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238: How to Train Your Frontline to Deliver WOW Moments · Customer Service Revolution | Customer Experience & Employee Experience for Business Leaders

• 0:48
  Welcome to the Customer Service Revolution podcast, where we help leaders build organizations their customers cannot live without.
• 0:55
  Today, we're digging into a question every leader asks.
• 0:58
  And honestly, every customer wonders too, how do you get frontline employees to consistently deliver wow moments?
• 1:06
  Not occasionally, not when they feel like it, but consistently.
• 1:09
  Here's something we've learned at The DiJulius Group Wow moments.
• 1:14
  are not the same as random acts of kindness.
• 1:16
  They're designed.
• 1:17
  They are trained.
• 1:18
  They are reinforced.
• 1:20
  World-class organizations don't hope their people deliver great experiences.
• 1:24
  They build systems that make it normal.
• 1:27
  In today's episode, we're going to show you how to create daily wow moments using The DiJulius Group methodology.
• 1:34
  We're going to talk more than just above and beyond.
• 1:36
  We're going to talk about Secret Service, Service Aptitude, Non-negotiable Standards, and Zero Risk.
• 1:41
  This is how you build emotional connection and loyalty at scale.
• 1:46
  And John, before we break down the methodology and set the stage, welcome back to the show.
• 1:52
  Thank you, Denise.
• 1:53
  Good to be here.
• 1:54
  How are you doing?
• 1:55
  I'm fantastic, thank you.
• 1:57
  We're into the new year, we're into what they call quitting stage now.
• 2:02
  Have you heard of this?
• 2:03
  No
• 2:03
  This is about the time of year where everyone starts quitting their resolutions.
• 2:08
  m
• 2:08
  Oh, I thought you meant quitting their jobs.
• 2:10
  I'm like, great.
• 2:12
  You know, let me, let me check my Slack to see if anybody quit today.
• 2:17
  Just resolutions.
• 2:18
  This is where a lot of people start quitting resolutions.
• 2:20
  So leaders will believe.
• 2:23
  What's that?
• 2:24
  Why do you think that?
• 2:25
  because this is when it gets hard, right?
• 2:27
  You're motivated at first, you made the resolution, you're gonna stick with it, you want to lose weight, you want to drink more water, you want to read more books, whatever it is,
• 2:38
  this is where it starts getting hard, know, things start to get in the way, there's work, there's family commitments.
• 2:44
  Are you a resolution person?
• 2:48
  yeah, I think so.
• 2:49
  I would say I am.
• 2:50
  do you sit there and plan?
• 2:51
  Like in
• 2:52
  have a group that we get together and we haven't done it yet.
• 2:55
  It's usually sometime in January and we do goal setting together.
• 2:59
  And so we kind of hold each other accountable also.
• 3:02
  And are you guys more successful that way?
• 3:04
  think so.
• 3:04
  We talk about it.
• 3:05
  You feel accountable because there are other people involved.
• 3:09
  You know, it's the Oprah if you say it out loud.
• 3:11
  Yeah, no, no, I think that's great.
• 3:12
  That's great.
• 3:13
  How about you?
• 3:14
  You usually do a word of the year.
• 3:15
  I did, I did.
• 3:16
  It finally came to me.
• 3:17
  I was struggling.
• 3:18
  So last year's word of the year was WAIT, W-A-I-T, which stands for Why Am I Talking?
• 3:25
  Try Not to Interrupt, Listen, More Than I Talk.
• 3:29
  And this year is Understand, as in Seek To.
• 3:36
  Again, it's kind of similar to Wait, but a different context of knee-jerk reaction to being defensive or retaliating or whatever without trying to see it from someone else's
• 3:50
  side.
• 3:50
  Yeah, what a great way to build compassion.
• 3:52
  Yeah, yeah.
• 3:53
  It's all about, every one of mine is about patience.
• 3:56
  Imagine that.
• 3:59
  Have you ever tried just that word?
• 4:01
  Nah.
• 4:02
  That's too big to tackle, yeah.
• 4:04
  Right.
• 4:05
  Yeah.
• 4:06
  Maybe edibles.
• 4:06
  I've become really patient.
• 4:08
  Have you tried that?
• 4:09
  Edibles?
• 4:10
  Yeah, more for pain.
• 4:12
  My shoulder pain.
• 4:14
  Are you still having shoulder pain?
• 4:15
  Well, I'm just from, what is it, recoup, post-op, whatever.
• 4:20
  Yeah, yeah, and I got a little ambitious.
• 4:23
  I was impatient.
• 4:24
  I'm not supposed to do any type of lifting until four months.
• 4:28
  And at two months, I was just like, screw this.
• 4:31
  And yeah, the doctor was probably right.
• 4:33
  I'm feeling a little pain.
• 4:35
  don't like at I don't like atrophy
• 4:37
  Yeah.
• 4:38
  Yeah.
• 4:38
  Well, movement's okay.
• 4:39
  It's just probably the weight, right?
• 4:41
  The amount of weight.
• 4:42
  lightweight, but something irritated it.
• 4:45
  gotta take, know, set me back a little bit.
• 4:47
  But I'll be okay.
• 4:48
  Yeah, listen to the authority.
• 4:49
  And today the authority is you.
• 4:51
  Yes.
• 4:52
  When it comes to creating above and beyond wow moments, John is the authority.
• 4:57
  So John, let's start us off with, can you give us a real example where you've seen a frontline employee create some unforgettable wow moment?
• 5:08
  Not because it was expensive, but because it was thoughtful.
• 5:11
  Yeah, so I have a great experience.
• 5:13
  just got my house painted on the inside and,
• 5:16
  I was gonna try to find a painter and it's expensive and all three floors and blah blah blah.
• 5:22
  And so I was gonna get like different quotes.
• 5:28
  And then I asked Hooper, who we've used, I've used for over 30 years, maybe 40 years, for the audience, he doesn't work for me as an employee, but he's done all our salons, changed
• 5:42
  light bulbs, I mean, literally.
• 5:43
  And I always use him as an example of a brand, a company I can't live without.
• 5:48
  right?
• 5:49
  You know, and he just, he's unbelievable.
• 5:51
  You know, and I have referred more people to him.
• 5:55
  So, but the point is I asked him for, if he had a good painter and he recommended this guy, which means everything to me.
• 6:01
  So this guy goes back to our earned sales growth of, you know, referrals and retention.
• 6:08
  So as soon as he recommended this guy and this guy came out and gave me a bid,
• 6:11
  I didn't call anyone else.
• 6:13
  Now, I have no idea if I paid $15,000, $20,000 too much.
• 6:20
  I'm sure I could have found someone cheaper, but I just trust Hooper.
• 6:25
  So the guy was basically living with me for three weeks, him and his team.
• 6:30
  He was here every single day and such a nice guy.
• 6:34
  I assume he does good work.
• 6:36
  I'm not that into it, but...
• 6:38
  uh He did good work, but a couple things he did.
• 6:41
  One, I had my Christmas tree up and because of my shoulder, I can't take it down.
• 6:46
  can't get on a ladder.
• 6:48
  can't reach with my right hand.
• 6:50
  So he and his guy just took it down, put it in a bag and put it in the garage.
• 6:55
  and didn't charge me for it and that.
• 6:58
  And then another thing, he did a bunch of things.
• 7:00
  mean, all right, so being brilliant at the basics in that space is, the end of, at five o'clock every day, you couldn't tell he was there.
• 7:11
  Vacuumed, cleaned up, there was no, nothing in sight.
• 7:14
  And then in my master bedroom,
• 7:17
  at the one of my posts, the four posts, right, of a bed has a wood chip missing.
• 7:23
  You know, I don't know, my kids were playing around.
• 7:27
  Right, right, right.
• 7:30
  Yeah, handcuff marks or whatever.
• 7:34
  No, one of my kids, I think were screwing around.
• 7:36
  And that's been like that for 10 years.
• 7:38
  And I just.
• 7:39
  who goes into my bedroom, right?
• 7:40
  Well, he came out and said, hey, I noticed that one of your pillars has a, the top has a piece of wood missing.
• 7:50
  I'm like, yeah.
• 7:51
  He goes, do you want me to switch it out with the one in the back?
• 7:56
  And I'm like, yeah, I didn't know that you could.
• 7:59
  didn't know it unscrewed.
• 8:01
  And so now, if you come into my...
• 8:02
  master, you can't see that.
• 8:05
  He also faced that little wood towards the wall, but like just those little things.
• 8:09
  And then I kept on, can you do this?
• 8:11
  Can you do this?
• 8:12
  Can you do this?
• 8:13
  I literally said sometimes, can I add something to the, now I want the bath done or whatever.
• 8:21
  And it was the same price.
• 8:25
  But those are wow moments.
• 8:29
  So yeah, I was really impressed.
• 8:31
  it to do it, you know, not just coming in and head down, but really.
• 8:35
  Yeah, yeah, noticing my Christmas tree, noticing, you know, those little things.
• 8:39
  Besides it, he did an outstanding job.
• 8:41
  Now, wow moments don't matter if you don't do the job, right?
• 8:46
  You know, the operational excellence, you got to be brilliant at the basics, but.
• 8:50
  Apprentice doesn't create conversations.
• 8:53
  So if every time you go to your doctor, dentist, hair salon, you know, and you've been going for years and the appointment is always right, you don't really think about it.
• 9:03
  And you're not calling your friends, posting on social media saying, they always schedule my appointment.
• 9:09
  Subconsciously, you have peace of mind.
• 9:11
  So I don't want to being brilliant at the basics.
• 9:18
  You got to get that right.
• 9:19
  That's the blocking and tackling before you can do any fancy trick plays or anything.
• 9:26
  And wow moments aren't a trick play, but.
• 9:28
  Yeah, that gives you, I mean, I can see why Hooper referred him and I can see why you would refer him as well.
• 9:36
  Yeah, and you know, people, you know, I always say this too.
• 9:40
  you know, your customers' clients work with and live next to probably the same type of income.
• 9:49
  So, you know, I'm going to tell all my neighbors if and when.
• 9:54
  And I also contacted Hooper because I wanted to make sure he knew, you know, how great he was.
• 9:59
  Because the last thing you want to do is put your name on something and someone call you up and, know.
• 10:03
  Say thanks, but no thanks.
• 10:05
  Yeah, yeah, I love that.
• 10:06
  That's a great story.
• 10:08
  Good story.
• 10:08
  Good painter.
• 10:10
  Well, should we put him in the show notes?
• 10:15
  You know, I, in your, it's funny you say, like make an appointment and it just jarred my memory that we share the same doctor primary who is a concierge physician and I stopped
• 10:28
  the service.
• 10:29
  a year and a half ago or so, because other than going to my primary for a physical, like what do I need a, I mean, a primary physician for?
• 10:37
  Like, I just felt like I don't really, I'm not really using the service that much.
• 10:42
  I'll just go to a regular primary going forward.
• 10:45
  And then I found to get an appointment with a primary physician takes about four months.
• 10:50
  And if you need something small to go to urgent care, I went to urgent care for something and they sent me to the ER.
• 10:58
  Well, so then that's a full day.
• 11:01
  And yeah, it's not just time.
• 11:03
  say if you go to ER, you go in an ambulance.
• 11:07
  Because they'll take you first, but I don't know.
• 11:10
  So what'd you do?
• 11:10
  Are you switching back?
• 11:12
  Did you?
• 11:12
  Good.
• 11:13
  You know, Dr.
• 11:14
  Tom, use, yeah, like now I just have this annual physical.
• 11:18
  And, but I feel like that's why.
• 11:21
  Because I used him, you know, and I believe you did too.
• 11:25
  to help me work out problems, you know, and medical problems and nagging issues.
• 11:30
  And he did.
• 11:31
  And now I feel like, you know, that's important, but it's also peace of mind.
• 11:37
  You know, you could be in Hong Kong or wherever, and that's the beauty of a concierge doctor is that you can call them at 3 a.m.
• 11:46
  and they take your call.
• 11:49
  yeah, I was out of town and forgot a medication and I could have, you know, with his service, I could call and say, Hey, I forgot this.
• 11:57
  Can you call, you know, four tablets into me at this drug store?
• 12:01
  but to have to go through your specialist to get ahold of the office to it by then it's you're on your way home, you know?
• 12:09
  Yeah.
• 12:09
  I think concierges are growing.
• 12:11
  Yeah, well, there's such a shortage of primary physicians now too.
• 12:15
  That's a whole other story.
• 12:17
  But boy, wow moments can definitely be created in the healthcare field.
• 12:22
  So that wasn't necessarily an example for you of a wow moment.
• 12:26
  It was the frustration of not easy to do business with.
• 12:31
  their service is full of wow moments of how they.
• 12:35
  I'm talking about when you left and went somewhere else.
• 12:38
  Yeah, no, because I missed the wow moments.
• 12:41
  If you were referred to a specialist, they would call and make the appointment and get you in so you didn't have to go through all the calls and the time and yeah.
• 12:52
  making price irrelevant.
• 12:54
  Absolutely.
• 12:55
  All right, so let's define what a wow moment is.
• 12:57
  mean, a wow moment is deliberately created experiences uh that make customers feel valued, remembered, cared for, and it happens in a way that can be repeated and coached.
• 13:08
  So it can be something that customers expect almost when they do business with you.
• 13:13
  And instead of using something, some made up framework here, we're going to anchor this in The DiJulius Group methodology because we know this works and this is what actual
• 13:23
  organizations use.
• 13:24
  When we talk about noticing customer needs, that comes from service aptitude that you talk about, John.
• 13:31
  And it notices not just what customers need, but it notices it even when they don't say it clearly.
• 13:36
  So a customer might say,
• 13:38
  how was everything, it was fine.
• 13:40
  But it's recognizing that fine is not necessarily good, right?
• 13:45
  Someone that has the service.
• 13:46
  the F-bomb of customer service.
• 13:49
  It's, I think that's a Shep Hyken line, but it's a good one.
• 13:52
  is, fine means let me pay, get the hell out of here and go call my friend who recommended you and yell at them and post on social media what a ripoff.
• 14:04
  Another one, secret service, using what you know to personalize the experience.
• 14:09
  So we talk a lot about Ford, family, occupation, recreation, dreams, knowing that or knowing previous purchases so that you can personalize the current experience.
• 14:19
  Zero risk, reducing uncertainty and increasing trust in the moment.
• 14:23
  Non-negotiable standards.
• 14:25
  So these are what will make your WOW behaviors consistent.
• 14:29
  coachable and repeatable.
• 14:31
  John, let's walk through these one at a time, starting with service aptitude, because if your team can't recognize the moment, they can't create the wow.
• 14:39
  You've taught for years service aptitude is the difference between a transaction and a relationship.
• 14:45
  What does service aptitude look like on the front line in real life?
• 14:48
  So I think first, we can get confused with the wow moments being above and beyond.
• 14:54
  And they aren't just above and beyond.
• 14:57
  You can give a wow moment consistently.
• 14:59
  And then there's wow moments that may present themselves.
• 15:06
  so just assume every employee you have
• 15:10
  and are gonna hire, you know, doesn't have the service aptitude yet.
• 15:15
  And a service aptitude's a muscle and we talked about atrophy if we don't visit it consistently.
• 15:21
  So first employees need to know, you know, what your non-negotiables are at each stage.
• 15:27
  And then also what are the above and beyond opportunities.
• 15:31
  So building that in.
• 15:33
  And so you gotta train them and
• 15:35
  Above and beyond moments, we've talked about this in the past, that's about pattern recognition.
• 15:39
  You're not gonna be able do it with everyone.
• 15:42
  It's usually time and resources.
• 15:45
  I think the majority of above and beyonds don't have to cost anything, but you have to listen and pay attention and know what to look for.
• 15:52
  And then the non-negotiable standards,
• 15:54
  you know, whatever, at the customer experience I go, what creates our signature experience that if you call any other consulting firm or any other speaker comes on site or, you
• 16:09
  know, a doctor's office, whatever, that isn't going to, you know, your typical signature experience is unlike anyone else's because you're doing a few more things besides
• 16:21
  the competency besides the basic, besides just taking the intake form of your insurance, know, uh co-pay, booking the appointment, you know, all those things, building that in.
• 16:33
  So all that comes in the service aptitude training that you have to really front load when you new hire and then constantly remind them of.
• 16:44
  And an example of, know,
• 16:46
  a lot of great companies will celebrate above and beyonds.
• 16:50
  And maybe that goes out weekly.
• 16:53
  Hey, I want to tell you what Denise did last week.
• 16:55
  She had an upset customer.
• 16:56
  She was listening and heard something, a throwaway comment.
• 17:02
  A lot of times it's a throwaway comment that customer doesn't really know you're listening to and you follow up on that.
• 17:09
  And what that does is not only reinforces the behavior
• 17:14
  that Denise had, but it gives that FOMO to everyone else because I probably had that similar situation that flew right over my head.
• 17:25
  And I didn't think to, I could have easily done what Denise did, send them a link to an article, just move to a new city and you know, their, you know, kids are into soccer.
• 17:37
  So you send them, you know, some soccer leagues or
• 17:40
  you high level, AAU, travel, soccer, or whatever it may be, best restaurants in that city or whatever.
• 17:48
  it's not just being friendly.
• 17:50
  It's reading the cues.
• 17:51
  It's picking up on uncertainty, hearing what your customers mean, not just what they say.
• 17:56
  This is where wow moments become intentional.
• 17:59
  Secret service.
• 18:00
  That's the discipline of using customer intelligence to make someone feel known.
• 18:05
  What are a few ways leaders can teach frontline teams to practice secret service without making it awkward or forced?
• 18:12
  Well, yeah, Secret Service title on my first book there, it came out in 2003.
• 18:20
  And the tagline is hidden systems that deliver unforgettable customer service.
• 18:27
  So popular examples that people like and have utilized in all their industry.
• 18:32
  In our salon, if you walk in for a haircut, you're going to see 10 people.
• 18:39
  getting a haircut and eight might be in a black John Roberts haircutting cape, two might be in a white hair cutting cape.
• 18:45
  To a customer, they just think we have black and white capes, but to any team member, anyone in white has never been there before.
• 18:52
  So not only the service provider communicating with them, but any other person that may be walking by can uh personalize that greeting.
• 19:01
  the manager could be walking around.
• 19:03
  The aesthetician who works in the spa could come by and say, hi, my name is Denise.
• 19:08
  I'm an aesthetician.
• 19:09
  I'd love to give you a complimentary brow wax or I don't know if that's insulting to say to a woman.
• 19:17
  tell me.
• 19:17
  What would you offer when you were an aesthetician, Denise?
• 19:20
  No, think brow wax is good.
• 19:22
  Well, we used to do mini facials.
• 19:24
  Yeah, paraffin treatment.
• 19:27
  We would do mini facials at the shampoo bowl, but it's tough if somebody has makeup on and they, you know, or makeup touch up after their hair is done.
• 19:36
  For the listeners that don't know, 30 years ago, is what Denise's job was in our salon.
• 19:42
  She was one of our first spa employees ever and built our spa.
• 19:47
  yeah, so black cape is an old friend.
• 19:51
  So again, besides a service provider, you know,
• 19:54
  anyone could walk by and say, great to see you again.
• 19:56
  Welcome back.
• 19:57
  And so that happens at each touch point, at each part of the journey mapping.
• 20:02
  When someone calls up or walks in and they give you, give us their name, it will pop up.
• 20:11
  There will be a color code on the book.
• 20:13
  And if you probably remember this better than I do, one color means a return request.
• 20:19
  another color means they're a new request, meaning it's a first time.
• 20:23
  So just by the book, we can tell when they're checking in.
• 20:26
  But also, anytime you pull up someone, it would say, you know, if they're new or not.
• 20:33
  So if they're new, you know, different language, different description, more education.
• 20:39
  If it doesn't say they're new, you know, how you been?
• 20:44
  You know, did anybody notice your
• 20:47
  highlights that you had last month because it's right there.
• 20:50
  You know, are you still working at Progressive Insurance?
• 20:53
  So to me, those are wow moments because I don't think you're getting those at too many places that you're not the VIP, right?
• 21:04
  You know, I have a favorite restaurant.
• 21:06
  So I get that at a favorite restaurant.
• 21:08
  But you know, what percentage of
• 21:11
  you know, people that come in once every six months and there's a whole new staff there doesn't get that.
• 21:17
  In our world, these secret service systems and in the doctor's office and dry cleaner and accounting and listen, if you're B2B, secret service is easier because you always have a
• 21:27
  database in front of you.
• 21:29
  If you're doing calls or if you're going to a meeting, you can cheat a lot easier than brick and mortar.
• 21:34
  But anyway,
• 21:35
  you don't have to work there three years or three months to understand white cape versus black cape, or red appointment versus blue appointment, right?
• 21:46
  Yeah, those are great.
• 21:47
  Let's go into a little bit of zero risk.
• 21:50
  So reducing anxiety, building trust.
• 21:53
  Most leaders think wild moments are about delight, but often the fastest way to earn loyalty is just to remove uncertainty.
• 22:01
  How do you coach frontline teams to deliver zero risk in the moment to reduce customer anxiety through communication, clarity, and ownership?
• 22:11
  You know, I think this is the biggest opportunity, right?
• 22:15
  You're frustrated, you're pissed, you you got to wait four months for an appointment or the appointment's wrong or worse, and this happens in so many businesses, is you waited
• 22:26
  four weeks to get in and we call you today and say, sorry, your service provider's sick.
• 22:32
  You know, please call us back and schedule.
• 22:34
  and you call back and you gotta wait another four weeks, right?
• 22:37
  And like, why are we not, you know, realizing that's not right?
• 22:41
  So, you know, hopefully, well, A, we should have, you know, again, it goes back to pattern recognition.
• 22:48
  What are the things that go wrong the most often?
• 22:51
  What can we reduce, you know, do to reduce those from happening?
• 22:54
  So let's put up a system when we have to cancel the appointment, we prioritize
• 23:00
  you know, and get them in within 48 hours.
• 23:02
  That would help.
• 23:03
  But let's say it slips through the cracks or you're unavailable for the next 48 hours, that doesn't help you so much and you needed it for tomorrow's, you know, big shindig or
• 23:15
  interview or whatever you're having.
• 23:17
  You know, you're frustrated and if you haven't done business with this before, you have a, you're assuming
• 23:23
  we're not gonna make this right.
• 23:25
  So, you I love those.
• 23:27
  You know, one of my favorite quotes is, the customer may complain about what went wrong, they're gonna rave about how well we handled it.
• 23:34
  And so teaching employees, you know, and giving them autonomy that, you know, make it right.
• 23:40
  You'll never get in trouble for something you do.
• 23:42
  You'll only get in trouble for something you don't do, meaning, you know, making it right.
• 23:47
  Amazon is great at it.
• 23:49
  We've talked about them before.
• 23:50
  Yeah.
• 23:51
  So there's also the thing that's called the service recovery paradox, which is scientifically proven that if a company drops the ball and picks it up, the customer
• 24:03
  becomes more loyal than if they not drop the ball at all.
• 24:06
  So, you know, it's just having a plan for that, but more importantly that you're empowering the front line.
• 24:14
  that they don't have to hide behind policy and use the old quote that's above my pay grade.
• 24:20
  You're have to call corporate or we can't do that.
• 24:23
  And then you choose to call, hire up.
• 24:25
  And then they hopefully take care of it, but it didn't need to get escalated.
• 24:31
  So empowering your frontline team member that they can handle this.
• 24:34
  Use your best judgment.
• 24:36
  and then celebrate that even if you felt they were too aggressive.
• 24:39
  And you said it at the beginning of this, looking at all the places where things go wrong, because it's the 80-20 rule, right?
• 24:48
  80 % of the time when things go wrong, it's in these 20%, you know, areas.
• 24:56
  If 80 % of the time things are going wrong.
• 24:59
  There's another issue to uncover there.
• 25:01
  But taking a look at the areas where you drop the ball the most and focus on those few things and train people in there.
• 25:10
  Now.
• 25:11
  Yeah, now let's talk about making it scalable.
• 25:13
  So non-negotiable standards to make the Wow's consistent.
• 25:17
  The reason some organizations deliver consistent Wow moments is because they turn them into non-negotiable standards.
• 25:24
  What does it look like when a company makes Wow behaviors teachable and repeatable so they don't depend on just one superstar employee?
• 25:34
  So that really, and all of this goes back to creating your signature experience, which is journey mapping, which is looking at each touch point, where you communicate with a
• 25:45
  customer, the inquiry, all the way to post experience, if you will.
• 25:53
  And so you have to build that in and train people.
• 25:56
  so it could be how we answer the phone.
• 26:00
  Thank you for calling ABC Painters.
• 26:02
  Whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?
• 26:05
  know, I'm sorry, this is John.
• 26:07
  Whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?
• 26:09
  And you you immediately say Denise Thompson or AI pulls up, you know, from your phone number.
• 26:15
  So now I can stay ahead of you and, you know, thank you for being a uh loyal customer of ours since, you know, 2012.
• 26:23
  Or are you calling about, you know, Axe?
• 26:26
  that you recently had done, or are we rebooking your manicure and whatever that you routinely get done.
• 26:36
  So having those and teaching those and removes employee roulette.
• 26:43
  it's not based, my experience isn't based on which employee I get.
• 26:47
  Let's connect this to outcomes.
• 26:49
  When frontline teams are trained to recognize those WOW opportunities and personalize them with Secret Service and they're reducing anxiety through zero risk, how do you follow
• 27:00
  consistent standards so that your customers start telling stories?
• 27:05
  You know, when people start to refer more, they complain less, they stop price shopping.
• 27:09
  It's like your painter.
• 27:10
  They feel like they have a relationship with your brand.
• 27:13
  Well, mean, you know, there's so much financial ROI.
• 27:17
  If you if you can reduce your complaints, you know, by 25 percent, obviously you have happier customers.
• 27:25
  Right.
• 27:26
  And that's the outcome we're looking for, which increases retention, which should only increase referrals.
• 27:33
  But.
• 27:33
  But even put a pin on that and let's say that wasn't a benefit.
• 27:38
  If, you know, the percentage of time that, you know, your calls are, you know, fixing problems, right?
• 27:49
  You know, is preventing your call center, your leadership from addressing people who are trying to schedule appointments or buy from you.
• 27:58
  So you either have to hire more people because you have, you know, so many complaints and redos and I want to speak to and all those things.
• 28:07
  So and then what's that on an employee's morale that, you know, 20 percent of your calls, interactions and even leadership, you know, are hiding in an office because they can't
• 28:21
  take one more people screaming at them.
• 28:22
  So when you reduce that even by 25%, again, besides the obvious, happier customers come back, spend more, tell more, it's just a financial of you can either cut payroll or
• 28:36
  they're doing more positive experiences, they're selling, they're scheduling, those types of things.
• 28:43
  That has a huge impact on an employee's psyche.
• 28:47
  and morale.
• 28:48
  And when an employee doesn't have to hide behind policy and saying, sorry, you you, had seven days or 30 days and it's 31 day, you know, and, know, if, if, if you have to enforce
• 29:00
  that, um, you're to get the shit kicked out of you 10 times.
• 29:05
  You know, do you know how long I've been coming here?
• 29:06
  Do know how much money I spend?
• 29:08
  Yada, yada, yada.
• 29:09
  Doesn't matter whether you agree with the policy or not, you have to enforce the policy.
• 29:13
  That sucks.
• 29:14
  It does.
• 29:15
  It does.
• 29:16
  Did you have that in your past careers?
• 29:18
  Hopefully not in your current.
• 29:19
  It's been so long since my past careers, it's hard to recall, but one, when I worked in the dental field, for sure everything was policy.
• 29:28
  I mean, that was a heavily policy driven office.
• 29:32
  All right, so if you can remember, I don't know if you can't remember because it's more than 30 years ago or the onset of dementia at your age.
• 29:41
  say it because I'm off.
• 29:42
  Did you just call me old?
• 29:44
  But so when you transition from your previous career dental and started working at John Roberts Spa, and I don't know what level of customer experience we were back then.
• 29:57
  I hopefully, I think we were always obsessed.
• 30:00
  Was that hard for you to adjust because you were coming from a policy driven, don't trust them, don't let them get away with, or was that easier for you?
• 30:10
  So I think there is something to that when you say trust, when you come from an atmosphere where there is that lack of trust, we don't trust the customer.
• 30:24
  That's a terrible place to be.
• 30:28
  there is that bit of angst that you have.
• 30:33
  However,
• 30:34
  I don't think it takes long to transition and my God, it's so much nicer to be able to, you know, take care of the clients and not have that.
• 30:44
  another trust issue, Denise, on the opposite end that you trust management, your new management, that you're not gonna get in trouble?
• 30:53
  Like, that's my biggest obstacle I've seen from consulting and having employees is, you know, no matter if we tell them a hundred times, they still don't do it because they're
• 31:03
  one of two things.
• 31:05
  They're protecting the company and they think this customer might be taking advantage of them, even though we say it's okay.
• 31:12
  And then the second thing is deep down, they think they'll get in trouble because they have in the past.
• 31:17
  It's somewhere else.
• 31:18
  And so those are the hardest things to un-brainwash or to get out of someone's head.
• 31:25
  Yeah, so for me, mean, coming to John Robert's Spa was easy because you were surrounded by it, right?
• 31:31
  It was a culture that I walked into that was already set up that way.
• 31:35
  But if you're starting that in your culture, yeah, take some time to shift that.
• 31:40
  It takes a few people who are willing to take that risk.
• 31:44
  Let me give the customer this.
• 31:45
  Let me make this right.
• 31:47
  And you're having management, acknowledge it in a good way.
• 31:52
  Yeah.
• 31:53
  we're celebrating what Denise just did, she, I wasn't sure if I was going to get in trouble for that.
• 31:58
  But then it also sends that, you want to be recognized again, but other people, the FOMO, the peer, the positive peer pressure of I'm sick of hearing, you know, Denise's name get
• 32:11
  mentioned in these stories.
• 32:12
  I want to be mentioned in these stories.
• 32:14
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 32:15
  So when you start to shift this in a company's culture, what do you think transitions first?
• 32:23
  it employee engagement, leadership behavior?
• 32:26
  Well, it all starts at the top.
• 32:28
  And a lot of times, again, I could say it no fault of their own.
• 32:32
  If the company isn't grounded in a Steve Jobs, Howard Schultz, Jeff Bezos, Tony Hsieh, hopefully John D.
• 32:40
  Julius, where that's how the culture started.
• 32:44
  You can't, you can't say,
• 32:46
  a leader cannot speak about their vision enough.
• 32:49
  I assume when you started and I was involved in the salons, know, anytime I spoke, I was reinforcing, you know, the culture, the experience we wanted.
• 33:00
  But if you're trying to pivot, then that, you know,
• 33:04
  again, you have to make sure it starts at the top and we're all speaking the same.
• 33:09
  It's being reinforced that the leaders believe the senior leadership, you know, it believes this and they're not going to get in trouble.
• 33:18
  And, you know, it goes down from there to how they're celebrating top of mind awareness, all those things.
• 33:26
  So.
• 33:27
  um The employee is the result of what they're experiencing and hearing.
• 33:31
  Leaders make all the difference, don't they, in these kind of scenarios?
• 33:36
  they do.
• 33:36
  And so that's one of my favorite quotes to that.
• 33:38
  I'm sure I've said a hundred times is as a leader, go show the proper way and when necessary use words.
• 33:44
  um Yeah.
• 33:47
  Yeah.
• 33:48
  So leaders, if this episode is sparking ideas about how to train your frontline team to deliver consistent wow moments, that's exactly what the Experience Revolution membership
• 33:59
  is designed to help you do.
• 34:00
  Every quarter, we teach a live workshop covering the same systems that we implement in our consulting engagements.
• 34:06
  So including ones that we talked about today, service aptitude, zero risk, non-negotiable standards, and creating wow moments using Secret Service.
• 34:15
  You also get access to past reports
• 34:17
  and practical tools so that you as a leader can coach these behaviors into daily habits.
• 34:23
  Our next one is March 9th and it is breaking down silos.
• 34:29
  It's a heavy, heavy topic that a lot of people have had interest in.
• 34:33
  So sign up now so that you can be part of the live workshop.
• 34:38
  You can join us at tdg.click forward slash membership.
• 34:44
  There'll be information about that in the show notes as well.
• 34:47
  John, what's the simplest wow moment you've ever seen a frontline employee deliver?
• 34:53
  And why did it matter so much?
• 34:54
  Ah, God, I think it's just making me feel seen and heard, right?
• 34:59
  And like, don't, I don't, I don't remember ever meeting you before, but you remember me.
• 35:05
  So I'm not a constant, I'm not a regular, but you ask me if it's the same order or you still want this or you still want that.
• 35:12
  And it's like, how did she do that?
• 35:14
  And the truth is she may have served me or
• 35:18
  or interacted with me before, or there might be notes on me, or someone told them, you know, uh that has, you know, hey, you got table 14, or the next guy likes, you know,
• 35:31
  usually orders, you know, just those little things, which is secret service.
• 35:35
  You know, I get it all the time.
• 35:36
  It's just hard, you know, to remember one right off the top of my head.
• 35:40
  What about you?
• 35:41
  Yeah, I was just thinking when you said that my sister worked as a bartender and I remember going in there one time to surprise her for her birthday just to go in and say
• 35:51
  happy birthday and she had there must have been 20 people at the bar and she knew everything that was going on with all of them.
• 35:59
  Somebody walked in the door and as they're walking in she's going to the cooler and she pulls up you know whatever beer it is that the person drinks like is this what you want?
• 36:09
  And yeah, and you know, had, and like just went about that way.
• 36:14
  Like she knew the, and the people came back because of her, right?
• 36:17
  It was creating those "Cheers" moments.
• 36:21
  Well, I guess it depends.
• 36:23
  Hmm, maybe.
• 36:26
  That sounds like something for your therapist.
• 36:28
  I don't know.
• 36:30
  Oh goodness.
• 36:32
  But you know, it doesn't take a lot.
• 36:35
  No, and that's why I want to do a blog and a podcast on no cost above and beyond things, because I think they're unlimited.
• 36:47
  I think what fears leaders maybe is that, my God, we're going to go broke if you comp everyone's dinner and buy everyone their favorite oh Starbucks or whatever.
• 37:00
  I think the best ones are just, know, hey, Denise, you told me you were going to Chicago for New Year's.
• 37:06
  You know, how was that?
• 37:08
  You know, that feels good.
• 37:10
  And it might be February 1st, I'm asking, because I haven't seen you since November or whatever.
• 37:15
  Yeah, I was on a flight recently and the person next to me wanted to purchase food and gives his card and the flight attendant said, I'm sorry, it's not going through.
• 37:28
  It's not going through.
• 37:29
  And he said, you know, this happened to me on the flight on the way down here.
• 37:32
  I think it's something with your machine because it just worked for me while I was gone and while I was in the airport before I got on the plane.
• 37:40
  And she said, well, I don't think it's the machine because I just took a card from the person in front of you and, you know, and it worked fine.
• 37:47
  And he wanted a $4 item.
• 37:50
  And, you know, she went back and forth with them and he just took the card and was disgruntled and he had the airlines card, credit card.
• 37:59
  So obviously he's someone who.
• 38:04
  Yeah.
• 38:05
  Yeah.
• 38:06
  So should matter to them, right?
• 38:08
  And she goes on about her way.
• 38:09
  Well, then she came back later and gave him the item that he was trying to purchase.
• 38:14
  But wouldn't it have been nice if she said in the moment, don't worry about it.
• 38:18
  Here you go.
• 38:19
  Rather than it was a, it was a back and forth for a bit to, you know, make him wrong and, know, to feel that way.
• 38:27
  In our workshops, that's the biggest thing is if I do it for that, I'm gonna have to do it for everyone.
• 38:33
  And I don't know, I'm sure we've seen it where they handled it right.
• 38:37
  And then we don't find a card that won't get processed.
• 38:42
  I don't know, I just, people are so nervous about being taken advantage of.
• 38:48
  But this is what Apple, Amazon, all the best companies do and I'm not.
• 38:53
  plotting how I can rip off Nordstroms and bring in a shirt I didn't buy from them, but they'll give me a refund, which they probably would.
• 39:02
  That's Nordstroms, right?
• 39:04
  Yeah.
• 39:06
  Can you share an example of how leaders coach these behaviors into daily performance without it feeling scripted?
• 39:14
  Yeah, so it's first off in the initial training, the service app, the soft skill training, signature experience, service recover, that all has to be covered in the employee's first
• 39:26
  90 days.
• 39:27
  But then it's the TOMA, top of mind awareness, nothing's gonna last.
• 39:31
  So you have to visit it constantly.
• 39:34
  And so the big thing I think is really helping, and we discussed this in a prior episode.
• 39:40
  on your CX Strategies for 2026 podcast is the micro learning and just sending out something each week.
• 39:47
  And it could be, here's a 90 second video clip reminding you to collect and utilize Ford family occupation, recreation and dreams.
• 39:57
  Or you probably have a customer challenge this week.
• 40:01
  Remember,
• 40:02
  our service recovery system is leased.
• 40:04
  L-E-A-S-T, listen, empathize, apologize, solve and thank, and then get a little specific or say, let me give you an example of how one of our employees used that recently.
• 40:15
  And let me tell you, the post, the letter, the raving fan, the I can't believe how well you're.
• 40:24
  18 year old hostess handled it and it has to be achievable by the 18 year old hostess.
• 40:30
  So that is just having a weekly schedule.
• 40:34
  Perfect World, yeah, you do daily huddles and you visit them there.
• 40:37
  I don't know how practical that is for types of businesses, especially with the work from home, you know, and all that, but a rhythm, a cadence of every Wednesday at 8.30 AM or,
• 40:51
  you know, I don't care when you do it.
• 40:52
  You send out this two to five minute video touching on these things.
• 40:56
  Love that.
• 40:57
  You know, we talked about leaders modeling the behavior and acknowledging the behavior.
• 41:02
  Is that the biggest barrier preventing teams from delivering wow moments consistently?
• 41:07
  Or is there another one?
• 41:08
  Well, it first starts with your policies, right?
• 41:11
  If you have all those, leaders have no choice, employees have no choice.
• 41:16
  It's designing your signature customer experience, which is journey mapping, which is looking at each stage, point of contact, way we interact with a customer, and breaking
• 41:28
  them down from the customer's viewpoint, not the company's.
• 41:34
  What are the most common service defects, frustration, bottlenecks that can happen that we or our industry are guilty of?
• 41:42
  And so if you're a new employee or an existing employee, I you to be hyper aware of if you're on the phones and people call in to schedule an appointment, this is what annoys
• 41:51
  them.
• 41:51
  Don't be guilty of this.
• 41:53
  These are the non-negotiables that combine operational and experiential, which is, wow.
• 41:59
  and then these are the above-me opportunities I want you to look for.
• 42:02
  So I think everything starts with that.
• 42:04
  So what's the difference between the above and beyond, over the top gesture and a wow moment?
• 42:10
  Well, they're both, so the three pieces of each stage, service defects, don't do this, non-negotiable standards, you have to do this, whether everyone else is called in sick and
• 42:22
  you're running an hour late, this is what we charge for, you can't pick and choose, and then there's the above and beyond, look for this, if they present themselves.
• 42:33
  So when you talk about, you know, the, you know,
• 42:36
  the non-negotiables and the above and beyonds, they both have wow moments in them.
• 42:43
  It's if you can do it every time or you can't.
• 42:46
  So white cape for every new customer, executing the five E's every time someone walks in, eye contact, enthusiastic greet, ear to ear smile, engage and educate.
• 42:57
  You can do that every time.
• 42:59
  So that would be in the non-negotiable.
• 43:02
  using their name twice, introducing yourself, asking, there anything else I can do for you today, Ms.
• 43:07
  Thompson?
• 43:07
  That's all in the non-negotiables standards.
• 43:10
  You have to do that.
• 43:11
  And then the above and beyond is the pattern recognition.
• 43:14
  What are the most common things that may come up that I want you, customer-face employee, to look for?
• 43:20
  It's pouring rain out, give them an umbrella, walk them to their car, if it applies to them.
• 43:27
  Listen for a dog barking on the phone, a baby crying or something they say.
• 43:33
  That's not going to happen every caller every time.
• 43:36
  But when it does, capitalize on that.
• 43:38
  Ask about it.
• 43:39
  Take notes.
• 43:40
  Follow up with it.
• 43:41
  If a leader wants to start tomorrow to implement these different things, where should they begin?
• 43:48
  What's one action that they can take this week?
• 43:50
  Just focus on one stage of your journey mapping and improve it, create it.
• 43:56
  mean, do all of them, but yeah, focus on one stage and roll it out and you'll see a huge improvement over the consistency and the level of experience your employees, your company
• 44:11
  is delivering.
• 44:12
  So train your team to practice service aptitude.
• 44:14
  Use Secret Service to personalize.
• 44:17
  Deliver zero risk through communication and ownership.
• 44:20
  And turn those behaviors into non-negotiable standards.
• 44:24
  Small upgrades repeated consistently create
• 44:27
  the customer service revolution.
• 44:29
  So again, the Experience Revolution membership.
• 44:32
  If you're ready to create a frontline culture where wow moments are the norm, not the exception, join us inside the Experience Revolution membership.
• 44:41
  John and Dave are doing a class on March 9th on how to break down silos, improve communication.
• 44:48
  We know how important that is.
• 44:50
  Learn the systems behind consistent wow moments at TDGClick.
• 44:54
  forward slash membership.
• 44:57
  John, thank you so much for the great information.
• 44:59
  I love talking about wow moments and the great things that companies do to blow our minds.
• 45:04
  Absolutely.
• 45:05
  Thank you,
• 45:04
  Denise
• 45:05
  See you next time listeners.