(Steve Rae’s living the American Canadian Dream. He took risks, worked long hours, and went above-and-beyond what was required to semi-retire in his early 50s and travel the world with his lovely wife Carolyn and help schlubs like me follow in his footsteps. He’s the newest contributing editor to The Daily Blur.)
When adversity strikes your business how do you and your staff react? How many times have you heard “these are the rules” and suffered poor service as a result?
Recently my wife and I enjoyed a cruise of the Danube river. While the cruise industry has taken quite a beating lately, I’ve been witness to a wonderful company called Scenic Cruises and seen first-hand how they deal with adversity. We could all learn from them.
The German lock workers were on strike – playing havoc with the scheduling of our cruise. We weren’t able to depart from Nuremberg as planned because they couldn’t get the ship there. This is not a small deal, but they rearranged everything with grace and efficiency so we could still experience everything promised.
They rolled with what was dealt them. Their employees had both the responsibility and authority to satisfy customer requests quickly and quietly. “The rules” aboard Scenic Cruises were to make every effort to quickly delight the customer.
Can you say the same?
They kept their energy levels high and stayed positive with all passengers – even with—no, especially with—the difficult ones.
What’s the first step to duplicating this level of awesome?
Have you given your team permission to do whatever they need to do to make things work? Are you willing to accept them making one less-than-optimal-to-you decision in twenty to delight twenty customers? Can you train them well then trust them?
Or are you one of those bosses who gives very strict rules about how things must be handled without exception? And as a result perfectly logical people are bound by stupid and illogical rules and make decisions that do nothing but anger everyone involved.
Give your people permission to make good, logical decisions and watch everyone’s spirit sail!
photo credit: blmiers2 via photopin cc
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