With a great snow blower comes great responsibility

It’s snowing in Halifax. Surprise, surprise. It is winter after all and in this city, with winter comes snow.

And with snow comes the expected waist-high dump mountain of ploughed snow at the end of every driveway left, with love, by the city.

For the last two years, the neighbour on our left (your right) has, when the weather was particularly nasty, wandered over with his snow blower to help carve out the gift left by the plough. The first time we experienced this in 2010. I was busy focused on cleaning my steps when I heard the sounds of turbine blades at the foot of my driveway. There he was, machine in hand, pushing through what the city had left us. Arcs of snow rooster-tailed gracefully into the air as he cut through the hill of powder and ice.

I walked to the end of my driveway and had the first of what would be many chats with my neighbour. We talked of work and weather, family and fate. And as he attacked the hip-high hill, I would work on his lane, shoveling the smaller areas. We worked like tandem, moving snow in unison, each helping the other with the tools at hand.

Last summer, he moved away. I had lost my shovelling partner in crime. And today, during the big weather event, I missed him.

But something interesting happened...

My wife came down to my office to inform me that our other neighbour on the right (your left) was in our driveway carving a path through the waist-high mountain of snow left by the street plough. Of course, I needed to gear up and get out there! You cannot let someone show that type of spirit with making an appearance. There he was, red snow plough in hands, cutting into the pile. I walked out to him so that he could see me wave in appreciation. So that I could make my thanks evident.

He turned off the machine and smiled at me.
“I didn’t know you had a snow blower! Thanks so much for the help.” I said.
“Just got it this year – bought it off of Paul when he moved. Happy to help!” he replied.
Paul was the neighbour on our left (your right). It’s was Paul’s snow blower.

It seems that the new owner had not only bought the snow blower, but with the purchase, acquired the ‘responsibility’ that came with it. He now had the means to help those on either side of him when he could, using the tools at his disposal when the right time presented itself. He understood the tradition and stepped up to the responsibility.

School was in session today. The school yard was snowy and the lesson came in arcs of snow. Perhaps one day, I’ll be in possession of the snow blower, running the red machine between houses of shovellers hard at work. If that happens, I’ll take the responsibility seriously.

After all. It's the human thing to do.

A thought on service: "Does your coffee cup fit?"

Last week, I was on the road for business. Five hotels in five days meant that I saw a wide range of facilities and met a lot of people. From simple to fancy, happy to apathetic, you see quite the variety over the period of a week.

When I wake up in a hotel, it doesn't matter what hotel, I normally need coffee. See, I don’t sleep well in hotels when I travel on my own. After close to 20 years of marriage, I sleep well when my wife is lying beside me and after I've checked one last time at night that the kids are comfortable in their beds. My body doesn't understand alone – and I'm perfectly alright about that. This being the case, to me, coffee in the morning in a hotel room is very important.

Every hotel seems to offer a different in-room coffee experience. Some have the older classic two-cup pots; others have upped their game with single serve Keurig machines. In one of the rooms I camped out in, they had a low tech, single cup machine. To add ‘value’, they provided take out cups. No mugs, just the to-go cups. Fine – a trade-off to keep the coffee station simple. I can live with trade-offs.

Unfortunately, all this good intention was scuppered by one small detail. 

The to-go cups were too tall to fit into the coffee maker.

Yes. The one vessel in the entire room that was put there for the sole purpose of capturing the beautiful coffee nectar as it came forth from the machine (I did say I needed coffee...) didn't fit into the machine.

I was stunned. How had no one bothered to see if the travel cup they provided, an intentional decision made most likely with the best of intentions, actually fit into the machine?

So what do I do? Being me, I change the cup and make it work. I carefully fold, twist and crush the edges of that cup down until the rim is low enough to fit into the machine. Once the coffee fills the ‘modified’ vessel, I pour it into the other non-mutilated cup. I have found a solution to an operator’s problem, one that impacts the overall value of the experience.

Here is the real question. How many times have you done something for your customers with the best of intentions, say change a segment of a product or a service, but failed to check and see if it fits within the existing delivery system? Are you making decisions from the position of a disengaged operator or through the eyes and actions of a customer? 

Too many business operators think that when we preach about amazing service, we are simply putting personal interactions above product interactions. This is where you would be confused.

The second that my coffee cup doesn't fit into the coffee machine, we have a service delivery breakdown. My private interaction with the coffee cup, a product interaction, has created mental disharmony and service disappointment, a personal interaction. They are combined, intimately related and ultimately inseparable.

Service is about every moment that your customer interacts with your brand, whether that is a person or a product. Customers don’t differentiate disappointment.

So – go check. Does your coffee cup fit?

Curiousity & talent are a powerful combination

I've been teaching over a decade now and have seen a lot of students.

Some show up, some don't. Some do the work, some don't. I know the game, having been a student myself for the better part of my life. I've had the pleasure of meeting and teaching some great ones, students who have gone on to solid careers and success. I've also met my share of challenges.

Occasionally, I run across a student that pulls my attention away from the centre mass of the group. One that pulls me in a way I did not expect. One that has talent, but that's not enough. I've had many talented students, gifted to solve problems. To them, answers come easy and solutions are apparent.

But every now and again, a curious student pops up. Ah, that sweet fresh air of curiosity that blows in like a spring breeze. A curious student brushes away all the mild frustrations of those who are just going through the motions. They reignite a slow burning fire to do more. And normally they show themselves with a question.

'I'm sorry to bother you, but I have a question."

They are humble. You see, curiosity doesn't have space for ego; realizing that there is more to learn and asking questions removes all the space needed to hold onto the notion that you might know it all.

I have one such student right now, every week asking deep, well constructed questions outside of the public eye of the class. Asking me to dig a little deeper and provide a well thought out answer to topics not covered by the curriculum. Because a course outline isn't why they are here. It's the quest, the hunger to dig deeper. To ask questions because, well, there are questions to be asked.

Suffice it to say that when someone apologizes for asking for more knowledge, not only is it my job to step forward and engage; it is my pleasure. I too am a student. I too am curious and you have opened up a new lesson for us to challenge.

Thank you.

Caritas Day & an invitation to guest blog

Last year, I experienced my first Caritas Day here at Mount Saint Vincent University. It is a day when classes are set aside and the spirit of giving selflessly is embraced. My thoughts are that first experience were captured in the post 'When the Sisters schooled the Prof'

I am honoured this year to have been invited by Dr. Ramona Lumpkin, President of Mount Saint Vincent University, to write a guest blog for 'A View from the Mount' about Caritas Day and the importance of being socially engaged with your community.

Please take a minute to connect through and read about our traditions. Don't forget to leave a comment too!

The Power of "Thank You"

The other day I came home and found a card on my wife’s desk. Before you think that I was snooping, the corner of her desk is normally where she puts the family mail. When I looked to see who the card was from, I found that it was a thank you note from our new dentist. The office staff had all signed a card thanking my wife for recommending me to the clinic.

A little odd you might think. Isn’t it natural that when one person in a family finds a good service, the rest of the family uses that same service provider? Isn’t it...obvious?

No. It’s not obvious. I have the ability to choose for myself who to go do, and this dentist’s office understands that fact. If my wife and I end up in the same place, our kids will likely go there. If we are happy with the service, we’ll stay, talk about it, even recommend more people.

Our local dentist’s office understands the power of ‘thank you’, of moving away from an assumption of satisfaction, from an email or voice message. They took the time to sign a card and say it personally. They invested a little bit of themselves into the relationship.

Over the last three weeks, I’ve received a few hand-written cards of thanks. I keep each one and display time in my office like Christmas cards. To me, the senders of these cards understand the need to get back to the basics of human relationships. For that, I celebrate their actions and their tokens.

How do you like to be thanked? How important is this human touch in your world? Let me know in the comments. 

Sharing stories & expanding communities

Back in August, I started to engage in a few conversations about guest blogging.

Having a relatively short blogging history IMHO (under 40 blogs to date), the idea of contributing to another person's blog was exciting. I could think about the messages that I wanted to share in other places, the tone that I wanted to convey and work on different topics.

At the time that I wrote this post, I had been to Shakespeare by the Sea here in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They do a fantastic job putting on outdoor theatre and working with the audience that I was inspired to draw some links between live theatre and customer service (not a huge stretch, I know).

After I wrote and submitted it, I started to think about what it meant to share content on other blogs - taking my material to the home field of other people. It struck me that this type of sharing and engaging was exactly why I jumped into social media. To share my stories with others while I worked through them myself. To interact and engage with both like-minded and other-minded people. And to expand my community in the process. My new community now includes Daniel Sharkov, a 17 year old blogger that's expanded my education about blogging, sharing and the development of an online network.

Without a doubt, I'll be taking up more guest blogging opportunities. It was great fun. I guess I can also continue to be comfortable with my blog title "The Education of a Prof". I'm still learning.

Leave it better than we found it

Anyone who is a parent understands that there are days (weeks, months...insert the timeline appropriate to you) where you feel that you are just talking into the air and your kids just aren’t listening. It doesn’t seem that anything you say or do is connecting. It can be frustrating; you never know if you’re making a difference. It’s not dissimilar to the feelings we can have at work with our students or customers. How much of what we are trying to communicate are they getting? It appears sometimes that they aren’t completely engaged – is our message wasted?

Fortunately, we get reminded every now and again about the impact we can have on those around us.

I’ve been away from home travelling on a 4 day trip. The main way that I get updated on the boys is through text messaging from my wife. Sadly, I miss a lot of the little things – their goofy games and imagination, as well as the dramatic intrigue that tends to develop between two brothers. The other afternoon, I received this message.

`Your son is picking up napkins off all the tables, because `Daddy said to leave it better than we found it.”

One simple text and I melted. I felt pride as I read this message, thrilled that my 5 year old could clearly explain why he was helping to clean up tables in the food court at the shopping mall.

As I think of this, I’m struck by two lessons.

First, we need to always be aware of the influence we can have on other people. Sometimes, our messages can have instant reactions; however, often our communications, actions and words have long standing influences that don’t immediately manifest themselves. Trust that those around you are paying attention to both what you say and what you do.

Second, shouldn’t we always be striving to leave things better than we found them? Why shouldn’t we pick up that napkin someone left behind? Sure, it’s not ‘our job’, but if we have the power to make things better with such a minimal action, why shouldn’t we help out. More than objects, wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could leave people feeling better than when we found them through acts of kindness and compassion?

Pure idealism? More than likely.

But when my 5 year old is diligently picking up napkins to leave the food court better than how he found it, I think it’s time to strive for a more idealistic world. Because in that moment, he became the teacher.

Customer service is how you operate your business.

Most of this week, I’ve been having conversations with people about customer service. Ok, this week it’s been more like debates about what service is and how to treat customers. You see, there seems to be a group of people who think that customer service is all about giving customers free stuff. That’s it, just giving them free stuff.

As if customers really walk out of a store and say, “Honey! You wouldn’t believe the service I just received! They gave me a 10% discount – that’s amazing service!” This isn’t service. It’s pricing. There is NO service going on here at all.

Giving amazing service is about listening to your customers, paying attention to how they behave and what they want, then enacting that as well as communicating it to them. My wife went into our local big box bookstore this week to complete an exchange. She didn’t have a receipt, just the unread book given to her as a gift. It costs the bookstore absolutely nothing for this transaction. Zero. Nevertheless, she needed to fill out forms and answer questions. Why? So that the store felt comfortable that they weren’t being ripped off. The unintended consequence is that store is actually saying they naturally distrust their customers. This is a bad process, clearly showing how tied service is to operations.

If you are in the business of dealing with people, how you interact with them and move them through their experiences with you needs to be viewed as service. This became crystal clear tonight when I took the kids to McDonald's.

Anyone who has been to a newly renovated McDonald's can appreciate the time invested in designing a restaurant that is attractive for both senior and junior clientele. New colours, patterns, and textures scream out, “This is not the fast food restaurant of the 1980’s.” For this they should be congratulated.

But which architectural genius forgot to include a proper queue system? You see, at these new McDonald's, people randomly gather en masse in front of the order counter without any indication of how to line up. Is it one line per cashier? One common line up? Really, it is just a mass of people constructing their own ‘line’ waiting for the next cashier to yell out, ‘I can help the next person in line!”

This is not nuclear physics. We are not splitting atoms.

Yet without an established structure that serves customers through the wait, the order, and the pickup, McDonald's has created disservice. That’s right. Customers stand around confused, bumping into each other, not knowing when to advance or how to pick up their food. The basic food service delivery system fails to acknowledge how customers behave and what they need. At a quick service restaurant, no one wants to feel stupid or awkward. Do the basic operations of your business help customers connect with you or create disharmony?

Service isn’t about the free-bees. It is about listening, paying attention, and doing things that help the customer. Period. If your operations are poorly organized or poorly executed, your service suffers and the relationship you have with your customers break down.

When policies are put ahead of people.

Whenever you travel around for a couple of weeks, whether on vacation or for business, you have the opportunity to experience many examples of customer service.

I’ve been on the road now for 12 days of a 19 day trip. In that time, I’ve collected some great experiences and examples of customer service. I’ve met the cashier at Wal-Mart who was exceedingly helpful and friendly, the trainee at Tim Hortons who had severe difficulty with the entire ‘pour coffee in cup’ concept, and the very serious salesperson at Brooks Brothers that ended up teaching my 4 year old to whimsically hide in amongst the clothing racks.

While moving around day to day, occasionally, there are moments that truly catch you by complete surprise. One of these happened to me in North Conway, New Hampshire.

Deciding to enjoy the benefits of tax-free shopping for our ever-growing boys, we stopped in at The Children’s Place. We’ve shopped at this retail brand before in Halifax. We knew that we’d find suitable clothes at some great prices in the outlet shop. We always had a reasonably good experience with them.

After picking out about six items, we headed over to pay. Waiting in line, I noticed the lady at the cash register having an odd conversation with both the cashier and the manager. After a few minutes, she promptly turned around, walked up to me as the next in line and handed me a coupon, saying “Well, someone should be able to use it. Enjoy.” Then, she then leaves the store. She doesn’t have a happy air about her.

Ok. Random. Generous. Unexpected.

Of course, now I want to know the whole story. As the cashier starts ringing up my items, I casually inquire about what just happened.

“That was nice of her - why couldn’t she use that coupon?” I ask.

“You have to present that coupon before you pay for your clothes. She had forgotten it in her pocket until after she paid. It’s no good after you pay.”

Apparently, this customer had honestly forgotten about the coupon until just after she paid. This happens sometimes; when you’re trying to herd kids through a shopping experience, you can sometimes even forget your own name. When she realized she’d forgotten about the coupon, she asked the clerk if she could still use it. The cashier promptly quoted the store policy.

Being clever, the customer happily asked to return her items, get a refund and then use her coupon. Simple enough, perhaps even something the cashier might have offered.

Nope. The cashier calls over the manager to explain this customer’s plan. What were the manager’s possible response options?

a)      “Of course. That was an honest oversight. Let me help you over here. We love you as a customer!”

b)      “That was your mistake. Sorry, but refunds are a bunch of paperwork. If we do it for you, we’ll need to do it for everyone.”

Yup, he went with option B. Actually refused the refund and request for help. The manager and the cashier rolled their eyes at that customer as she left, obviously thinking her request crazy and their response righteous. After all, they just protected $10 (or whatever amount it could have possibly have been) in revenue from an unprepared coupon user!

What a lost moment, one in which the staff could have showcased their customer dedication in front of a line up of other clients. Now, we all have a bad taste in our mouths. They might as well post a sign at the cash saying "Our policy is to make you feel wrong."

How many more times do you think that she’ll shop at The Children’s Place? How many people will she tell? How many blogs will her story show up in? Will she tell people on Facebook? Twitter? Yelp? Google+?

These once private events of service neglect are no longer private.

For anyone fanatical about creating awesome customer experiences, this was an opportunity to impress, to excel and to create another customer advocate. In today’s service economy, companies need to educate every single employee about the value of the customer experience.

How do you expect to be treated? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Sunshine 101: A Service Primer

The sun has come out today in Halifax. Finally, it's warm and bright.

People seem happier today. They are walking with a bounce in their step and have that extra little smile on their face, as if demonstrating that their internal power source is indeed solar powered. And today, they get to fill up their tanks.

As I was reading some papers out in the sun earlier, soaking up some of nature's happiness, I stopped to reflect on the power of the sun. When these rays shine down upon us, we feel better. Act better. Are ready to tackle projects and jump in with both feet. The sunshine seems to push away our blues and negativity.

I think the same thing happens when we encounter someone with sunshine in themselves, those people with sunny dispositions and positive attitudes around whom we can't help but feel warmed by.

We've all met that extra helpful cashier who seems so genuinely happy to see us that the mere process of paying for groceries became a treat. Or the server at our favourite restaurant who greets us like an old friend, even during the busiest of times.

Personally, I recall a certain toll taker, far my senior in age, who works the Maine Turnpike on the I-95. Eight hours each day, five days every week, her job is to sit in a small booth, all by herself on the busy highway, and collect fees from thousands of passing motorists. Surrounded by people while somewhat isolated. When I happened to reach her booth on that busy morning a few years back, she gave me a warm "Hello there!" as she collect my $10 bill. As I received my change, she looked directly at me, gave me a big smile, and said, "You have yourself a great day hon." Instantly, my day was better because she let her sun shine.

What are your thoughts on sun? Does its warmth make you happier and put you in a better mood?

Perhaps I'll design a service course for my students called "Sunshine 101". Or maybe I'll just spend another hour reading papers on my deck while my tanks fill up.

I have seen the ‘Best-Stop’ & it is good!

If you’ve been following my thoughts over the last few months, you know that I’m a huge fan of amazing customer service. Customers should be THE primary focus of your business. Service providers must listen and respond authentically; your business must truly give a crap about each and every person who you have the potential of interacting with.

I believe that the humanization of commerce is the next era in business development.

Of course, the humanization of business isn’t just about amazing face to face service. That would be far too simplistic for business success. Every part of our business needs to think ‘customer first’. Key parts of this include the physical structure, infrastructure and design. 

I’ve just returned from a decent size road trip with my family (two adults, two kids under six years old) of 3400+ km over four days, During that trip, I repeatedly encountered parts of the service equation that are most essential to road warriors. The rest stop.

Over the last four years, the province of Ontario has invested in the construction of new, modern and standardized service centres called “ONroute”. As the leased properties of older service centres along both Highways 401 & 400 have come up, the Ontario government has been replacing the old, eclectic, out-dated service centres with standardized modern facilities.

These are the services designed into each of the stations:

• Parking lots that are consistent and simple to navigate
• Gas pumps with hoses designed to reach both sides of your car (no more waiting in line for the pump on the correct side)
• Environmentally friendly buildings, utilizing water free urinals, low consumption toilets and the coolest touchless hand dryers I’ve seen in a long time!
• Designated rest and exercise areas of pets; no more trying to walk Fido around the old tiny grass perimeters
• A design that allows for natural lighting to be provided to 75% of all areas

You might wonder why I would be so excited about service centres. Here’s why. Millions of tourists travel the highways of Ontario every year. Millions of tourists require fuel, food and facilities during their trip. Service centres can be staffed with the nicest people under heaven, but if the bathroom is dirty and broken down, every stop becomes a disgusting experience, a punishment for participating in the necessary and predictable exchange of food and fluids.

Now, in Ontario, the infrastructure has become clean, fresh and modern. I actually looked forward to making a stop just so that I could marvel at all the thought put into these facilities. After travelling through three other provinces to return home, I think other provinces could learn a huge lesson here. Investment in facilities sends a clear message to your customers: we want your travel dollars, appreciate your needs on the road, and are willing to service you to the very best of our abilities.

The government of Ontario listened to their customers. Then they actually did something about it. Well done!

Understanding Value from the Customer's Chair

In my last blog post about the airline industry, I spoke about the low cost pricing strategy currently used by many airline companies. These companies are trying to ‘create’ value. In essence, they have stripped bare every single service as a separate consumable. The logic here is to provide consumers with freedom of choice. You can pick this service but not that service - everything is a la carté. 

When you fly with most airlines, you pay separately for:

• The flight
• Your checked baggage
• Your choice of seat
• Possible flight changes
• Food
• Select beverages

Here’s the fundamental problem with this pricing structure: it completely fails to consider HOW value is created and WHO creates it.

Customers determine value. A product or service has no value until it is assigned by the customer. Me.

Value is determined through a combination of a) the quality of the product or service, b) the responsiveness of the service provider in every single interaction, and c) the ability of the product or service to solve my problem.

Low quality products have little value. Those items that you bought at the dollar store over the weekend have a low quality. They might have solved your immediate problem, but if/when they break, you won’t be crying about it. Responsiveness (listening) builds value; when the barista at the coffee house remembers my coffee and preps it when I walk in the coffee house, I become a loyal customer. Finally, products / services have to solve problems. Every single company needs to understand that they are in the problem-solving business.

When you choose to segment your offerings into separate items, in some cases you are actually making it harder for your customers to deal with you. You are punishing them instead of rewarding them.

How about this – all flyers get one checked bag free. Always. On every route. If they show up to the check-in counter without a checked bag, you instantly give them a $20 voucher that can be applied to their next flight. Fully transferable and always redeemable. Let customers use as many of them together as they like! This would be seen as a massive bonus, a victory instead of a punishment.

Charge people once, then pile on all of the products and services that give greater quality, that show me you’re listening, and that solve my problems.

Porter Airlines has figured this out. Porter is a regional airline that has chosen very specific routes to maximize passengers and minimize costs. They use the same planes on most/all of their routes. Very efficient. When you purchase a ticket to fly on Porter, you get the flight, two carry-on bags, one checked bag, in-flight snacks and beverage (both non-alcoholic and alcoholic) all included. Everything you need to get from, say, Toronto to Boston is included. No additional fees, no extra costs. This also means that each time you see a Porter staff member, their only role is to make sure your travel is smooth and to thank you for flying Porter Airlines.

Businesses have the opportunity to create offerings, but customers always determine the value. Every single time business makes it harder or put the work back on the customer, the value of the offering suffers.

Value is a perception, not an equation.

Observations on Customer Service from 40,000 ft

Take Off

Just recently, I returned from a trip to Hawaii. It was quite a fantastic trip, one that I hope to be able to do again...soon =).

Yet, anyone who has travelled can appreciate that moving two adults and two kids from the east coast of Canada to the beauties of Honolulu has a number of challenges. Timing, food, activities, entertainment, and the necessary naps all need to be thought out in advance. When spending close to 15 hours in transit each way, there are more than enough details and situations to keep us busy.

Our airline, Continental Airlines, decided that our journey needed a little more action. As someone who studies and teaches customer service for a living, here are a few of my observations, captured under “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”.

The Good

The ‘good’ was shown in two standout moments of service.

The first came during our flight home on the red eye. The flight attendant was passing by offering drinks. I, of course, had a sleeping 4 year old nested on top of me and could not move. When she asked if I would like something, I jokingly said that I’d love a glass of wine but my wallet was buried under a 40 lb sack of potatoes. Without blinking, she placed a bottle of red and a glass on my table with a note that I should just come find her when I was freed. What awesome heads up service and a demonstration of trust!

The second moment came during our last leg of the trip home. Again, the flight attendant (seriously, these front line gems really do make all the difference!) had a ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ attitude and an in-your-face charm that created a relaxed and fun trip. Her landing script: “We’re putting this plane down in Halifax so your seats need to be in the upright position. For those of you that are confused about this, you push that little silver button on your arm rest then lean forward. If you are sitting in the most uncomfortable position possible, you got it right.” She was a shining example of the character found with SouthWest or WestJet.

Observations: Your front line people are the face, brand, and voice of your company. When they treat customers as real people through active listening, appropriate responses and authentic interactions, they exponentially magnify value.

The Bad

The ‘bad’ stemmed from a combination of miscommunication and horrible service recovery.

About a week before our trip, I was having challenges with the airline’s website, so I (gasp) called their service centre to ask about baggage sizes and fees. Over the phone, I was told that the first bag from Canada to Hawaii was free; I still have the notes and confirmed the details twice. I called because we didn’t need any hiccups at the airport.

When we arrived, the self check-in system (see below for the ‘ugly’) was trying to charge us $25 per bag. Looking for help, we found two agents talking at the front counter but they kept pushing us back to the self-service kiosks before they would speak with us. After some tension, we explained about the telephone call. The response: they just pointed to the fee sign. “But I was speaking with someone from your company?!” I said. Another point of the finger to the posted fees. Finally, a supervisor jumped in to move things along. Two things happened: A) The information that was passing along by the agent to the supervisor about my phone call was referred to as my ‘claim’, right in front of me (read: you’re lying), and B) we were told multiple times how wrong we were before they finally waived the fees.

Observations: The customer may not always be right, but the customer is always the customer. Even if I was horribly wrong, your role is to take care of me and make things right. Rubbing salt in the wound means you lose.

Side note to all airlines currently charging for luggage: If I can check one bag for no charge on a 3 hour flight to the Caribbean, I should be able to check one bag for no charge on a 12+ hour flight to Hawaii. They are both international. Seriously – get over this flawed business plan. Better yet, charge me $25 more for the ticket and give everyone, everywhere their first checked bag free. This instantly raises the value of your service; people willingly pay for greater value.

The Ugly

Like most airlines today, Continental has self-service kiosks. Frequent travellers know the procedures and can navigate this system quickly. However, other travellers need more assistance, so they need to use the staffed service counter. Sure, self-service kiosks can create efficiencies and reduce wages. But if they are your only source of service, it is a prime point for bottlenecks.

At the Honolulu International Airport, Continental Airlines has 10 self-service kiosks. Yup - ten. On the day we were departing, eight were functional, and the line up to use these machines was nearly out of the airport. This is because many leisure travellers are also infrequent travellers who require more time to navigate the self-service processes.

Here’s the kicker: As I waited in line for nearly 40 minutes, I counted seven Continental staff members working behind the self-service kiosks helping passengers get their boarding passes, weight and check luggage, and have various travel questions answered.

If you have seven staff members monitoring eight self-service kiosks, you can no longer call it self-service. Period. Full stop. End of story. Bring in an additional person, staff every functioning station, and label it correctly: customer service.

Observations: Every time you dehumanize contact with your customers under the name of efficiency, you erode the value. And each time you dehumanize an interaction, you will need to infuse the human touch at another point.

Landing

Continental Airlines isn’t the only company missing a service focus. But they are the one that I spend 30+ hours engaged and interacting with, encountering dozens of staff members. Some individuals were absolutely wonderful. But the underlying focus on people seemed absent.

Service industries need to shake off business processes designed for the industrial age. Luggage can be transported efficiently through an airport. People have needs, emotions and perceptions; handle them with the care they deserve.

In today’s business environment, especially in any service industry, putting processes in front of people will be the quickest path to failure.

Don’t forget the ‘social’ in social media

Back in my early days at university, I knew a guy on a quest. He would go out every weekend to the clubs. He was brutally honest about his end game – he wanted to ‘pick up’. (One day my kids might read this; I’d rather explain the concept of ‘pick up’ over some of the other terms.) His technique was always the same: walk up to his first potential target, make introductions, ask if she was interested in his ‘sale’, duck, control the damage, move on to the next girl. 



When asked why he used such an incredibly aggressive approach, he would always reply that if he asked enough people, he would generally find one person who would say yes. To him - this meant success.



"Let's try listening!"



However, the metrics of his actions were always lost on him. Horrible success rate! Terrible conversion! Too much talking and absolutely no listening.

But much more important: How many people did he leave insulted and offended in his wake? And how many of these people talked to others about him? His reputation as a weasel (sometimes ridiculously classified as a ‘player’) was solidified quickly and lasted an incredibly long time.

In the social environment, he was less interested in engagement and more interested in closing the deal…a deal…ANY deal!

This story jumped into my head today as I was scanning my twitter feeds. I noticed a bunch of tweets directed right to me from people I have not yet spoken to or engaged with. Many of them wanted me to go to their Facebook page, their webpage, read their business model, or look at their Amazon book.

I’ve just met them in a social media universe, and there is nothing social happening. Twitter and other such online tools are social in nature. Whether you’re communicating, collaborating or putting out multimedia, it’s all primarily social. You share with me, I share with you. We get to know each other over time. Within our first 50 tweets, the odds that I’ll look at your twitpic of a rain puddle or a cute puppy are exponentially higher than the chances I’ll like anything on your FB page.

I’m relatively new to the twitterverse (@williamcmurray), having been there about 5 months. I have 300+ followers, made 1700 total tweets with an average of 11 a day, and I’m following nearly 500 people. However, following some early advice from Scott Stratten (@unmarketing), I’m maintaining a reply / retweet percentage of over 70%. Seven out of every 10 tweets I make are either engaging in a conversation with someone or sharing content that I think is cool. My community is slowly growing at a manageable pace, equal to the amount of time I spend engaging.

To my friends in social media, both today and tomorrow, let’s make a pact. We’ll keep listening, continue to engage, commit to interacting with each other, and agree to stay real. And no, you won’t need to sign up for my newsletter to do that.

Short time is hard time

An open letter to university / college students:

Final exams begin in six weeks or so. Perhaps it's a great stressor that final exams are coming up. Maybe it's the 'or so' part.

My experience in teaching tells me that this is crunch time for many students; a time to reflect on their performance in the last six weeks and six months. It is a time to pull up socks and engage with material. A time to jump into the game.

The weather is changing - spring is in the air. No wait. Employment is in the air! Jobs and money, work and reward.

Yes, it is time to successfully finish one journey and move on to another. If you are in a position at school that brings your success into question, consider the following:

1. Time management - Everything you need to know about success in your courses is contained in your course outline. Read it again. Put every single date into your calendar.
2. A calendar - If you do not maintain a calendar, do this NOW. Not in 5 days, not in 5 hours - NOW. Plan every single thing that you must do over the next 7 weeks, then work backwards so that it gets done. Daunting I know, but it must get done. (If you're not willing to build yourself a calendar, flip over to that blog on self-esteem. At least you'll feel better.)
3. Working hard - Yes, you'll need to put in some hours reading, writing and studying. Good news is that you still have time to turn things around. Bad news, you'll likely need to sacrifice some of the other activities in your past activity list.
4. Get help - Every student questioning their status right now should book an appointment with a faculty member to assess performance and get suggestions on improvement. Trying to succeed in school without feedback is like trying to get to the Olympics without a coach. Could happen, but not likely.

Six to seven weeks left. Keep it simple and straight forward.

But that's just my two cents.

WCM

When Sounding Smart is Pretty Dumb

Over the last few days, I’ve been struck by how often my jargon meter has gone off.

All right, I know what you’re thinking, so let me start off by calling out the elephant in the blog. Yes, I’m an academic by profession; with that comes a certain volume of jargon that crops up in our speaking and writing, especially when we are doing so for an audience of our peers. I have spent significant amounts of time discussing the differences between Derrida’s use différance and différence. I have argued about the correct hyphen placement between postpositivism and post-positivism, and yes, I can toss around statistical terms such as leptokurtosis.

I know jargon. So, let’s break this down.

Webster’s dictionary has three clear definitions for jargon. The first is that jargon is a characteristic language of a particular group. As a member of particular groups, I do not necessarily have a problem with jargon when it is language used by and within those specific trades or professions. Most professions have common language that only makes sense within context. Doctors and lawyers, carpenters and plumbers, they all use specific language within their chosen field. This particular use of language may not make sense to an outsider, but it’s not supposed to. So this type of jargon doesn’t set any alarm bells.

The bells do start to ring loudly in two different situations.

The first is what I’ll call ‘spill-over’: the language specific to one professional group spills over from the insider world to those of us out here in the regular world. Spill-over generally occurs when we fail to reset our language filters for context; put another way, we are just not paying attention to our audience. Say you are in a university course (I’ll pick on my people) and your professor starts referring to the curve on the board as leptokurtotic without ever having defined this term before. This would be a case of jargon spill-over and (hopefully!) just an honest error by the professor using a term without considering his or her audience very well. (By the way, a leptokurtotic curve is a bell curve that is kind of squished together with a tall middle peak. Take that to your next trivia game.)

The intention of the spill-over must always be assessed. Spill-overs can occur honestly, such as the example I tried to show above. It can also happen intentionally, a sin that needs to be challenged as often as possible. Some people choose to use jargon specific to their profession as a barrier of entry. It becomes their sword and shield of elitism that separates them from those who are not in ‘the know’, not part of ‘them’. When someone intentionally chooses to speak above their audience, the message is being intentionally masked. Here is Webster’s second definition coming out to play: to utter jargon is to talk unintelligibly.

As someone passionate about amazing customer service, there is absolutely no place in a service interaction for intentional jargon used to make others feel inferior. None, zip, zero.

If spill-over is happening in your business by accident, coach your way out of it. Learn to reframe and refocus with each interaction and think, really THINK about your audience. But if spill-over exists because of intent, this must be weeded out quickly. Customers will tolerate honest mistakes, but not arrogance.

Now, some of you are counting - I did mention three definitions of jargon. Webster’s simply calls this third form ‘gibberish’. This type of jargon often gets shuffled off as the evolution of language, but really, it’s just plain nonsense. Here are some examples: items that we can work on are now ‘actionable’, including an additional product or service item into the package now becomes ‘value-added’, playing to our strengths and opportunities is now considered ‘leveraging’, and copying the success of others is now referred to as ‘best-practicing’. So, you end up with people who appear to be reasonably intelligent coming out with phrases like:

“Our change agents will be actioning the identified best practices in order to create a value-added buzz which should level the competitive playing field.”

I heard most of this sentence the other day, not a word of a lie.

When you hear people talking like this, you need to stop them, if not for their sake, then for yours. Should you like them, you could have a private conversation and point out this little problem – remember, you want the best for them. If you don’t like them or are feeling devilish, you could ask them to immediately rephrase what they just said so that a Grade 3 student could understand it. Generally, this is met with uncomfortable silence. Me, I like to use a little bit from Lewis Black. When someone speaks gibberish, I tell them that they are using jargon. And if they still don’t understand, I toss my point just over their head.

In the comments section down below, feel free to share with me some of your favourite examples of jargon – I’d love to hear them! Because this is just my two cents.

WCM

When the voices of tomorrow speak today.

 In 1989, during my first year of undergraduate education, I paid $1,100 for the year of school. Yup - for the whole year! Two semesters of school. Eight months. Ten courses.

Today, that cost is approximately $1,110. Per course. In 21 years, the price of post secondary education has gone up over 10 fold.

Metro News

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that this has been a rather large increase over the last two decades. Sure, everything has increased; the average wage has gone up, the cost of gas has jumped, even a can of Classic Coke (not new Coke - don't get me started on that) has increased. But none of these items have gone up 1000% in the past 20 years, have they? We don't put a ten dollar bill into the pop machine today and didn't pay workers a minimum wage of $0.96 in 1989.

So when I saw the students of Nova Scotia stand up and have their voices heard in a peaceful protest on February 2nd, I was nothing but proud. Here in Nova Scotia, our Premier has raised the cap on provincial tuition to 3%, up from the former increase of ... right - nothing. To compliment this increase, he has served our post secondary institutions with a 4% decrease in funding. Welcome to the second decade of the 21st century and a 'social' government.

If you're a fan of ice cream cones, this in analogous to getting less ice cream on top of a crappier cone. Plus a kick to the knee cap.

When we decide that budgets need to be tightened, why is it that we target those who are eating the least at the table first? Today, our students are saddled with personal debt. Parents, if they can, are having a tougher time supporting their kids to get an education. So, in debt they become, to the average tune of $28,000, with the greatest burden of debt falling to students in the Maritimes.

Nova Scotia is Canada's Education Province. We have 11 universities and 13 community college campuses. Students from our province can confidently remain in their home to earn an outstanding education; students from across Canada and around the globe flock to our schools. Instead of embracing the social values of an education for all, our most socialist government party has decided to turn capitalistic. This is something that frustrates me.

However, over two thousand students here in Halifax decided to take to the streets on Feb 2nd's Day of Action to have their voices heard. They marched in the middle of a snow storm strong enough to close the very schools they attend. They marched in the middle of the downtown streets in which their annual investment of tuition, books and recreational capital flows. They marched in the middle of the day, peacefully expressing their disgust at a tuition increase that serves political gains over provincial growth. They claimed their voice in a process that often moves around them without speaking with them.

My livelihood is made from teaching these young voices. I work with them everyday. And I am thrilled every time they take action, using their voices and intellect to stand up for their opinions and beliefs. They are the leaders of tomorrow. They are strong, smart and stellar, deserving the best that we have to offer. When they stand tall in one voice under one cause, all of those negative whispers of an apathetic generation are rightfully brushed aside.



Putting financial barriers in their path is not the way. They know it, we know it. Could someone tell our government? Better yet, we must encourage our non-apathetic youth to tell them in the next election. For the most powerful tool to bring in a government that supports funding education is through votes.

Politicians understand the marketplace. Show them that the demand is there and they will no doubt supply you with what you desire. They have the ultimate job in customer satisfaction and popularity. They know it and we know it.

From what I see, it's time to start shopping around. But that's just my two cents.

WCM

When in Canada, strap on your skates

When January arrives in the Maritimes, she is followed with the predictable icy weather and snow storms of winter; these are our annual gifts from Mother Nature. Sure, we make a pastime complaining about it with our daily doses of "Is it cold enough for ya?" and "At least you don't need to shovel rain..." when in line waiting for our double-double at Timmies.

But as Canadians, complaining about the weather is tantamount to a birth right. We will not allow anyone else to out-gripe us when it comes to the weather.

I have no doubt that when Samuel de Champlain experienced his first winter on the tiny isle of Saint Croix, a smart-ass teenager from the Passamaquoddy band yelled over a rich-sounding phrase in their native tongue that loosely translated to, "Is it cold enough for ya?"

Yet, in the great words of Rick Mercer, "This is Canada. We have winter. Life sucks. Get a toque and embrace it.” This is where the rubber meet the road. We complain about winter, then embrace the deep freeze for skiing, snowmobiling, sledding, and skating. We do actually suck it up, slap on our toque and embrace it.

So I’m a wee bit confused about the current discussion going on in our fair city of Halifax. In less than 10 days, the 2011 Canada Games begin in Halifax, and where the Games go, so goes infrastructure money. Built on the Halifax Common, we now have the Canada Games Oval, an outdoor ice rink designed for athletic competition. It is big – larger than 3 full NHL skating rinks, and has been open to the public for at least the last five weeks. FREE. Skating lessons provided every Saturday morning for up to 500 people. FREE. Daily bookings for school programs. FREE. Did I mention the free helmet rentals?

The discussion right now is whether or not to keep the Oval, rebuilding it every winter. There is a vocal opposition that stands against the idea, mostly based on costs. Estimates are that the Oval will cost $250,000 every year to rebuild and maintain, money that the opposition sees coming from their tax dollars. Not my tax dollars they say, not for something so trivial.

On the other side of the fence is a growing movement to save the Oval. You see, people are using the Oval in huge numbers, enjoying a skate outside, spending time with and within their community. Doctors have come out in support of the Oval as yet one more way in which people can stay active, especially during the winter months. And just last Tuesday, the “Save the Oval” Association presented a petition signed by over 9,000 people to the HRM Council. They have people lined up to support it, people willing to pay.

No one assumes the free skating will continue. It’s a tool to gain support and build excitement for the Games. So, some quick math is in order. To skate at a rink in the HRM costs approx. $3 per per or $8 per family. Assuming that just those 9,000 people used the Oval next year, say twice a month, that would total about 63,000 visits. At $3 per visit, this generates $189,000. Ok, we’re getting pretty close to cost recovery.

But wait, wherever 60+ thousand people go, so will follow industry. Concessions will absolutely pay to rent space; hot chocolate and those fantastic pastries (that look just like the tail of Canada’s national animal) are huge sellers when skating; just ask the vendors on the Rideau Canal. Coffee, the fair trade variety that my fellow Haligonians sip with great pleasure, and an organic snack would also be a huge hit!

Then there are the major players, whom I’ll refer to as the ‘Big ‘Blades’. The 1990 World Figure Skating Championships Legacy Fund wants to donate $100,000 to the fund over a series of years, no strings attached. Good Life Fitness has already volleyed the amount of $200,000 for the naming rights.
Once the people have actively demonstrated a demand, we won’t need government funding, just the space and vocal support for a healthy community hub. Think of the possibilities – sporting events that bring in sports tourism, or perhaps a Halifax New Years celebration that begins at the Oval and ends at City Hall.

Last Saturday, I looked out my kitchen window, watching kids and adults skate on our neighbourhood pond. Little ones were learning to hold themselves up on single blades; bigger ones were moving with the grace that skaters gain with years of experience. Everyone was sharing the unspoken joy of the community, out together in the cold, getting in the last few minutes before the sun dropped to bed for the night. As I watched for a moment, I realized that it was the infomercial for the Oval. Community, gathering, and happiness.

We cannot fight this joy of community and winter activity. We’re Canadian – it’s also part of our birth right.

Birdies, bells and a biathlon

In Halifax, you have to be living under an industrial size rock not to have realized that in just 13 days, 4 hours and 20 minutes (according to the countdown clock), the 2011 Canada Games decend upon our fair city.

For sports enthusiasts, this means 16 days of Canada’s best athletes performing for national glory and personal pride. Which of these ranks more important would be in the eye of the opinion holder, although I for one think it would be the latter before the former.

For the school kids in Halifax, it is an extra week off of school; yup, two weeks when all of public classes are cancelled. The official reason for this break is so that our youth can enjoy the inspiring events and activities of our national athletes. The only problem is that most parents don’t get a week off in February, much less two, so for many it has become a planned exercise in extended family care.

However, I’m going to be watching the Games closely in order to gauge the level of tourism literacy in Halifax. What is tourism literacy? This is how well our population understands the value of tourism visitors and how well we treat them.

Tens of thousands of visitors will descend on our region for two plus weeks. For many, it will be their first visit to our fine city, our city with roadways designed around a peninsula, a basin, an inlet, a highway and a harbour. Getting lost in Halifax isn’t uncommon, and if you’re not lost then you might be confused by intersections with five and six street options to choose from. I live here – it’s just a regular thing. But for new visitors, it can be mind-boggling.

I mention the traffic as an example because the Games are spread across 13 different venues, 11 of which are in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Here is my question on the traffic. How will our local population react to the massive influx of tourists, driving around Halifax trying to find their venue? Will we honk in annoyance when someone needs to cut in front of us because they are in the wrong lane? Will we curse under our breath when the Rotary slows down as they tentatively try to exit the combat zone?

You see, visitors remember some of the events that they attend, but they will hold close the feelings they have of the place. How they were treated by the locals at dinner, over breakfast, in traffic and just walking down the street. The economic spin off of events such as the Canada Games can be measured immediately; however, this is myopic. The benefits come over the next 18-24 months, when future tourists decide to come back to our region and our province based on either firsthand experiences or the recommendations of their friends and family. Parents who travel here to watch their son or daughter compete and have a warm, welcoming experience will likely a) come back in the next two years for a more leisurely trip or 2) influence someone else to visit with the stories they tell.

I have great faith in Haligonians to step up our game during the Games. After all, this is the Maritimes – hospitality is what we do! But it will be the little things that make the different, the smiles on the street, the quick hellos, the appreciation of their effort to come here in the middle of some less-than-pleasant weather.

So if you find yourself on the roads in February and the driver in front of you seems obviously lost, give them space, a wave and a smile. This patience will help in multiple ways. The likelihood that they will return will go up. They will return with an increased knowledge of our city (thus as better drivers). And our tourism industry will benefit in both dollars and reputation.

Just my two cents…
WCM

When the Sisters school the Prof

What a great day I had today. I was once again a student, learning at the feet of masters.

You see, here at Mount Saint Vincent University, we have an annual event called Caritas Day. It is a day about giving back to the community through volunteerism. The roots of Caritas Day comes from from a fire on campus in January 1951 which displaced students and the Sisters off campus throughout the community. Through the generosity of the community, everyone had a bed to sleep in and a roof over their head. Local halls and parishes served home to classes, keeping our students busy with studies during this tough transition. In return for all of the support, Caritas Day occurs every year in January when classes are cancelled and we try to focus on giving back to others in our community.

Today, dozens of students from the Business and Tourism department were out collecting food donations for the shelves of our on-campus food bank. It is shocking how many students become cash-strapped during the school year and need the hand up that our on-campus food bank provides. As citizens of the campus, we need to help our community members first, then we can lend a hand outside to others.

For my part, I had the pleasure of going up to the Sisters of Charity residence, located on our campus, with 10 students to work side by side with the Sisters. As we entered the dining hall, over two dozen Sisters were seated, waiting for our arrival with applause - what a fantastic way to begin. Then we heard from three of the Sisters about how they have tried to infuse the tenets of 'caritas', Latin for charity and brotherly love, into their lives. Some spoke on volunteering time with pregnant girls, committing to be with them before, during and for weeks after the birth of their child. Others told us about their weekly letters to members of government on issue ranging from authentically listening to their constituents to global warming issues. For me, the most powerful story was the sister beginning a new challenge in her life, post-70 years old, relocating to the Sudan with others of Faith in an effort to restore education and health services to a people in great need.

And why did these wonderful women welcome us with praise and cheer? Because we agreed to sit with them, side by side, making turkey sandwiches and decorating sugar cookies this morning. We gave an hour or so of our time this morning. Sandwiches and cookies. In return, it was made crystal clear to us that we were making a difference.

Now, I've been involved in the hospitality industry in one way or another now for two decades. I've served government officials and dignitaries; hosted rock stars, TV personalities and sports teams. This is to say that I've experienced pressure and stress in the pursuit of meeting the high demands of the affluent and note worthy. But today, I watched two sisters use butter knives to spread homemade icing, blue and green and pink, onto handmade sugar cookies with the care and patience of artists. Gently, through word and by example, they advised us how to get in right to the edge of the cookie without going over. And how much icing to put on each cookie - not too much but don't be stingy. Once the icing went on, they reviewed the options of sprinkles and toppings available, each cookie decorated slowly and with care. It was Zen-like. Everyone around the table slowed down, moving in a gentle rhythm, letting the Sisters lead the conversation, telling their stories and sharing their skills.

Why did they take such care, and expect us to do so, with this simple food?

Because tonight, in the heart of Halifax, in the cold of this wintry night, at a shelter that cares for those without homes, someone will receive this cookie. They will look down at it and clearly see that it wasn't store bought. That another human being gave their time and attention to spread the icing just so, and place the sprinkles on them just so.

It will be food for their body and warmth for their soul, if only for one night.

Before returning to our regular routines, we were asked to reflect on our day at some point and think about our experiences giving back to our community. So here is my reflection, using technology that didn't exist 60 years ago.

Today, I sat at the gentle feet of masters who have chosen to give unto others in a full time, no-holds-barred way, not just as a side note in their busy lives. It was humbling and inspiring. I was in school again, learning how to be a better human being. And before I tucked my sons in tonight, I was able to tell them that I learned something today. And when that happens, it is always a good day.