Why You Shouldn’t Be The Hero
Being a hero is sexy.
Everyone grows up wanting to wear a mask and have super powers.
The trouble is that while the idea of super-hero powers is attractive, it’s not functional.
Unless you have found a glowing vat of toxic waste and survive contact, you can probably kiss this dream goodbye. In fact, you can also kiss other types of heroism goodbye. Like:
- Working 100 hour weeks.
- Never taking breaks.
- Missing your kids’ baseball games.
The list goes on.
You don’t have to suffer to be productive or successful.
I’m going to say that one more time to help it sink in. You don’t have to suffer to be productive or successful.
If your work requires heroism to get the job done, your process is broken.
There are plenty of people who are more successful and productive than you and who are also happy.
2 Minute Action
What is something you really love doing?Take 2 minutes right now to carve out whatever time you need to do that thing. It can be for this week or for next month. Just carve out the time and look out for yourself.
Dear Valued Customer
Dear Valued Customer,We appreciate your business. Your call is important to us. We value your feedback.
Have you ever gotten one of these emails?
Or have you ever been told this on the phone while waiting for 3 hours for Verizon to pick up your call?You’re better than that.
No one has ever gotten one of these messages and felt appreciated, respected, or valued.
You’re smarter than that.
It only takes an extra 2 minutes to add in a little humanity.
It only takes an extra 2 minutes to make someone feel like they’re being heard.
2 Minute Action
What’s a common communication you have with others?They could be patients, clients, students, or software users. Do you email them, call them, or hand them a report on a regular basis?
Take 2 minutes today to add in a little humanity to that regular communication. Update your language.
The only way to make this planet a better place is going to be getting all of us on the same team.That starts with respect. Respect starts with you.
Why You Shouldn’t Turn Angry People Into Your Biggest Fans
One of my super powers is turning any angry customer into a raving fan.
The only trouble is that sometimes it’s quick and sometimes it takes all day.
An important realization about this:
There’s the 5% of people who won’t be happy no matter what.Maybe it’s more, maybe it’s a little less—that’s not the point. The point is that no matter what you do, a small percentage will always complain, ask for a refund, or just won’t be soothed.There’s a name for them.
They're called haters.
Trying to make them happy is futile.
Then there’s everyone else.
They could be split up into the groups of “people who just want their money back,” or “people who just want a manager to hear them out,” or “people who are trying to game the system so they can get free stuff.”
There are a lot of people in this category and it’s up to you to decide who to spend your time on.
And that’s the lesson.Are you going to make a customer for life with your effort to transform them? Will empathizing and listening and collecting their feedback make them feel heard enough to give you a second chance?If the answer is “they’re going to be unhappy no matter what,” then it’s probably time to bail.
2 Minute Action
Whats something that’s taking up 80% of your time right now?Now is a good time to prioritize fixing that.Make a call, make a list, send an email, whatever you need to do to start fixing that.Its usually the bottom 20% of your tasks that take up 80% of the time required to complete it.