Customer Service
Dan LaBert: What role does employee engagement play for firms designed to achieve the highest level of customer service?
Lee Cockerell: I would say that employee engagement is vital if an organization wants to be rated as excellent. Engagement is just a word but real engagement is showing an interest in your customers and paying close attention to them, showing respect to them, getting to know them better each time you have an interaction with them and going out of your way to give them above and beyond excellent service. Having highly engaged employees at every level gives an organization a big competitive advantage. Your customers/clients will not be committed to you unless they are certain you are committed to them.
Dan LaBert: In your recent book "The Customer Rules; 39 essential roles for delivering sensational service," you say that customer service is not a department. With so many attorneys operating as solo practitioners, usually there are limited resources for support staff, public relations and or marketing personnel. How does a small operation create a brand associated with the highest level of customer service?
Lee Cockerell: I am a one man show since I retired from Disney. I run my publishing, consulting and speaking business all by myself. I have no employees. I answer the phone, I negotiate the deal with the client, I have communication with the client to customize my work for them, I do the contract, I book my travel and I promptly deliver the invoice. My brand is me. People love working with me because I am highly organized. I keep my promises and I deliver above their expectations. I am publishing a new book on November 25, 2014 titled, Time Management Magic…How to Get More Done Every Day. This book teaches exactly how to improve your effectiveness and efficiency. I have a few experts available to do things I am not good at. I have an IT computer expert, a website expert and a tax accountant. I pay them well to take care of my needs when I need them. They are all independent contractors. I treat them better than their other clients do.
Dan LaBert: Day in and day out, attorneys must advise, consult, and address some of the biggest problems in a person's life. During your time at Walt Disney World, you interacted with all types of people from all places around the globe at the best of times and worst of times. I'm sure our readers can only imagine what it must be like to interact with customers on a hot and sweaty day in Florida, over a holiday break, waiting an hour to board a roller coaster, all for their children. What has been your inspiration for creating great customer service and customer experience no matter the environment?
Lee Cockerell: My personal philosophy is that the customer is not always right, but they are always the customer. If you want to keep them, then treat them well even when they are a pain in the neck. I reminded all of the Disney Cast Members that everyone has a problem you don’t know about and sometimes will become unreasonable for an unknown reason. Our job is to get them back to happy and satisfied as quickly as we can. When a customer is yelling at me or one of my employees, I just remind everyone that they are not upset with you, they are upset with something else going on in their life. Professionals perform their role in the show no matter what. If you are not professional then you are unprofessional. It is a choice each of us makes.
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