Welcome Back to Soupfly!!
It has been a while since I’ve posted an article here but now I’m back!
I miss all my amazing, supportive Soupfly readers from around the world. There are so many exciting things happening which I will share at the end of the this article. I hope you enjoy this.
EXCELLENCE
“It has been said that Perfection is unattainable, but my experience has proven that Excellence is within our reach, and I’ll choose and aspire to Excellence every time”
People often make mistakes, miss the mark and mess up. We forget to call a customer who is waiting for an answer. We hit the wrong button disconnecting a customer who’s been on hold for fifteen minutes. We put the wrong address on a package to be shipped, we ring in the wrong item on a customer’s order and we charge them double, and God forbid, but sometimes we mistakenly give the wrong medicine to a patient. We are human. We are fallible. We make mistakes and we are imperfect beings. But our goal, our standard, what we aspire to must always be a standard of Excellence.
A person of Excellence is always a person of Excellence. The customer experience will inevitably, at some point, have missteps and imperfections. No customer expects perfection. If they do, they’re not living in the real world. What I hope for is that you desire and choose to become a person of Excellence. If you take pride in how you show up to work, your attire, your attitude, your energy, your demeanor, that is going to translate into an exceptional customer experience.
I’ve experienced many times at a restaurant when something was not correct. I call these instances a ‘Soupfly’-something that could go wrong, like a fly in your soup. I did not order soup with a fly in it. You, my server, did not put it in there, I’m hoping. And yet, there it is. But it’s not the end of the world, nor is it the end of the opportunity for me to have a great dining experience. You are a person of Excellence, so what do you do? First obviously, you apologize. No finger pointing, no excuses. Just take responsibility and own it. “I am so sorry, sir. We are not known for serving flies in our soup. Please accept my apology.”
Then what? Make sure you tell the manager and let’s move on. Bring me something that you know I will enjoy. If I’m vegan-I am, then do not offer to bring me your finest ribeye. If I’m gluten-free, my wife is, don’t offer to bring me your best fettucine alfredo. A person of Excellence is always a person of Excellence.
If you don’t take pride in how you answer the phone or set the table, how can I be sure that you are diligent in communicating my dietary needs and allergies to the chef when you place my order?
One of my favorite mentors, T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, says,
“How you do anything, is how you do everything.”
And as my wife is fond of saying and reminding me, “A person of Excellence is always a person of Excellence.”
I think she is quoting me when she says that. No matter.
Your pursuit of excellence should carry through to every aspect of your work. This includes how you communicate with your customers. Excellence should be your standard in all you do, not just when someone is looking. Excellence and integrity are inextricably linked. You can’t have one without the other.
Excellence is NOT Perfection
We are not expecting perfection. We are expecting excellence. Striving for excellence allows for room to grow. Like my friend, International Speaker, James Dently, often says, “The largest room in the world is the room for improvement.”
We all can get better every day, as we strive for and make Excellence our standard. Excellence is not perfection. However, average is never acceptable. Don’t say or think or have the mindset of “It’s okay”. No, its not. Okay is not okay. Okay is mediocre.
Excellence is Contagious
When you commit to Excellence, that commitment will shine through and it will cause others to follow suit. You will positively affect those around you as you make Excellence your standard. You will be an inspiration to your colleagues and your peers. Your customers will be attracted to you and will come back for more because they know what you stand for and strive for. Excellence is what you deliver.
A championship team is made up of many champions, not just one superstar. This is as true in business as it is in sports. Michael Jordan led his team, the Chicago Bulls, to 6 NBA Championships. He set a standard of Excellence for his teammates. Yes, he was the leader but the team members rose to that standard of Excellence set for them.
You must do likewise for your team, even if you are not the official leader. You can lead by example. By being a person of Excellence.
Thank you for reading. This is an excerpt from my upcoming new best seller, I Am the Customer Experience, Consciously Creating & Elevating the Emotional Journey. Watch for it’s release mid-March 2018! We will be doing an Amazon Best Seller campaign the week that the book is released. I look forward to your support to help me achieve this awesome goal of becoming a Number 1 Best Selling Author on Amazon!!! And I humbly, thank you in advance for your support!
Online Course: I am currently developing an online course with YouWillChangetheWorld.com
http://www.youwillchangetheworld.com/courses
The course will be based on content from my new book, I Am the Customer Experience. I am super excited and grateful for this opportunity to bring value to you in another format.
Training & Speaking: Last year was a great year in terms of sharing the message of Getting to WOW! / Five Star Customer Service. I was blessed and honored to speak to a number of conferences and do training for many clients. This year my goal is to speak on many more stages at many more conferences and seminars and to train thousands of people at a multitude of companies and organizations around the U.S. and Internationally as well. If you are interested in finding out more about how I may be able to Inspire, Motivate and Equip your Team to Elevate the quality of Customer Experience that you provide for your clientele, please contact me and lets talk. I look forward to being of Service.
Elevating the Customer Experience,
Christoff J. Weihman
ASPIRE Enterprises/Christoff@aspire2wow.com
702 848 8955
Soupfly 