Speed Reading, Public Speaking & More

Needs don’t go away when the answer is no. There is a story of a man who forgot his socks. It was 7 a.m., on a Wednesday morning and he was in Atlantic City, NJ at the Caesar’s Palace Hotel.

He was in his room preparing to give a seminar in front of hundreds of people. He put on his shirt, pants, and then reached into his suitcase where his socks always were and panic – no socks.  

For a brief moment he considered wearing no socks. Tacky. Then he thought to himself, “Hey, I’m in Caesar’s Place, I’ll call downstairs and someone will get me some socks.” He figured he couldn’t be the first person who ever forgot his socks!

The operator transferred him to the front desk. He said, “I forgot my socks, I need a pair of black socks. My presentation begins in an hour.”

The front desk person replied, “The gift shop doesn’t carry any socks, and the earliest that any store opens is 10:00 a.m.” 

“Does that mean I no longer need the socks?” he inquired.

 “Well sir, there’s nothing I can do, the gift shop doesn’t have black socks.”

And he repeated, “Does that mean I no longer need them?” “Can I speak to the manager on duty?” he inquired.

(He was afraid he was going to get the following response that he did.)

“I am the manager on duty,” she said. 

The man replied, “Then why don’t you use your managerial skills, and find me a pair of socks?” Start with your gift shop,” he said. “Maybe they know where to go. I expect a call back in five minutes.” 

The front desk manager was now certain that she was dealing with a jerk – and vice versa. (And the man is still sockless in Atlantic City.) 

Three minutes later the phone rings. “The bellman is on his way up to your room with a pair of black socks,” the manager said sheepishly. “It seems as though the gift shop had them after all.” 

The man said, “Do you get what happened here ma’am?” 

“Oh yes,” she said. “I apologize for not knowing that the gift shop had black socks.”

 “No, no” he replied. “The point is that I needed something, and the first thing you decided was to tell me every way that I couldn’t get what I needed. The fact that you didn’t know the store stock has nothing to do with the nonsense of your communication. If you would have simply said, ‘You have no socks sir? Oh that’s horrible! I’ll find you a pair of socks in the gift shop or another store, or I’ll call my dad and see if he has an extra pair he can lend you,’ you could have changed a frustrating hassle to a positive memorable experience.” 

The manager could have made him feel there was hope, and that she was willing to make an effort, to help, instead of making him feel frustrated. That was her choice. She started with “no” instead of “yes”.

OK, now let’s get to the heart of the matter. How does this affect you and the way that you deal with our customers? What are you telling our customers that you cannot do: Out of stock? Close at 5:30 p.m.? Don’t handle packaging of? There are millions of examples of everyday business transactions where the customer is told what cannot be done instead of what can be done. And every one of these transactions is wrong. When a customer has a problem, in more than 75% of the cases, a “CAN” response ends up as a memorable event.  (For the record so does a “CAN’T” response, but it’s a bad memory!) The bottom line is that the customer is only concerned with what you can do. It might be a good idea for you to add this simple “policy” to your thinking: No one is allowed to say what we can’t do without also adding what we can do!  Customers, when they call your company, are looking for answers and solutions – and so are you when you’re a customer. 

It’s not about socks, it’s about training. It’s not about apologies, it’s about corporate philosophy. It is important that you keep the customer loyal, and create positive word-of-mouth advertising. The “can’t” philosophy will drive the customer to the competition with one phone call (and the accompanying bad-mouthing).

 If you’re looking for a benchmark, go back to when you were 4 years old and your mother was reading you, The Little Engine That Could.  “I think I can. I think I can.” 

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Good skills are essential, and they start with listening. The ability to interact with people in meaningful ways on a daily basis is essential to the long-term relationships we want to build with our customers and to the impressions they will have of us. Most of us can instantly improve our skills in communication simply by listening more and speaking less. 

One thing to avoid is the need for having to be right all the time. Many people make this mistake and in their desire to always be right, they inhibit constructive communication and prevent relationships from developing. Your goal is to communicate better, not to try to win every discussion or treat every conversation as if it’s a contest with a winner and a loser. 

You also must communicate both your needs and goals to other people so that everyone can benefit from this knowledge. People want to know why they are being asked to do things. They want to feel they are part of the process. So don’t let things fester. Confront problems immediately because if they aren’t attended to and dealt with, they invariably get worse. The key is not to burn bridges. It is far more important to create allies, not enemies. This is especially important in the workplace. 

 When working for a company whose goal is to delight their client base by providing quality products and excellent customer service – then what’s truly important to remember is that you are in your customer’s business! Take the time and define your value to customers, not in terms of product, but in terms of results produced by our products and services. See how you can be responsive to their needs!  See your role as being a customer advocate and seek to anticipate and embrace changes that your customers will make when working with you and your organization. Be mindful of the messages you send out to those you come in contact with! 

Being responsive calls for an ongoing evaluation of the following:

>>    Are you always aware of how you are representing yourself?  Be consistently aware of your voice tone, facial expressions, and other body language. 

>>     Are you eager to help others?  People who don’t care keep others waiting. In customer situations, show that you care by being on time every time and by approaching or calling in a timely fashion.

>>    Do you have a positive outlook?  This includes your outlook about your job and the company with whom you are currently employed with – as well as the future. The truth is if you have a negative attitude about these things, it will be obvious to customers and those with whom you work. 

 >>   Do you strive to be the best you can be?  In this quality-oriented world, your attitude must be to continually provide the best service you can. Second rate quality won’t get you success. Strive for continuous improvement!
 

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