I made my semi-annual stop at a Dunkin Donuts today. I needed coffee; was pressed for time and they were my only option. I just don’t like their coffee. They did something to it years ago – like water it down???

Well things haven’t changed. You’re a transaction at Dunkin Donuts. Let’s just move the line. I felt that way even when I was a loyal customer.

• What can I get for you? 
• Turn away.
• Pour coffee.
• Mix (if needed).
• Hand customer drink.
• Take money.
• Hand customer change.
• Say thank you.
• Look over customer shoulder to next customer and ask what can I get for you.
• Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

I don’t feel that way when I go into a local independent coffee shop. I don’t feel that way when I walk into a Starbucks. At these places I find the employees engage me in conversation; whether I’m a regular or a first-timer. I don’t feel like a transaction.

Is it about the training? Is it about the type of person each organization hires? Or am I jaded because I don’t like DD coffee?

Whatever it may be I know one thing…………in the world we live in, customers are looking for an experience; and not to be a transaction. Even if that experience is a wink of an eye. Are you providing an experience? It’s really not that hard. Ask me how the weather is. It might be that simple.

Wash Rinse Repeat is a thing of the past. Especially for those of us with no hair.

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So when you Google “bad employees” in quotes you get 30,300 results. When you Google “bad customers” in quotes you get 35,800 results.

When you remove the quotes the numbers are 48,100,000 and 50,500,000 respectively.

Seems that we have more bad customers than bad employees. Maybe Customer Service Training needs to be replaced with Customer Training. Maybe we need to tell customers what is expected of them, in terms of their behavior, when they enter a place of business, call or email?

Clearly the customer is not always right. As a matter of fact they may very well be wrong more than 50% of the time. So why are we still telling employees the  customer is always right when even Google says they’re not.

Just a thought for today.

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ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

That’s what he said as my friends were about to plop down on the beach the other day…..Are you kidding me? (He said it a second time) 

I was lagging behind and off to the side so I stopped and took in what I knew was going to happen (I know my friends; one in particular).

Seems he was annoyed that we were going to sit in front of him and proceeded to tell my gang how we were going to ruin is view.

It was too late. It didn’t matter. The body language by my friends was in full swing and the words were about to fly.

Are YOU kidding me? Have you ever been to a beach? Everyone wants to see the water. Why didn’t you move closer so no one would sit in front of you?

Every one of us has opened our mouth a little too soon or a little too fast. Every one of us has chosen words that maybe were not the smartest or were open to interpretation. Every one of us has said something that clearly put someone else on the defensive immediately. It’s happened to us as friends, family members, employees, or as customers. Every one of us has been disengaged from someone or something by the choice of a few words. Please choose your words wisely.

Would it be possible for you folks not to sit there and block our view might have been a nicer way.

So there we were; standoff time. Do we sit there and end up with a total unpleasant experience for the rest of the day or move on? I suggested to one of my friends to “let it go” and let’s go. I told the man to enjoy his view.

Of course I gave him one of those smiles. You know the ones.

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I’m here on Cape Cod awaiting the arrival or Hurricane Earl. Went out to get a few extra provisions should we lose power or a downed tree keeps me from moving about.

I noticed something. EVERYONE is happy.

Employees at local businesses are smiling. Customers aren’t aggravated by long lines. No batteries. Oh well. No more flashlights. Still smiles. Conversation is flowing between everyone. Yes, while Earl might have a devastating impact on the communities he visits; he seems to have a positive impact on engagement.

Amazing how doom seems to do this. Hurricanes. Floods. Earthquakes. Blizzards. They all tend to engage people. Employees work harder. Employees bond & communicate. Customers are more relaxed and not as demanding.

What is it about doom, destruction, devastation and uncertainty that excites people? And how do we keep that feeling alive all year long? When we figure that out we’ll have a great solution for engagement.

Or maybe DOOM makes us realize what is important and what is not worth getting frustrated over?

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I hope you haven’t experienced this but if you’ve been to a hospital, nursing home or assisted living facility you may have seen a sign above the bed: DNR – Do Not Resuscitate.

One definition of the word resuscitate is to make active or vigorous again. I like that. A lot. I think organizations are guilty of this – not making their employees active again; not allowing them to become vigorous again. Now I know we might debate this, but most would say that DNR is a good thing for a terminally ill patient. Employees however are not terminally ill. They can be vigorous again. But instead I am seeing a different version of the DNR sign: DO NOT RECESSitate.

The definition of RECESSitate is to take a break from the norm and undergo a period of learning, recharging and celebrating accomplishments. This is not happening in today’s workplace. Here is what is happening:

• Training budgets are being slashed. Makes loads of sense that people are your #1 cost and investment in them is going away (sarcasm).
• The order of the day has been do more with less; pick up the work of others as the workforce gets reduced. Hardly a moment is available to recharge?
• Accomplishments? Celebrating? Who has time for that? You do. And it is necessary. It’s also not hard.

RECESSitating an organization can be inexpensive or costly. It can be done by the talent within or bringing in someone from the outside to start an initiative. That choice is yours. But if you take some time to regularly RECESSitate your organization, in the long run you will:

• Show employees they matter
• Make for a better customer experience which results from having an engaged workforce
• Impact your bottom line by reducing absenteeism, experiencing increased sales, or lowering turnover/hiring costs

DNR signs belong in medical facilities; not the workplace. Has your organization hung out the DNR Sign; DO NOT RECESSitate.

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For the last two weeks I get almost daily calls from the following phone number: 877-436-7165. They are calling my mobile and asking to speak to the person who pays the electric bill.

In the State of CT we can now purchase portions of our electric from a provider other than the two big guys; and at a reduced price. So I ask who they are and what they’re looking for. Be nice to telephone solicitors; it’s probably one of the worst jobs out there. I let them know I’m already purchasing my service elsewhere  and ask them to remove my number from their records. They don’t. They keep calling. For the past two weeks.

So now every time they call I take a quick Recess and call back. I ask them what time it is or what they are wearing or what they had for lunch? They’re getting annoyed at me and told me they don’t find me funny.

I know they’re doing their job. But part of their job is to listen to a customer or a prospect as well. And when someone asks you to stop calling you do just that; you stop calling. Or some crazy person might change his mind about telling people to be nice to you and publish your phone number all over the Internet as a warning of your business practices.

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Went to see Cirque Jungle Dreams at MGM Grand last night in CT. It was a lot of fun. The performers were engaging and amazing. The costumes were wild.

During the show the jugglers screwed up a few times and had to regroup. The tight rope acrobatists clearly make a mistake or two as well.

Or maybe they didn’t? Maybe that was part of the show? I really don’t know, but they looked like mistakes.

But what was interesting was that the show went on. The performers (employees) regrouped and kept going. The show went on. They didn’t stop. The customer experience wasn’t ruined. 99% of that show was flawless. The bicycle acrobats were amazing. The frogs waving their butts at me were hilarious. The woman who stood on her tippy-toes on one foot on top a guy’s head sent pain to my head. The symphony doesn’t have a buff ripped shirtless incredibly talented violin player? Violin players are supposed to be nerdy. The positions some of those women could put their body was freaky. I could go on. I was engaged from the moment the curtain went up.

The important point here is we don’t need a 100% perfect experience. No one does. We just need to know you’re trying and you’re willing to fix things when mistakes are made. Most engaged employees know when they screw up. Sometimes you need to fix it; other times you just move forward.

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I’ve seen the signs. I’ve seen the chain emails. I’ve heard consultant after consultant; presenter after presenter use the phrase. I’ve even sat in staff trainings where I heard it…

There is no “I” in Team.

Guess what?

There is an I in team…………

• The I is that team member who recognizes the team is off course.
• The I is that team member who is willing to bring issues to the table.
• The I is that team member who recognizes his or her fellow employees are not engaged.
• The I is that person who recognizes that customers are having an awful experience and is willing to shout it out from the top of a rooftop so that leaders and managers adapt.
• The I is that team member who is not moaning, whining, complaining and gossiping about all that is wrong but is looking to fix it.
• The I is that person who is willing to take the risks that everyone is unwilling to take; in hopes of creating a better work environment, a more engaged workplace or a happier customer experience.
• The I is the person who does all of these things that brings a team together and moves them forward.

No I in team? I hope not. But what I do hope is when that I does all those things he or she doesn’t look to take reward or credit, but rather continues to look for the opportunities to be the “I.”

There is an “I” in Team and I hope it is you.

Stop pause and take a Recess today. How can you be the I?

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Lately I feel like Customer of the Month at Research in Motion. I’ve been on the phone with them for hours to deal with several issues with my piece of junk Blackberry Storm 1. Now I keep suggesting they just send me a Storm 2 already. At this point I have to believe that the amount of payroll expense that has been dedicated to my issues is much greater than their cost to upgrade me out of this piece of junk. But I digress.

So as I entered hour who knows what the other day, waiting for some new software fix to download, I asked the Blackberry rep ….I forgot his name; there have been so many…… “what’s the best part of your job?”

His response was “solving customer issues.”

My response was “don’t you think the company should be working so there are no issues to be solved?”

His response was “then I wouldn’ t have a job.”

I told him I disagreed. I suggested that he probably has so many other talents that are not being used; that could be used somewhere else at RIM. Everyone does. Most employers just don’t tap into them.

Then he told me what he’d rather be doing. I told him not to tell me but to tell as many others at RIM as possible. One solution to getting employees engaged that is often overlooked is listening to where their interests actually lie.

You want to keep people engaged? Keep their work interesting, new and exciting. Give them a Recess from their current role every so often and offer them opportunities to move around the organization – even if just temporarily.

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The weather took a Recess from being nice yesterday so I took a Recess from playing on the lake and headed out for a cup of coffee and to finish planning Play with Your Pasta.

I had to wait an unacceptable amount of time yesterday to be served at my local Starbucks – about one minute. C’mon we live in a you-have-to-be-able-to-say-it-in-140-characters world; who has time to wait for one minute?

The woman in front of me had “some” questions. I’m assuming she was either a coffee virgin or a Starbucks virgin. So I stood there eavesdropping while making believe I was counting floor tiles. Starbucks Virgin.  

What I found interesting was that all four people behind the counter were trying to help her; while three of us waited.

But here’s what I noticed:

• All four were contributing
• No one was interrupting, correcting or disagreeing with the other
• All four seemed genuine in their quest to help
• And when the lady walked out of the store not one made a negative remark about her

Now that’s an engaged happy workforce. That’s a group of people who communicate well, respect one another and appear to be having a good time. Can you say that about your organization?

Although I still think a 4:1 employee:customer ratio is over the top.

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