Bury Your Ego... It Just Doesn't Matter

I recently invested in myself and my company by attending a Glazer Kennedy Inner Circle event.  While there, I went to lunch at an indepen-dent fast food style Mexican restaurant.  The food was so good, I ate there 2 of the 4 days I was at the event. 
   
While I was waiting for my order a lady came up and said, “I ordered beans and got rice instead.”  The clerk replied, “You ordered #1 with rice and salad, and two #3s beans and rice.”  The lady replied, “Well, I wanted beans.”  To which the clerk said, “I can give you a side of beans.”
   
In this exchange, it was obvious the cost of the beans was totally irrelevant – it was a tiny cup of refried beans for crying out loud!  The clerk’s EGO was the issue.  Why did she need to tell the client that she was wrong?... EGO. 
   
A more timid client would have likely have turned around without reiterating that she wanted beans, ate, left, and never come back.  Who knows, in fact this client may not come back after being “put in her place” by the clerk.   Remember, 68% of clients who leave one business and take their business somewhere else do so because they were treated with indifference.  There is a huge chance that this client will go somewhere else after being treated rudely.
   
Anyone who deals with your clients needs to be trained to put their ego aside.  In this case just say, “Oh, I’m sorry, let me get you a side of bean.”  No EGO, no “putting someone in their place”, no chance for an upset client, no blame, just fix the problem.  Most client problems are just this simple.  It just doesn’t matter.  And it sure as heck is not worth embarrassing a client or making a client look bad.

Another basic idea of Make-You-Happy Customer Service to Steal, Tweak and Distribute.  Remember, this is in no way encouraging you to do anything illegal or unethical.  Just keep your eyes out for ideas anywhere so you can steal the idea, tweak it for your business, and distribute it to your team and/or clients, 
   
In this case I’m going to Steal, Tweak and Distribute from Nike’s saying, “Just Do It”.  But we’re going to use a happy face and the words, “Just Fix It” to remind our team that most client problems can easily be fixed by remembering, “It Doesn’t Matter, Just Fix It.”