When my son was young, I was always amazed at the questions his mind developed. It usually started with “Is it possible…” or “What if…” Things such as, “Is it possible for a man to fly?” and “What if cows could suddenly give chocolate milk?” I would take the question, try to reason with it and figure out a logical conclusion as to what exactly could happen. One day as we were getting an oil change for my car, my son asked, “What if you never changed the oil or put any oil into a car what would happen?” It was an easy answer; the car would cease to run. I explained to him that if you fail to change the oil, the oil becomes dirty and fails to lubricate the engine. Once that happens the car engine stops working and the car is no longer able to function.

For most of us, the thought of sitting in a classroom listening to an instructor regurgitate facts or read straight from a book gives us serious high school flashbacks.   Bueller…Bueller, anyone? 

The sale has been confirmed, the paperwork is completed, the invoice has been created; and now, last but not least, the equipment needs to be delivered. Many hands have played a part in getting to this point and the customer is happy and confident that he is getting what he needs. The delivery person that is going to the jobsite has been well trained on how to operate the equipment and is very qualified to answer questions for the customer. But what can a delivery person do to further advance the relationship with the customer while at the jobsite?

We hear it all the time.

When someone calls your organization and inquires about your services, how important is that call and what is the objective of the call? Is it to:

Once upon a time we made two phone calls to two hotels. We recorded those conversations because, well, that is what we do. Unlike the NSA, we don’t record these phone calls because we are concerned about national security, instead we are concerned about the state of customer service. And as you will hear, we have good reason for our concern.

What happens when managers are uncomfortable giving developmental feedback to employees? They avoid it and hope the poor performance improves by magical forces. But that usually doesn't happen.  The employee doesn't know what they are doing wrong or how to improve, so they continue making the same mistakes over and over. The manager grows more frustrated, but still avoids confrontation. The employee may leave, or worse yet, stay and continue the bad performance - which ends up chasing away the high performers, because they don't feel like their efforts are either recognized or valued.  And the end result? Loss of profits.

People always ask me for the ROI of training a front desk staff and I am always a little stumped. It’s a logical question. If you are spending money on training, it only seems fair that you would expect some sort of return, but quantifying that return becomes the tricky part.

Whatever your organization calls the process of driving changes or behaviors in the pursuit of a positive outcome or result must have one nonnegotiable ingredient to ensure success: A training reinforcement process that validates and measures.

Dave Hamilton, SVP of Training Delivery and acclaimed story-teller, recounts a short and pertinent tale regarding one of the most important elements in customer service and life: your attitude.