It was on a Saturday at 12:57pm.  Jeffrey Black, principal of Black Sheep Reputations, realized he needed to pick up his dry cleaning from the cleaners he had used for more than 10 years.  Jeffrey was leaving for several days of training sessions on that Monday and needed his dress shirts.  He quickly phoned the cleaners, who close at 1:00pm on Saturdays, to inform the worker of his dilemma.  Knowing that he lived only five minutes from the store, he assumed the person wouldn’t mind waiting just a minute or two after 1:00pm.  The response from the worker on the phone:  “I have already turned off the computer.  We close promptly at 1:00pm.”

that caused Jeffrey Black to develop a new training program …

After several days on the road, and several times of re-pressing his dress shirts, Jeffrey called the owner and explained what happened.  The owner quickly apologized for the misjudgment of his employee, explaining that he hadn’t had time yet to properly train the person on “good customer service.”  Jeffrey and the dry cleaning owner knew there were many other choices in town that would deliver quality cleaning AND good customer service.  What people remember is when organizations “create customer delight.”

because your organization’s reputation is on the line.

The employees who are on the front-line – assistants, secretaries, managers, bookkeepers, receptionists, customer service representatives – hold an organization’s image with its customers in their very hands, 24/7.  From the moment a person steps into your business, school or agency, your reputation is on the line.  Are the parking lot signs easy to understand?  Are the flowerbeds neatly groomed?  Does the front door need a new coat of paint?  Does the receptionist need a new attitude?  These subtle, first impressions make a lasting impression about how your business will perform the customers.  Competition is a wonderful thing.  It makes us pull the weeds in the flowerbeds, paint the front door and welcome customers with employees who have positive attitudes.

There are no guarantees in this business!

In today’s fast-paced, high-tech environment, customer loyalty is no longer a guarantee.  Whatever “it” is, customers want “it” right … and they want “it” right now. 

Ask yourself these two questions. If you leave your organization today, will your customers survive?  If your customers all leave, will your job survive?  

The answers to these questions are obvious.  We have to work everyday to create customer delight.  It is what customers have come to expect, and quite frankly, the very least that we owe them for choosing us.  After all, they have other choices.  Rarely, is an organization today “the only game in town.”