the nordstrom way to Customer Service Excellence phần 7 pps

Dump the RulesYou’re a paying customer, right there on the property, yet theperson on the phone is getting all the attention.” Mike’s, like Nordstrom, has a handbook that serves as aguid

Dump the Rules

You’re a paying customer, right there on the property, yet theperson on the phone is getting all the attention.”

Mike’s, like Nordstrom, has a handbook that serves as aguide to things like benef its, as well as policies prohibitingstealing, smoking on the property, and so on, but when itcomes to customer service, Mike’s, again like Nordstrom, likes

to remove it It wouldn’t be uncommon for one of my associates

to say to the customer, ‘We’re not too busy Pull your car overhere and let me clean it off for you.’ ”

Terri Breining, founder and president of Concepts wide, a meeting planning company, said that the contracts thatConcepts Worldwide enters into with clients spell out the guide-lines of exactly what the firm will do for the customer on a par-ticular project

World-But beyond the basic guideline, project managers are cumbered with a lot of rules and are allowed “to do the job what-ever way they want to,” said Breining “Each of our meetingplanners has a different style of doing those things.” Because of theindividual styles of the project managers, clients can choose themanager they want to work with “We’ve had experiences where

unen-a client unen-and one of our meeting plunen-anners didn’t get unen-along We don’thave a rule that the client has to work with that particular planner.”Obviously, Concepts Worldwide, like every other business,needs to be profitable, and “We expect our project managers

to make sure that their projects are brought in within budget,and that the clients are happy,” said Breining “But within those

parameters, they are relatively free to do whatever they have todo—as long as it’s not illegal or immoral.”

Tom Limberg, general manager of the W Hotel in Seattle,said that “Good service is not about an employee with his headdown looking in the three-ring binder rule of rules We don’tlive in a world of black and white; we live in a world of gray,where we bend rules to fit customers We don’t bend customers

to fit rules That’s what empowerment is.”

FirstMerit: Decide on What’s Best for the Customer

When John Cochran first arrived at FirstMerit Bancorp in 1995,

he found an organization that was “very operationally oriented,”

he recalled “It wasn’t a marketing organization, which is what

we are today FirstMerit had all sorts of clearly stated proceduresthat were quite severe and radically customer unfriendly, andthere were severe penalties for not following those procedures.”Ever since he assumed the position of chairman and chiefexecutive of FirstMerit, Cochran has tried to eliminate as manyrules as possible and to create a company that is “like Nord-strom, where employees are encouraged to use their commonsense,” he said

Over the years, St Charles Medical Center in Bend, gon, has made wholesale changes in its process simply by exam-ining every policy and procedure—including the historic reasonwhy a policy or procedure was implemented in the first place

Ore-“For example,” said chairman emeritus Jim Lussier, “quiteoften, we found that seven years ago something happened inthe emergency room that had never happened before, and theemergency room supervisor at that time said, ‘We need a pol-icy about that.’ So, somebody wrote a policy specifically about

Dump the Rules

that particular incident Years later, although that type of tion never occurred again, the policy was still on the books.”Therefore, St Charles set about changing the mind-set andphilosophy of procedures by empowering its caregivers “Wechanged things by telling people: ‘You’re in charge of the situa-tion If you guys can stay within these fencelines and use the val-ues of St Charles, then you make the decisions you need tomake We’ll support you every time You don’t need to look into

situa-a policy situa-and procedure book situa-about how to do thsitua-at Use your bestjudgment,’ ” said Lussier

By trusting people to use their best judgment and telling themnot be dictated by strict policies and procedures, St Charles hasfound that “People are willing to crawl out on limbs and makedecisions and muddle through a situation that is sometimes life-threatening,” said Lussier

In the process, the folks at St Charles discovered an amazingthing “We found that the quality people—the good, assertivefolk that we have always relied on—weren’t using all those poli-cies and procedures anyhow,” said Lussier with a smile “In theirown minds, they had already dumped the rules and were natu-rally using their best judgment We were fooling ourselves that

we had that kind of control.”

䡲 Do what’s right for the customer—and right for the company.

䡲 When in doubt, do what Continental Airlines did: Burnyour rulebook!

䡲 Promote one main rule: The Golden Rule

E X E RC I S E

Examine Your Rules

䡲 Bring out your rulebooks, employee manuals, procedures,and so on

䡲 Assign a group of people to review all these materials

䡲 Ask them to write down all the rules, procedures, and so onthat are internal—that is, not mandated by outside legisla-tion, regulation

䡲 Compile that list and distribute it to all the people in yourorganization

䡲 Have people in your organization vote on those lists: Whatrules belong? What rules need to be eliminated?

䡲 Eliminate all the rules that come between you and yourcustomer

As we explained in Chapter 5, Nordstrom wants to hire

men and women who are already nice and already

moti-vated before they come to work for the company.

Nordstrom provides very little in the way of a formalizedtraining program And when asked who really trains his sales-people, chairman Bruce Nordstrom replied, “Their parents.”Once Nordstrom salespeople have gone through employeeorientation and have become familiar with the culture, the sys-tems, the merchandise, and the sales goals expectations, they areencouraged and empowered to find their own way of doing busi-

ness This book is entitled The Nordstrom Way, but there are

ac-tually some 50,000 Nordstrom ways, because each employee is anindividual, with an individual style and approach to taking care

of the customer

Like competitive athletes, Nordstrom salespeople are vated in a variety of ways to give extraordinary service becauseextraordinary service produces extraordinary sales volumes Thecompany regularly distributes videotaped interviews with topsalespeople who offer tips and advice Frequent staff meetings areused as workshops for salespeople to compare, examine, and dis-cuss sales techniques, and to perform skits in which they play theroles of salesperson and customer Top salespeople frequently talk

moti-to their colleagues about goal setting, marketing, selling, usingthe phone, and, of course, customer service

The Importance of Mentors

It is up to managers and buyers to bring out the best in each ofthose employees How is that done? Like everything else at Nord-strom, it starts with the initiative of each individual Nordstromhas found that to achieve the top levels of sales performance,salespeople must have the requisite patience to gradually, overtime, develop a personal clientele They can build up their busi-ness by using the sales tools made available by Nordstrom—mostimportant—by learning from other successful salespeople

In other words, they are asked to find a mentor They are couraged to find a successful Nordstrom salesperson and watchhow he or she does business You can borrow the styles of sev-eral people and then take those ingredients create your own style.Again, that requires time and patience

en-While new salespeople are encouraged to find mentors whohave created and perfected their own sales tips and techniques,those new people are also encouraged to f ind their own niche,their own way of taking care of business because, ultimately, suc-cess at Nordstrom comes down to what works for each individual

“Mentors are everywhere,” say many top Nordstrom people Management encourages its top sales performers to men-tor new salespeople

sales-As he was winding down his career at Nordstrom, “being ber one was not as important to me as it used to be,” said DavidButler, a now-retired, top-performing shoe salesman from theTacoma store “It would have been very selfish of me not to sharewith other people what I was able to accomplish I tried to helpteach others what it takes to become a Pacesetter and give themthe tools to do it It was a lot more fun for me helping the entiredepartment make their day, which helped the store make its day.”

num-This Is How We Do It

As we discussed previously, the Nordstrom culture is an sential part of what sets this company apart from all others Thosesuccessful salespeople like David Butler, those mentors, embodythat culture and transfer that culture to new Nordstrom associ-ates That’s how this company has been able to thrive for morethan a century, through four generations of management

es-Find a Mentor

“You can observe a lot just by watching,” Yogi Berra once said.That’s why Nordstrom encourages new hires to keep their eyesopen when searching for a mentor

Leslie Martin, manager of the Fashion Valley store in SanDiego, encourages new employees to “watch, observe, ask ques-tions That’s part of empowerment People will eventually de-velop their own style.”

When Denise Barzcak started in sales at the Town Centermall store in Boca Raton, she found that the best training camefrom watching salespeople who were already successful “We sawhow they were so consistent They were leading by example Youwanted to follow along, to be as good as they were because youwere in the same situation That core group motivated usthroughout the training.”

Leslie Umagat, a salesperson in the downtown Seattle f lagshipstore, believed that the best employee training was informal,learning from the veteran salespeople on the department teamand observing how they made their business happen

Early in her career, “I worked with five Pacesetters at onetime,” she recalled “It was difficult, and it was challenging Iwas just starting I had to find out what was my style and what

would make my business happen You can extract the things thatwork for you.”

She learned quickly that a loyal customer always goes back tothe same salesperson In a department of five Pacesetters, eachPacesetter had her own loyal coterie of customers

“I recognized which customers were loyal to which people,” said Leslie “I built my base by keeping an open mind.When someone else’s personal customer walked into the depart-ment, but that salesperson was not on the f loor, I would say tomyself, ‘Yes, that’s her personal customer, but how can I helpthat customer today?’ I wanted to give the best service I couldgive on a consistent basis I built my customer base on keeping

sales-my promises.”

When Patrick McCarthy joined Nordstrom in 1971, he soonrealized that he needed a mentor to teach him how to survive atNordstrom He eventually found his role model in a coworkernamed Ray Black, who was a professional men’s wear salesman.Thoroughly knowledgeable about the merchandise, Black couldtake a swatch from a bolt of fabric that was going to be tailoredfor a suit and coordinate a complete wardrobe of shirts and ties,all the way down to the cuff links

Before joining Nordstrom, Black had worked for many years

in several of downtown Seattle’s fine specialty men’s wear shops,and his loyal clients followed him from store to store “Theycame into the department asking for Ray because he identifiedtheir needs and knew how to satisfy them,” McCarthy recalled

“Men saw him as an ally They heeded his advice on where to get

a good haircut or what style of glasses to wear He offered themchoices and suggestions and gave them the conf idence to trysomething different Their wives saw Ray as the mediator whocould interpret their views to their husbands.”

This Is How We Do It

McCarthy also noticed that Black had the ability to not onlyremember a customer’s name, but his last purchase as well (Thiswas long before previous purchases became part of the store’scomputerized database.)

“I thought to myself, ‘I want to be able to do that.’ ” So, Carthy volunteered to help Black whenever and wherever Blackneeded him, and the veteran salesman accepted the offer “Prettysoon, we developed a routine: After Ray sold suits and sport coats

Mc-to his cusMc-tomers, I helped them with their shirts and ties Withthat increased customer contact I was able to develop my poiseand improve my interviewing skills.”

Most important, Black taught McCarthy how to become anentrepreneur who could create his own business

Black didn’t sit around waiting for people to walk into themen’s wear department; he was calling customers on the phone toalert them to new merchandise that was arriving in the store

“Ray showed me what a good salesman should be; he showed methat the Nordstrom system worked and that I could make as muchmoney as I wanted,” McCarthy recalled “The way I saw it, theNordstroms were taking all of the risks and providing all of theingredients—the nice stores, the ambiance, the high-quality mer-chandise—to make it work All I had to do was arrive everymorning prepared to give an honest day’s work and to value andhonor the customer.”

Over the rest of his career, as McCarthy rose to the top of theNordstrom mountain, he became a mentor to many employees.(McCarthy’s career and approach is examined in greater detail inChapter 11.)

Van Mensah, who sells men’s suits in the Pentagon City ginia) store in suburban Washington, DC, said that “PatrickMcCarthy told me: ‘Don’t re-invent the wheel Wait on one

(Vir-customer at a time Be honest and sincere Do what’s right.There’s nothing magical about this.’ That’s been my guidingprinciple To make it work, you have to live it everyday Make

it your mind-set.”

Mensah has gone on to become one of Nordstrom’s top people and he, in turn, has become a mentor

sales-“When we have a new store opening, I have been asked to f ly

in to meet with the salespeople in the men’s wear area to talkabout how to build a successful business,” said Mensah

That’s how a culture is sustained, passing on the knowledgefrom one employee to another

Setting an Example

That atmosphere of mentorship starts with the store manager,who understands the culture and is, in his or her store, the em-bodiment of the Nordstrom culture

“You can’t tell someone to go out and give good customerservice, to go out and get a sales increase,” said vice presidentLen Kuntz, who was once a store manager “You have to tellthem how to do it Give the salespeople something they can use.For example, suggest that they send a thank-you note to a cus-tomer who brought back a return.”

Leslie Martin, manager of the Fashion Valley store in SanDiego, helps new managers find mentor-managers through a va-riety of ways, including brainstorming sessions “I might do amanagers meeting where somebody is really great in a particulararea, such as planning special events or helping other peopleachieve their goals That would give other managers ideas.”

do, whether stacking merchandise for a sale, or staying late.”Harris would reiterate to the employees in the store: “Be ac-countable for what you do, work hard, and you can do whateveryou want to do.”

After they purchase the merchandise, buyers must “sell” it totheir sales teams so that the sales teams can sell it to the cus-tomers Buyers are always trying new ways to merchandise andshare ideas with salespeople around the country during key times

of the year, to share their thinking

Communication with the sales staff is obviously an essentialpart of the buyer’s job Nordstrom’s best buyers support the sales-people in the stores The buyers work for the salespeople; thesalespeople don’t work for the buyers That’s what Nordstrom’sInverted Pyramid structure is all about

Tammy Soltello, manager of the Savvy department in sion Viejo, California, felt that, “as long as you make the cus-tomer happy, no one has a problem with you If you make the

Mis-customer unhappy, everybody has a problem with you That’s

my mentality I’m going to lead by example Let’s work together.We’ll be a team I’ll show you how I multiple sell, how I sug-gestive sell If you have two customers, turn the sitting roominto a party Let them show each other merchandise Create afun atmosphere If you enjoy what you’re doing they are going

to love it That’s the mentality I use to build my team, a positive mentality We are team oriented.”

super-Customer service at Nordstrom is not just about sellingclothes and shoes “We’re selling service, too,” said Pat Mc-Carthy “We can convince customers that we are here to servethem—not just to take their money—by making their experi-ence at Nordstrom easy Sometimes, that means being theconcierge I get all kinds of requests that are not clothes-related.People ask me the name of a good hotel, or a nice place to havedinner, or where to get a massage If I don’t have the answer, I’llfind out right away Gas stations don’t sell only gas; sometimesthey sell directions.”

A Kind Word

Although Len Kuntz has had a very successful career at strom, he has had his low points as well Kuntz recalled when hewas the beneficiary to some much-needed kind words In 1989,Kuntz was given the assignment of managing the new $52 mil-lion, 280,000-square-foot Nordstrom store at the Fashion Cen-tre at Pentagon City

Nord-“The expectation level was high We had just opened verysuccessful stores at Tysons Corner Center [McLean, Virginia] and