They Do Business with Heart at Phelps High in DC
Note from Jan: This is a beautiful story about a group of individuals who do their business with heart and the impact it has on the morale and productivity of those around them. Thank you, Josie, for sharing this story.
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I teach at a public high school in Washington, DC. I am convinced that our custodial staff consists of some of the warmest men in the city. They arrive before the rest of the staff, stay later, and brightly greet us all. Going above the call of their job description, they act as mentors and coaches for the students of our school. Throughout the day they can be found counseling students and checking up on them in class.
The “Saturday Scholars” committee held a meeting to discuss incentives to boost student attendance to this weekend tutorial program. Our custodial foreman was in attendance to discuss building issues. While we brainstormed, he chimed in that he would be happy to bring his grills and host a cookout when the weather warmed up. Read more
VIETRI Does Business with Heart
If you are Serious About Service then you probably already do business with heart. And you probably already know that one of the best ways to establish, grow and nurture such a culture is by reading and sharing stories about people inside and outside of your organization who do business with heart.
If you have seen their products in the stores or have spent any time on their website, you probably already have the feeling that VIETRI, wholesaler of handcrafted Italian home products, does business with heart. After having had the pleasure of spending some time with their management team, I can tell you that it’s more than just a feeling. Doing business with heart seems to be part of the VIETRI culture – running deep and wide throughout their organization. Here are two stories to demonstrate.
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One Friday after closing time, the last three employees were shutting off the last lights in the VIETRI reception area, when the phone rang.
It was a store owner in Georgia who said she had a top customer standing beside her who desperately needed four place settings of dinnerware shipped to her overnight. Her husband’s bosses were coming to dinner Saturday night(the very next day). Could they help her? She was desperate! Read more
Quick List: 10 Ways to Increase Client & Staff Retention
Here’s a two for one special!
Ten ways to boost morale and productivity so that you hang on to that great team you have assembled. AND help you hang on to those precious clients that can be so hard to get.
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1. Do business with heart.
2. Repeat #1.
3. Repeat #1.
4. Repeat #1.
5. Repeat #1.
6. Repeat #1
7. Repeat #1.
8. Repeat #1.
9. Repeat #1.
10. Repeat #1 every single day – forever.
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If you aren’t sure how to do #1, first go to www.doingbusinesswithheart.com and read the stories.
Next – to introduce and nurture the concept with your staff, add this Ready-2-Go Meeting – On Customer Service to your weekly staff meeting agenda.
Be sure to recognize and reinforce their efforts. We suggest the use of Heart Cards.
Other Resources:
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For a specific list of in-office behaviors that “qualify” as “doing business with heart” - go to Quick List: 10 Ways to Improve Office Atmosphere.
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For assistance with establishing or nurturing a customer driven culture, contact us about workshops, team retreats and/or coaching programs .
copyright 2010 – Business Class Inc.
Movie of the Week: Johnny the Bagger
When brainstorming what movie to feature in conjunction with our current theme of insignificance (feeling too small or too powerless to make a difference)…and with our running theme of doing business with heart…
well..
it was obvious that we should feature a movie we first mentioned back in December of 2008.
It’s called: Johnny the Bagger (about 3 minutes long).
So get the popcorn, Milk Duds and Raisinettes, gather everyone around and push PLAY and enjoy.
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Related materials for follow up and/or further discussion:
- Quote of the Week: Too small to make a difference?
- Have you lost power?
- Brainteaser of the Week #14
- www.doingbusinesswithheart.com
copyright 2010 – Business Class Inc
Are you providing a feast for your customers or your competition?
Note: This is an important message for managers and business owners who need customers. Also helpful for managers who are concerned about morale and productivity.
In workshops on customer service, we ask participants to share stories about times they have received poor service. Every time, there are stories about:
- a sales clerk who is slow to acknowledge the customer’s presence.
- an inconsiderate, disrespectful or rude employee.
- staff members carrying on personal conversations instead of or while waiting on customers.
- getting “the runaround”.
- unfulfilled promises.
When asked how they responded to this service, the storytellers report saying things like, Read more
Ready-2-Go Meeting – on Customer Service
Here’s a quick meeting segment – perfect to include with your weekly staff meeting.
Great way to heighten awareness of customer service. Maybe even uncover some scary situations.
It’s based on an article called : Boo! Are you chasing your customers away?
E-mail the link BOO! Are you chasing customers away? to everyone and ask them to read the article in advance.
Or you can skip that part and simply read the the article outloud at your meeting.
Then lead a group discussion based on the questions at the end of the article.
Or if you have a group of 10 or more, you’ll get more input if you divided them into smaller groups for discussion.
Then have each group share.
This adds time to the meeting segment, but it also adds depth.
Take immediate action on as many ideas as possible.
Make note of all others. More discussion may be needed on these later.
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Feel free to embellish the theme by:
- playing spooky music in the room while people are entering
- darkening the room
- decorating the room
- putting out bowls of Halloween candy
- serving refreshments such as bat juice and bat cookies
- or I Scream Sandwiches
One last thing - dig deep, uncover some skeletons and have fun.
Boo! Are you chasing your customers away?
130 Motivational Quotes for Business
All sections of the Business Class Quote Library are now open.
Ready to download, print and post – on the wall, the bulletin board, etc – or even as background for your computer.
The library is divided into four sections.
1. for people who are Serious About Service
2. for people who feel they have 2 Little Time
3. for those who want to Get 2 Goal
4. for those who want to Be A Better Manager
Valuable business tools, available for free right here in our Quote Library.
Signs of Class
We were so impressed with the show of class at Notre Dame in 2006, that we worked with friends and colleagues to create tools to help businesses welcome fans on game day. One of them - ready-to-go signs which people could pick up in The Business Class Room and post at their place of business.
To make access easier, we will now provide these online.
This weekend, Carolina plays the Pirates from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
We suggest that businesses in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area post welcoming signs in the door, windows and/or counter tops. Here is one of the signs we’ve created:
A simple message. Easy to print and post.
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Take it a step further Read more
A Simple Lesson from Notre Dame
A few years ago, Art, Ryan and I went to South Bend, Indiana for the Carolina vs. Notre Dame football game.
It’s hard to know how you’ll be treated at away games. At some schools, there’s a bit of fun and funny razzing by fans who see signs that you’re from the other team. At other schools, there are boo’s. At a few, I’ve seen such open hostility that if I ever choose to go there, I hide my “colors” until safely in my seat.
I had never been to a game at Notre Dame and didn’t know what to expect.
Beat the Heat – A Lesson Learned in Mississippi
Did I tell you about the time Mack was ready to fire us because of a missing truck in Mississippi?
It’s a great customer loyalty story – about the value of beating the heat by taking responsibility and quick corrective action.
Here’s the story.
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We printed 15,000 books in North Carolina and sent them to Mack on a truck headed for Mississippi. The truck was due to arrive there in 3 days….a week ahead of our delivery deadline.
Three days later, it hadn’t arrived. The trucking company said there had been traffic issues and it would arrive the next day.
It didn’t. The trucking company said there were mechanical issues and that it would arrive the next day. It didn’t.
Mack was getting hot. We were too.
On the third day, Mack got so aggravated that he said to us, “If the books aren’t here in 24 hours, you’ll have to reprint them. And then, I’m going to cancel my contract!”
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