I took a call from a wisdom-filled gentlemen the other day. I love talking to this guy. He is a natural “encourager” and an “inviter”. In each conversation he makes sure he lets me know that he places a high value on me, personally, and the work we do for his organization. I rarely miss his call.
The last time he called he began to tell me about bringing in a “customer service consultant” to help his teams “sharpen their service swords”. While he was not critical of the consultant he did say this and I cannot get it out of my though processes.
“Kevin it all really all boils down to two words: kindness and curiosity.”
Powerful.
If one wishes to revamp a service team teaching that team to simply Practice Kindness and to Remain Curious will cover all the bases.
Practicing Kindness would seem to be simple. Be nice. Come out from behind the counter. Smile. Make eye contact. All of these are great but asking how someone is and then actually waiting expectantly for the answer as you are making eye contact will do the job initially. By the way this works even while wearing a mask. A great smile and this “expectation” really live in your eyes, the window to the soul. Simple right?
Remaining Curious comes out in the follow-up questions. “Where did you grow up?” “Did you always want to be a (insert occupation here)?” are great ways to show curiosity. Whoever said “Curiosity killed the cat” obviously hated cats and possibly even humans as well because the lack of curiosity just means you don’t really care to know me. If you don’t get to know me you probably aren’t really interested in helping me. Please don’t listen to that sniveling voice in your head that says, “Curious is nosey”. Please. Showing genuine interest feels good to most people. Take the chance.
In the end if you wish to serve others better just practice kindness and remain curious. It certainly aligns with my Faith and world-view.
Who is the wisdom-filled guy whose call I try to never miss? His name is Jay and he represents an organization called Blood Assurance, a non-profit regional blood center that has partnered with 94 FM The Fish to raise awareness and to collect much-needed blood donations for our community. You’ll see the logos on all of our stuff. We are all in! You should be as well.
Now you know their secret.
Kevin Anderson, General Manager of Salem Nashville
