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Creating a Great Customer Service Experience with Expert, Laurie Guest · Authentic Living

• 0:01
  Welcome to authentic living with Roxanne, a place where we conscious conversations about
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  things that really matter in our lives.
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  And now here's your host, Roxanne Derhodge.
• 0:36
  Hi, everyone.
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  It's Al Roxanne tuning in yet again this week.
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  How are you today?
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  Today have Lori guest.
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  Hi, Lori.
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  How are you today?
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  I'm good.
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  Thanks for having me.
• 0:45
  Thanks for coming.
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  So Laurie has, just recently, released her book and I'm gonna talk a little bit about her
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  background and her bio.
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  She's a keynote speaker and author and a a CSP, which is a certified speaking professional,
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  which is one of the highest designations in the speaking worlds.
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  And she's a go to resource for customer service excellence, for about 2 decades, she shared her
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  practical point of view on customer service and staff developments with audiences and and,
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  companies across Canada lending real life examples with actually proven steps for
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  improvement.
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  Her latest book is the 10¢ decision how small changes pays.
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  Pays off big, presenting her most sought after practical, impactful strategies to find and
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  retain the best staff at highest quality customers while delivering exceptional guest
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  experiences.
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  So Laurie, you've obviously been you've been at this for quite a long time.
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  So just kinda tell me, you know, and for people listening, what's what kind of got you, on this
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  realm of of customer service.
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  Were you frontline at one point, or did you kinda go to business school and decide that
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  that was the arena you wanted to focus on?
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  Well, actually, I think I was taught customer service at a very early age.
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  I've had an entrepreneurial spirit since I was five years old, and And, so my family was,
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  really good at their people skills.
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  So I think I learned it early, but how I professionally got into it is I have a health
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  care background.
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  And I worked in a well known regionally based ophthalmology surgery center in Northern
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  Illinois, and we were known for our customer service.
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  So our surgeons were not only great doctors, but they were great marketers and great service
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  delivery kings in Queens in my mind.
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  And so at an early age, I started working with them at about 21.
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  And again, front line, just like you said, I started there and just worked my way up through
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  the company.
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  And as we became known for our service, other industries would call and say, hey, what
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  secrets do you guys have?
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  Because people seem to be so happy when they come to your place.
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  And my doctor looked around and said, hey, Laurie, you like to talk.
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  Why don't you go?
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  And I found out that I loved it and eventually found that there was certainly a need for
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  teaching service, out in the world.
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  So I eventually left the practice after 18 years.
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  And if I speak full time with my own company.
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  So it was a gradual thing over years, but I have such passion for service that seemed like
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  a natural fit.
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  And I guess in the medical field too, right, like, you know, kind of what we know about
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  physicians, a lot of them are very good at doing what they're, you know, their high skill
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  is.
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  And but sometimes that that kind of interface between a patient and physician is not
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  oftentimes not the best because they're meant to come in do their scale and they kind of move
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  on.
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  You know, in here in Canada, you know, I've worked a lot with a lot of, hospitals also, but
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  That's oftentimes the critical element that a lot of people will talk about is that while he
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  or she comes in, they're not, you know, they're not so good with how they engage.
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  They'd get the job done, but I don't feel any real kind of connection.
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  So it sounds like what you're exposed to is a little bit obviously different.
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  It was different.
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  And our doctor had a great philosophy, and it's true for all entrepreneurs, not just
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  physicians, but he believes that a doctor should do only what a doctor must do which is
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  examined diagnose and treat and everything else should be done by somebody else.
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  Now that doesn't mean he didn't deliver great service, but his time with the patient was
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  narrow.
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  And so that means every other minute that they're in the clinic, the rest of us better be
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  delivering that 5 star service, as we call it, So they leave feeling taken care of, not just
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  by the doctor, but everybody around them.
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  And that's true whether you own a shoe store or a car dealership or whatever.
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  We want the highest level doing only what the highest level must do.
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  And that's why I believe in an integrated approach to customer service.
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  So you kind of think of, you know, with, complaints.
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  I know I'm sure you've probably heard of Malcolm Gladwell, and he talked a little bit
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  about, you know, not, you know, because you're backwards, physicians, He talked about that in
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  fact, a lot of people, if something went wrong, if they had a connection, to the the caregiver
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  or the system, in your case, the ophthalmology practice, even if something went wrong, they
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  were more less likely to kind of proceed and take action against the practice or or the
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  business because and and this was research that had been done where they had tracked physicians
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  and looked at that.
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  So some kind of sense that, I care about you or I feel cared for impacted people's, ability to
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  kind of accept if something didn't go so well?
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  Well, absolutely.
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  In fact, I just finished with a client that had me in four or five locations, and it was a
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  safety conference.
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  And, people were wondering what does safety and customer service have to do with each other.
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  And they have studies, along that same line that if we have had low incidence of problems
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  of any kind with customer service related, if we ever have a safety issue, they're less
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  likely to take an action, exactly what you just said, because you're feeling like, oh, okay.
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  I these are my words, but let's cut some slack because I've put some social capital into this
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  relationship already.
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  And that makes perfect sense.
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  You know, and it's so it's so true because, you know, when you kind of when you enter an
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  environment, you know, you could think about it, whether it's you know, getting your oil
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  changed or, you know, going to your dentist.
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  I know when I walk into an environment, I'm kind of know, and if it's especially if I'm
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  new, let's say I'm trying a new service, I'm wanting to kinda feel a certain way.
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  Right?
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  I'm thinking, oh, Does this kind of feel like a place?
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  I I if I have to come a couple times a year, I'm going to want to.
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  And sometimes you walk into places and people are indifferent.
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  Right?
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  Like, they kind of Absolutely.
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  And they do their job, but they're kinda like, oh, yeah.
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  Okay.
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  Well, you know, your next in line, no big deal.
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  And other places you know, the person will they'll make an effort.
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  They'll, you know, how how would you drive in or, you know, you know, did you have trouble
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  finding us?
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  Or they'll they'll make even little chit chat like that.
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  Starts the experience at at the front.
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  Is that so let's talk a little bit about kind of your approach and a lot of the things that
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  are in book because it sounds like it would be something that would be a a fantastic resource
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  for a lot of companies.
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  So,
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  yeah, what I'm excited, yeah, what I'm excited about the book is it's called 10 set decision
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  how small change pays off big.
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  And the point of the book is that we don't have to have these big, huge ideas to make an
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  impact.
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  In fact, low cost, no cost ideas.
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  The 10 set decisions can have the biggest impact.
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  But what was interesting about the book is as I was writing it, And those of, people who might
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  be listening who are writers, totally understand this.
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  We write with an avatar in mind.
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  We write with a person in mind.
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  That I'm writing directly to you, Roxanne, if you were my, avatar, the words I choose, the
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  stories I use, the better the book if I have an actual targeted demographic.
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  That I'm writing for.
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  And when I attempted to do that, it was amazing how often I would kept writing the words.
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  If you're a team member or a leader, If you're a leader or a team member, I didn't seem to
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  have my avatar clear of who I was writing to.
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  So I was sharing this in my mastermind group one day, and one of the gentlemen in the group
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  said, well, why don't you write a 2 sided book?
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  Why don't you write 1 half for what team needs to hear?
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  And then write to what leaders need to hear.
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  So it led the idea that I actually 2 sided.
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  So the team and you read it from the back over to the middle.
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  So half of the book is upside down.
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  There's no duplication of content.
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  So I really believe everybody should read the whole book, but who I'm writing to, who my
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  focus is, is dependent on which side you're on.
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  So for example, team members don't have the ability most often or not empowered enough to
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  make big decisions, let's say, on pricing and packaging or maybe where something is
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  positioned in the store.
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  All of those are 10 set decisions.
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  Leaders are the ones who are gonna have to say, okay.
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  We're gonna run this special.
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  So there's an example where I might be talking to the front line about words you choose and
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  how you interact with the front line, where the leadership they might be in the ivory tower
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  somewhere and aren't in the front line at all.
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  And it really helped the book snap together of who I'm really talking to but the added benefit
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  that I didn't see coming is if they do take the time to read the whole book, they will be fresh
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  and seeing it through the other person's goggles, which is so important because I think
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  most leaders at one time or another have been on the front line It's how they work their way
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  up to, you know, their leadership positions.
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  But when's the last time that they served on the front line and being reminded of some of
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  those challenges we deal with day in and day out, I think can be important to their decision
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  making process.
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  So that's how the book came to be a two sided flip book.
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  What an amazing I've never first of all, wow.
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  I'm impressed.
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  I'm a writer.
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  I just thought about about that.
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  You know, one of the what an amazing way because you're so right because when I speak to
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  leaders, I'm I'm having them think about it from their perspective, but then the impact on
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  the front line.
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  But if the frontline were to think oftentimes when there's change, for instance, in an
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  organization, the frontline will say, well, the leaders don't understand what we're going
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  through.
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  They they they, you know, they can they're not gonna be affected.
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  How are they being affected?
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  They're not losing sleep.
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  They're not seeing that the leaders in fact going through equally as much stress, but in a
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  different way, and what they can show potentially sometimes is not the same as what
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  what maybe the frontline person can maybe sharing with their direct supervisor.
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  And I see organizations that really do well when you look and say, wow, that that small or
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  medium sized business is really rocking it.
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  I think what a lot of them have in common is this integrated approach that the front line is
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  thinking about how can I be empowered to make the best decision for the business any of that
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  leaders that are thinking, how can I make this work easier or smoother from my front line?
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  So I I do think that integrated part is huge.
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  So more more, integrated up and down versus kind of, you know, the separate silos that, you
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  know, obviously, that's what happens a lot of times with with disconnection a lot of times
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  with a lot of strategy.
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  There's a big strategy.
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  It's rolled out.
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  It's it's kind of, you know, the, you know, they might do a tiered approach to some change,
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  but sometimes along the way, there's there's need for more repetition.
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  Right.
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  And the had when I was writing the book that may be of interest to you is that the reason I
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  delayed so long, my first book was a a self Health.
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  It's called wrapped and stillness, a personal retreat guide, and it was the book in me that
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  had to get out.
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  It's the book.
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  Take away and you get away, get a plan, listen to your inner voice with your background.
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  I'm sure that you're very into that kind of stuff.
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  That was my first book, and it had to get out of me.
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  But from a business standpoint, the customer service book is the one that makes sense to
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  match my keynote.
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  And I put it off for almost 2 decades.
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  And I kept asking myself, why am I putting this off?
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  And then it dawned on me one day.
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  It's because I think everything that needs to be said about customer service has already been
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  set.
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  So I felt like what with my first book, I had all kinds of unique angles to how I think about
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  things but customer service isn't this common sense as they say.
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  And so here's my moment.
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  I took a writing retreat with a woman by the name of Kathy Fayak It was an online virtual
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  writing retreat, and she had 6 or 7 people on just like this on a Zoom call, and we all
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  talked about what we were gonna write about.
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  After the first hour, she said, okay.
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  Here's what we're gonna do.
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  I'm gonna give you a writing prompt, and then I want you to go away.
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  And I want you to write nonstop for 30 minutes.
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  On whatever prompt they give you.
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  And I'm like, okay, this will be fun.
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  And the prompt was simply this.
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  Dear reader.
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  That was the prompt, dear reader.
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  Oh, wow.
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  So when I went away and and started with dear reader and just didn't think about what I was
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  typing, just typed like crazy, This is what came out of me, dear reader.
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  I bet you're wondering what do I possibly have to say about customer service that hasn't
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  already been set?
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  Well, this is what I have to say.
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  And I just let it all just bubble out, not in not in final form, but in that creative thing,
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  And what I realized is since I'd been an entrepreneur since I was 5 and all these
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  different businesses I dreamed up as a child and and made money doing, I learned customer
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  service as I went, and that became the model for the book.
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  So every chapter starts out with a small antique, real short, but cute and entertaining,
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  but then here's what I learned when I was selling sweet corn on the corner.
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  Here's what I learned when I started a catalog business in 4th grade.
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  And so that became the structure of the book so that mine is different than the other ones that
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  you see.
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  And I think it's an interesting way for leaders to to think about, you know, your authentic
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  approach to things.
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  That was my authentic approach.
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  This is who I am, and I may be repeating what others have heard, but it's done in my own way.
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  That gave me excitement to get it done.
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  Once I had that idea, it only took about 9 months to get it done.
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  So
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  Awesome.
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  Awesome.
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  So out there in the in the business world, What kind of things are people ignoring, which
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  should seem basic if you understand customer service?
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  That's a great question.
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  I think that the thing people are missing is set time aside to train.
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  I believe when we hire people, especially when it comes to customer service, we teach them the
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  tools of how to do the task.
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  Here's how you run the keyboard.
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  Here's how you spin the dials.
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  Here's how you pack the box.
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  Is whatever job it is that we have for them, we teach them the skills of the job.
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  But when are we training customer service?
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  Because so many times people believe it common sense.
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  And the thing is, I I thought about this long and hard, there's about at least 5 things that
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  go into common sense.
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  So if you and I were both starting at the same place at the same time on a frontline job, we
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  both have different childhoods.
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  We had different experiences in different households we were raised in.
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  And that became our model.
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  So if my parent was one area, your guardian was another way, that was our example.
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  So the place where you grew up the, era in which you were born, we see generational things
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  playing a part here, and that somebody who is a sixty year old employee comes to work with
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  different value behaviors than someone who's eighteen years old and just graduated high
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  school.
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  So we've got the era in which we were born.
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  We've got our own personality.
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  I'm extroverted.
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  I am, you know, bold, and I'll talk to anybody about anything.
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  I have a child who's the exact opposite.
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  She's introverted.
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  And so for her to just get out there and smile and talk to people, it's not how she's wired.
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  And then we have our previous work experience.
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  What was accepted at the job where you were before you bring that to the table.
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  And then finally, who are you working beside today?
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  So if they take the two of us and they put you next to somebody who's that outgoing bubbly
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  teller at the bank, and it's your job to learn from her, you will begin to model her behavior.
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  I get put back in the loan officer's department and I'm sitting next to somebody who's a grumpy
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  person who's been doing it too many years, that becomes my model.
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  So I don't think there is something as simple as common sense.
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  I think it is so different from person to person, we better make sure we train the
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  culture and train the expected behavior and accept no less.
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  Easier said than done, but it is what I think people are missing.
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  Right.
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  So just don't throw people in.
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  Expect them to say, you know, you know the job.
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  Just accepted.
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  It's it's this is our environment.
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  This is our culture.
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  It kind of seeped them into it.
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  So re recognize a you said, if you or I were to start in the same company and we're we're doing
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  parallels, positions, we're gonna bring a whole lot of different.
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  I'm like you too.
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  I'm extroverted.
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  But, I mean, but sometimes I recognize that someone that's introverted in some of the
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  positions that I've had have taught me so much more because they they lay back and they absorb
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  things from a different way that before I I'm already in the pond and they're back there and
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  they've already kind of seen what I've should have seen in on.
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  So you you recognize you.
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  There's value to be learned from every person.
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  Like you said, you know, who who am I what's my personality, you know, I can learn.
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  We can all learn from each other.
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  But and then context, if you've had bad situations, that you've been in or, you know,
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  and and you've had, you know, less than desirable employers or things like that.
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  You're bringing those you know, unknown variables with you, not knowing that you're
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  gonna bring it to your new position, but how do you kind of, you know, allow that person to
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  recognize that if your environment is the best, how how is it that you are gonna expose them to
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  it being a good place to be?
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  And the other thing is is to keep in mind as leaders, those listening to this who are
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  leaders is that it can't just be a one and done.
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  I I worked with a company a couple weeks ago that, guess what?
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  This is when they do their customer service training during day 1 of orientation.
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  Oh.
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  Now, you're still thinking about where do you hang your coat and where do you punch in and
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  out who you can eat lunch with.
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  The idea of learning their culture and their way of treating customers is gonna go way over
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  our heads on day 1.
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  And you look at professionals, I always use Tiger Woods as an example.
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  It's like, who's Tiger Woods coach.
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  Right?
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  He still got somebody telling him how to be better.
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  And so even as good as he is, at one time, number 1 in the world, he's still out there
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  practicing consistently.
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  And in business, I don't think we put enough emphasis on practicing.
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  We throw people in.
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  Like you said, we throw them into the pond, and then we hope that they do well.
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  I think we have to have a consistent plan for training, and it's rinse and repeat.
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  You do it over and over again.
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  Because have you ever gone into a place where you know somebody's been there for years and
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  their customer service falls way short.
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  It's not because they don't know how.
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  It's because they've they've probably gotten rusty retired or whatever.
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  So we've gotta keep doing the kind of the booster shots, I guess, of customer service
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  training.
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  So those would probably be my 2 answers to your question.
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  Is We've gotta make time for it, but then we have to keep it up on a consistent basis.
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  And that one and done.
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  Right?
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  Like, I mean, a teacher.
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  Yeah.
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  Exactly.
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  If you if you teach a concept, but the person doesn't have the ability to go out and apply
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  it, it's like anything else.
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  It's any you know, you're you're kinda go, oh, this is nice.
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  And then I I don't get, you know, mentored or anything like it.
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  I kinda, you know, it didn't work.
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  So I'll kinda put it apart versus kinda checking what what part of it works.
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  What worked really well, what didn't work, what would you shift, all those things, and that's
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  the the piece that you said on an ongoing piece is people that have the opportunity to come
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  back and say, oh, I'd like to learn more about this or that.
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  So I would think that the managers would be, you know, Tal, let's talk about different
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  layers of of training for customer service in mind.
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  Oh, that's interesting.
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  Yes.
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  Let's do that.
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  How is that different?
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  For let's talk Mac macro to micro.
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  Okay.
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  So I I feel like the leader at the top of the pile, I feel their job is to create the vision
• 19:22
  and the culture.
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  This is what we wanted to feel like here.
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  This is the experience we want our guests to have when they come.
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  They've gotta set that tone, and they need to be the model for it.
• 19:31
  If they say we're gonna greet every customer, and then they're charging through the
• 19:35
  establishment with a head of steam on and not being kind to the people they meet, that is not
• 19:39
  a good role model for us.
• 19:40
  But they're not gonna do the day to day training.
• 19:42
  And again, it depends on how big of an organization are we talking about.
• 19:45
  I deal with some businesses where they have 4 employees total.
• 19:49
  You know, small to medium business, there aren't layers.
• 19:51
  But in some of those bigger, medium to larger companies, of course, we're gonna have the
• 19:55
  layer.
• 19:56
  So I think below the leader, we're gonna have some kind of mainline managers who are starting
• 20:00
  to create those silos.
• 20:02
  And, you know, years ago, they talked about break down the silos.
• 20:05
  Let's not have silos.
• 20:06
  Well, I'm a Midwest Farmer's daughter.
• 20:08
  Silos agree for, exists for a really good reason.
• 20:11
  They keep the good stuff in, and they keep the bad stuff up.
• 20:14
  So I am a believer in silos and that we need departments so that they function correctly
• 20:19
  inside their silos, but I think we need tunnels or bridges between those silos so that we can
• 20:26
  interact with each other.
• 20:27
  But I want each of my silos to have a mainline manager who has the ability spot issues in my
• 20:33
  own department and be able to make changes swiftly and with empowerment and with support
• 20:38
  of that upper leadership that we talked about.
• 20:40
  And I feel that's the hub of where the big stuff happens.
• 20:44
  Because again, let's take a bank, for example.
• 20:46
  If I'm in charge of the bank tellers, I know their needs way more than what I know and what
• 20:51
  the mortgage bankers need.
• 20:53
  Those are two examples of silos with very different needs and probably different customer
• 20:57
  service approaches.
• 20:59
  And I would think at that level, from the middle managers to the leadership because the
• 21:03
  leech leadership, like you said, they they're they're having the aerial shot.
• 21:07
  However, their interface with those metal managers has to be continual because if if,
• 21:12
  like, to your point, if I'm if I'm in my silo, I know that like the back of my hand.
• 21:18
  I know how it what what what's the the the positives and negatives, the the ongoing
• 21:23
  concerns, what's coming down the pike, you know, what's the dissension, what's going
• 21:27
  ready, all that stuff, but I would think that that's, communication, from the aerial shot
• 21:33
  should be ongoing, and everybody kind of knows on an ongoing basis what the different needs
• 21:39
  are of all these silos to be able to kind of shifted if need be the strategic kind of vision
• 21:44
  of talk.
• 21:45
  And then it's it's really interesting to me how often after I'm done speaking when people come
• 21:50
  forward to share their private questions or concerns.
• 21:53
  If I had to pick one common denominator almost always, it is the middle to lower level person
• 21:59
  who's coming up and complaining that they're bumping up against the top of that silo, that
• 22:04
  they're they're not getting the information they need in either direction.
• 22:08
  Words not making it to the top of what's going on or what the problems are, or training and
• 22:13
  information is not making it down so that we know how to behave.
• 22:16
  And it it feels like people are kind of, moving around with earmuffs on.
• 22:21
  They can't really they they aren't really aware of what's going on because the information
• 22:25
  isn't flowing.
• 22:25
  And that's a hard, it's hard to give them a solution to that because a lot of times it's
• 22:31
  that main line manager that is their blockade.
• 22:34
  You can't go around them.
• 22:35
  You can't go through them.
• 22:36
  You gotta try to deal with them the best you can, and people never like that answer.
• 22:39
  They're always hoping there's a magic pill.
• 22:41
  And when I have say, I don't think I have a magic pill for you.
• 22:44
  You can tell that they're disappointed, but to to your point is that it's when we start having
• 22:49
  these layers that are not an open flow, a vertical flow of communication and objectives,
• 22:54
  but I think we start to see the breakdown that comes all the way down to the front line where
• 22:58
  you and I as customers walk in and feel that something's not right and maybe we don't wanna
• 23:03
  return.
• 23:03
  It could be something that we're discussing that's the cause of that.
• 23:07
  So what
• 23:08
  for middle managers, for companies that you seem to have kind of addressed it.
• 23:12
  And I know this is gonna be you're gonna tell me every company is different.
• 23:15
  But first, I know when I was, you know, I was executive consultant for a health and wellness
• 23:20
  firm, and and we dealt with different sectors, size, industry all over can all over North
• 23:26
  America.
• 23:27
  And what we found that the biggest concern there was was that the management, the middle
• 23:32
  management skills, was was subpar par at best.
• 23:37
  I don't care if it was a fortune 500 company versus a mom and pop with, you know, 2 to 3
• 23:43
  employees.
• 23:44
  It was the ability of those managers to, communicate effectively understand their
• 23:52
  employees recognize we were, we dealt a lot with psycho psychological services and how and
• 23:57
  anything to keep people away from work.
• 24:00
  They fell down.
• 24:01
  Were were the pretty tactical, like you to your point, they gotta they got pulled up the ranks
• 24:07
  and they, you know, and they got into these positions, but they're they're, you know, soft
• 24:12
  skills or the people skills will less than.
• 24:14
  And oftentimes, these people have been left alone for so long, that they're scared to go to
• 24:20
  HR and say, I've been doing this job for 30 years and I don't know how to talk to that
• 24:24
  employee about X Y Z.
• 24:26
  Mhmm.
• 24:26
  They would so they would call us to be able to coach them on how to to deal with that concern.
• 24:32
  Well, absolutely.
• 24:33
  And and I couldn't agree more that we see a lot of that.
• 24:36
  Of course, it's not universal, but if it's a struggling organization, I think what you're
• 24:40
  talking about is absolutely the crux of it.
• 24:42
  And I also think a dangerous thing that happens is a middle manager.
• 24:47
  I like to talk in metaphors.
• 24:48
  I almost see them like somebody who's rock climbing and they've made it a certain way up
• 24:52
  the mountain.
• 24:52
  And now they're gonna dig in.
• 24:54
  They're gonna get that toe hold in really tight to hold their position because they certainly
• 24:59
  don't wanna slip and go down.
• 25:00
  And I don't know that they, agree that they have the skills to go higher.
• 25:04
  So they take a foothold.
• 25:06
  And when we see a foothold, we see managers that are not really open to change.
• 25:11
  They hold information because knowledge is power.
• 25:14
  Some of the best middle managers I've ever seen are the ones who bring people up behind them.
• 25:19
  To their same level so that the place can almost function without them.
• 25:23
  That's a strong manager because again, everybody's in there pulling their load.
• 25:28
  Where a manager that holds everybody back and holds their turf kind of finds himself halfway
• 25:33
  up the mountain by themselves without somebody that's holding the rope with them.
• 25:37
  And I think that If we could get middle managers to understand early on, the stronger
• 25:42
  you the the people that you surround yourself with the stronger they are, the more likely
• 25:48
  they can do your job instead of you, the better your whole place is gonna be rather than
• 25:53
  feeling threatened.
• 25:54
  Did you notice that a lot in the work you did?
• 25:56
  Absolutely.
• 25:56
  And and and all the work that I do now with coaching or speaking, that's what we talk
• 26:00
  about.
• 26:00
  It's like, if we it's it's the opposite of ego.
• 26:03
  It's like, you know what?
• 26:05
  I'm a leader, and if you think about what a leader of what we know in today's day and age
• 26:09
  is to walk alongside versus, you know, I have the answers, and I'm gonna, like, you know,
• 26:15
  impart it onto you.
• 26:16
  So I think that's what we found is that the leaders that kinda looked and said, you are a
• 26:21
  reflection of me.
• 26:23
  And if I could walk out of this organization tomorrow for whatever reason and we you could
• 26:28
  continue along, maybe there would be, you know, obviously shifts that would have to be made
• 26:34
  until there was a replacement.
• 26:35
  The business could still function Those were the organizations that we found were more
• 26:39
  successful.
• 26:40
  And it makes perfect sense.
• 26:41
  And I wish I understood more about why people feel so threatened in those positions.
• 26:47
  But you certainly see it.
• 26:49
  When you go into effect, it's one of the reasons I stopped doing coaching years ago.
• 26:52
  I used to do just a little bit of coaching.
• 26:54
  Because I love people.
• 26:55
  But what I found out, unless you're a professional like yourself who's had the high
• 26:59
  level training, you dig yourself into some problems there because you have all this like a
• 27:03
  lot background of not only the person you're coaching, but then that domino effect they have
• 27:07
  on everybody else.
• 27:09
  And I think, people need to be very careful when they're coaching others that they don't
• 27:13
  get outside their pay grade and start giving advice that maybe it works for me.
• 27:17
  But I get that advice to the next person, and I have created something that I didn't even see
• 27:21
  coming because I don't have your type of background.
• 27:24
  Very important.
• 27:24
  Yeah.
• 27:24
  You have to look at the cultural context of the environment.
• 27:27
  What is this business position?
• 27:28
  There's so many variables that you have to know And when we would offer consultations,
• 27:32
  management, consultations, we would say, okay, how does this fit with the union?
• 27:37
  Have they been arbitrations, you know, you know, a lot, there's so many or other variables
• 27:41
  before we could kind of kind of give guidance because you can go give guidance out of context
• 27:46
  of the organization and then you could then it's a political hot potato.
• 27:50
  And and you've just given guidance to somebody that's gonna go out and do something, that
• 27:54
  could be detrimental to the
• 27:57
  Yeah.
• 27:57
  I think that's an extremely interesting topic how people can go down that path of 1 minute
• 28:01
  you're guiding and coaching and mentoring.
• 28:03
  Next thing you know, you you've fallen into this deep hole that's gonna be a big problem.
• 28:07
  So that's a very interesting topic.
• 28:09
  So that's, you know, for for organizations that are listening or leaders that are saying, we we
• 28:15
  have some problems.
• 28:16
  We've done some things.
• 28:18
  What kind of things should they be considering, to kind of disengage where they need to go?
• 28:24
  Well, you know, that's an interesting question because of the fact that some people believe in
• 28:28
  in the customer questionnaire.
• 28:30
  And I've never been a huge fan of that.
• 28:32
  I realize it gives you data, but I think that it skews towards the negative.
• 28:36
  I think it I don't I don't know about you, but I will fill out a survey when I'm not happy,
• 28:40
  and I need to tell somebody I'm not happy.
• 28:42
  But when I'm happy with the service, I have less less tendency to do that, which is
• 28:46
  unfortunate.
• 28:47
  I shouldn't do that.
• 28:47
  But I don't know if maybe we look at some skewed results when we do that.
• 28:53
  And I feel that an approach that we should maybe be looking at is as simple as what's our
• 28:58
  return volume depending on the business you're in.
• 29:00
  But what's our what's our percent of return customers?
• 29:03
  What's our percent of new customers?
• 29:04
  Are we retaining who we find.
• 29:07
  And I would take a look.
• 29:08
  Stats don't lie.
• 29:09
  Numbers don't lie.
• 29:10
  You can look at as many online reviews as you want.
• 29:14
  I think a lot of people think competitors go in and leave those nasty reviews for other bread
• 29:18
  and breakfast, but I don't know.
• 29:20
  Okay.
• 29:20
  And so your question, your question to me is, you know, where do we start?
• 29:24
  And I think we start looking at our own numbers that we can prove.
• 29:27
  Are they going up?
• 29:28
  Are they going down?
• 29:29
  What are we hearing?
• 29:30
  What are some of the, trends that we see inside?
• 29:33
  So for example, in our clinic, anytime a patient gave a complaint, we had to fill out
• 29:39
  what we called an internal incident report.
• 29:41
  It was not part of the medical record.
• 29:42
  It was just an HR record that we'd be able to say, here's what the complaint was.
• 29:46
  And here's who was involved, and here's how we tried to solve it.
• 29:50
  And we kept those and studied those, and you would see patterns that there might be one
• 29:53
  particular person in a department who's getting more complaints than everybody else.
• 29:57
  Let's go back and do some retraining.
• 29:59
  Let's let's figure out is that they're rough edge, just the way they say things.
• 30:03
  And then we can make, and this is the important part specific customized training.
• 30:08
  I can't just say to you, Roxanne, you need to be nicer to our customers.
• 30:11
  Well, if you knew how to be nicer, you would already be doing it.
• 30:15
  So not only do I need to show you examples of where maybe your behavior has fallen short,
• 30:20
  Here's the important part.
• 30:21
  I need to give you tools to make it better, and we need to define what those tools are.
• 30:26
  I mean, in some cases, it could be simply as simple as a book like mine or another one.
• 30:30
  Or it could be audio tapes, it could be a formal coaching program, it could be, online
• 30:36
  learning, it could be a class of some kind.
• 30:38
  There's all these resources out there.
• 30:40
  Even something as simple as sending them to a library and finding going online and finding
• 30:45
  that resource but I can't just say to you, be nicer to the customers.
• 30:48
  I need to hand you that resource or that buddy and mentor to show you how to do it.
• 30:53
  I think that's important.
• 30:54
  Well, and, you know, and you to your point, metrics are are the way to kind of look at it
• 30:59
  because I know with, when we would do training analysis on what would keep people away from
• 31:03
  work, We would look at that.
• 31:05
  So let's say in the hospital sector, about 15% of people, that attended psychological services
• 31:12
  early, you know, they were able to stay at work and they would lessen the amount of days that
• 31:19
  they would because they they sought intervention early.
• 31:22
  That's interesting.
• 31:23
  And so you kinda look at that metrics.
• 31:24
  You look at the short term, the long term, the arbitrations, all those things.
• 31:28
  Mhmm.
• 31:28
  And
• 31:28
  that can kinda give you information, and it it did.
• 31:31
  So we would look and and know across hospital sectors is about 15% is a good utilization.
• 31:37
  And some companies would say Hey, we don't want 15%.
• 31:41
  But in fact, 15% is healthy because that shows you that people are learning, hey, I may be
• 31:47
  having a disagreement at home with a partner or I may be having, issues at work.
• 31:52
  I'm gonna pick up that phone, and I'm gonna talk to someone that can give me guidance
• 31:56
  early.
• 31:56
  And then generally, what they would do is they would, fill out the survey that would say
• 32:01
  because I've used a service.
• 32:02
  I've, you know, I've I've returned to work earlier.
• 32:05
  I didn't take time off.
• 32:06
  Those types of things.
• 32:07
  And what's the quantifiable amount for that lost time?
• 32:11
  Mhmm.
• 32:11
  That's what and and the quantifiable That's that's where it's at.
• 32:15
  How do we quantify something that's like a soft skill?
• 32:18
  And that would be an interesting thing for people to dig into.
• 32:21
  Here's where we are now.
• 32:21
  Here's what we're gonna do.
• 32:22
  What do we want that result of me.
• 32:24
  And so I just think that it's it's, it's fun to dig into some of that stuff.
• 32:29
  So I'm sure everybody you know, everybody listening.
• 32:32
  I'm here in Niagara Falls, so I'm sure, a lot of people that will hear this podcast with with
• 32:36
  customer service would probably love to, no more where they could pick up the book.
• 32:42
  You know, we're a border town.
• 32:44
  We're tourism rich, here.
• 32:47
  And, you know, also with your key noting, just where can people
• 32:52
  reach you and, well, for myself to get a hold of me or learn more about the services we
• 32:58
  provide.
• 32:59
  It's my name at.com.
• 33:00
  So it's laurieguest, laurieguest, like a guest speaker.
• 33:06
  Took me forever to marry the guy that does his needs that I do for
• 33:11
  a living.
• 33:11
  How many dates does that take?
• 33:13
  Exactly.
• 33:14
  I said, if I'd known that's how it was gonna turn out, I should have been looking for Tom
• 33:17
  Skinny, you know, that's what I'm like.
• 33:20
  Right?
• 33:20
  Anyway, so lauraguest.com is where you can learn about me.
• 33:23
  Interested in learning more about the book or even buying it online, they can go to
• 33:28
  10¢decision.com.
• 33:30
  You can either do it the 10 or you can do t e n.
• 33:33
  Either way, it gets you to the same spot, and they can also use the word podcast as a coupon
• 33:38
  code and get 20% off the book if they're interested.
• 33:41
  So happy happy to honor that, for anybody who might be listening and wants a a few dollars
• 33:46
  off the book.
• 33:46
  We're happy to do that.
• 33:48
  I'll son.
• 33:48
  Well, I know you've been on a busy busy schedule.
• 33:52
  And, I wish you all the best with the book.
• 33:54
  It sounds like things are going well already.
• 33:57
  And for and for everybody listening, you know, I always talk about, you know, we all wanna be
• 34:01
  treated a certain way as leaders whether you're a leader or a frontline person, at the end of
• 34:06
  the day, we are all wanting to have we spend most of our time, in environments where we work
• 34:12
  we we have to go out there and serve others.
• 34:15
  We wanna feel connected.
• 34:16
  So to think about that, whether you're a leader, what is it that you need to do to stay
• 34:20
  more authentically connected to yourself?
• 34:22
  Like I say, what is your authenticity quotients?
• 34:25
  How do you score?
• 34:27
  And then think about how are you imparting that to the others in front of you?
• 34:31
  So if anybody wanting, further information on me, I'm a mental health and wellness
• 34:35
  specialist, and you can reach me at Roxanne.
• 34:38
  I'm a keynote speaker trainer and coach.
• 34:41
  Okay.
• 34:41
  Take care, Lori, and thanks a lot for your time.
• 34:43
  Thanks.
• 34:44
  Bye.
• 34:45
  Thanks for tuning in to authentic living with Roxanne, creating the space for positive health
• 34:50
  change.
• 34:51
  Roxanne is a keynote speaker, psychotherapist, and coach to work with Roxanne, visit Roxanne
• 34:58
  durhaj.com/blueprint.
• 35:02
  We'll see you next time on authentic living with Roxanne.