Anti Insanity Department

There are many opportunities to write, complain, and voice an opinion on matters that draw our attention to the THANKLESSNESS obvious in our world. I had been raised to EXPECT too much from a culture and mentality that draws blood rather than donating it. The fear is blatant and sort of scary in that it has become a world wind of expectations and disappointments which led to insanity (doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result).

1 - Where are the Anti Insanity Departments today (AID)?

2 - Where are the folks who actually look at a matter and say: "this ain't right, let's change it?"

3 - Where is the attention to detail on how to express thankfulness for the client/customer?

4 - Who are the folks caring for the experience rather than the culture and values their precious business/company try to promote?

Let's start at the bottom from the above questions (number 4). Culture and values are and should be innate in most individuals. Gangsters have them and live perfectly normal/trusting lives (case in point: The Godfather movies). What a sad day it is when doing what should be normal has to be trained and injected into a business.

Culture is at its best a jumping off point. A place to see the view - the big picture. It's not about the language and bastardization of a list of items now held that results in "the forrest for the trees" syndrome. If that happens, it's mostly all downhill - or uphill based on your perspective!

Character trumps values ALL THE TIME. Character is the lifeline to a genuinely true and thoughtful experience and is seen as such. Some have called it empowerment or opportunities to step outside the box and provide a superior customer experience.

Have you ever called Dell Computers technical support? What happens? Have you ever called Apple customer support? What happens? Have you ever called Amazon customer support? What happens?

There are metrics and stats galore that analysts and number crunchers will tout as both important to the bottom line and overall cost of doing business. There was a movie I cannot recall right now about customer service company with a guy mostly forced to relocate to India to train and get up to speed a call center with metrics as their bottom line. My take away from this flic was that culture was important - people are important. Metrics can figure themselves out.

The main character learned many lessons and banked those into his security vault of character. There is no metric for character. There is no need to try to create one. It will fail.

I want to jump to question number 3 above. I once called Amazon about an issue with an item. The long story short was I spoke with a woman called Amber who not only empathized but remained on the call through the time it took to search for the proper item. She stuck through it reading herself the reviews other buyers had posted to make sure I made an informed choice. She did NOT know a thing about my exact needs or the application for which I was making the purchase in the first place. She did know how to be thankful for my business to the extent of wishing to assist me in finding the product that fit my needs best. Amber was engaging and delightful. She wasn't espousing Amazon's values. She was genuinely interested in a great customer experience. My experience!

Can we make that happen? Can we go the extra mile in expressing a real interest in seeing our clients needs met satisfactorily? It doesn't have to cost a week in a retreat of "learning" to have an Amber work for you. It doesn't have to embody a think tank and cross section of a company's leaders to figure out what a company needs to create Extended Experiences of Energy. (The Triple E method).

EEE, Extended Experiences of Energy are key to building trust and assurance for a product and/or service. Missions statements, value lists and culture are the seeds to EEE.

Our energy must be pragmatic and enticing. Not dogmatic, decisive and conclusive.

Question number 2 addresses those folks who actually see the trees and forest. Where energy is foremost and culture is second most. Where attention to detail is not just getting the color and shape right but building a foundation that includes every layer of your being.

Imagine calling the mobile phone case company that protects your $500 hand held device and asking if a flap of rubber should break off so easily and the response sounds something like this: "...well sir, sorry to hear that, but just wait till your next purchase...the rubber is changing - it's getting better and you are sure to be very happy with the quality in our next generation of products."

I had this experience with a local yet nationally known company. I was horrified at the response this customer service rep provided. I began thinking to myself, is this their canned reply to an obvious defect or lack of quality? As a photographer, I though, would I tell my clients after a shoot in which they were not happy and paid me good money: "...well just wait...as soon as I get my next generation camera, the photos will be even better than before."!

This ain't right - let's change it! A company culture, values and policies are not going to change it. Real people - honest about change - will change it. This thus leads to question number 1 above...

Insanity is not changing. Insane asylums were created to house together dangerous individulas or those deemed insane in a confined area to both study and control each unique situation. They don't make it out often.

My clients are important and deserve quality. Rehashing an outmoded form and repeating the mantra I only believe is true is showing a great lack of appreciation and care for each client's needs.

There's a guy called Gary Vanerchuck who studied the wine business for years, conducted/recorded over a thousand video episodes discussing/reviewing wines and has said what's missing is the small moments when no one is watching. No one sees. No one hears. The moment he found a UPS or FedEx delivery went wrong and a customer didn't receive their wine, he packed up another shipment and personally delivered it himself. The time he offered free shipping and was overwhelmed by the business it generated and the guy who wrote to thank his company that he was buying the wine for his daughter's wedding. Gary sent a congratulatory bottle of champagne. Gary later learned this guys daughter was just 12! The customer knew it was a great deal and wanted to save for the future!

Character that doesn't need coaxing.

Did that stop Gary from caring. Did Gary go INSANE? No! He continued to answer hundreds of emails each day because he didn't want to be INSANE. He built a business that I call an Anti Insanity Department (AID). I think Gary calls it his Thankfulness Department. Being pro active in reaching out to customers just for the sake of saying Thank You for your business. No strings attached.

Cut your strings. Just let go. Be active and responsible and proud. People love real people.

I recently wrote to a well known business man in town about how I felt he could benefit from a concierge representative in his business because I believe in what they offer - in what they can produce in the way of effective results. AID and EEE!

Be your own concierge or hire one!

Start your own AID and EEE!

Stop being INSANE!