“Moments that Matter”

by Mark Matteson

Many years ago, I was a first year apprentice assigned the task of pressure washing a set of condensing coils on the roof of a grocery store on Capital Hill in Seattle, an upscale part of town. It was a 90-degree day, in late August. To make matters worse, it was a Friday around 4:30 PM. I was wet, dirty, tired and I was anxious to get home, knowing full well I had at least another hour to finish up. An elderly gentleman in coveralls, and an old and worn straw hat approached me as I came down the ladder. “Watcha’ doin,’ sonny?” he asked. At that moment, it would have been easy to dismiss his inquiry and say something curt or rude. After all, I was tired. However, I decided to smile and explain what and why I was doing what I was doing. His body language told me he appreciated my gesture. He then exclaimed, “That’s great, I’m glad you’re doing this. It’s important. You see, my son runs the store for me. In fact, I own the whole block. Keep up the good work!” On the drive home, it occurred to me, “You just never know!” He didn’t look like a millionaire. It was a moment that mattered from a business perspective.

A moment that matters is the dozens of daily interactions that occur when we come in contact with our customers. We sometimes forget that it costs $7 to GET a new customer, but only $1 to KEEP one!

Keeping customers delighted and letting them know how valuable they are is as rain is to dry flowers. Great Service is communicated from the top of the Organization on an ongoing basis. It is rewarded and discussed through stories that become legendary internally.

Appreciating the Customer is everyone’s responsibility. Great Service means asking great questions in a moment that matters, like:

· “What will it take to make you happy?’

· “What would you like us to do?”

· “You have a right to feel the way you do. How can we make it right?”

Great Service means being flexible and willing to change and never being content with the status quo. It means continuously investing in education and growing people. It means guarding against the twin thieves of Arrogance and Complacency. Great Service means treating every person in your organization with dignity and respect. Those “Moments that Matter” will, in the long term, make or break your company.

USA Today carried a story that headlined: “Bank gets $2 million dollar lesson.” It began when John Barrier went to Old National Bank in Spokane, WA, to cash a $100 check. When Barrier tried to get his parking slip validated to save .60 cents, a receptionist refused, saying he hadn’t conducted a transaction. “She said you have to make a deposit,” Barrier said. “I told her I’m considered a substantial depositor and she looked at me like…well.” He asked to see the manager, who also refused to stamp the ticket. Barrier went to bank headquarters vowing to withdraw his $2 million-plus unless the manager apologized. No call came. “So the next day I went over and the first amount I took out was $1 million. But if you have $100 or $1 million,” he says, “I think they owe you the courtesy of stamping a ticket.”

I wonder if John Barrier was wearing a straw hat and coveralls. There are many days I don’t feel like providing great service. I’d rather take a nap. But you know, you just never know, when a Moment…will Matter!

“The purpose of business is to get and keep customers.” Theodore Levitt.

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