Great customer service is SO IMPORTANT. It just takes ticking off one customer before they call up their best friend and say, "OMGosh, I am never going there again...and you shouldn't either." And then that friend is out to lunch with their mom the next day and says, "Jane called yesterday and let me tell you what happened..." and it is a continuous chain of events from there.
Granted, there are those customers that are never going to be happy. They have to complain about something ALL the time and they are never satisfied. Even so, it is important to give those customers a great experience. I have always tried to take good care of customers. Part of it was my job but the other part was I loved the feeling I would get inside knowing a customer left happy. Whether it was walking an elderly person out to their car with their groceries, (instead of a bagger boy who could care less) or listening to a customer tell me their life story while trying to fix their phone, I enjoyed it.
If you treat a customer right, not only do they come back time and time again, but they refer their friends and family. Before you know it, you have a successful business. Rita came in to my very first store I started at with T-mobile 7 years ago. She was in her 40's and going through a divorce. She had 2 daughters and she had just recently signed up for cell phone service. She decided she could not afford it. I looked at her plan and we lowered it so she could have a phone to get in touch with her daughters. I remember all this because she sat and talked/cried for an hour to me. That was the last I saw of her until 4 years later. I was in the backroom writing the schedule as a newly promoted manager and my employee came back and said, "Rita is here to see you." I did not know a Rita. Then I walked up front and lo and behold, it was her. She had tracked me down. She still had T-mobile and had brought her friend that was looking for cell phone service. She started out the conversation with, "I don't think you remember me but you provided such great service to me awhile back and my friend here is looking to switch providers." Holy crap lady, she had a good memory. We signed her friend. Then her friend brought in her mom. You never know.
Yesterday, I was out shoveling the snow in my driveway and a truck drives by me. I see him do a U-Turn. Shortly I see him pull his truck in front of my house. I am thinking, "What the heck is this guy doing?" He gets out of his truck and grabs a shovel from the back. He then starts shoveling my driveway. I asked him, "What do you think you are doing?" in a joking manner. He says, "I have come to do my good deed for the day. I do one a day and today you are it." How cute is that?!?
The greatest example of serving others are the women and men in my family. I am so blessed to have such wonderful examples. I could write a whole book on the service I have seen. Service is honestly the best way for us to get through this life. It is a way for us to bring joy to not only those we help, but to ourselves as well. I can tell you why we feel that joy:
"And behold, I tell you these things that you may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:17
This can be a negative, harsh world we live in. Each one of us can make a difference by helping and not hurting. I challenge each one of you who read this that for the next week, each day, you do something to serve another person. If someone does something for you, pay it forward. It can be very small, a simple note of appreciation maybe. Let me know how it goes.
Remember, if everyone in the world had a smile on their face, the world would be a better place. Good Luck!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Performance Reviews vs Potty Training
Yesterday was my one month anniversary of leaving my corporate life. I visited my old store on Saturday and it was kind of surreal. I went in there and it felt like I had just been on vacation. I started bossing my old assistant around just to mess with him. It was good to see them. I love those "kids".
In the T-mobile world right now, it is a performance review time. There are several categories an employee is measured on and one can get a "Not meeting expectations," "Meeting Expectations," or "Exceeding Expectations."
I always loved performance review time. It was an opportunity for me to sit down with each of my team members and go over their performance for the past year. It was a time for me to share with them their raises which was a "pay for performance" type situation. Some of them left happy and relieved. I loved those conversations. They were fun and it was a time to reward those who worked hard. Others left with a sense of dissatisfaction. Those conversations were tough. It hard to say, "Sorry you sucked last year so you aren't going to get a raise. If you don't improve, you won't be with the company much longer. So let's jump on the bandwagon and do better this year." I always tried to be positive with every employee regardless of their performance because they are human. Being negative never helps motivate and some just needed to find the motivation within. Others, well, sometimes the job is not a right fit and I would encourage them to look for something different.
I HATE potty training. With Hannah, it was easy. Hannah had the motivation to be potty trained and Cheryl, her babysitter, helped teach me how to potty train her. She was potty trained right before her 3rd birthday.
Emilee, on the other hand, is the most STUBBORN child I have ever seen. I had her potty trained for 3 weeks in May. My mom helped me with that when I was home from my surgery. Then we changed up the routine by her going back to the babysitters. Before I knew it, she was peeing on the floor consistently at the babysitters. We ended up putting her back in Pull-Ups again and she has been ever since. I have TRIED to potty train her from the day I stopped working. She is soooo unmotivated. She could care less. I have tried all the tricks in the book. Today's trick: I bought a "Tangled" brush because she loves Tangled and loves brushing her hair. (It's funny...she will sing the song all day long while brushing her hair. She will not let me do her hair because she likes to brush it all day. She even tied toilet paper to it last night to make it long. That was fun to clean up. Okay, so I got side tracked...back to potty training.) Anyways, so I told her if she keeps her panties dry all day long, she can have the "Tangled" brush. She seems motivated by that. Hopefully this works.
I much rather be doing performance reviews right now than potty training.
Emilee, you get a "Not Meeting Expectations" in potty training. You can have your raise once I don't have to change your diaper anymore. You are almost 4 and I know you can do it. You are smart and funny and cute. You just have to find that inspiration inside of you that says "I AM A BIG GIRL TODAY! I CAN GO ON THE POTTY!!!" I look forward to seeing you progress and if you need any help, I am here for you. You do, however, get an "Exceeding Expectations" in the cute department. Especially when you tell me I am the Best Mommy in the WHOLE WORLD!!! So you can keep your job as my daughter...for today anyway.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Bosses vs Broccoli
One thing about being a boss is unless you are the CEO, you still have a boss.
When I was 15, I worked for a little family owned restaurant named Tasty Treats. This was my first encounter with a "Boss." He was a short, chubby Greek man. His family worked at the restaurant and he had a couple of teenagers working for him. I don't even remember his name but he was not a very nice man. He was ornery and stubborn. I did what ever he asked because I didn't want a confrontation with him. When it came time to me giving him my notice, for the first time I got a positive reaction out of him. He told me he appreciated me and I worked hard and he would give me a raise to stay. I couldn't take his coldness any longer and nicely declined the offer. This experience taught me a valuable life lesson. Hard work can pay off even if you may feel unappreciated.
When I went to Grocery Warehouse as a "bagger girl", I had several bosses but the main boss was Grant. My first week there, he sent me on a task. He told me to go find the snow tires for the carts. Because I did what was asked of me, I went searching. I really couldn't believe the carts had snow tires but whatever. He told me to go look in the back. After a half hour of searching, I came back up front and told him I couldn't find them. He turned to an assistant manager and they had a good laugh. This was his way of welcoming the "newbies," I learned it was okay to have fun at work. He really taught me about being a good leader. He cared about his employees. I remember him calling me to his office one day and asking if I was doing okay during a difficult time I was having in my life. He listened and understood we were Human, not just robots.
Since then, I have had several bosses. Some I loved, some not so fond of and some I just plain did not like. Whoever they were, I always learned from them and identified who I wanted to emulate and who I learned what "NOT" to do.
Tonight for dinner we had steak, potatoes and broccoli. I love broccoli!!! Joe and Hannah will tolerate it. Emmy on the other hand, not so much. She always tells random people everywhere we go she is allergic to broccoli or every meal she reminds us that she does not like broccoli, whether we are eating it or not. Tonight, we told her that if she eats one piece of broccoli she could have dessert. She argued at first but we were firm in our stance on the broccoli battle. She had me put a tiny bit of butter on it and then the funniest thing happened. She sticks this tiny piece of broccoli in her wide-opened mouth and mutters "Water, Water." She hurries and washes the broccoli down like she was taking a pill. She swallowed the "poison" and screamed "Dessert, Dessert!" We held up our end of the bargain and she was rewarded with her dessert.
Sometimes in our life, bosses are like broccoli. You either love it, don't mind it or swallow with a glass of water to make it to "dessert". But unless you try it, you will never know.
George H. W. Bush said it perfectly, "I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And now I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli."
Guess what, I am now CEO of the kitchen and you get to eat broccoli, Emilee.
When I was 15, I worked for a little family owned restaurant named Tasty Treats. This was my first encounter with a "Boss." He was a short, chubby Greek man. His family worked at the restaurant and he had a couple of teenagers working for him. I don't even remember his name but he was not a very nice man. He was ornery and stubborn. I did what ever he asked because I didn't want a confrontation with him. When it came time to me giving him my notice, for the first time I got a positive reaction out of him. He told me he appreciated me and I worked hard and he would give me a raise to stay. I couldn't take his coldness any longer and nicely declined the offer. This experience taught me a valuable life lesson. Hard work can pay off even if you may feel unappreciated.
When I went to Grocery Warehouse as a "bagger girl", I had several bosses but the main boss was Grant. My first week there, he sent me on a task. He told me to go find the snow tires for the carts. Because I did what was asked of me, I went searching. I really couldn't believe the carts had snow tires but whatever. He told me to go look in the back. After a half hour of searching, I came back up front and told him I couldn't find them. He turned to an assistant manager and they had a good laugh. This was his way of welcoming the "newbies," I learned it was okay to have fun at work. He really taught me about being a good leader. He cared about his employees. I remember him calling me to his office one day and asking if I was doing okay during a difficult time I was having in my life. He listened and understood we were Human, not just robots.
Since then, I have had several bosses. Some I loved, some not so fond of and some I just plain did not like. Whoever they were, I always learned from them and identified who I wanted to emulate and who I learned what "NOT" to do.
Tonight for dinner we had steak, potatoes and broccoli. I love broccoli!!! Joe and Hannah will tolerate it. Emmy on the other hand, not so much. She always tells random people everywhere we go she is allergic to broccoli or every meal she reminds us that she does not like broccoli, whether we are eating it or not. Tonight, we told her that if she eats one piece of broccoli she could have dessert. She argued at first but we were firm in our stance on the broccoli battle. She had me put a tiny bit of butter on it and then the funniest thing happened. She sticks this tiny piece of broccoli in her wide-opened mouth and mutters "Water, Water." She hurries and washes the broccoli down like she was taking a pill. She swallowed the "poison" and screamed "Dessert, Dessert!" We held up our end of the bargain and she was rewarded with her dessert.
Sometimes in our life, bosses are like broccoli. You either love it, don't mind it or swallow with a glass of water to make it to "dessert". But unless you try it, you will never know.
George H. W. Bush said it perfectly, "I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And now I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli."
Guess what, I am now CEO of the kitchen and you get to eat broccoli, Emilee.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Troubleshooting vs Tantrums
When I worked for T-mobile, one very simple part of the job was troubleshooting. A customer would come in and they would have a problem with their phone or mobile hotspot. Troubleshooting and I had a love/hate relationship. I loved trying to figure out the problem but I hated the wrath that would sometimes come with it. I remember one instance when a gentleman walked into the store and threw his phone at me. I didn't even have a chance to greet him before it was:
"This piece of [Insert your own word here] is not working!"
I looked at him with a blank stare. It always bugged me when customers would come in on a tyrant. I can understand when people get frustrated, heck I get frustrated but we are adults and we can have adult conversations about what the problem is. You don't need to use obscene language or kick or scream or throw things at me to get your point across. You can tell me what the problem is and I can troubleshoot it to get it fixed. THERE IS ALWAYS A SOLUTION. Whether it is a simply powering the phone off and turning it back on, doing a warranty exchange, buying a new device, etc. The customer may not like the solution at hand BUT THERE IS ALWAYS ONE.
Unfortunately, having an adult conversation with a 7 year old doesn't always work. So two nights ago, Hannah had one of her horrible tantrums. It was a two hour drawn out, screaming, kicking and crying. She had missed school on Tuesday and had Monday off so that led to being two days behind in homework. This then through her off schedule and she needed to complete two spellings per day and two math assignments per day. Not only that but she had to do her Lucky Listeners which is reading a poem 5 times to an audience. I warned her prior to starting her homework that she was going to have extra to do. The first assignment went smoothly. Then all hell broke loose and the flood gates opened. I then gave her her options: She could choose to calm down and do her homework with me or she could go to her room until she calmed down, and then do her homework. She choose to go to her room. After an hour of full on screaming, I went and talked to her. I told her she could have me help her do her homework or she could miss recess because she didn't get it done. These were her options. After more battling and her dad coming home from work, she finally calmed down and she finished her homework. After she had calmed down, I troubleshooted the tantrum. The route cause of the drama: She was overwhelmed and hadn't taken her medication for the day. The solution: Give her breaks in between homework assignments and make sure she takes her meds the next day so we don't have a repeat.
Most customers left my store happy. Once I got them calmed down and explained their options, or even fixed the route cause, they left with a smile on their face. Hannah went to bed last night with a smile on her face.
It all came down to troubleshooting and finding a solution. Last night turned out so much better because we played out the solution from the night before. Hannah apologized to me for her behavior, something I didn't see much of in the corporate world.
As for the customer who threw his phone at me because it wasn't working...he didn't have the battery in it. Once I pointed that out to him, he grabbed the phone and walked out. His option was to put the battery back in his phone.
It's funny how in the corporate world, adults can act like 7 years olds and 7 year olds can act like adults.
Steve Maraboli said it best: "Sometimes problems don't require a solution to solve them, they require maturity to outgrow them."
"This piece of [Insert your own word here] is not working!"
I looked at him with a blank stare. It always bugged me when customers would come in on a tyrant. I can understand when people get frustrated, heck I get frustrated but we are adults and we can have adult conversations about what the problem is. You don't need to use obscene language or kick or scream or throw things at me to get your point across. You can tell me what the problem is and I can troubleshoot it to get it fixed. THERE IS ALWAYS A SOLUTION. Whether it is a simply powering the phone off and turning it back on, doing a warranty exchange, buying a new device, etc. The customer may not like the solution at hand BUT THERE IS ALWAYS ONE.
Unfortunately, having an adult conversation with a 7 year old doesn't always work. So two nights ago, Hannah had one of her horrible tantrums. It was a two hour drawn out, screaming, kicking and crying. She had missed school on Tuesday and had Monday off so that led to being two days behind in homework. This then through her off schedule and she needed to complete two spellings per day and two math assignments per day. Not only that but she had to do her Lucky Listeners which is reading a poem 5 times to an audience. I warned her prior to starting her homework that she was going to have extra to do. The first assignment went smoothly. Then all hell broke loose and the flood gates opened. I then gave her her options: She could choose to calm down and do her homework with me or she could go to her room until she calmed down, and then do her homework. She choose to go to her room. After an hour of full on screaming, I went and talked to her. I told her she could have me help her do her homework or she could miss recess because she didn't get it done. These were her options. After more battling and her dad coming home from work, she finally calmed down and she finished her homework. After she had calmed down, I troubleshooted the tantrum. The route cause of the drama: She was overwhelmed and hadn't taken her medication for the day. The solution: Give her breaks in between homework assignments and make sure she takes her meds the next day so we don't have a repeat.
Most customers left my store happy. Once I got them calmed down and explained their options, or even fixed the route cause, they left with a smile on their face. Hannah went to bed last night with a smile on her face.
It all came down to troubleshooting and finding a solution. Last night turned out so much better because we played out the solution from the night before. Hannah apologized to me for her behavior, something I didn't see much of in the corporate world.
As for the customer who threw his phone at me because it wasn't working...he didn't have the battery in it. Once I pointed that out to him, he grabbed the phone and walked out. His option was to put the battery back in his phone.
It's funny how in the corporate world, adults can act like 7 years olds and 7 year olds can act like adults.
Steve Maraboli said it best: "Sometimes problems don't require a solution to solve them, they require maturity to outgrow them."
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Conference Calls Vs Couponing
Well here I am...writing a blog. Kinda a cliche...Working Girl turns into Blogger Mom or something like that. So here it goes:
Many who know me know I started working from the day I was old enough. I started advertising when I turned 12 for babysitting jobs. I made fliers and handed them out around church. Picked up several jobs that way. Then age 15, I got a worker's permit and started working at Tasty Treats serving ice cream and hot dogs. When I turned 16, I walked over to Grocery Warehouse (Albertsons) in the same parking lot and there it began. My climb up the corporate ladder. From the minute I turned 18, I was a manager. When I was tired of it at Albertsons, I moved over to T-mobile and worked my way up there. After 7 years of hard work and dedication at T-mobile, I decided to turn the page and start a new chapter.
What is that new chapter you may ask? I am staying home with my kids.
December 28 was my final day at T-mobile. I cried and cried when I left. That was the life I had known for the last 7 years and I had built so many friendships and I felt important there. I worked hard and it helped my self esteem. I felt part of something. My T-Mobile Family was a big part of my life, my SECOND family. My employees were like my children. Not only did I coach them and help develop them in their roles, but I was their leader who they turned to for advice and instilled confidence in me. Yet it got to the point where it wasn't fun any more. The goals became harder, the pressure greater and the workload unbearable. But I was strong...or I thought I was. There were days where I would cry and cry because I was so stressed out. I got to the point I was working 50-60 hours a week because I was ALWAYS connected to work in some form. I never had a day off and pretty soon, Joe (my husband) became a single Dad. I would go 2 to 3 days without seeing Hannah or Emilee (my 7 and 3 year old). Then Joe and I started noticing Hannah's behavior was getting worse and worse. The tantrums would be drug out for 2 to 3 hours. She was having difficulty on so many levels. I finally took her to the doctor's. The doctor sent me home with lots of "homework" as he called it. I filled out tons for paperwork and monitored her behavior over the next month. I went back to see him and he diagnosed her with a form of Autism. He gave me some meds to help her and looked at me and said, "Ya know Tina if you really want to help her, you need to get her on a more regulated schedule. I can give you the meds, you can go see the therapist but until she is on a schedule where she can plan her day, she is going to act out." This gave me tremendous anxiety. I had no idea how I was going to do this with my work schedule. I prayed and prayed that I would be able to figure it out. So back in September I decided to make the decision to stay home. We got our finances in order and I gave my notice to T-Mobile in November. I worried and worried I was making the right decision. What about money? What about my self esteem? Then it dawned on me. "Tina, are you happy? Is your family happy? Can you continue working and your life be in order?" I realized I was working for many of the wrong reasons. HOW SELFISH AM I? Ya sure, we needed the money but 3/4 of it was going to gas, going out to eat, treats for my work and daycare.
Then it became very clear to me:
“And now a commandment I give unto you—if you will be delivered you shall set in order your own house.” (D&C 93:41–43.)
The Lord instructed his people to “organize yourselves; … establish a house, even … a house of order, a house of God” (D&C 88:119).
My house WAS NOT of order. My FIRST family needed me. I laid in bed with Joe and told him we could not continue down this path. He agreed and we jumped...we took the LEAP of faith.
I figured SOOOO MANY WOMEN around me do it, I can do it too. It wasn't going to be easy but our family was going to be so much HAPPIER! And that was what was important at this time.
So here I am today...26 days later, leaving my corporate life full of conference calls and trading it in for couponing and cooking. (PS the BEST site ever invented, savvyshopperdeals.com. Thanks Leesha for showing me the way!) I picked up some side work as most Moms do when they are staying home. It has been good.
I can honestly say for those who have the misconception of a Stay At Home Mom being an easy job...it is NOT....by far. But the REWARD is priceless. My family is the happiest it has ever has been. I have become quite the cook. Hannah's behavior has improved ten fold and Emilee has become a Mommy's girl. (She was VERY much a Daddy's girl...haha, I won her over.) Joe and I have put the Lord First in our lives, we even have had Family Home Evening. I know there are many challenges that lie ahead but I have found myself again...and I have the most important job in the world right now for my family...and that is being a MOM to my two beautiful girls.
Besides you can't put complaining customers in Timeout in the Corporate World!
Many who know me know I started working from the day I was old enough. I started advertising when I turned 12 for babysitting jobs. I made fliers and handed them out around church. Picked up several jobs that way. Then age 15, I got a worker's permit and started working at Tasty Treats serving ice cream and hot dogs. When I turned 16, I walked over to Grocery Warehouse (Albertsons) in the same parking lot and there it began. My climb up the corporate ladder. From the minute I turned 18, I was a manager. When I was tired of it at Albertsons, I moved over to T-mobile and worked my way up there. After 7 years of hard work and dedication at T-mobile, I decided to turn the page and start a new chapter.
What is that new chapter you may ask? I am staying home with my kids.
December 28 was my final day at T-mobile. I cried and cried when I left. That was the life I had known for the last 7 years and I had built so many friendships and I felt important there. I worked hard and it helped my self esteem. I felt part of something. My T-Mobile Family was a big part of my life, my SECOND family. My employees were like my children. Not only did I coach them and help develop them in their roles, but I was their leader who they turned to for advice and instilled confidence in me. Yet it got to the point where it wasn't fun any more. The goals became harder, the pressure greater and the workload unbearable. But I was strong...or I thought I was. There were days where I would cry and cry because I was so stressed out. I got to the point I was working 50-60 hours a week because I was ALWAYS connected to work in some form. I never had a day off and pretty soon, Joe (my husband) became a single Dad. I would go 2 to 3 days without seeing Hannah or Emilee (my 7 and 3 year old). Then Joe and I started noticing Hannah's behavior was getting worse and worse. The tantrums would be drug out for 2 to 3 hours. She was having difficulty on so many levels. I finally took her to the doctor's. The doctor sent me home with lots of "homework" as he called it. I filled out tons for paperwork and monitored her behavior over the next month. I went back to see him and he diagnosed her with a form of Autism. He gave me some meds to help her and looked at me and said, "Ya know Tina if you really want to help her, you need to get her on a more regulated schedule. I can give you the meds, you can go see the therapist but until she is on a schedule where she can plan her day, she is going to act out." This gave me tremendous anxiety. I had no idea how I was going to do this with my work schedule. I prayed and prayed that I would be able to figure it out. So back in September I decided to make the decision to stay home. We got our finances in order and I gave my notice to T-Mobile in November. I worried and worried I was making the right decision. What about money? What about my self esteem? Then it dawned on me. "Tina, are you happy? Is your family happy? Can you continue working and your life be in order?" I realized I was working for many of the wrong reasons. HOW SELFISH AM I? Ya sure, we needed the money but 3/4 of it was going to gas, going out to eat, treats for my work and daycare.
Then it became very clear to me:
“And now a commandment I give unto you—if you will be delivered you shall set in order your own house.” (D&C 93:41–43.)
The Lord instructed his people to “organize yourselves; … establish a house, even … a house of order, a house of God” (D&C 88:119).
My house WAS NOT of order. My FIRST family needed me. I laid in bed with Joe and told him we could not continue down this path. He agreed and we jumped...we took the LEAP of faith.
I figured SOOOO MANY WOMEN around me do it, I can do it too. It wasn't going to be easy but our family was going to be so much HAPPIER! And that was what was important at this time.
So here I am today...26 days later, leaving my corporate life full of conference calls and trading it in for couponing and cooking. (PS the BEST site ever invented, savvyshopperdeals.com. Thanks Leesha for showing me the way!) I picked up some side work as most Moms do when they are staying home. It has been good.
I can honestly say for those who have the misconception of a Stay At Home Mom being an easy job...it is NOT....by far. But the REWARD is priceless. My family is the happiest it has ever has been. I have become quite the cook. Hannah's behavior has improved ten fold and Emilee has become a Mommy's girl. (She was VERY much a Daddy's girl...haha, I won her over.) Joe and I have put the Lord First in our lives, we even have had Family Home Evening. I know there are many challenges that lie ahead but I have found myself again...and I have the most important job in the world right now for my family...and that is being a MOM to my two beautiful girls.
Besides you can't put complaining customers in Timeout in the Corporate World!
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