Comments

ONE OF the reasons that we're looking forward to the move back to the good 'ole US of A!

Initially, the smile-style customer service ethos in the US might be fake, but it still makes me smile back. And, you have to 'act' like a courteous rep until you 'are' a courteous rep. Fake it till you make it. That oh-so-simple customer service charm school mentality is something that we miss here in Ireland - and are looking forward to enjoying again.

Posted by Tom O'Leary at February 9, 2006 11:05 AM

MS Word's spell check does not recognize Blog, podcast or wiki either. Shoemaker's children wear the torn shoes...

Posted by vinnie mirchandani at February 9, 2006 11:18 AM

Tom and Tom O - as we know - the latest "the point" from Tom has "Empathy" in it - 17 very insightful reminders of the power of emotional intell - No. 7. Smile at people [careful with this one at a fitness center - other guys may hit on you as "gay"].

Posted by Sean at February 9, 2006 11:35 AM

I go WAY out of my way and pay MORE to have a coffee at Starbucks and one other local coffee house because of that simple but POWERFUL smile. :) It always starts my day off on the right track or picks me up when I'm having one of those challenging days.

Posted by Will at February 9, 2006 11:38 AM

Sean - I suppose that emotional intel tip No. 7 might also be revised for funeral parlors, military commando units and, now more than before, cowboy outfitters.

Posted by Tom O'Leary at February 9, 2006 11:57 AM

Haha good observation, Tom. Microsoft is definitely slacking on keeping up to date with the newest lingo. Blog? Podcast? Wikipedia? Redux? Webcast? God I feel like I could go on forever!

Posted by Rachel at February 9, 2006 12:37 PM

My son works at our local Starbuck's and I can tell you for a fact that at our local store the employees smile because they are treated really, really well. It's a little like that old saying: If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. If the employees aren't happy, there sure won't be happy customers.

Posted by Nancy R. at February 9, 2006 5:57 PM

Ditto Nancy. Amazing what benefits on a part-time job can do for someone. Not to mention retention.

I've been trying to convince my friends and associates to start hiring people at part-time schedules with benefits. Most of us corporate folks still like to think we need 40+ hour per week employees.

When a full-time controller left us recently we placed an ad for a flex/part-time controller w/benefits. We had THE BEST candidates you have ever seen. Moms taking a break from big careers with young children in school. People who were going back to school after losing previous positions due to downsizing. Wicked smart people who were just waiting for an opportunity that fits their lifestyle.

The next time you need to replace a full-timer, try for a part-timer (30 hours), or 2 part-timers at 24-hours. It will work!

Posted by Paul Davidson at February 9, 2006 6:23 PM

Paul: That free pound of coffee employees get every week is my favorite perk.

Posted by Nancy R. at February 10, 2006 10:56 AM

Paul, extremely interesting Comment.

Posted by tom peters at February 11, 2006 5:00 AM

Bravo for Starbucks employees.

Where is it written that all service workers must hate their jobs and ergo their customers?

We need more of this!

Warmly,
Patrick McEvoy
President
Rainmaker Best Practices
http://www.rainmakerbestpractices.com/

Posted by Patrick McEvoy at February 12, 2006 2:32 PM

Nancy, I just took a look at Starbuck's annual report. They have 100,000 "Partners", what they call employees, meaning they give away 100,000 pounds per week. Now that is a perk, a very good one. Let's say that true cost of that pound is $3. That's a $300,000 per week investment. $15,600,000 per year. And my guess it is one of those sacrosanct perks that started with store #1.

Tom, thanks for the interest. Most folks look at me like I'm out of my mind. One thing I can virtually assure folks, your competitors are not tapping into the part-time professional talent pool.

Posted by Paul Davidson at February 13, 2006 10:34 PM