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Success Newsletters

Volume 5, Number 2 – March-April, 2005 Issue

In this Edition
1. Inconvenience or An Important and Integral Part of Your Day
2. Five things To Do Right Now In Order To Have a Great Day
3. Quotes
4. Recommended Reading

INCONVENIENCE OR AN IMPORTANT AND INTEGRAL PART OF YOUR DAY
How do you see the people you do business with every day? Do you see them as an inconvenience to your day or an important and integral part of your day? You are probably saying to yourself “What a silly question? Of course I see them as an important part of my day!” Well let me tell you, I do a lot of traveling in my work as a professional speaker and I interact with people all the time at airports, hotels, restaurants, etc. and my observations across both Canada and the United States is that a lot of people see customers and other people they connect with in any particular day as an inconvenience to their day.

A case in point, last week I flew in to Boise, Idaho to speak for a client of mine. I will not name the airline I flew, but I believe their slogan is “Fly the Friendly Skies.” Suffice it to say they lost my luggage, never a pleasant experience at the best of times, and I am sure a lot of you have been in that situation and can relate to how I was feeling.

I accept that these sorts of things happen, especially with the amount of flying I do. What I was not expecting was the total lack of empathy and rudeness of the agent when I went to report my bag missing. To be blunt, the agent could not care less about me. When I asked how long it would take to find my luggage, the answer, in that patronizing tone was, “When we find it.” There was no caring, no apology, in fact it was a horrible experience. The agent on duty saw me not as an integral and important part of their day, but an interruption from reading the magazine they happened to be reading at the time and an inconvenience to their day.

Contrast this to my experience when I finally left the supposedly “friendly skies” offices and was checking in at the Ameri Tel Hotel in Boise. Matt, the desk clerk on duty that afternoon, took an immediate interest in my situation. He showed total empathy and made it his business to make me feel reassured: he would personally do whatever it took to help me. He offered me a kit of toiletries to freshen up, and had the hotel driver at my disposal for whatever I needed. We returned to Boise airport twice that day and finally very late in the evening retrieved my bag, just in time for me to have a change of clothing and to freshen up for a night’s rest before my presentation the next day.

Matt, unlike the “friendly skies lost luggage” agent, saw me as an IMPORTANT and INTEGRAL part of his day. I was never an inconvenience to him, I was his personal responsibility. That is what exceptional customer service is all about and what makes customers talk about you and want to do business with you again.

Again let me ask you that important question: Do you see your customers as an inconvenience to your day or do you see them as an important and integral part of your day?

Thanks Matt for being a professional and for showing me, the customer, empathy, respect and compassion, and demonstrating to me that you truly cared about my situation.

FIVE THINGS TO DO RIGHT NOW IN ORDER TO HAVE A GREAT DAY
1. Rise one hour earlier than you normally do and spend that time writing down three things you want to accomplish on that particular day. Focus on those three things totally, and do not feel satisfied until you have achieved your goals.

2. Contact someone you care about and tell them how much they mean to you and how important they are in your life

3. Give a donation to a charity of your choosing, or better still volunteer to spend some time giving back by helping at a homeless shelter or people less fortunate then yourself.

4. Invest in and read (or listen to) a book or tape that can help you in your personal or professional life.

5. Give yourself a pat-on-the-back for what you have accomplished. Cut yourself a bit of slack and think of all the good things you have to be proud of in your life, all the wonderful things you have accomplished. Leave the other stuff for another day.

QUOTES

“The value of living is not about what you get out of life, the true value is what you become because of the life that you lead”
Charles Marcus

“Success is not what you think it is, it is what you believe it is, and most people never believe”
Doug Firebaugh

“No legacy is as rich as honesty”
William Shakespeare

RECOMMENDED READING

The 10 Greatest Gifts I Give My Children by Steven W. Vannoy
This book came to me highly recommended by a client. In my opinion this is a must read for anybody with young children. It is brilliant. The author speaks from experience and shares wonderful words of wisdom with us. As Vannoy claims in his book, this is parenting from the heart.

The Success Principles by Jack Canfield
Best-selling author, Jack Canfield, paints a picture of how to get from where you are to where you want to be. He states the principles always work if you work the principles. This is a hardback book of 473 pages that is very well written with great quotes and personal stories by a very wise and successful individual. Make the investment in this book, you will be glad you did.

The 8th Habit by Steven Covey
In this follow up book to his incredibly successful # 1 BestSeller “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People”, Covey talks about going from effectiveness to greatness. The book, in my opinion, is a little heavy going at times, but stick with it, the man is BRILLIANT. The bonus DVD that comes with the book is excellent. We can all learn from a genius like Steven Covey. Do not just read this book once, keep coming back to it time and time again, and bring a big yellow highlighter, you will need it. There is a lot of wisdom and practical advice in this book for getting the most out of life.

Copyright
Permission is granted to reproduce this newsletter in whole or in part provided the following byline below appears along with the article and that a copy is sent to me after publication. Thank you: To check previous issues for publication, please go to www.cmarcus.com and click on articles/newsletters.

Charles Marcus is an international motivational speaker. To subscribe to his FREE success newsletter, please send an email to subscribe@cmarcus.com. An electronic copy will be sent out to you every month. For more information on how Charles, his book and his programs can benefit your organization or group, please call 905-847-2323. Toll-Free in North America at 1-800-837-0629, or visit his website: www.cmarcus.com

Date Added: March 30, 2005 | Comments (0) | Filed under: Newsletters



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