English writer Samuel Johnson said, “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed”. So, I encourage you to remind yourself and your colleagues of this:
QUI TAKEAWAY: In their book, The Experience Economy, Joseph Pine and James Gilmore define “Work is theater and every business a stage.” If you were an actor delivering a great live theatrical performance, the audience becomes wrapped up in the experience and as they walk out of the theater, they tell their friends that it was the best thing they’ve enjoyed in a long time.
It does not matter to the audience that the actors are performing for the 100th time. The audience has paid very good money to see the show and expects the actors to deliver their performance with the same passion as on opening night. Your customers expect nothing less. As it is in Great Theater, you have to “act it like you mean it”. Do not confuse this with “fake it till you make it”. Your customers, like any audience, can see right through that kind of performance. Do you always feel like working every day, five days a week, 8-10 hours a day, on your birthday, holidays, or even on scheduled days off? Of course not. But do you think the customer really cares how you feel? Absolutely not! No customer walks into your establishment and says, “Dissatisfy me now”. So you have to deliver Great Theater every day whether you feel like it or not.
When you perfect the delivery of the script, you perfect your performance. Break down your customer experience, act it like you mean it, and deliver Great Theater. For example:
ACT ONE. Scene One.
The Customer enters from offstage.
SERVICE PROVIDER: “Good afternoon, how may I help you?”
Motivation: Never say “May I help you?” If the customer is standing in front of you, he obviously needs help or he would have bypassed you completely.
CUSTOMER: “I believe I have a reservation. Last name is Smith.”
SERVICE PROVIDER: “Yes, Mr. Smith, we’ve been expecting you. Welcome to The Best.”
Direction: Maintain eye contact for at least seven seconds and smile as you say your lines.
Motivation:
- As Dale Carnegie says in his book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” So start with the customer’s name.
- What do you think is the very first question running through the mind of a customer when coming up to an airline counter, front desk, host stand, or reception desk? That question is, “I wonder if they have my reservation?” So to establish a great first impression, incorporate this statement into your welcome, “We’ve been expecting you.” It immediately removes that mental dissatisfier and puts the customer at ease.
- Follow that up with the name of your business.
Let it all flow together.
“Mr. Smith” (you’re very important to us). “We’ve been expecting you.” (No need to worry about your reservation. We have it.) “Welcome to . . .” (Where did Mr. Smith feel the most comfortable in interacting with a company? With you, of course. )
Define each scene in the customer experience and practice it often offstage. Never practice on the customer. Role-play with your colleagues. Then perform your role so well that all your customers say to themselves and others that your service was the best that they have enjoyed in a long time. And when you deliver that kind of Great Theater performance consistently, you will build repeat business and customer loyalty.
QUI QUOTE: GREAT Service is GREAT Theater. Don’t fake it till you make it. Act it like you mean it. Don’t be just good. Be GREAT out there!
#customerservice #customerexperience #custserv #custexp #cx
BILL QUISENG | Deliver the World's Best Customer Experience 
As a customer who travels a lot, this is so, so true! We used to ALWAYS get this at all Marriotts when we checked in, but since ‘The Pandemic’, not so much. I long for such great experiences to return. Doesn’t everyone use the excuse of the pandemic STILL to try to explain nonchalant customer service and lack of appropriate staffing? BQ, we miss you at Ko Olina, but the people you tutored as GM are still doing a fabulous job there.
God Bless!
WOW, Mrs. Newlin! Thank you so very much for your kind words and blessing. I, too, miss the Ko Olina Associates, Owners and Guests. I am very happy to read that the Associates are not just good. They are GREAT out there!
Thank you, again. I very much appreciate you.
Hey Mr. Quiseng.
Its Joe Malec from Petoskey, MI.
I took your customer service class at North Central Michigan College.
I have also took your work employe class twice through my work at Preston Feather when I worked there.
I believe wholeheartedly in GREAT customer service and would like to begin presenting and teaching businesses about GREAT customer service as a way to give back and also start a small business doing this.
Would you have any advice on how to get started in such a venture? I would not mind traveling. I would take any additional classes to become certified if that is something that is needed.
I believe customer service is lost. Especially good or great customer service. I want to do my part to help bring it back to life!
Thanks for any help you can offer sir!
Take care
Joe Malec
Joe,
Thank you for reading my blog post. It’s been over a decade since I served as the adjunct instructor at North Central Community College. It seems that you were enlightened with my customer service insight from then until today. For that, I very much appreciate you.
As for advice on how to get started in presenting businesses, I’d be happy to offer it to you. Have you signed up for a LinkedIn profile? If not, could you? When you do, not only would you be connected with me, but you would also gain insight from many of the customer service thought leaders and influencers. I could recommend the top customer service experts who share their insights on LinkedIn. Concurrently, you could message me on LinkedIn so I could answer on a one-to-one basis for any questions you might have. Will that work for you?
Since this is the first time we communicate, I have one GREAT insight: English writer Samuel Johnson said, “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed”. So, as you prepare yourself every morning to engage and WOW your colleagues and the people you meet and interact with, I encourage you to remind yourself when you look in the mirror and say, “Don’t be just good.
Be GREAT out there!”