Customer Service: A Lost Art?

Sandro Panetta runs a music store. It began with his father Amedeo forty years ago. It continues to thrive today because of a strong family bond and worth ethic. Sandro works hard, his wife and kids are delightful, his parents are wonderful, and his employees adore him – or so he says ;-)

This is the kind of guy you want to support in anyway you can.

We grabbed lunch yesterday and talked about the store’s anniversary this October. He is trying to find a way to celebrate the store’s 40th. He is not a client, he is a friend.

Sandro has been working in the music store since he could walk on his own and now he runs the place with the same passion he had the first day helping his dad. We discussed one of the top attributes of his organization which has come back to him through his own customers through all these years and that is how they treat people.

Competition can help you.

This is a stand alone store competing against chains and department stores for music instruments and products. There is a successful music school as part of the business and whenever you go into the store, you are greeted with an honest smile from people who truly want to help you.

He told me the story of young kid coming in to practice on his dream guitar for weeks on end which turned into a purchase because the kid finally convinced his father to come in a buy it for him. Sandro has one mantra: help every customer and treat them with respect.

Too often the cynicism we feel toward companies stems from the words they use to describe us – consumers, viewers, users or listeners. Sandro calls anyone who comes in to his store a customer – whether they buy something or not. He says you can’t judge someone by what they are wearing or whether they will purchase a drum kit worth thousands of dollars.

This mantra has done him and his dad well for four decades.

Another story is of a guy who came into the store on three occasions for a total of about four hours to test out guitar amps. One of Sandro’s part-time employees spent as much time with this customer as he needed, answering all of his questions, making suggestions, and being patient. On his third visit, he finally bought an amp.

A couple of weeks later the customer called the store and spoke with Sandro. He told him that the service was excellent and that the guy who helped him should be commended. Later in the call, Sandro discovered that the man lived eight hours away and had been in town on an extended work trip. He could have bought the amp anywhere, but because of the exemplary service, he made the purchase in Sandro’s store. And then called to thank him.

Consumers, viewers, users or listeners are just people.

Happy 40th Anniversary to International Musicland in Ottawa. Drop by if you're in town, you'll love the big guitar on the ceiling and all the cool stuff inside. But most of all, you will discover why I think so highly of a guy named Sandro.

How important is customer service to you?

Not-So-Common Sense Revolution

"The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next."
Henry Ward Beecher

As we all take a long look at all that we do, it has made us realize our strengths. If you haven't done this yet, it a worthy exercise.

Many media and entertainment colleagues are hanging on - in some cases - for dear life. And in other cases, there is a bright future.

But it got me thinking about common sense and status quo. We put things in boxes, we over analyze lowest common denominator and seek averages to keep us all happy. We don't rock any boats and if we step out there is a fear that our lack of conformity will get us into trouble. And we certainly wouldn't want to run the risk that someone may not like what we do, would we? Yawn.

"It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense."
Robert Green Ingersol

The music industry was rested on many pillars that were deemed true for far too long. The genie has crushed the bottle.

The publishing industry is going through radical change and consumers are driving this bus as well.

Newspaper outlets will survive and thrive again but a completely new mind set must occur or they can blame no one but themselves.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."
Albert Einstein

The phrase "common sense" should be stricken from our vernacular. It has caused mediocrity, laziness, assumption, arrogance and many other deadly sins. What is common and makes sense to you is where it stops.

"Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done."
Harriet Beecher Stowe

This is not to say you and I may agree on virtually everything but we must look at the massive changes media is a going through to realize this can play in to your advantage.

So perhaps have another look your experience and your abilities with a fresh perspective. Don't throw anything away or assume what you know or what you have done is "common sense".

What are your thoughts?
What are your stories?
What is your common sense?

km

Your Comments Are Welcome

You can tell more about a person by what they say about others than you can by what others say about them.
Leo Aikman

There have been many posts lately that have addressed the issue of comments on blogs. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to make a comment - here or via email - on my musings! It’s great that someone reads this stuff then takes the time to contribute to the conversation. I appreciate anyone taking a few moments to read this stuff and make a comment.

One issue that has been brought up often is that if you want someone to contribute to your conversation, you must do your part and contribute to their conversation. Feel free to scroll down to my "connections" section and click on all the people I read on a daily basis.

What are your thoughts on that?

When you spend many years in media, you get used to producing content that goes into the ether to an unnamed listener-reader-viewer with virtually no feedback. Once in a while, you get a complaint email or call if you do something that irks someone but rarely do they even contact you – they usually just stop listening-watching-reading.

The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you.
John E. Southard

It’s always been my perception that Canadians are especially bad with confrontation. We have half a mind to complain, but the other half doesn’t want to offend anyone. But it works in our favor when we travel because we are known around the world as a polite people. That's okay, right?

How are you, today?

We are built for interaction and confirmation. This isn’t a media or social media thing, it’s a human thing. In all my years doing behavioral and perceptual research, ranked in the top three responses were always things like; ‘respect in the workplace’, ‘acknowledgement of a job well done’, ‘being appreciated by the boss’ or ‘ability to advance'.

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.
Oscar Wilde

We aren’t good at asking for feedback and awful at taking it. We do love feedback ...as long it’s positive, of course ;-)

What did you think of my presentation?

I asked a highly successful blogger whether his Technorati ranking was important to him and he couldn’t answer fast enough – yes! He explained that it’s not about a chart position but rather a measurement of how his information is resonating with readers. But the confirmation of a job well done is okay too.

To escape criticism - do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
Elbert Hubbard

We seem to spend a great deal of time hiding the fact that we enjoy positive feedback. We spend even more time failing to take the opportunity to give someone the same. Paint me cynical but most people have barely enough time to feed their own ego and very little time left to feed yours.

How was your meal?

You won’t have to wait long today before you hear the phrase “I’m so busy” – perhaps you’ll be the one saying it. “My life is busy. I am alone in a wind tunnel of busyness fighting the faceless foe known as ‘work load’. No one else is busier. How important I am to be so busy.”

When you start treating people like people, they become people.
Paul Vitale

Give it a shot - take the time to compliment him on his presentation or on her promotion. There is no such thing as a selfless act, so enjoy how you feel when you make someone feel good. Perhaps next time you feel the urge to huffily mention “no one appreciates me around here” someone will rush to your rescue.

km

Stop Selling. Start Asking.

Every day, I read another article about how the advertising world is changing. The advertising world is always changing. Ad Age published an article today about the broken ad model and what we should do next.

In all my years in media, I have been bombarded with people who say I am in the advertising business. The claim is often that we only care about revenue to the the detriment of the viewer/user/consumer/listener. Any company that tries to execute such a business plan is finished before starting.

Wal-Mart has done a remarkable job promoting their superior price point. Whether they have the best prices on every single item in their stores, is irrelevant. Starbucks provides a warm comfortable home-like atmosphere while you wait for your $4 pumpkin spice latte. And Jiffy Lube gets you in and out of the service bay in fifteen minutes.

Before deciding on stories and mediums and fancy slug lines, we must pay close attention to what you want to say and what you want to sell. Integration of product, client and customer are essential. But what is more important is connecting with people. “They” are not some mass of beings with no souls or faces. They are us and we are them. We are all in advertising, we are all customers, we all want solutions and stories.

In our user-generated world, it’s time for us to stop thinking we have all the answers and start asking a lot more honest questions of each other, and drop the charade that we all know what’s best.

km