Customer Service Lessons From An Airport Employee

Sometimes amazing things happen during our travels, but if you don’t take the time to notice and get excited about it, you might miss it. 

On a recent trip, something amazing happened. It was a long day. Up at 4:00am to leave for a long day of flying and connecting flights, no problems, until baggage, where there was a bunch of people still standing around when everybody else seemed to have picked up their bags and left.

It was a curious situation, but the man behind the counter was very much on top of it. He came out and made a couple of announcements and apologized profusely for the bags not being there which had us all curious.

Apparently there was some sort of technical problem in the back, the conveyer belt had stopped and jammed on something. The amazing thing was after two announcements and then apologizing multiple times, all of a sudden, from underneath where all the bags were coming out on the belt, an airport employee pops out. 

He had literally pushed every single one of the bags out, there were probably 25 or 30 of us standing there that didn’t have bags yet. He had pushed all those bags manually, by hand, and was literally handing them to the people as they came up to get them, and the gentleman who had made all the overhead announcements was also helping.

This was a great example of customer service. They could have made all of us wait until the belt was fixed, or unjammed, or whatever had happened, or until the entire system was fixed. But that airport employee took it upon himself to actually do something about it, to go above and beyond, and fix the problem in the best way possible at that time, so as not to inconvenience people any more than necessary. 

It was one of the highest levels of customer service I’ve seen in a long time. 

The marketing message and business lesson, is that we have to think about what our employees and team members are doing that are wowing customers. What are we instilling in our internal clients, in our employees, in our VA’s, and in all of those people on our team doing customer related functions? 

What are we instilling in them to give them the confidence and the ability to go out and do those kinds of things on their own that make a huge difference for our customers and for clients?

There were a lot of people on that plane that were tired, who had been traveling all day, and who just really wanted to get their belongings and leave. Nobody was complaining loudly, or even really had a chance to become irate, because of the level of customer service from the airport employees.

We should all think a little bit more about what we empower our employees to do in this regard and if we are not doing enough, how can we empower them to do more of the things that make great impressions on our clients and all those who do business with us? 

As tired weary travelers who had been on the road for a few days and had a few more to go, it was really, really refreshing and made a huge difference in everyone’s day.

Hopefully, you are doing things like this in your business and your employees are also doing things for you, and on your behalf. 

You should test, check, and measure, and find out what needs to be done, so you can empower people, give them a chance to stretch and grow, and see what kind of miracles your team is produinge for your customers and clients.

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Brain Power - A Key to Success in Life

We are all working in different industries. Some of us are entrepreneur; some of us are serving companies or some of us are having different means for our survival. In whatever field you are, the love for the work is imperative to survive and grow in your career. In this fast moving world, everyone expects that you will be hard-working unless your intelligence is far beyond the average men. But what really makes the difference, is thinking in a creative manner.

Some people call it smart work. Whatever be the name, no one can deny the immense power of ideas or more specifically creative ideas. We have read many books on creative ideas. There are number of strategies that have been evolved to boost your creative ideas. I feel and strongly believe that creative ideas come from your true love of your work. You have to have indigenous love towards your work. Make shift profession based on demand of money cannot make you immensely successful in your career. Of course, there are other factors associated in your success. One among them is your family support. Without a support from your family, you will never be able to concentrate and give 100% to your work. I would like to elaborate on this particular point in detail.

Family support and peace of life are imperative in your career growth and as well as to your health. These two factors must walk hand in hand and one cannot exist without the other one. All creative ideas come from a relaxed mind, which is not possible without a peaceful life. And here we can correlate the science. The brain cells or neurons are always producing electricity. A specific device called Electroencephalograph can measure these electric waves. It has been observed that this electricity produced by neurons follow a particular cycle. Based on the cycle’s rate, the scientists have segregated the brain into four different states i.e. Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta.

Beta State – The cycle rate here is 12-30 Hz. This is the state, when we are wake and conscious. As you can understand, we generally remain in beta state during our daily routine work. Where beta is required to work meticulously, too much of beta makes us tired, restless and anxious. This is the reason that why people are so much stressed now a days. A very good example of this is driving in a very crowded road in a city for long time. This makes the cycle frequency high making the state as Beta. And this is why we feel very tired after a prolonged drive in a crowded city.

Alpha State –The cycle rate in this state is lower than Beta i.e. 7.5 to 12 Hz. This state is achieved in relaxation, light meditation and day dreaming. During this state, we achieve high imagination and concentration. In this phase, our memory power gets increased. In this phase, the outlook for life gets changed and it brings higher possibility of getting success in life. This state is also the source of creative visualization.

Theta State – In theta state, the cycle rate is 4 Hz to 7.5 Hz. Theta is called to be the doorway towards our unconscious state or Delta state. This is a subconscious state. Before sleeping or just after we wake up from sleep, we get into the state of theta. This is the state, where we all come out of profound creative ideas. This state is also achieved in our dream. This is the reason that we can remember a dream just after we wake up and thereafter we forget the same.

Delta State – The cycle rate in this state is 0.5 Hz to 4 Hz. This state is arrived in our deep and dreamless sleep. This is the state of unconsciousness.

Keeping the above four states in mind, Alpha and Theta States are the most important ones. If one can achieve alpha state, he can get rid of much of his\her stress in life. This also allows him to concentrate and succeed in all works. There are number of ways we can get into the state of Alpha. The most famous of all is meditation. At least 15 minutes of mediation daily can keep away your stress, increase your perseverance power, concentration, imaginary power and in turn possibility of getting success in life. The well-known Silva Method is also based on the power of Alpha state.

Theta is another state where the seed of success is hidden. If you can sow it properly, no one can stop you from getting success in life. Accessing extra-sensory information is possible in the state of theta. For example, if you are lost in parking space to find out a vacant slot, you can get into the state of theta to get this information. There are numerous ways suggested by different people to get into the state of theta. Deep mediation also can achieve theta state. Remember that theta is a state of deep relaxation and only can be arrived with a proper mediation technique.

Overall, the alpha state is much easier to arrive than that of a theta state. Theta state needs some guidance and practice. Thus all of us should strive to get into this state as frequently as possible to make ourselves successful in life and live a healthy life without much stress. Hereafter if you are trying to take a nap in your office and get caught, explain the benefit of it to your boss!

By Suvendu Manna

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Boost Morale With Team Building Activities

Is your team struggling with communication or trust issues? Very often those issues boil down to personalities - a misunderstanding of different personalities. Team building activities that focus on personality styles can be a great way to boost morale and reduce conflict. By understanding the personality temperaments of coworkers, you can identify team characteristics and open lines of communication.

Many people learn by doing, not by hearing. You can build teamwork and improve communication while having fun with team building activities. Interactive team building sessions boost learning and can stretch your training dollars even further. Each of us has characteristics that make us different from others, and each of us has strengths that help us succeed. People often ask us to "build trust" within their team. That's like asking your personal trainer to build muscle for you. A team building company can provide you with tools and resources necessary to create the right environment. Fortunately or unfortunately, you have to do the sit-ups yourself. Interactive team activities can help team members identify their dominate personality traits and strengths in a memorable way so that communication with and the ability to gain cooperation from others is easier.

Psychologists tell us there are four main personality temperaments. Whether you favor Myers-Briggs, DiSC or Personality Traits, they all group personalities in common ways. If you want to gain buy-in with your co-workers, you may need to pull from the attributes that are a stretch for you. Stretch your comfort zone to build trust. For example, have you ever observed these two distinct personality styles on a Monday morning: one comes in very energetic, bubbling over with details about their weekend and questions about yours. The other is ready for the day's agenda, very task focused and wants to get down to business. A simple explanation and understanding of these two different types will reduce conflict and build trust.

Team activities are designed to build more of a team atmosphere, help individuals learn how and why people act "that way" and how to deal more effectively with each other. The end result includes improved trust and respect among co-workers and managers, which ultimately results in increased effectiveness. And when you combine that with philanthropic team activities, your team is sure to feel more connected. Build a team atmosphere by giving back. The Rescue Bear is a great example of how you can tie all these things together. Team members learn about personality styles through a series of fun team activities; and in the end, they've built teddy bears that are donated to local fire departments or emergency personnel.

So if you want to boost morale and reduce conflict, stretch your comfort zone to build trust and use interactive sessions to build a team atmosphere by giving back. By developing an understanding of personality styles, your team will feel valued. When people feel valued in an organization, they are more likely to contribute ideas and energy and be an even more productive member of the team.

By Colette Johnston

 

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