Over the past few months, we've been working with a group of small business owners to take the lessons from Thomas L. Friedmans book The World Is Flat and apply them to their business model. Picture it as a book club by telephone, with members spread from Connecticut to California. The participants are inspired entrepreneurs, and were making great progress in opening their minds to capitalize on new opportunities. The premise of Friedmans bestseller is the walls between nations, customers and competitors are being eliminated because of technology. Thus, paradigms weve long accepted as true are being challenged, the biggest of which - as alluded to by President Bush in his recent State of the Union address - is Americas future as the preeminent global power. If we ensure that Americas children succeed in life, said Mr. Bush, they will ensure that America succeeds in the world. The purpose of this E-Newsletter isnt to discuss Americas supremacy, its politics, or whether Mr. Friedman is correct. Instead, I would like to share a personal story about the flattening world as a framework for a discussion affecting every small business owner, wherever you live: providing world class customer service...always, especially when you fail to live up to expectations. Each month I write an 11 Things list with additional tips for improving your small business. A couple of weeks ago, I received an e-mail from a gentleman in Dubai who saw Februarys 11 Things list posted on EzineArticles.com, and had a question about one of the items I recommended. Here is a portion of his note: Dear Sir... Considering point number: 9. Recover - Did you know Google was supposed to be "Googol" (like the number)? Someone misspelled it on an application, so they went with it. Not a bad decision as it turns out. From what I know, googol was registered as a domain in 1995, while Google came to life in 1998. If this is correct, then your point does not hold true. Please share with me how there was a mistake in this application, and how you came to know about it. I have to admit, my first reaction was, 'Do I want to spend my valuable time responding to this?' However, one of our company core values is Quick follow-up to all e-mails, so, I googled Google misspelled googol. Clicking on many of the links, I discovered the real story might not have been as my original research suggested. Oops! So, recognizing the irony in my advice about recovery, I sent a return e-mail to Dubai: Thank you for reading my article...and for paying such close attention! In my research, I discovered several references for this... Some articles I read quoted co-founder Larry Page telling a story about making a mistake on "an application." However, in following up today...it appears Google company lore suggests their first investor misspelled it on a check...and that may be the reason. Bottom line...I defer to your excellent point and keen eye, and will endeavor to write more clearly in the future. Thanks for making me better. Of course, the story would have stopped there and I would never have written about the art of recovery...except the gentleman took the time to respond with this: Now this is a great example of terrific, completely-friendly replies... I'm speechless. Since we are both in good moods, I'd like permission to translate your articles and post them on my Arabic blog. Lets recap what occurred here in less than half an hour, half a world apart. Someone [imagine your potential client] questioned something I wrote [a customer disappointed in your service will tell nine others about her poor experience]. I took the time to check my facts [always find out what really happened], then I owned up to my error in a friendly way [treat others as you want to be treated]. And, because of my open, honest communication [non-defensive, non-confrontational], my articles will now be published in Dubai [many more potential new clients will see them]. Success Handler Action: Recovery is all about making things right in an equitable way with your clients and customers to keep potentially long-term relationships in tact. To measure where recovery ranks in your small business, after you finish reading this, ask yourself these questions about your service philosophy: ~ Who on your team is responsible for solving customer service issues? ~ What is your policy for dealing with client disputes, and is it written down anywhere? ~ Where do you draw the line on clients' requests when resolving disputes? ~ When was the last time you gathered your team and facilitated a discussion on the importance of customer service? ~ How do your team members feel about this statement: The customer is always right.? It may be too early in the flattening of the world for our company to receive business anytime soon from the other side of the planet. However, someone who knows someone will forward these articles, even the Arabic versions, to the right person - and there will come a time when they need help clarifying and executing their vision. Thus, 30 minutes of my time will eventually lead to new clients who will contribute substantial revenue to our company. Thats the power of recovery. Always take the high road, and your small business will win in the end. |
