Turning the Ordinary into the Extra Ordinary By Julie Cross

BLOG spot

Turning the Ordinary into the Extra-Ordinary!

By Julie Cross

We can become desensitised; I mean it happens to all of us. We do a job for a long period of time and then we suddenly have become routine and habitual with the way we work and it can happen without even realising it.

This is why as leaders and managers we need to be constantly aware of the little things that may become the ordinary things, and ask ourselves the question regularly, “Are we as a team still doing the ordinary things, extraordinarily well?” Sometimes it gets to the point that we don’t even see it ourselves anymore which is why client surveys are important, mystery clients or inviting people like me to come in and look ‘into’ your business from the outside.

So, what ‘ordinary things’ am I referring too... well I am sure you will soon see that they are in fact ‘extraordinary service moments’ that accidently got downgraded to ‘ordinary service moments’. And to go from ordinary to EXTRAordinary it really is just about that little bit ‘extra’, so it’s not hard to do, won’t take a whole lot of extra time or money, just a little bit of noticing, focussing, training and inspiration.

Let’s first look at the front entrance, my first impression of your salon, your team and your talent. Ordinary or EXTRA-ordinary? So, your business, and that first impression I get as I walk past, glance in or walk through the door. Walk outside and have a look, a real look. How are the retail spaces looking? Full, clean and organised, are they communicating to me that you are seriously in the business of looking after me? Are they clean? Yes that dead fly that is lying back there has to go and I do not want to be wiping the dust off a product when I pick it up, or rummaging through a disorganised mess to get to what I want? Because if I have to do that it communicates something to me about whom you are and everything you do. And this is something as an inspirational leader I would be communicating to your team, “If you can notice the rubbish on the floor at the front entrance and do not stop to pick it up, it is saying something about you” And it is not saying extraordinary! Every time a team member to clean, organise and dust, remind them why we do it, the vision around why we do, what we will get from how well she does it and the contribution to the team in doing it! Suddenly those shelves will be kept clean with a consistency and a passion like never before, so make sure you notice and give praise. And whoever you send to clean those shelves, make sure they have been giving training in how to handle client enquiry’s before you send them to the front. Are you certain that they have the ability to instantly connect with a client with the warmth and welcome that is fitting with your standards? Have you seen this demonstrated? If not, then they are not ready to be sent to clean shelves! They do not have a sign that they wear saying, “Hi, it is my first day, I have been sent up here to clean shelves, so for God’s sake don’t talk to me, because I don’t have a clue about anything else yet!” You need to know they can handle an enquiry confidently, even if just to indicate they will get somebody that can help them. They are a first impression of your team and your talent. Turning the ordinary into EXTRA-ordinary!

So, how about the person standing at the desk waiting for their next client or a customer to walk in, they should be here soon, somebody should show up soon to be served… in the meantime as they glance towards the front door people are walking past and sometimes looking in. Are they catching the eye of the people

looking in and smiling, perhaps saying hello? Why not even encourage them to wander out from the desk into the retail area and a little closer to the people walking past so that they can connect. We aren’t given just enough smiles every day for the people that are booked in... Go forth and be brave and throw those smiles around to everybody. Yes, it may feel a little awkward at first, but come on; we want to stand out from the crowd not blend in. And let me tell you what happens, you make a connection with somebody who was walking past, she looks a little startled at first, I mean we are not used to people being nice to us for no reason, and next thing you know she is coming in and having a browse and asking about your services! Oh yes! You just made a great impression and you are on your way to winning a new customer. Every individual has a responsibility to build their business within the business, are your team members empowered to do this and do they take ownership of this responsibility? A little ordinary daily moment of waiting for a customer to arrive turned into something special and EXTRA-ordinary.

Now this is an example, perhaps will be able to relate it to your business.

Yesterday I went into a beauty salon, not my usual, but I like to do my own little mystery client adventures so I can experience what is happening out there. So, I had booked in for a facial. I walk up to the front desk, the staff member rushes around behind the desk and then says hello... let me give you a tip, you can say hi before you get behind the desk. I say I have an appointment, she then drops her eyes and starts looking at the computer to find my appointment (not unusual perhaps you may be thinking), and then she finds it, and only now makes eye contact and says, come through. Very ordinary.

So, here is the thing, if I say I have an appointment the chances are I have, so although we often have some inexplicable, overwhelming urge to see there appointment before we can really welcome them into our space, could we doing that a whole lot better, with the client in mind. So, if she says she has an appointment, now this will be hard, maintain eye contact, don’t look at the computer as your first move, instead, maintain eye contact and say, “That is great, welcome, come through and I will show you to your seat” Boom... AND then go back and tick that client off! By checking and ticking off first it is almost like you are saying to the client, well I am not sure if you are booked in, and so I am going to check on you, and if you are not, well you are not coming in lady, oh no you aren’t! Adding the little extra to ordinary to create EXTRA-ordinary.

Now, let’s talk about all of the little moments, oh how quickly service can be downgraded. It could be the moment as you calculate their sale on the computer… have you made eye contact with the customer? It could be the moment you place their coffee in front of them… have you made sure the saucer has no coffee on it, and have you invited her to enjoy it. How about when a customer leaves your place of business, have you thanked them for their business and invited them back. And then what about when I ring your business, can I feel the smile in your voice and do you sound happy I called! Seemingly ordinary moments where you are invited to step into extra-ordinary.

As a trainer and speaker I hear things like this all the time, “We have just spent thousands of dollars upgrading our computer system, we can now take all of our clients details and send out weekly newsletters, as we process their invoices it does an automatic stock control...blah blah blah”, and then when I walk into their business nobody smiles at me!! All of that money spent and you missed what mattered, you missed what takes ordinary to extraordinary, the little things that are ‘High Touch’ in this ‘High Tech’ world will win every time!

Inspire your people to understand that this is not just our job we are working on here, this is our life and it all matters and so do they!

So often the little bit extra that is required for the upgrade from ordinary to extraordinary is just a little bit more of YOU in every interaction.