GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND

My Mother's Mailman (well Mail-lady actually) used to arrive every-day with a dog biscuit for the Black Lab that My Mother had for 9 years.

I think it's safe to say that she didn't receive any financial benefit as a result of taking this extra initiative, however, she sure had fans in my Mother and my Mother's dog.

Had she went into business for herself after all those years of going above and beyond, and had my Mother discovered this, isn't it safe to say that my Mother would be a major supporter in helping her business grow?

Want to know why more people don't go this far? Check back later this week for my opinion on this.

Until that time, perhaps you might like to think of a way that you can create fans for your personal brand like this Mail-Lady did with my Mother and my Mother's dog, and also like this lady, without expecting anything in return.

Until that time, onwards and upwards,
cpoirier
www.coreypoirier.com

GIMMIE MY FRIGGIN CHANGE

I do a lot of traveling as a result of my Speaking Career and the Newspaper we publish on a monthly basis.

I go through a BIG coffee shop enterprise on a regular basis and 9 times out of 10 the employee at the drive-through keeps my change without asking if I want it back.

Ironically, I don't want the change back but I also don't want anyone assuming that they can keep it.

I sometimes wonder when this will be addressed - I've spoken up and asked individual managers who said "wow, that should not happen" but on each successive trip through the exact same establishment it continues to....and I haven't had time to bring it to the attention of the executive team (i.e. CEO) within the organization....sometime soon I'm sure.

hmmm...Should I still care? Should I bring my business somewhere else? So many options to consider....don't even get me started about the fact that I have to ask for ketchup if I want some (sad....so sad)

In the meantime - Onward and Upward

cpoirier
www.coreypoirier.com

CUSTOMER SERVICE - WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY?

I have been conducting interviews like crazy lately and in a couple of interviews in discussions on Customer Service, the question was raised as to whether or not technology has been helping or hindering our ability to deliver exceptional customer service - the common answer has been that it is the person and how they use the technology.

My question is do you agree with this and if so, whose responsibility do you feel it is to take steps to correct this? Managers, Staff themselves, External Speakers / Trainers / Technology Providers (i.e. corporate training sessions provided by technology suppliers).

Just curious.

cpoirier
www.coreypoirier.com

MOST COMMON SUCCESS TRAIT AMONG PEAK PERFORMERS

The past few years I have been interviewing Business Leaders and High Achievers from all walks of life (Arlene Dickinson of CBC's Dragon's Den, Managers at PEI Mutual, Mike Bullard of Open Mic Fame, The Publisher of Motivated Magazine, Doug Hall of TV's Inventor, Emmy Winner Mark Goffeney, Bruce MacNaughton of PEI Preserves, Star Search Winner Tracey MacDonald, Alan Frew of Glass Tiger, Jeannette Arsenault of Cavendish Figurines, Best Selling Author Stephen Patrick Clare, and so on) for our Island Business News Publication, and the most common success trait among these leaders and other leaders they have worked with 4 times out of 5 is "Passion"

A passion for their career, a passion for their business, and a passion for life.

What's the message here? It will be very difficult for you to reach the pinnacle of your career without having a passion for "almost" everything you do each day.

Onward and Upward,
cpoirier
www.coreypoirier.com

UPCOMING INSPIRATIONAL EVENT BY AN ASSOCIATE

Hi Everyone:

I'm traveling like crazy this week but I'm hoping to attend this great event next week featuring Olympic Gold Medalist Heather Moyse -
http://www.ladyinred.ca/event.html

As a speaker and trainer myself, these are the type of events that I believe are truly needed in each market and so I try to support them whenever I can.

If you want to be inspired, you could do worse than attend a great event like this one.

Cheers,
cpoirier
www.coreypoirier.com

PASSIONATE CUSTOMER SERVICE

In a quick break from the discussion we just launched in our last blog (which will continue with our next blog update), I just wanted to pass along an interesting finding.

I have recently interviewed many Canadian Peak Performers, including Alan Frew (Glass Tiger), Mike Bullard, Arlene Dickinson, Jimmy Flynn and Star Search Winner Tracey MacDaonld and the one trait they all seem to have in common with those who deliver expectional customer service (and exceptional Customer Experiences) is that they have a passion for life and their career.

If you want to serve with a smile, make sure you're also serving with passion.

Until next time, here's to your greater success.

cpoirier
www.coreypoirier.com

Customer Service - Better or Worse Today than Years Gone By?

I've spent probably in the neighborhood of 15,000-20,000 hours researching Customer Service (whether it be interviewing business leaders who have excelled at building exceptional customer service programs, reading books by the best of the best award winning customer service gurus, conducting customer service panels, gathering surveys on customer service, reading or writing customer service articles, and/or applying and teaching strategies for Creating A+ Customer Experiences personally).

I guess it's safe to say that I'm passionate about the importance of customers receiving better than sub-par levels of customer satisfaction.

Actually, this week I'll be releasing my first Customer Service CD Program (which is actually a condensed version of the program I bring to my clients) because I'm wanting to do whatever I can to raise awareness to the importance of Serving OUR Customers in a way that makes them say WOW because of a great experience more than they say WOW because of a poor one.

By the way, the stats above are not meant to impress you, I just simply want you to know that I have spent some time in the trenches. It's also not to say that the companies we operate are perfect either, but it is to say that we are often very conscious of the times when we make mistakes, we do spend time surveying our customers to determine satisfaction level, and we know that our delivering a lot of exceptional experiences to our customers could be the difference between our company's long term growth (and my long term personal fulfillment).

As such, I plan to dedicate the next few blogs to this topic. The topic of not only how one goes about delivering an exceptional customer experience but also what is standing in our way and why I feel we (as a society) are currently going in the wrong direction.

HINT: It's much bigger, in my opinion, than simply having the wrong staff or being the wrong person for the job (although that will certainly be a factor).

SECOND HINT: Technology plays a part, attitude and upbringing plays a part, happiness or lack thereof plays a part and so on. In fact, these elements play such a big part that we'll touch on these before we start talking ways you can turn the tables and have your clients saying WOW for the right reasons.

These elements also play such a big part that I have dedicated a Chapter to them in my upcoming book on Customer Service / Creating Exceptional Customer Experiences.

Until next time,
cpoirier
www.coreypoirier.com