Sachs - The million dollar greeting: todays best practices for profit, customer retention, and a happy workplace

The

Mill ion Dollar

Greeting

The

Million Dollar

Greeting

Todays Best Prac tices for

Profit, Customer R etention,

and a Happy Workplace

Dan Sachs

with J anet Scott

The Million Dollar Greeting: Todays Best Practices for Profit, Customer Retention, and a Happy Workplace

Copyright 2018 by Dan Sachs and Ja net Scott.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be sent by e-mail to Apollo Publishers at info@apollopublis hers.com.

Apollo Publishers books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Special editions may be made available upon request. For details, contact Apollo Publishers at info@apollopubli shers.com.

Visit our website at www.apollopubli shers.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is availabl e on file.

Cover design by Ra in Saukas.

Print ISBN: 978-1-9 4806-214-5

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-9 48062-15-2

Printed in the United States o f America.

Contents

Foreword

By Alwyn Scott

A few years ago, my wife and I were shopping for ski gloves at the flagship store of an outdoor goods retailer, a Seattle company known for deep expertise and legendary customer service. We picked two pairs of gloves and asked a salesman which would b e warmer.

Impossible to say! he replied, delightedly. There were simply too many variables, he saidwould my wife use them in wet or dry weather, high or low altitude, snow or rain conditions?to render a meaningful opinion. And he w alked off.

We found this hilarious. Like Jack Blacks comedic record-store salesman in the movie High Fidelity , this guy was so steeped in knowledge that he could not answer a simple question. Still holding the two pairs of gloves, we asked another salesperson, an old er woman.

This pair, she said without hesitation, and pointed to one.

We have told the story many times, and we gradually moved our business to another Seattle outdoor goods store that took itself a little less seriously. One that could tell us, straight off, which item w as warmer.

Here, in a nutshell, is what The Million Dollar Greeting reveals: Why companies that sweat the details still fall flat with customer serviceand how you can not only avoid those mistakes, but build a culture where they just don t happen.

It might seem simple. After all, customer service is as old as business itself. But the world is changing. We live increasingly in a disconnected, digital world filled with millennial customers and employees who see things quite differently than their pa rents did.

At Brooklyn Brewery, for example, founder Steve Hindy realized years ago that he needed to teach his customers about the history and many styles of beers if he hoped to sell the flavorful suds he was brewing. He started a beer school so employees could speak knowledgeably to c ustomers.

More than thirty years later, the school is just as vital, in part because it appeals to new millennial workers, who tend to value a sense of authenticity far more than loyalty to a company.

Thats why this book is timely. Through extensive on-the-ground research, The Million Dollar Greeting distills a unique formula that helps businesses of all sizes achieve consistently good customer service for millennials and older generations. That formula, combined with a wealth of practical examples, gives this book its extraordinary insight and value.

This isnt just feel-good stuff. It is a road map to much higher profits for leaders who use the formula correctly. Why? As we found with the ski gloves, good service brings loyalty and the willingness to pay more.

Would you be interested to know how global businesses such as the Amazon-owned shoe seller Zappos and the Hyatt Hotels chain use the formula to deliver the customer service that sets t hem apart?

Would you like to learn how Union Square Hospitality Group, which runs seventeen New York City restaurants, bars, and cafs, ensures top-notch experiences for customers, whether they are having antipasti at a rustic Italian bistro, southern barbecue at a jazz club, or Michelin-starred cuisine at the Museum of M odern Art?

What about smaller businesses? Ann Arbor food merchant Zingermans and Chicagos Nicks Pub & Pizza put the principles to work on an intimate scale, achieving a bond with customers that keeps them coming backand telling their friends.

I have known Dan since the 1980s, shortly after he graduated from Harvard, and have watched as he opened two highly successful restaurants in Chicago: Spruce and Bin 36. I marveled at the attention to detail and the relaxed, sophisticated atmosphere he and his staff created.

Not every company creates this kind of experience. I should know. I have seen all kinds of businesses in nearly three decades covering financial news as a reporter and editor at Dow Jones , Wall Street Journal , Seattle Times , American City Business Journals , and Reuters , a global news agency that reaches a billion people. Some companies know how to connect. Others simply don t get it.

Through extensive interviews with nine business leaders, Dan unearths the roots of their philosophies and reveals how they put them into practice e very day.

Dans candid hindsight about how he might have run his own restaurants better leads him to ask the questions you want answered and to pull together the insights into a coherent whole. The sections lay out the principles and themes in a clear, easy-to-digest way, and memorable anecdotes are t hroughout.

The world is changing. But giving customers a good experience is still the route to loyalty, a good brand, and profitable sales. Here is how businesses large and small deliver it. And how you can, too.

Introduction

A Brief (But Necessary) History of Customer Service

I started thinking about this book a couple of years ago. After examining my own experiences as an independent entrepreneur, teaching at DePaul University in Chicago, and years of consulting, I began to see clear patterns emerge between leadership behavior and organizations that provide great customer service. I recognized that some organizations seemed to expend a lot of energy and focus in order to offer exceptional customer service, while others did not. This isnt a revolutionary observation, but I decided to dig a little deeper to find out what makes those best in class organizations tick. I dug so deep, in fact, that I wound up with this book, which showcases nine best in class companies and outlines the core principles their leaders have adopted to encourage and nurture grea t service.

I have spent most of my life working in the hospitality sector, and my career has taken me across the country. I began as a line cook and restaurant manager in New York City and eventually owned several restaurants in Chicago. I have known, worked with, or worked for some of the most respected leaders in the culinary industry. Perhaps more importantly, I grew up in an entrepreneurial home where taking care of your customer was emphasized from an early age. In many ways, I learned about customer service the old school wayby watching m y father.

Of course, great customer service can be defined in many ways. From my perspective, it involves three key stakeholders: employees, customers, and shareholders. These are not unique components in any service company, but as our workforce begins to transition and more millennials assume positions of responsibility, organizational leadership is at an inflection point. The leaders profiled in this book realize this, and its no coincidence that they focus so strongly on employees when talking about their vision for excellence. For this new generation, the old top-down management structure no longer provides the workplace satisfaction that it might have in years past. As a result, new leaders are changing the workplace dynamic in an effort to capture the hearts and minds of their employees and, ultimately, their customers.