The Answer's Yes - What's the Question?
A useful action plan to banish the word "NO" from your service dictionary..
I hate the word “NO”! I truly do, I can’t believe how many people from so many companies use it.
It should be stricken from the English vocabulary. Ok maybe
that’s a little severe, but it certainly should be stricken from
any customer service focused company.
Recently, I was speaking at a prominent hotel in Las Vegas and
when I got to my room I ordered room service. When I was asked
if I wanted fries or coleslaw as my side, I inquired if I could
have a side of fruit.
The person’s response was a quick and unfriendly “NO- fries or
coleslaw?”. Now they offer fruit as a dish on the menu, so
obviously NO was not the correct answer. How about, “certainly,
while you cannot substitute the fruit for your side dish, I can
add it to your order should you wish”?
Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, 27 upscale restaurants in seven
states, headquartered in Columbus Ohio, not only has removed the
word NO from their 2000 associates vocabulary, they have one of
the best service brand promises that I have come across; “The
answer’s yes - now what’s the question”?
This is not just lip service, everyone in this company walks
this talk throughout the organization. They have created such a
strong above & beyond legacy that nearly everyone is trying to
outdo each other daily, with unconventional ways they can exceed
their guests expectations.
Cameron himself created a brilliant metaphor that the company’s
service philosophy is founded on. It is known as the
“Milkshake”. Legend has it, several years ago Cameron was a
customer with his family at a restaurant and his son asked if he
could have a milkshake.
The server said “NO”! There’s that word again. Cameron
knowing that the restaurant has ice cream, milk and a blender
all at their disposal, couldn’t fathom why someone wouldn’t
accommodate a guest when it was so simple. So the Milkshake
became an icon to remind everyone in the organization about
finding a way to say yes.
Having three young boys myself, I can’t tell you how many times
this exact scenario has happened to me. As well as more than a
few times we have been to a restaurant and one of my sons didn’t
like anything on the kid’s menu and asked if he could have a
grilled cheese sandwich, nearly every time the answer was “NO”!
You mean to tell me that every restaurant doesn’t have bread &
cheese they could throw on a stove?
The Milkshake has grown into a life of its own at Cameron
Mitchell’s. The company does an incredible job with the constant
awareness of what the milkshake represents. They start every
company meeting with a “milkshake toast”, they have a “Milkshake
Award” given to the associates who best demonstrate the spirit
of their service brand promise, “the answer’s yes -now what’s
the question”.
If you walk into any of their locations, it is likely you
will see several associates wearing milkshake pins, milkshake
icons on posters, memos, training material and pictures.
Action Plan
To start, ensure that every employee understands that there is
NO worse crime that they could commit than saying that horribly
offensive two-letter word “NO”. Are there times when you
absolutely cannot accommodate someone’s wishes? Certainly.
That is why you must do two exercises as an organization:
The first exercise is consider all the common situations that
may arise that are difficult for you to say “yes” to and work on
creative alternative responses to each. So your employees can be
trained to make your customers feel like their request was
granted, similar to my “side of fruit” dilemma.
The second exercise is to create a metaphor that is similar to
Cameron Mitchell’s milkshake. Then advertise the hell out of it
to your entire organization, on a daily basis through
recognition, signage, awards and other themes. Empower everyone
in your company to do whatever it
takes to deliver genuine hospitality.
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