Archive for 2010
Believe in Humility?
Sunday, December 19th, 2010
In QBQ! we state, “Humility is the cornerstone of leadership!” And, in the new Outstanding! book we have a whole chapter titled, “Be Humble.” So vote here for the QB YOU believe is the most humble:
Just for fun!
John G. Miller
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Outstanding Holidays Don’t Just Happen
Thursday, November 25th, 2010
Outstanding Holidays Don’t Just Happen
The holidays.
A season all about Family, Faith, and Friends. For many, it’s also a time of Food, Football, Festivities, Fun—and Freedom. Not just the blessing of living in a “free country,” but also maybe—just maybe—a little less tied to our jobs and a little more sleeping, puttering, and simply doing nothing on some days! Sounds great, doesn’t it?
But how about these words? Frenetic—a crazy, stress-filled pace. Finances—jubilant joy leads to dangerous debt. Frustration—things don’t quite go the way we planned. Fear—of being alone, left out. Fatigue—we simply do too much and return in January needing the month just to recover!
The reality is this: The holidays, for lots of people, just aren’t what they’re cracked up to be. Though we want them to stand out—that is, to be outstanding—they often fall short of our expectations. But, with some work, some discipline, and some adherence to fundamental ideas and principles, we can each experience an exceptional season.
By extracting concepts from the book Outstanding!—yes, written for the world of corporations, nonprofits, government entities, churches and schools—and applying them to this time of year, we can make the best of the holidays. And since most holiday celebrations involve families—which are organizations—let’s utilize the essences of nine of the 47 Outstanding! chapters to create a stellar season!
Choose to Change: Holiday traditions are great, but remember: Any strength taken to an extreme becomes a weakness. Outstanding families, like outstanding organizations, are willing to set aside “the way we’ve always done things” now and then. Keeping the end goals of joy, fun, and celebration in mind, we might need do things differently. Never forget: Blessed are the flexible, for they cause others to not get bent out of shape!
Keep the Mission Top of Mind: If you believe the “reason for the season” is faith (worshiping God and being thankful) and/or family (traditions and coming together) then don’t forget the “Why” behind the activities. Let purpose come before tasks, otherwise, the tasks can overwhelm the mission—and what’s the sense in that?
Get Actions In Line With Values: If we espouse values like love, caring, and acceptance, let’s ensure that our behaviors support those ideas. Integrity—actions in line with stated values—is a rare commodity in our world, so let’s allow that light to shine at home. Example: If we embrace the word “humility,” let’s avoid boasting, bragging, and topping each other in our interactions. Another: If I say I believe in relaxing and resting, then draw a few boundaries and say NO! if you really want to. It’s okay to not participate in some activities this time of year.
Fight the Fat: And we’re not talking about calories here! As Dave Ramsey says, when it comes to finances, “Bother to bother.” In other words, decide to stay on top of and in control of the dollars. By cutting up the plastic money and living within our means, we’ll experience a far more joyous … January!
Forgive Mistakes: What could be a more perfect way to achieve outstanding holidays than to let some stuff slide? Humans sometimes do say the wrong thing, make mistakes, exercise poor judgment, drop the ball, and forget to act. When these things happen, it’s an amazing opportunity to choose forgiveness. Practice the words, “No big deal. Let’s forget it.”
Let Every Player Count: A little lifting up of each person is a good thing. Careful that one individual’s needs and agenda don’t “rule the roost.” Let’s do our best to help each person—from 2 to 92—feel special. It’s a time to honor everyone on the team!
Speak Well: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1) So true! As the tension and stress build, make sure that the way we talk to others—both our words and tone—is encouraging, loving, and supportive.
Listen In All Directions: In Outstanding! we write about listening in three ways: Management listening to the people, the people listening to each other, and everyone listening to the customer. My favorite part is where we take “multi-tasking” to task as a very bad habit. During these precious days, let’s set the iPods, laptops, and PDAs aside—cease the Tweeting, status updating, and surfing—and look each other in the eye, saying, “Go ahead, you are the most important person in my world at this moment and I want to hear every word you have to say.”
Someone Needs to Be the Boss: Lastly, parents, I beseech you—please parent! Family gatherings are hurt when the wrong people are in charge: the children. Let’s hold our kids to a new (yet old fashioned) level of respect, manners, and courtesy. The truth is, it’s not all about the children—and sometimes they need to know that. If your young child needs a really long “time out,” then take action. Don’t be afraid to let him or her know that—surprise, surprise!—you are the boss.
So there they are: Nine ways to have an outstanding holiday season. Share this with others—apply them yourself—and see what a difference they can make. And then come back in 2011 ready to make our organizations outstanding, too!
John G. Miller
Author of …
Outstanding! 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional
QBQ! The Question Behind the Question®
Flipping the Switch … Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability
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Being Thankful, Even at Work!
Monday, November 22nd, 2010
Excerpted from Chapter 21 of Outstanding!
“Succeed with What You Have”
Maybe because of our immeasurable, countless, and unending blessings, most of us are so protected from the pain of doing without, that we end up complaining more about what we don’t have than being thankful for what we do have. In our chapter story, here was an employee essentially saying, I’m glad to be gainfully employed and I will smile at every customer who comes my way because I know they pay the bills.
And I won’t whine about what I lack!
No organization is perfect, and few have everything people working there feel they need. Of course, there are times to speak up to express a need for this tool or that resource, and management should do everything it can to provide people with the very best tools available. But as individuals, focusing on what we don’t have rather than on what we can accomplish with what we do have is a waste of time and energy. In the end, outstanding organizations and their people get the job done with the tools and resources they’ve been given.
John G. Miller
Author of “QBQ!”® “Flipping the Switch” “Outstanding!”
www.OutstandingOrganization.com and www.QBQ.com
Twitter: QBQGUY Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/theqbq
3 John G. Miller/Dave Ramsey interviews:
http://qbq.com/dave-ramsey-outstanding-video.php
http://qbq.com/dave-ramsey-interview-video2.php
http://qbq.com/dave-ramsey-interview-video.php
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Work – It’s a Good Thing!
Wednesday, November 17th, 2010
I asked Molly, our twentysomething daughter, who loves soccer and basketball and has served as captain in both sports, “Molly, in your opinion, what makes an effective team?” I was honestly just curious what she’d say; it wasn’t like I was doing serious research for a book or anything! But I loved her answer: “Everyone taking care of their own stuff, Dad. Everybody working hard at doing their job . . .”
That’s exactly what happens in outstanding organizations. People do their jobs. They work—diligently. I didn’t say they get their life out of balance. I believe in balance and taking breaks and recharging. I didn’t say people should shortchange their family in some way. Family is critical. And I didn’t say people should become obsessed 24/7 with their jobs, either. But I do say this: In outstanding organizations a solid work ethic is alive and well. People care, contribute, and combine talent and skills with old-fashioned “elbow grease” to get the job done. In lesser organizations, that’s not always the case.
There’s a phenomenon we all know about called “entitlement thinking.” People inflicted with this condition have one mantra—I deserve! Outstanding organizations work hard to make hard work a cornerstone of their culture and keep entitlement at bay. “I deserve!” thinking can look like this:
• A supervisor who felt strongly that the content of a particular book would help each person in his group learn and grow professionally and personally, happily gave one to each of his reports. Everyone was excited! Later, one employee returned to ask, “If I read this book at home on my own time, will I get paid for that hour?”
• An industrial complex was locked down for safety reasons from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. There was a deadly threat occurring and management wanted all employees to be secure. People’s lives were their first concern. One week later, an employee submitted a request to be paid for the lunch hour he missed.
• A dozen manufacturing plant supervisors were being trained as facilitators of a training process. They were engaging in a full-day session with no minutes to spare. Lots to do! At 9 a.m., the trainer broke them into three teams of four to do group work in breakout rooms—but nobody went to their breakout room. At 9:05, the trainer located all twelve in the cafeteria eating. When asked what they were doing, one said, “Hey, rules are rules. It was time for our break.”
All of these examples speak to the entitlement mentality that chips away at an organization’s work ethic.
My daughter, Kristin—now a colleague of mine who loves working with audiences, too—and I were speaking in Washington, D.C., a block from the White House. So we did the tourist thing the night before our sessions, and together experienced a moment when someone clearly had the right attitude. I’ll let Kristin tell the story:
Getting hungry, we decided to grab some dinner, but most eateries in a nearby food court had already closed. Luckily, we found a Quiznos sandwich shop still open and placed our order a minute or two before the 7:30 closing time with Maria, a woman of about twenty who looked like she’d had a very long day. As we stood back and waited for our sandwiches, a stately, well-dressed, elderly couple approached the counter and started reading the menu. The clock on the wall now read 7:32. The Quiznos employees—including Maria—had started cleaning up for the night. Meanwhile, I felt my own discomfort as the couple stood at the counter, quietly perusing the menu. I so badly wanted to stop them from ordering. “Nooooo! They’re closed! See the clock? Let Maria go home! She’s tired!” As the time ticked to 7:35, though, the couple stepped forward. Maria happened to turn around right then and noticed them. The couple stood waiting expectantly, and I awaited a confrontation: the inevitable showdown between the employee saying, “Sorry, we’re closed” and the customers pleading, “It’s only a few minutes past. Can’t you make just two more sandwiches?” It never happened. Maria stepped up to the register and even though I saw her peek at the clock, she said, smiling, “Can I help you?” Well, apparently she’s no slacker. Some people say the young people of today don’t know what it means to work, but I say not true! Maria is evidence of that.
Thankfully, Maria cared enough about her responsibilities and her customers to do the right thing at the right time. Let’s each of us do the same. Again, it’s about everybody working hard, doing their job. It really does come down to having a good work ethic, and no organization can be outstanding without it.
Let’s work!
[Excerpted from Outstanding! - Chapter 22]
Explore our Personal Accountability training program!
John G. Miller
Author of …
Outstanding! 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional
QBQ! The Question Behind the Question®
Flipping the Switch … Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability
Be Outstanding! show: Download all of them here … http://outstandingorganization.com/podcasts/
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OUTSTANDING Attitude – and Service!
Friday, October 29th, 2010
A note I received from friend. He is Brad Meuli, CEO of the Denver Rescue Mission – a venerable organization that serves the homeless. What a great reason to get out of bed everyday! Brad is a fan of OUTSTANDING service, so he popped me this message. Enjoy!
John, I love when I get to write about how someone is doing so well at a job! I like telling you about it because you get it! I called the Inverness Hotel after hours the other day to make some reservations, and encountered the voice mail of Chris Curley, Reservation Representative. Besides being one of the most cheerful messages I have ever heard, it just made me think I was in great hands! (John, you should call 303-397-6400 after 7 PM and listen to Chris!) The next morning Chris called me bright and early and showed me the kind of service and compassion that left me believing that the Inverness Hotel really wanted my business! He was helpful, delightful to speak with, and understands that his customers are important. This young man is going places! If all of the hotel’s employees are like Chris, we should all stay there as often as we are able!
What made this even more remarkable is that I was using a gift certificate that I had purchased at a nonprofit’s auction. Sometimes there is trouble at some hotels when you mention this. The hotel seems like they do not want to honor a certificate or has some other restrictions that often makes you feel like it is just not worth it to have even purchased it. But this was not the case at all with Chris, he made me feel like I was the most important person he had ever spoken with on the phone. He booked me in a “deluxe” room! Thought you might enjoy hearing some good stuff! Brad
Learn more about Brad and The Mission in Chapter 3 of “Outstanding!” His chapter is titled “Keep the Mission Top of Mind”! John G. Miller Author John@QBQ.com
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Be a Blame Buster!
Friday, October 15th, 2010
Be a Blame Buster!
Note: Don’t miss the Application Exercise at the end of this QuickNote!
I suppose we all have a phrase or two that we can’t stand hearing. Here’s one for me:
There’s plenty of blame to go around!
Often spoken by someone in the media, it’s a phrase that has become prevalent. Possibly because blame has become popular.
• Parents blame the schools, churches, and Hollywood for how their kids turn out.
• Spouses blame each other (sometimes with their attorneys present).
• Employers blame the employees.
• Workers blame management.
• Voters blame the politicians they elected.
• Politicians blame … their predecessors.
• Coaches and players blame the officials.
• Manufacturing blames R&D who blames HR who blames Marketing who blames Sales who blames … the customer!
And everyone blames the economy. Why not, it’s so easy!
In our newly reproduced DVD-based QBQ! training program, I list some costs of blame in a work context. Blame:
• Indicts people
• Destroys morale
• Reduces creativity
• Lowers productivity
• Increases fear
• Drives wedges between colleagues
• Breaks down teams
Blame also hurts us at home, not to mention in our communities, churches, and schools. You see, at the very least, when pointing fingers, we’re not using our time, energy and creativity to solve a problem. AND ALL ORGANIZATIONS HAVE PROBLEMS! And since schools, families, nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses are all “organizations,” there are problems everywhere! Remember this:
Nothing gets fixed when we are fixated on who’s at fault.
The truth is, outstanding organizations do not “seek culprits.” When there is a Culture of Culprit Catching, we actually create more problems than existed in the first place. If you don’t believe me, see costs of blame listed above.
As we say in QBQ!, leaders at all levels (that’s you and me!) blame nobody—not even themselves.
That last statement is not a way of escaping blame. Since we all make errors, it simply means that if it’s me that committed one, I don’t have to beat myself up over it. The right questions to ask are, “What can I learn from this experience?” and “How can I now work to solve the problem?”
Blame-busting questions like these—we call them QBQ’S put me on the path of Personal Accountability and that path is always the place to walk. And no matter who caused a problem, QBQ’s always bust the blame.
Our society may constantly send the message that “there’s plenty of blame to go around,” but we can resist the temptation to do what’s popular, trendy—and incredibly immature. (Yes, finger-pointing is an emotionally immature behavior.) Instead, each of us can rise above the urge to blame; each of us can be a Blame Buster. And when that happens, our organizations can be Outstanding!
Application Questions:
Forward this QuickNote to your colleagues and begin a dialogue using these questions—
1. How often do we search for culprits when something goes wrong?
2. In what way does blame impact the morale within our organization? What are the consequences?
3. How will we benefit when finger-pointing is eliminated?
4. What can I do today to bust the blame?
by:
John G. Miller Author of …
Outstanding! 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional
QBQ! The Question Behind the Question®
Flipping the Switch … Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability
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Outstanding! is Different
Friday, September 24th, 2010
QBQ! QuickNote®
Outstanding! is Different
Since “outstanding” means to stand out—and only a few organizations really do—then it makes sense to say that to be outstanding is to be different.
It’s also true that Outstanding!—the book—is different. That is, it’s different from my other two. Yet there is commonality.
“This book will do for organizations what QBQ! and Flipping the Switch have done for individuals: Make them better.”
John Duff of Penguin/Putnam, publisher of my books (as well as Who Moved My Cheese?) made that remark the day we agreed I’d write Outstanding! 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional. It’s no surprise that an author would agree with a comment like this, right?! And the truth is, our organizations, just like people, can be better. They can even be outstanding.
But this is what it takes:
Effort. Energy. Time. Commitment. Dialogue. Learning. In other words, it takes work.
It also takes content.
Outstanding! has the content. We ask you to do the work. The book is dedicated to “those who care enough to improve the place,” and my hope is … that’s you!
Outstanding! differs from QBQ! and Flipping the Switch (FTS) in that the latter two offer a quickly-applied, life-changing, thought-shifting, behavior-altering, and habit-busting tool that we at QBQ, Inc. call The Question Behind the Question®. (Sorry if that sounds a bit proud, but it’s what we hear from readers!). These books are focused on one core idea (personal accountability) and one person (the reader) and one goal (the reader improving self).
But Outstanding! is focused on many ideas (47 of them, in fact) and the broader goal of improving the organization. This huge difference lends itself not only to more pages (a couple hour read versus 55 minutes for QBQ! and FTS), but requires a different type of engagement with the content. Many individuals read the shorter books and immediately use the material to eliminate Blame, Victim-thinking, and Procrastination from their lives. But with Outstanding! and its goal of making the organization better, collaboration and teamwork are critical.
So, since you and I believe in practicing The Question Behind the Question (QBQ) methodology of asking accountable questions, I pose this friendly challenge to “QBQ! Zealots” everywhere: Ask QBQs such as, “What can I do today to help my organization be outstanding?” and “How can I provide my team the tools to make our organization better?”
These QBQs direct us straight to Outstanding!—a book not to talk about, but to talk through, as a team. A manager emailed saying, “I loved the stories, the bite-size chapters, and the 47 commonsense ideas, but Outstanding! really came to life when my staff and I studied it together as a group.” Perfectly put. Outstanding! is a tool for TEAMS—a book to study, explore, and review, chapter by chapter, page by page, idea by idea.
Here’s our recommendation on how to best put Outstanding! to work:
Since true learning occurs during conversation, discussion, and dialogue, picture your department, work group, or team getting together virtually or face-to-face to work on questions like …
“In what ways can we enhance our focus and ‘keep the mission top of mind’?”
“What can be done to ensure we ‘never forget who pays the bills’?”
“Do we strive to ‘work’ or has entitlement thinking crept into our culture?”
“How does the customer win when we ‘make no excuses’?”
“If we don’t ‘forgive mistakes,’ but rather hold grudges between departments, what are the costs?”
“Do we ‘coach moment to moment’ or just annually on Performance Review Day?”
“What will be gained when we commit to ‘seek no culprits’ and strive only to solve problems?”
There are countless questions a team can work through based on the “47 Ways” in Outstanding! I just provided seven based on seven chapter titles (in single quotes). Go ahead, review those questions and envision your team exploring them after reading the related chapter. I promise you, the experience will range from a fun conversation to a spirited debate—but the result will be the same: Learning.
And as we say around here, when there is learning there is change. And that’s a good thing.
Allow me to be plain spoken: Discussion, dialogue, learning, and change require work. Honestly, it doesn’t take much effort to buy a book, read it, loan it out, or give it away. The real work is done when we get together—investing time and energy, risking our own attitudes and actions being challenged—to delve deeply into the content. Therein lies the value of Outstanding! …
… it’s in the work.
And as I said, the Outstanding! book provides the content. You—because you care enough to improve the place—provide the work.
Bottomline, as Dave Ramsey stated in his front cover endorsement of Outstanding!, your colleagues and you will find a “road map” to becoming exceptional, and exceptional is an outstanding place to be.
So be different—do the work and Be Outstanding!®
So, a special offer: Purchase a carton of 12 Outstanding! books at our store and we will email you 47 FREE discussion questions—one for each chapter—for your team to work through. Believe me, it’ll be outstanding!
Click on this link and type the word “questions” into the order form “comments” box:
http://qbq.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=33&products_id=82
Thanks much!
John G. Miller
Author of …
Outstanding! 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional
QBQ! The Question Behind the Question®
Flipping the Switch … Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability
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Outstanding! works
Thursday, September 16th, 2010
It’s emails like this that warm the heart of any author:
Hey John:
Just wanted to let you know I picked up “Outstanding” and have not been able to put it down. It has been great reading and even more fun beginning to implement some of the ideas in my second year in Worcester! Thanks for the recommendation. We will be reading QBQ! as a group sometime this year!!!
Margaret
High School Principal
————————
Thanks to Margaret for deciding it’s good to strive to be outstanding. She knows it’s the best place to be!
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Treat Vendors Like People
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
“Treat Vendors Like People”
Chapter 42 of Outstanding!
Every single day organizations buy all kinds of stuff—from technology systems to cubicles to paper towels—because they need all kinds of stuff to succeed. I believe that the exceptional organizations treat the vendors that provide these wares like customers.
Let’s say you have an outside sales rep calling on your organization—is she a customer of yours? You bet she is. Why? Because, as the 360-Degree Customer Concept says, she has legitimate expectations of you. Expectations such as being listened to, getting paid expeditiously, being treated respectfully, having phone calls and emails returned in a timely manner, and receiving thanks for a job well done. Communication and courtesy are things that people who sell to us want—and deserve.
In the 1950s, American statistician, professor, and lecturer Dr. W. Edwards Deming helped Japanese industry rebuild itself after World War II. From that experience and others, he developed his now famous 14 Points of Management. In point #4, Deming said that organizations should build long-term relationships of loyalty and trust with suppliers. The reason to do so is this: It is good business. No organization can achieve its goals without their suppliers, and a positive, trusting relationship returns more value over time than one that’s focused only on price and terms.
Do you see your vendors as partners—even colleagues—who help you succeed? Or, conversely, are interactions with them adversarial, filled with give-us-a-better-price friction and fill-out-these vendor-docs-in-triplicate demands? How many hoops does your organization make a supplier jump through to be of service? Are your contracts and procurement policies so lopsided they favor only the buyer?
While hammering out a training agreement with the food company Schwan’s, Kim Stephens, a director in their organizational development department, emailed me saying their legal department had “redlined” our document and he was returning it to me for my review. In our email dialogue, I asked a simple question and got back an outstanding answer:
John: “Tell me, is Schwan’s saying no negotiating on the red-line comments that your lawyer made on the contract?”
Kim: “Not at all. If there’s something you don’t agree with, we’ll talk about it. Marvin Schwan’s spirit is still alive here. As he always desired, agreements need to be win-win for both parties.”
Now that’s an organization that knows how to treat the outsider. Take it from a guy who has sold to organizations for many years: It is a real negative for the outsider when an organization makes the buy-sell process arduous and burdensome. On the other hand, when a customer treats a vendor with respect, the supplier’s desire to serve increases many times over. And let’s not forget: Even if someone is offering a product or service we don’t want or need, they still should be told swiftly, in a candid and kind fashion.
Though it’s easy to forget sometimes when we’re on the procurement side of things, vendors deserve to be treated as any of us want to be: as good, hardworking people doing their best each day. Outstanding organizations understand, as did Dr. Deming, that treating vendors like people is not just the right thing to do, it’s good for our organizations.
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Personal Accountability … Bengy Style!
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Personal Accountability … Bengy Style!
Need to buy a car? If so, then here’s where you go:
Mountain States Toyota, Denver, Colorado.
Why? Because they are outstanding!
Ask for Bengy Martinez—the happy salesperson with the big smile (email him at Bengy.Martinez@mountainstatestoyota.com). Let me tell you, Bengy is a star. And like every star, he has a supporting cast. In his case, sales manager, Matt Marr, and General Manager, Tim VanBinsbergen.
Some background: My wife, Karen, and I were not planning to buy two new vehicles this year, but a horrific May hailstorm—like none we’ve ever seen in our dozen Denver years—destroyed her Honda Odyssey mini-van and my fav “candy red” Toyota Tacoma longbed!
So, long story short, off to Mountain States we went, because we’d bought there before and have always been treated with dignity and respect. Well, low and behold there was a “pre-owned” (back in the day we called them “used”) Nissan Xterra for me—almost candy red—and another Odyssey van for Karen.
We bought. And all was well.
A few days later, I noticed the Odyssey’s back right tire looking soft, so I put some air in it. Honestly, I never thought much about it, until a June Saturday evening when our 22-year-old son, Michael, drove Mom and Dad to the Denver Int’l Airport to fly out for that long-planned cruise from Seattle to Alaska to celebrate our 30th. It was then on busy Peña Ave.—the only highway into DIA—we heard a “bam!” and a “bonk” and pulled over to find a flat tire. Yep, right side, rear.
Stupid! I thought. Should’ve gotten that tire fixed!
Decision time: Change the tire on the shoulder, call for a tow from the roadside, or try to go two more miles to DIA and let Mike handle it all. But Mike spoke up with, “Come on, Dad, let’s change the tire.”
“Oh, fine.” I responded, with absolutely no heart in it.
But then—wait for it—the problem that would lead to Bengy, Matt, and Tim becoming heroes presented itself.
There was no spare. Nor was there a Honda-specific tool to remove the wheel lugnuts.
My first thought was, I know it’s a used car that we purchased “as is,” but who sells a car with no spare and no lugnut wrench!?!?
So while calling for a tow truck, we limped on to the airport. Once there, we hugged Mike goodbye and headed to our gate. Fun way to begin the trip!
The next day, before we left Port Seattle, I emailed Bengy this note (abbreviated):
“Bengy, we bought the Odyssey from you and it had a bad back right tire from the start which blew out last night as Karen and I were being driven to the airport. We had to have the car towed to our home where it sits. Karen and I are now heading to Alaska and I’d like to ask what can you do for us? It’s not normal to sell an expensive vehicle without a spare and no way to remove the lugnuts, is it!? Thank you!”
After I sent my polite, frustration-laced note, I feared Bengy and Cast had only three choices:
1. Apathy. Do nothing.
2. Point fingers at the prior owner who kept the spare tire or at the “other department” who took the car into the dealership and didn’t check for a spare. And then do nothing.
3. Do something to help us, but charge us.
I did not really think there was a fourth choice, but that’s what outstanding organizations and people are all about:
Surprising and delighting the customer!
This, of course, causes the customer to send out a QBQ! QuickNote to 28,574 people. It also prevents customers from firing the organization!
So there we were, enjoying life on the “high seas” while the problem back in Colorado was getting solved. As Mountain States Toyota moved fast to excel, son Michael later texted me a suggestion: “Dad, you should write this story up as a QuickNote!” As a father, just that observation makes me proud, because we can’t be outstanding, till we can see outstanding. I’m glad he saw it.
So, what was Bengy’s solution? Mid week, a tow truck was sent 18 miles to our home to pick up the car, tow it to the shop, and repair the tire. Cool, right? But then, on that Saturday night, Bengy, the sales guy, personally drove Karen’s van to our home, parking it in our driveway. When we arrived home Sunday, there it was—ready for “Mom use.”
The next day, joyful, helpful Bengy told me, “Finding your house in the dark out in the boonies was not an easy trick. I bet I passed it five times before I knew it was yours! But, no biggie—glad we got it to you!”
That’s Bengy, a happy guy who loves to serve—and sell cars. And that’s a good thing, since most of us need one.
Oh, and guess what? I later found out that the Odyssey model we have does not come equipped with a spare. This makes Mountain States’ actions even more impressive. Clearly, they could’ve said, “Sorry, not our problem!”
So, do you need a car? If so, go to Bengy and see what personal accountability and outstanding service look like wrapped in a really big smile.
John G. Miller
Author of …
QBQ! The Question Behind the Question®
Flipping the Switch … Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability
Outstanding! 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional
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