Please find below a sample chapter
of Terry Power's new 208 page book published by Comet
Publishing
Focusing on the Invisible:
Creating a Culture of Service Excellence
Jump to Introduction
ADVANCE PRAISE for Focusing on the
Invisible
"Essential reading for anyone serious about mastering
customer service. Terry's use of everyday events and
experiences to emphasise the key messages is unique and
effective."
Steve Mitchinson - Customer
Relationships Manager, B-Digital
"Terry has written a very good book. Read it. He will
give you the key to attracting business in a manner far more
powerful than any ad could hope for. When people feel
important, they love to give you business. Terry will show
you how it's done. And what's more, he'll give it to you in
simple language."
Glenn Cardwell - Author,
Consultant and speaker
"An inspiring and important work on that invisible
quality that shapes and defines the success or failure of
organisations - its Service culture. This should be required
reading for anyone interested in taking their business to
the next level and doing so with integrity and good will."
Keith Mogford - RGM
of The Apprentice and Training Company
"Terry presents highly important and highly relevant
ideas in a simple, readable way. I recommend it to anybody
interested in gaining an edge for their organisation through
excellent customer Service.?
Gihan Perera - Internet
consultant and Author, First Step
"Terry Power is a master at relationships. If you need to
know how to increase the connection with your customers and
your staff, then this book is for you."
Tracey McGrath - Conflict
specialist and psychologist
Focusing on the Invisible:
Creating a Culture of Service Excellence
I once read a quote that said, "In five years from now
you will be the same person you are today, except for the
people you meet, the books you read and the information you
listen to." It could be true. But I don't think so.
Many of the people that continue to inspire, motivate and
give me ideas have been around a lot longer than five years.
My wife, Heather, is certainly my greatest inspiration and
support. Another person who has influenced my life, probably
more than he realises, is my brother, Alan. In some ways,
the whole message of this book can be traced back to
something he once said to me.
Alan is a psychologist. This means that, ordinarily, I
don't take any notice of his philosophising. Fortunately,
this time I did.
One day while I was deep in study he took me aside.
"Terry," he said. 'For years you've been studying all this
stuff about human learning and interaction.'
"Yeah," I replied
"Well, there is really only one thing you need to know
about us human beings, and when you know this one thing,
every interaction you ever have will take on a new meaning."
He was starting to get my attention.
"Well, what is it?" I asked nonchalantly, trying to feign
disinterest.
"Every person you meet has around their neck an invisible
sign."
I felt my attention and interest slip a few notches. I
imagined that he was going to wander off into another of his
psychobabble talks.
"Oh, really."
"I'm not kidding," he enthused. "It's true. And once you
know what is written on that sign, it will change your life
forever."
"Okay, Al. You got me."
"Upon the chest of every person, there is a sign with
these words emblazoned: Make me feel important'."
Those four words have changed my life forever.
Since that conversation, I have dedicated my life to
focusing on those invisible words and what they can mean in
creating cultural change. Remembering them has always served
me well. I have had the pleasure of working with people from
many walks of life: CEO's, office clerks, construction
workers, politicians, directors, criminals, children and
customers (and many that fit into more than one category).
These people are all clearly different, but in my
experience, one thing unites them. They all want to feel
important.
A Culture of Service Excellence certainly sounds
grandiose, but what exactly does it mean?
Ordinarily I don?t condone violence. But to give this
sentence meaning let's begin by tearing it apart. There are
three key words in this statement: Culture, Service and
Excellence. Each reveals some truths in relation to the
context of this book. Let's briefly examine them. Culture is
an elusive, albeit an ever-present, creature. It is
something we interact with continuously. But when we try to
pin it down it slips easily through our intellectual grasp.
Culture...Like air through a moving hand we can't capture
it, but we all know it's there. And vital for our survival.
Despite its pervasiveness it remains invisible. In its
totality it makes up the inherited ideas, beliefs, values
and knowledge which constitute the shared vision of any
nation, group or, in the context of this book, any
organisation. Something so important requires us to
investigate its implications within our organisations.
Service, too, has in the past been narrowly defined.
Basically, service is helping or assisting others. In
reality it cuts much deeper than that. In its most purest
form Service touches lives and is integral to what it means
to be a human being. My definition of Service is inspired by
the work of Robert K Greenleaf. Greenleaf created a form of
leadership based on Service - Servant Leadership.
In his words, "Servant Leadership encourages
collaboration, trust, foresight, listening, and the ethical
use of power and empowerment. The servant-leader is servant
first... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants
to serve, to serve first...The best test, and difficult to
administer, is: do those served grow as persons; do they,
while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more
autonomous". I believe that the Service I am advocating
meets this test. This is Service with a capital "S".
Which only leaves us with the last key word; Excellence.
Excellent Service is more than enriching people's lives. It
is about continually, endlessly and passionately seeking
ways to do it better.
Chapter One
Things I couldn't see have always fascinated me. I
remember sitting outside the girls' changing rooms at
school. I'd sit, longingly daydreaming about the terrific
advantage I'd have if only I could see what all my mates
couldn?t.
Some things, it would seem, never change. Ever since
leaving school all I've ever wanted in anything I did was an
unfair advantage. It's taken two decades of business, three
university degrees and more failures than I care to
remember, but I think I've finally got a clue as to where
that advantage is hidden. Maybe I just learn slower than
others.
And the great revelation?
The key to business success comes in two parts. One, how
we Serve our customers. And two, the internal organisational
Culture that drives that treatment.
Okay, it's not rocket science. It's not even really a
revelation. But it is still critically important. Given
that, why does it seem so many organisations stuff it up?
I reckon it's because many of the things needed to build
a Culture which satisfies, delights and makes customers feel
good are nigh on invisible. So, it's easier to forget them.
Now, I don't mean invisible like mysterious poltergeists,
ghosts or things that go bump in the night. Although that
can satisfy some customers, depending on what line of work
you're in. I mean those things that seem so small as to be
almost invisible. The unseen attention to detail, those
little common courtesies and the unspoken thoughts, about
"how we do business around here". Important? Yes. But easily
forgotten. It is in those all-too-rare moments when these
intangibles are present that customers feel special and
important. My brother was right. People do want you to make
them feel important. In my experience, when people feel
important, they also feel good - whatever that means to
them.
In the final analysis, Service is about making people
feel good.
I don't mean roll-over-and-fall-down-drunk good, I mean
feeling good about themselves and feeling good about doing
business with you. When you boil down all the hype and all
the pompous theorising, that's all Service is really. Making
people feel good. Good about themselves, good about being a
customer, and good about doing business with you. Don?t get
me wrong. I understand that there is a lot more to making
people feel good than a dopey smile and a warm handshake.
But don't discount the power of making your customers feel
good. There are lots of things that make people feel good.
When they have received excellent value for money. When a
competent and caring assistant has served them. When the
product has surpassed their wildest expectations (don't
laugh, it does happen).
These and a raft of other big and little things make
customers feel good. Put these together and you have the
foundation for a Culture of Service Excellence.
But wait, there's more
Sure, you want your customer to walk away feeling good.
If they do, you know they'll tell others. But there is
another pleasantly unsuspected by-product of excellent
Service. The customer isn't the only one to benefit, because
everyone feels good.
Not like a New-Years-party kind of feel-good. More like
an I'm-part-of-something-that-matters-here feeling. Think
about it. Last time you were a customer that came away from
a Service happy with the outcome, didn't you get a sense
that the person who served you also felt good? A sense that
the person felt they too were doing something important? Or
perhaps you can remember the last time you did something
exceptional (some people may have to delve deeper into their
past than others).
What about the last time you made a customer laugh?
Didn't you enjoy the fun also? Did your work feel more
meaningful after assisting a customer through a problem, or
teaching them something new or showing them how to get the
most from your Service?
In a good Service transaction, everyone feels good, and
everyone benefits. Isn't that a worthwhile goal in itself?
Every time human beings come in contact with each other
there exists an opportunity for both to be richer for the
experience. For a little magic to occur.
I?m not trying to be all misty-eyed and mushy here. The
hard fact is that people who provide excellent Service pull
rabbits out of hats; rabbits that are the right size, just
the right colour and bounce at just the right height. And
the final result? Everyone feels pretty darn good about it.
Those of us that deal with customers - and we all do in
one form or another - have the opportunity to experience
these moments of magic every day. For it is during all those
fleeting moments, those seemingly insignificant
interactions, that a Culture of Service Excellence is
created.
Terry Power
September 2006
I would love to hear from you to discuss "Focusing on The
Invisible" in your organisation, or any of the ideas in this
book. I can be contacted at:
Tel: 011 61 8 9537 3889
Email:
terry@execedge.com.au
Website: www.execedge.com.au
Terry delivers dynamic keynote presentations, interactive
conferences, team events and consultancy to help you Focus
on the Invisible and Create a Culture of Service Excellence.
He has worked with corporations, educational institutions,
community organisations and the public sector. Terry also
works to create other aspects of personal and corporate
development.
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