Monday, January 16, 2012

Empowered Service


I was sitting in McDonalds in the San Juan airport a few days ago.  They had the largest seating area at a food venue but you had to buy something in order to stay there.  It was mid-morning when I ordered and I asked for the hash browns.  I was politely told that they didn’t have those at this location – so I ordered a healthier fruit parfait, and returned to my seat and luggage.  Several minutes later, the lady who took my order walked out with a big smile on her face and handed me two large hot McDonald’s hash browns.  “I found these for you and was hoping you would still be here – have a great day in San Juan!”

Kumba is a taxi driver on Tortola.  He was giving us a tour of the island – 7 in our group and 6 in another group settled into what looked like a safari truck.  We were running a bit behind in the schedule promised for the tour due to extended pauses looking at scenery.  Our kids were anticipating the 30 minute stop at the beach.  Because we were running behind, Kumba announced the beach was simply going to be a pit stop so the other group could get back in time for their commitment.  I shared with him that our kids were looking forward to the beach stop and asked if there was a way to extend it.  Kumba asked if would be ok to leave us a little longer – he would drive the other group back to the port and then come back to get us.  Even though it added an hour to the trip for him driving, there was no extra charge.  It worked out – the other group made it back for their commitment, we got to stay at the beach a little longer, and Kumba got a good tip.

Taxi drivers and McDonalds generally aren’t the first things that come to mind when you think of magic moment Service.  Someone along the way had empowered both of these individuals to do what was needed to make the customer a fan.  They more than likely impressed upon them the domino effect a good experience has throughout the day and on recommendations.  And chances are they modeled it for them.

What are you modeling with your team?  Are they empowered to brighten the day of their customers?

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