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Letters to a Young Manager


Doing a Hundred Little Things Significantly Well, #32
LTYM > Service



Dear Sophie,
***
The flip side of 30 things gone wrong in a service encounter [1], are the 100 things you can do right to make a memorable service experience. Jan Carlzon calls these the "moments of truth" [2]

If you or someone you know has had a bad experience at an airline ticket counter, for example, you probably have felt that the whole airline is a poor one, one where you are not likely to bring your business again. And that's based on the interaction with one person at a 50,000 persona organization. Is that fair? No, but it's real. It's a moment of truth.

Take the exercise in the last letter about listing all the things gone wrong. Next to each one, ask what would turn the negative into a positive. Lack of smiling and eye contact, becomes smile front he beginning while looking the customer in the eye in a friendly way. You will soon have 30 good service movements you can create. Now stretch beyond that. Can you come up with a hundred? Would you want to shop there?
***
Yours,
Ed
________________________

[1] See "Beating the High Score," story #31
[2] See Jan Carlzon's, "Moments of Truth", Harper Business, 1989
https://www.amazon.com/Moments-Truth-Jan-Carlzon/dp/0060915803

Takeaways:

Service is about doing 100 little things significantly well

Discussion Questions:

1) What are the best service encounters you have had?
2) Break it down; what went right?
3) How many others have you told your story to?

For Further Reading:





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