you.”
Bill’s demonstration of exceptional service and regard for me as a person is the essence of respect and accountability that warms my heart. I can say, without reservation, that the next time my car breaks down I will not do business with anyone else but Bill.
In this story, Bill did everything he was supposed to do.He fixed the customer’s car, and he did an excellent job of it. It’s very likely that the customer would use Bill’s services again even if he had done nothing more.However, because Bill made the choice to go the extra mile—outside of his job description—and relate personally to the customer, there is no doubt that when this customer’s car breaks down again, he will bring it straight to Bill. Bill is a perfect example of someone choosing to be MAGIC.
The principle of choice applies to more than just choosing to go above and beyond what is expected. Choice is at the heart of effective communication, particularly in challenging or awkward circumstances. People at work often must take control of a negative situation and choose to turn it around. Instead of accepting style differences or misunderstandings as insurmountable, you can make a choice to improve the situation. You choose how to respond: to get angry or to listen and empathize before you respond.
For example, let’s say that a customer is upset about something.He doesn’t like your response, so he becomes angry and lashes out at you. Here’s where choice comes into play. You can fuel the fire of his anger by responding in kind. Or, making on helping him. In order to improve the situation, you choose to really listen to him and empathize with what’s behind his emotion.
Many people are ineffective communicators because they choose to believe that there’s simply no viable alternative. In this, we’ll show that there are more choices available, regardless of the situation.
COMMUNICATING WITH THE CUSTOMER IN MIND
Another aspect of the MAGIC mind-set is to relate to people in a way that is respectful and accountable. You never distort or sugarcoat the truth when talking to customers, but you keep your focus on the goal at hand: bringing the customer closer to a solution.
When you communicate with the customer in mind, you take a collaborative approach instead of sending an “us versus them” message. People who use a confrontational approach are more prone to quote policies, procedures, and the “company line” when it proves expedient to do so. You’ve undoubtedly heard the signs
of the us-versus-them approach before: “That’s not the way we do things here!” “You should have followed the directions!” “Why did you do that?!?”
“If you had filled the form out right in the first place, you wouldn’t have this problem.” “We didn’t make a mistake—you did!”
After all, if you see yourself on one side of the fence and the customer on the other, it’s awfully tempting to say almost anything to get her off the phone. You feel no sense of obligation to do otherwise.
To move beyond us-versus-them thinking, you need to remain open and receptive in every interaction, no matter how frustrating. Setbacks are completely understandable, and some are unavoidable. However, to avoid unnecessary upset, you must get in touch with your “hot buttons”—those customer responses that drive you crazy and trigger an emotional response. Some people react strongly when they hear emotion-driven accusations, such as “Don’t you people know what you’re doing?” or “You made a mistake on my statement again!”
MAGIC is about framing communication in the context of community, with a strong sense of relationship and connection between you and the customer With commitment and practice, you’ll find yourself choosing better responses naturally.
PRACTICAL TO THE UTMOST
A third aspect of MAGIC is its practical value. “Feeling good” isn’t the only result of good communication; your business benefits when customers can express their needs to you and you can meet their needs. Any interaction, no matter how small, can be transformed from something ordinary to a memorable exchange that creates satisfaction and loyalty.
Let’s say you’re on the phone with a customer who is quite frustrated about receiving an inaccurate order. You acknowledge his experience of the situation—his frustrations. Then, working in concert, you address the problem quickly and efficiently.
Your customer is relieved that you understood and that you “got” his frustration, and is pleased that the right order is now in the pipeline. And you’re happy that the customer is genuinely satisfied.
Is that the end of the story? Not likely. By establishing a MAGIC relationship with a customer, you’ve cemented a connection that will influence that customer’s choices in the future, just as Bill the mechanic did in the story at the beginning of this chapter.What customer wouldn’t want to deal with a person or company whose every action reflects a commitment to service and integrity?
Tragic Moment
Let’s take a firsthand look at how your choices can affect the customer’s experience and decision to do business with you again in the future.
“I went to a fancy frozen yogurt store in an upscale Boston mall that I passed through every day on my way to and from work. My mouth was watering for a certain chocolate flavor in the case. But the young lady behind the counter said, ‘No, you can’t have that. What else do you want?’ She gave no explanation as to why she wouldn’t give me the flavor I wanted. However, after some probing from me, she admitted it was too hard for her to scoop out. I then suggested she try running the scoop under hot water in the back of the store and then try again. She did that with a look on her face and, in the most perfunctory manner, made one quick attempt to scoop the chocolate and gave up.
She said, ‘No, can’t do it. What else do you want?’ As a final attempt (because I really wanted that chocolate), I suggested she put the container on the counter to soften up a bit. She refused and asked for the third time, ‘What else do you want?’ It didn’t matter to her that I was a frequent customer.
“I walked out with nothing, but decided to return the next day to see if anyone else would help me. Fortunately for me, a young man was on duty. I told him what had happened the day before. He said, ‘Ma’am, I’m not leaving until I get you that yogurt!’ and immediately got it for me. However, he offered no apology and did not compensate me with extra yogurt or offer it free. Nevertheless, I would go back again simply because he said he would talk to the young lady who had annoyed me so much. Who knows if he ever did, but the thought that he might set her straight comforted me as a customer.”
MAGIC Maxims
• MAGIC emphasizes relationships—not an us-versus-them attitude.
• MAGIC encourages self-awareness and learning so that you always put forth your personal best.
• MAGIC is not about sugarcoating or being nice for niceness’s sake. It is about adopting a mind-set and gaining the skills necessary to interact effectively with others.
• MAGIC empowers you with choice. You can choose to be MAGIC or tragic in any situation—it’s up to you.
What Are the Benefits of MAGIC?
A MAGIC Moment
Our approach can help you prepare for any sort of challenge—even long-standing ones, like the situation a customer of ours encountered: “I had an inspection this morning with a homeowner who has been a Challenge for me in the past. When I pulled up to the home and realized who I was going to meet, I knew I could handle the situation.
“I took a deep breath, reminding myself to use MAGIC. The homeowner opened the door and had a look on her face that was priceless—almost a look of devil horns coming out of her head and steam coming from her ears.
“Despite her scary appearance, I had the confidence to take the next step with her. I greeted her with a smile and let her vent. Then I empathized and told her I was there to help. In about thirty seconds she turned into the wife from Leave It to Beaver. She looked relieved, and smiled. I addressed her issues and we came to an agreement, even though some things were not covered under our warranty policy. We set a deadline for her service, and she asked me if I would like a cup of coffee for the road. Wow! What typically is at least one to oneand-a-half hours with her was dropped to just twenty minutes because I approached it with a totally different attitude.”
Let’s take the idea of having a personal sense of self-confidence a few steps further.
As we pointed out earlier, people have choices in how they behave and respond to others.
To forge connections, they create what we like to refer to as a “MAGIC culture”— a professional environment where people treat one another with just as much respect and sense of community as they do a customer on the other end of the telephone. In this way, a culture is built and nurtured from the inside out—having a positive impact on everyone who may come in contact with that environment.
Just think of what such a culture can do for your business. Imagine a team of committed, enthusiastic employees who bring their “A-game” to every element of their work responsibility—and, thanks to a supportive and nurturing work environment, stay and grow alongside your business. A team like that can generate some very impressive numbers!
CARING CREATES PROFITS
A few years back, a survey conducted by the Rockefeller Corporation of Pittsburgh queried some 450 executives from a variety of businesses and industrial fields. They were asked to identify the most common reasons why a customer stopped doing business with them—why, in other words, a client or customer suddenly pulled up stakes and chose another company with which to do business.
Before reading further, grab a piece of paper and take a few minutes to write down what you think might have been on that rather unfortunate grouping.
Here’s the list, in all its infamy:
• Death—1 percent
• A move or relocation—2 percent
• A relationship with a salesperson—4 percent
• Price and other relevant costs—11 percent
• Dissatisfaction with the product—14 percent
• Attitude of indifference from someone representing the company—68 percent
Surprised by that last figure? Many people are just about dumbstruck by this revelation, but these are the facts in black and white. Amid everything else that can go wrong—either by sheer happenstance or someone’s miscalculation or mistake— nearly seven out of ten highly placed business people identified indifference as the primary push that shoves a customer out the door.
An employee who is nasty with a customer is not indifferent, nor is a telephone rep who provides inaccurate or out-of-date information or guidance.
Indifference refers to a perceived lack of interest or attention to the customer, client, or caller. If you think about it, being rude or making a mistake, at the very least, requires some sort of effort. Indifference doesn’t even have that going for it!
Instead, it’s like an apathetic shell—a cocoon that an employee can crawl into when anything approaching bona fide effort or interest just doesn’t seem to be worth it.
In fact, the problem can be even more insidious in that an employee may not even know that he is coming across as indifferent. This is not surprising—it’s easy to think that one is a consummate professional because one has had years of experience.
But a customer may see an employee in a totally different light because of the way she comes across on the telephone. It’s the customer’s perception that counts. Customers can make a decision about you, your department, and your company from just one contact. All it takes is one drab “How may I help you?”—
which, in effect, suggests “How may I not help you?”—to send a signal of indifference.
And, worse, send that customer to a competitor.
A Tragic Moment
One of our facilitators shared a story about being treated with indifference: “I was in Wisconsin on business and, having forgotten my toothpaste, visited the local drug store. I found my product and went to check out. When I arrived at the register, the cashier completely ignored me. She grabbed my toothpaste,
robotically scanned it, then thrust out her hand as if to say, “Just give me the money, wouldya?” I handed her the money, and she gave me my change, still without acknowledging me in any way.
“At that instant I realized that this person had not said one word to me. During that quick moment I also looked at her name tag. You will never guess what it said: ‘Cashier of the Month.’ I was horrified by the thought of what the other cashiers might be like. I quickly walked away thinking I would never return to
that store.”
MAGIC Maxims
• Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, indifference is in the eye of the customer.
• Perceived indifference is by far the leading cause of customer defections.
• High-quality service such as that fostered by MAGIC means increased customer referrals and greater market share.
• Customers willingly pay more for great service.
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