Have you ever felt like the taffy, in a taffy pulling contest?
10 attaboys wiped out by one awe-shucks
We’ve all been there. It could be an evening out at a special restaurant or a week at a 5-star resort - things are going along just perfectly and then … the mistake, a mishap, miscommunication, the oops! Your overall experience may have been a solid 10, but many of us will remember and relay that one negative incident. The people that hear of your experience can’t relate to the positive feelings because they were not there, and some may even be jealous.
They will however remember those negative issues because they can relate them to a similar experience. And that is what will register when they think about their future trip to St. Bart or that new restaurant in town.
Hurricane Katrina lesson - treat them like family
In August 2005, we learned a new name … Katrina. What a beautiful name. And now it reminds people of devastation and disaster from the CAT5 Hurricane that slammed into New Orleans displacing millions of people. From day one this storm was more than anyone planned for. The infrastructure wasn’t strong enough to mitigate damage nor were the relief efforts well organized. Interagency fights were battling for power. It was not one person's fault, just a series of bad decisions over decades.
As the relief efforts stumbled, President Bush assigned Admiral Thad Allen to take over. Taking care of the people at all costs was the message he gave the Admiral. This is where the title of the blog comes from. The victims were the taffy. Stuck in the middle of FEMA, the National Guard, local police, and dozens of other agencies that were in a taffy pulling contest for control.
After evaluating the situation for a day or so, Admiral Thad Allen of the US Coast Guard had an all-hands meeting. There were 1,600 people gathered in an Aircraft hanger to hear this message. And it was as clean and clear as it needed to be.
“During this relief effort, treat these people like you would your own family, because one of two things will happen.”
You will show them the support that they need so desperately.
If you make a mistake you are going to err in their favor, and that is never wrong
The key here was to err on the side of customer satisfaction. The victims of the Gulf area were going through a horrific experience. The Admiral wanted his team to know that there was empathy for them and that his team was truly there to help. They were there to remove obstacles not give them more paperwork and headaches.
The lesson here
In business you can do the same thing. The goal is to avoid frustrating your customers. The best way to do this is to empower the people on your team to quickly answer questions. Give them the flexibility to treat the customer like they would a cousin. Have empathy for the situation. Give the authority to the first person who comes in contact with a problem to FIX it, no matter what, with no consequences on the decision. If the team member makes a poor decision, use it as a coaching moment AFTER the customer leaves.
Anytime your team member puts someone on hold to answer a question or transfer to someone else, one thing is sure to happen. Frustration builds. That is the awe shucks moment you want to avoid. With today’s social media, while that frustrated customer is on hold they can tweet, snap, IG, and FB a negative statement about your company. The 10 or 10,000 of his closest followers will see this and register that complaint with your brand. Future buying decisions are being altered. Posts are shared, commented on, and then the beasts of the internet take over.
Hierarchy of Decision Making / Empowerment (simplified)
As you determine what decisions can be delegated or empowered to others, use this 3-step process … When you look back at all the decisions you needed to make this week, ask yourself?
Was someone else capable to handle this- You should have delegated it
If that someone is capable, but not yet trained - Train and coach them them
Are you the only one capable, or accountable to make this decision - Look for someone to mentor
You need to spend your time working on the business, not in the business. This is a good step to reduce your to-do list and empower your team. As a leader you shouldn’t be looking for more followers, your goal is to develop more leaders. When you are through with your to-do list analysis, have your management team do the exact same thing. Move as much to the front line as possible. It will make your team more accountable and you will be developing decision makers and future leaders.
For those of you that noticed I missed a few blogs … I was the taffy in an all-inclusive resort (hospital) for the past week or so. Lucky for me, and unfortunately for the team of doctors that received unsolicited leadership advice, we got it all worked out. My blogs may be a little sporadic over the next few weeks, but the overall prognosis is excellent. I’ll be my fiery self in just a short time.
In the meantime, review your to-do lists. Start identifying others on the team that can take over those tasks and decisions. It may be hard work today, but you’ll have a better tomorrow!