What does a customer service training blog have to do with the movie Castaway and stiletto high heels? Everything!
In the movie Castaway, Tom Hanks plays the part of a productivity and time management specialist, who travels worldwide for FedEx. What I remember most about this movie, besides Tom Hanks’ co-star, that ever lovable volleyball sidekick named Wilson, is the scene where Hanks is in a meeting with fellow employees and he is explaining the importance of packages getting to their destinations on time and how having this as a company standard has the potential to change a customer’s life. Very profound if you think about it.
I often wonder why more companies don’t include modules in their training programs to talk about the impact that their products, services, cultures and attitudes have on their customers, and how we all have the ability to change someone’s life with our work.
Having compassion for our customers is so important for making the sales connection with them. Our customers are the same as us. They lose their car keys, have kids who get into trouble, feel stressed with work, worry about their aging parents, struggle with relationships, and wonder how they are going to make the next mortgage or car payment.
We’re all human.
Making the connection with our customers by seeing them as having the same problems we do, strengthens the bond that is necessary for repeat business and we all know that repeat business is what drives profitability.
So the next time you plan a training session for your staff, ask them to think about the things that may be going on in the lives of their customers, especially those who are the most difficult to please. Tell them to walk a mile in that customer’s stilettos, wingtips, sneakers, flip flops or boots and I can almost guarantee that they will have a different attitude about that customer forevermore.
Did you ever discover that there was some underlying situation going on for one of your customers that was making them hard to deal with? How did that new information make you feel about that customer?
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