Manifesto (def): A public declaration of policy and aims.

What follows are my views about and commitment to work based on 30+ years of being employed and being an employer. These are philosophies I subscribe to and that I desire in those I work with and encounter in the marketplace. MHS

I work because I need to and because I want to. There is satisfaction in work well done. Good work produces value and isn’t just a means to an end but an opportunity to be a productive, contributing member of society. Work helps give life purpose and structure.

I don’t like everything about the work I do but understand that is the nature of work. Work often requires that we do what needs to be done as well as what we like to do. Doing great work is a choice I make; to do less cheats not just my employer and customer but myself.

Impediments to work are temporary. If my place of employment blocks my ability to be productive in an honest and ethical way, I will not sell my soul to continue working there. If my boss doesn’t understand the concept of a healthy work environment I will actively look for a different boss or organization that does. My current situation may not allow me to switch jobs or employers immediately but I refuse to resign myself to a work life of misery. I will endure for the short term with the goal of prospering in the long term.

How I do my work makes life a heaven or hell for others. How I treat colleagues and customers makes their lives better or worse. Neutrality is a myth as any attempt to disengage will appear to others as indifference, and that indifference is an insult to others.

I will not actively or passively inflict pain. While the bad behavior of others might make it tempting to do so, I will choose to play by a higher standard. I will do what I can to make working with me enjoyable.

I do not control how others act, but I completely control how I act. When others act inappropriately to me, I will respond professionally but will not accept and thereby condone the inappropriate behavior. I will politely but directly address the inappropriateness.

I understand that others come to me for solutions to problems and that is what I am paid for. Therefore problems, as difficult as they can be, are not an impediment to my work but often they are my work itself.

I will take responsibility rather than place blame. If I can’t fix it I will either live with it or leave it. There are no other rational options.  I understand there is no perfect workplace, but refuse to make where I work worse by my own apathy or lethargy. I won’t let the poor attitudes and behaviors determine my own choices. I know that I often succeed at work not because of but in spite of undesirable circumstances.

In a time when not all who truly desire work have that opportunity, I am grateful for the work I have.

Note to readers: If you were to summarize your views on work, what would your personal manifesto say? What would you add to what I’ve written? What would you change?

The term virtual reality might seem ultra-modern in our technology-driven culture, but it’s not just about using computer software to create three-dimensional experiences that look, feel, and sound like the real thing. The roots of virtual reality, in fact, go back about 60 years to a team of “imagineers” who helped develop Disneyland.

When Disneyland opened in 1955, it transported visitors into a virtual world that they could see, feel, hear, touch, and taste. As the sign says at the entrance to the park, “Here You Leave Today, and Enter the World of Yesterday, Tomorrow and Fantasy.” The imagineers created something so distinctive that it transformed the theme park industry, and current imagineers continue to keep Disneyland on the cutting edge when it comes to creating value through virtual realities.

Cover via Amazon

The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland (Disney Editions, 2008) lists eight basic principles of imagineering, including what the imagineers call “plussing.” It was born from Walt Disney’s “penchant for always trying to make an idea better. Imagineers are continually trying to plus work, even after it’s ‘finished.’”

That’s exactly what we need to do with the value we create if we want to survive the storms that come our way and maintain the success we achieve. We have to continually innovate — improve our value — because status quo is a myth. Instead of settling for “best practice,” we have to strive for “next practices.” That includes the processes we use in our work and the distinctive value we create for the products and services we provide.

Value equals expectations plus education plus something extra, or V=E+E+SE. Disney creates value that’s filled with “something extras,” and its “best practices” are almost always ahead of those of its competition. It operates in the sphere of “next practices.”

When you look at your life — your work world and your personal world — as well as your organization, what is your something extra? What’s your distinctive?

This blog is based on content in my latest book, Up, Down, Or Sideways. It is available wherever you buy great books. Click here to learn more about the book or click here to order it from Amazon.com.

Since writing The Fred Factor about an extraordinary postal carrier named Fred Shea, I’ve encountered and learned about many other “Freds” who embrace the same spirit of service. I came across one such Fred while researching my latest book, Up, Down, or Sideways. It so happens, this one is literally, as well as figuratively, a Fred.

Fred Johnson had lived in New Orleans for nearly six decades, and he wasn’t the type to sit around and do nothing when people throughout his city were suffering. So in 2005, after Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed the levee system that protected much of New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico’s waters, Johnson made his way to the Superdome, where thousands of people had gathered in search of shelter from the storm.

The Superdome lacked the security, clean water, food, and bedding needed for a crisis of this magnitude. Nearly all the people there had lost their homes. Chaos, confusion, and uncertainty filled the air as the multitudes struggled to find information about where to go and how to get there, not to mention about who among their friends and family had survived and who had not.

The suffering overwhelmed Johnson. In fact, he later told Scientific American magazine that he “lost it” for a brief period when he first arrived on the scene. Then, he said, his “governor” kicked in.

“When I become overwhelmed,” he said, “I think my process is this: I’m going to cry about it, I’m going to dry my eyes, and then I’m going back to work, but I’m not going to keep crying, crying, crying. I think that’s my governor. That’s how I keep my sanity.”

Johnson, you see, is an optimist. That doesn’t mean he saw happy opportunity and niceness in the midst of one of America’s worst natural disasters. It means he had the ability to quickly re-orient his view of the situation so that he could help himself and help others.

Real optimism like Johnson’s isn’t blind faith; it is far-sighted faith. Rather than deny the problems of the present, it focuses on the solutions for the future. It doesn’t look at the world through rose-tinted glasses; it uses trifocals — accepting the good, the bad, and the in-between, but choosing to focus on the good.

The negative person focuses only on the downside. The realist sees the downsides and the upsides but is uncertain about where to focus. The intelligent optimist doesn’t ignore the downside or reality, but simply focuses on the upside and expects the best.

This blog is based on content in my latest book, Up, Down, Or Sideways. It is available wherever you buy great books. Click here to learn more about the book or click here to order it from Amazon.com.

The best organizations differentiate themselves through extraordinary customer service.

Extraordinary service adds value to every transaction, and the best don’t just try to be good–the best are truly service leaders.

Mark Sanborn, author of the international bestseller The Fred Factor: How Passion in  Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary has been speaking about and teaching customer service to some of the most successful companies in the world including Costco, Morton’s of Chicago, Toyota Financial Services, Harley Davidson, Chick Fil A, ServiceMaster, FedEx, Enterprise Rent A Car, New York Life, Time Warner and ESPN.

Mark has presented over 2400 speeches and seminars in every state and 12 countries.  He has been featured on Inc. Magazine conferences and is a nationally recognized customer service strategist.

Mark is known for using stories, humor and unique insights to teach:

How anyone can make his or her work extraordinary

How to make teamwork work in delivering superior service

How to create value for customers and colleagues

The power of empathy

Why service ethic is more powerful than customer service

Creating and maintaining customer loyalty.

As Mark says, “One of the things that differentiates my work is that it stems from experience as a business owner, association leader and board member. And I’m still studying, researching and applying what I learn about leadership today, both with my clients and in the organizations in which I’m privileged to have a leadership role.”

Mark is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame and is much in demand as a customer service speaker for his keynote presentations which include The Fred Factor, The 10 Commandments of Customer Service and Service Leadership.

His other books include:

Up, Down or Sideways: How to Succeed When Times are Good, Bad or In Between

You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader: How Anyone, Anywhere Can Make a Positive Difference

The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do

Please click here for a list of free resources that can help you lead and serve better.

Click here for free videos about customer service, leadership, motivation and remarkable performance.

I recently engaged a service provider for a large project. This was someone I’d met through an organization we mutually support and who came highly recommended. Given the personal connection, I was pleased by his initial involvement in bidding the project and assuring me of his ongoing involvement.

Regrettably, there was little personal involvement past the scheduling phase. I kept hoping and expecting some follow up from my acquaintance. None came. To his credit, one of his managers did follow up but the punch list we identified to finish the project has yet to be completed.

A mutual friend asked if I’d ever heard from the person I’m referencing. That reminded me of how odd it is that I haven’t.

This individual is highly successful. He runs a large business and business is brisk. But, as I’ve commented before, success can be an early warning indicator for failure.

If you are in the service business, please consider:

1. If you’re too busy to provide the personal touch, you’re too busy.

2. Getting the big things right creates satisfaction, not delight nor loyalty. Those come from the “extras” (attention, value, benefits, results, etc.)

3. Timeliness is an important detail. Sooner is better than later. Saying you’ll get it done isn’t nearly as good as saying when you’ll get it done and then following through.

4. Of he or she whom much is given, much is expected. The more we pay, the more we expect. Premium pricing requires a premium result and service to match.

5. Creating connections is easy; keeping connections is much harder. If you start the sales process, stick with it to the end. Losing a personal relationship during the delivery phase feels like bait and switch.

Extraordinary service delivery is simple in concept but difficult in execution. It means paying attention to the details, including the nuances of relationship.

Remember that all business is personal so the personal touch is one of your most powerful tools. That means personally paying attention to the details and providing the extras.

My long time friend Anthony Braswell shared the following Fred-sighting with me:

One of my all-time favorite restaurants to visit each week is our local Jason’s Deli.  It’s convenient, but that’s not why I go.

It’s really good, but that’s not the only reason why I go.  They also have free ice cream!

And I go because of the Fred Factor!

I wish I could introduce you to my friend, House Mouse.  That’s what her Jason’s Deli employee nametag says.  She is the reason I keep going back!  She might not be the “typical” customer service employee. She’s got tattoos.  You don’t have to wonder what her favorite sports team is because she has Tarheels tattooed on her arm!  God help you if you are wearing a Duke shirt! But she does possess the spirit of Fred. She does an ordinary job in an extraordinary way!

She greets every person with a handshake and if you are a frequent guest like I am. Sometimes she even gives you a hug!  She remembers my name, what I want and if I try to order something that isn’t their specialty, she playfully refuses to let me order it.  “The best for my friends!” she says!  I often bring friends with me and she’ll tell them, “Wow!  You keep great company!  This is a great guy that you are hanging out with today!” She understands how to make people feel special and create value for every customer.

I took time recently to share how awesome House Mouse is with her boss.  I let him know that she was the reason that I ate there so often and used their restaurant as a place for meetings. The manager let me know after that meeting that she was getting a raise.

Her words to me were, “Thanks so for making that happen!”

My response to her was, “I just reminded your boss of what he already knew!”

Thanks, Anthony, for sharing your Fred sighting.

My health plan sent me an email. My wellness report is now online (the same report that required 20 minutes to complete the initial form and then two rounds of blood work since the lab messed up the first attempt, but I digress…). Just click the link and enter a user name that is impossible to remember (but at least they provided the cryptic username).

I click the link. I don’t have my new password and I’m not at the office to find it. So I click “reset.”

The first screen asks for the email. I click it. The spinning wheel of internet hell starts to turn.

The next screen asks for more information. I provide it and click reset again. And the wheel on the site goes round and round, round and round…forever.

Six attempts later I’ve emailed the health plan three times only to be ignored.

Here’s a powerful strategy: make sure your processes WORK. Your website, for example. Login. Reset. The whole enchilada.

The best service in the world is undo by niggling details like reset functions that don’t work.

And when something doesn’t work: FIX IT QUICKLY.

Nuances are important, but until you get the basics right consistently, not much else matters.

“It works.”  High praise indeed.

This morning I spent an inordinately long time in the drive through of my local quick service (often an oxymoron) restaurant. I was in a hurry. Aren’t most people who use the drive through? I don’t know if the SUV two ahead of me ordered breakfast for the 5th grade but I was trapped with cars behind me.

When I finally got to the window, I inquired: what was up with the delay?

The guy at the window mumbled something incomprehensible and responded with a tone of voice that suggested I had wished him a happy morning.

As I waited for my food I noticed the sign in the window–How are we doing?–with several ways to communicate that information to management. I considered whether or not to do so.

My frustration could have been greatly diminished with a simple phrase: “Sorry for the wait today.” It would have pre-empted my comment and instantly let me know the service providers were aware. It would have also suggested that long waits are an exception and not the rule.

Even if it had been given after I expressed concern, it would have been helpful.

So simple yet so often overlooked. Elton John was right: sorry seems the hardest word. And it is sad, so sad that service providers don’t use it appropriately more often.

Our basement looks like a scene out of Escape from New York City (if you’re old enough to remember that disaster movie). We’re replacing all the carpet and right now we  are at “everything is torn up” phase.

We have had estimators come to quote a price for install. This weekend one gave us his price for the job. “What about moving the furniture back when you’re done?” I inquired. He said it was extra so I asked the obvious: how much extra?

The answer: not much compared to the brain damage of moving furniture around myself.

We asked a few more questions and he added a few hundred dollars to his estimate. Dollars that we’ll be delighted to pay because it makes the remodel…

…EASIER.

That’s the word that can improve not only your service but your profits.

The only thing the average person has less of than disposable income is time and energy. If you can make life EASIER you can not only increase your popularity with the customer but often he or she will be willing to pay extra for it.

Sure, some customers are price sensitive but I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t aspire to a little help in making life easier. It is about ease, convenience and enjoyment. Nobody wants to get hassled and inconvenienced for free much less pay for it. Unfortunately some service providers think only about the results rather than the process.

What can you do to make the customer’s life EASIER?

Can you clean up the job site when you’re done with your work? Can you provide the information rather than telling the customer where they can find it? Can you remove any and all barriers that might prevent the customer from choosing to do business with  you?

Often customers will pay a little extra for a little easier. If they won’t, consider “easier” as a value-add and competitive advantage.

We refinanced our home through Chase. They contacted us and said it would be easy and wouldn’t cost a thing. Now there’s a value proposition! (And by the way, it was the easiest re-fi I’ve ever done.)

You business and life will improve as you make life easier for those you serve.

It is just that easy.

For years I’ve talked about an old client that reinvigorated their business by giving their electricians hand-held vacuum cleaners. The idea was simple: when you’re done with the job, clean up after yourself.

Clients called in thanking them not for getting the electrical done right–that was expected–but for not leaving a mess. It is a simple but powerful illustration of how little things make a big difference.

I finally got the shades installed in our new offices. A few are crooked and we’re asking the vendor to come back and straighten them out.

The crazy maker? Metal shavings and debris everywhere. I spent 20 minutes cleaning up after the installers.

So I’m not going to be calling the provider with any positive feedback or to express my appreciation. I’m just going to remember how important it is to pay attention to the details.

Don’t just do what is expected. Do the little extras that make the customer or client remember you in a positive way.