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Meet My Trashmen

 

by Glenn Shepard

December 22, 2009

 

 
My mission in life is to save the declining work ethic and fight the increasing entitlement mentality of the American workforce before emerging economies like China or India eat our lunch.

I’m reminded of one of the biggest hurdles I face by the thousands of e-mails I receive from people who tell me they have “no control” over their careers.

That attitude of learned helplessness is a sure-fire career killer.

People have far more control over their income, their job, and their destiny than they realize.

While they might not have the ability to single handedly save their employer from bankruptcy, they have plenty of control over their value to the company they work for, and that value stays with them no matter who’s signing their paycheck.

Just this morning, I was reminded of this by Mike Ford and David Wiseman of Hudgins Disposal in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve never met them, and only know their names because of a note on my trash dumpster that read “Season’s Greetings from your trashmen, Mike Ford and David Wiseman”.

Now I realize that this was probably done to encourage tips, but it served an even bigger purpose – it added a human touch.

I used Hudgins’ competitor, “Brand X” waste disposal, for 22 years and never once knew who my trashmen were (they probably used some highfalutin' politically correct job title like “Sanitation Engineers”).

Brand X was so big that they changed names at least twice, and I’m not even sure who they are now.

I changed from gigantic Brand X to locally owned Hudgins last year and don’t even remember why.

But I do know one reason I’ll stay with Hudgins is because I don’t feel like a number with them.

Although I may never meet them face-to-face, Mike and David are Hudgins Disposal to me.

It was the same with The Tennessean newspaper at McDonald’s this morning. I would not have bought one from the newspaper stand, but a fiftyish gentleman with one gold tooth came up to my car to ask if I’d like a paper, flashing a headline with the Tennessee Titan’s victory over the Miami Dolphins.

Although I don’t even know his name, he is the face of The Tennessean to me.

It’s also the same with SunTrust Bank. The Christmas card I received today from Paul Bond, their Commercial Relationship Manager, had the five most powerful words in customer service written on it – “Thank you for your business”.

Though SunTrust is the seventh largest bank in the country, Paul is the face of SunTrust’s commercial banking division to me.

If there’s nothing else people have learned from me during 2009, I hope I’ve at least convinced everyone of this critical business principle:

The little things matter, and everyone can have a big impact on little things.

 

To Your Success,

 

 

 

 

 

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“If we don't take care of our customers, someone else will.” 

— Sam Walton  

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Dear Glenn,   

In your November article, "Ever Feel Unappreciated as a Customer?", you wrote to remind us of the importance of customer service to help clients feel appreciated.

       Instead of walking away with the primary message that I believe you intended, I am instead reminded that boutique service is only a start and that the ante is upped for each act of service.

      Your wife was annoyed by the experience of being asked to get her own deposit slip to the point that she discussed it with you.

        The one slip of your banker does not identify a whole relationship or negate the excellence that the bank deliveries most of the time.

       True partnership grants grace. Did I miss something… or did the personal banker also ask your wife to complete some other task?

     Thank you for your work. I am a fan!

Angela in Georgia

 

Dear Angela,

Mistakes are inevitable, but what the banker did was not just “one slip”. She completely missed the big picture.

       The relationship between a business and its customers is not a partnership. It’s about businesses serving their customers.

      When a customer says “Jump!”, the proper response is “How high?”

      WalMart founder Sam Walton became the wealthiest man in the world because he understood this relationship so well.

     As he explained it, “There is only one boss – the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”

     I was in a Krystal’s recently and the French fries weren't ready when I placed my order. The cashier asked me to have a seat, and brought the order to me a few minutes later. When I got up to get more ketchup, she immediately said “Let me get that for you”.

      My beautiful bride asked the branch manager of Bank X to deposit the check because we were trying to buy a house, and it was critical that the deposit be posted immediately .

    What the manager essentially said to her was “Go do it yourself”.

      I got better service for $5 worth of fast food than she got when depositing a $50,000.00 check.

       We do 95% of our banking with two banks – Bank X and SunTrust. While the manager at Bank X was telling a customer to do something herself, the manager at SunTrust constantly asks what else she can do to help.

      Thanks for such an interesting question.

Glenn In Nashville

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