In talking with several owners over the past couple of weeks, I have come to realize that the policy and procedures we put in place to protect our businesses are actually killing our customer service. I completely agree that we need to have policy and procedures in place to help the running of our day to day business but do not let those same procedures kill the opportunity to make a client happy. The P&P, which I will now refer to for Policy and Procedure, needs to act as a guideline for how we handle each new situation because no two are going to be the same. The one I like the best in P&P is No Refunds. Yes, I have the same P&P in my business and I will stick by it 99.9% of the time but if I get that 0.01% who I just cannot make happy then to me and my business it is easy to give them their money back and I get to take the high road. Now if they try and give me a negative review on any of the sites, I get to reply that they have been giving their money back and have been giving a coupon to come return to our business. Who can really say that we did not go above and beyond for this individual and we fell on our P&P sword for them. I know that I will sleep sound at night knowing that I did the right thing and will bring us future business.

So in looking at your P&Ps you need to make sure that you give your team the right authority to go outside of the lines and keep the customer/guest happy. In most cases the guest/customer is looking to have their problem solved and continue as a customer of yours. In those cases where you feel you might be getting scammed then you stick with your P&P. The training that we are giving our teams does not let them think outside of the lines. I would love to sit live at a call center and listen in on these calls and prove to the company where they are making the mistakes. If I was also allowed to listen to the recorded calls from  companies I am sure I would be astounded with the customer service representative sicking to the P&P and only causing a customer to get furious with them and then losing them all together as a customer.

To wrap things up, yes, we need P&Ps in our business but train your teams to look outside of the lines to solve problems for your guest/customers and keep them as Raving Fans.

Make it a great day!!!

So, I am standing in line at Smoothie King this morning getting my mid-morning snack and there is only one employee behind the counter. No problem, I was the only customer in the store so I knew it would not take me long to get in and out.  Well, quickly after I ordered and walked down to the cash register to pay, another customer walks in and after she puts my drink on the blender she walks over to the new customer to get his drink order and get it started. Again, not to concerned because I know it will not take her long and I was not in that big of a hurry. I also noticed that a second employee walked in the door and thought that she would ring me up and then I could grab my smoothie and head out the door. The employee who just showed up, walks around the counter, talks with the woman working, punches in at the cash register and to my amazement walks into the backroom without even say hi to me or tell me she will be right back to ring me out.  I am sure I had a look of shock on my face, roll back the video tape in the backroom and have a good laugh. I then realized, she just gave me another blog post for the day.

Here I am about to spend money in their establishment, a reason she has a job, and you cannot even acknowledge me? I know that she cannot be the owner because no owner would treat a customer like that, not even saying hi. I have been in there too many times to know it does not take long to ring out the customer, so put down your bags, put a smile on your face and handle the customer standing in front of you with money. Remember, keep them happy and they will keep coming back to spend money. Make them unhappy and they will take their money to another establishment and your place will go out of business and you will be out of a job.

Make it a great day and keep your customers happy!

Today, I was on a shuttle bus, taking me from the water taxi to the terminal at Logan airport and when we arrived at the first stop the bus stops, a few people get off the bus and then the bus totally shuts down.  We continued our conversation and quickly noticed how hot it was getting on the bus.  We made a couple of jokes and continued talking.  I noticed the bus driver talking on the radio and was wondering if he was going on break and he was letting dispatch know he was not going to be moving for awhile.  The driver then got up and opened his door to let fresh air in and at this point it had been over 5 MINUTES of us just sitting in the heat on the bus.  The sad thing is that we are to afraid to get up and say something when really the driver, who is in charge of the bus should be communicating with the passengers about what is going on with the bus.  I got up  to finally say something, when another passenger closer to the driver got up as well and the driver informed him that the bus had broken down and was trying to get another bus for us to take us to the other stops at the airport.  My hat goes off to the driver for trying to arrange back up transportation but he missed the most important thing, communicate this to your passengers! This is where everyone falls down in all these situations, they fail to communicate to the guest what is happening and leaves them hanging and getting frustrated.

I have seen this or not heard this from airline pilots who leave a plane full of passengers wondering what is going on when they can easily pick up the microphone and COMMUNICATE to the passengers what is happening. Yes, some things are out of their control but if they communicate what is happening they will not have a plane full of angry frustrated passengers.

Both scenarios are just proof that we fail to communicate to frequently because we are scared of what might happen instead of being strong and speaking the truth  and giving what the guest/customer what they really want to hear, some simple information that will set them at ease.

Please just communicate! Remember that when you might be facing a similar situation.

Make it a Great Day!!!

I am amazed everyday when I talk with the customer service department for a large company and hear the irritation in their voice, when they are suppose to be helping solve my problem.  It is like I am keeping them away from playing solitaire on their computer instead of them doing the job they have been hired for and taking care of the customer, the reason why they have a job in the first place.  I feel that the customer service departments both large and small just do not care about their customers anymore.  I can tell you first hand as a previous owner of a small personal training studio, that customer service is one of the most important things you need to do to run a successful business.  I excelled in customer service and did bend over backwards for my clients.  They are the reason that I can put food on the table and employ 6 people.  If you do not take care of your customers they will find another place to spend their money.

Yes, I do believe that the customer is always right.  They have a problem with your service or product and you need to fix that problem and make them happy.  Yes, sometimes it is not always easy or fair but whoever said life was fair.  The client wants to be listened to and understood.  The last thing that a customer service agent or owner/manager should do is explain their policies, that is the last thing that the customer wants to hear.  Yes, you know them great!  Listen to the client and do everything in your power to fix their problem.  The Ritz Carlton did the right thing by empowering all their employees to fix any guest’s problem, even given them a monetary spend to make them happy.

That seems to be the biggest problem companies face with customer service, letting their employees know what they can and cannot do to help make the customer happy.  These companies both large and small need to invest some serious money in training everyone in their company in how to treat their customers/clients.  If everyone in the company is properly trained then you will keep clients for a very long time spending money with you.  This seems easier said then done, the reason is because most owners/managers look at the expense of the training and they would rather spend their money in other areas to build their department/company.  This is so short sighted on their part, yes, you need to be spending money on sales and marketing to get the customer in the door in the first place but if you team does not know how to handle the customers when they  come in then you are really flushing money down the toilet.

I do believe that we can get these companies to turn around and treat their clients/customers the proper way and keep them happy, smiling and spending money.  They just need to look behind the curtain and see where they are broken and get it fixed.  If I keep on this horse we will get this done.

Have a Happy 4th of July weekend and remember, make it a great day!

Matt McKinnis

So we are mid-way through the year and how are you doing with keeping up with your health and wellness goals? I would love to think that you are head of plan and just killing it with your workouts every week. I though have been around way to long in this industry and have spoken to so many people to know that you probably gave up a long, long time ago and keep using the excuse that you do not have enough time. We all have the same amount of time each week, 168 hours to get everything done that we want to make time for in our lives. At a minimum you should be working out at least 3 of those 168 hours. So, if you have used the excuse of I do not have time, you really need to re-think that line, especially if you have a family that you need to be taking care of and they need you healthy. Think of yourself for once because they will appreciate you working out and feeling good about yourself.
For the second half of the year make it about yourself and getting healthy. You owe this to yourself and to your loved ones. There is no better time than the presence to make this happen. Call a personal trainer today and schedule your first session with them. They will hold you accountable and get you started on the right path for you health and wellness goals. I know you can do this so STOP making the excuses, they just get in the way of your goals.
I wish you the best of luck and make it a great day!

One of the things that I cannot stand about watching personal trainers in the gym is to see that they do not have a plan for their clients that is written out.  Chaos training is one of the worst things your personal trainer could be doing for you, this is basically not having a set training schedule for you that progress every 6 to 8 weeks.  Chaos training will get you some results in the beginning but it will not continue for you.  Plus how does your trainer know what weights and reps you did the last time you worked out with them if they are not writing anything down  from your workouts.  If you realize that your trainer is not following a plan for you, you need to ask them how they are planning your workouts based on your goals.  If they do not have a plan and cannot come up with one for you,  you need to fire them and find another personal training business that has a system in place that will progress you towards your goals.  I can recommend Fitness Together, they have a proprietary weight training program that will get you results.  You are paying good money to get you in shape and stay in shape, make sure you are getting what you paid for and some more.  Stay strong and good luck with your goals.

I hear all the time from friends, family and people I run into at different events that they cannot lose the weight or fit in their workouts or stop from eating the all their favorite foods.  I think they want me to feel sorry for them and wave my magic exercise wand over them to give them the instant gratification that is in their dreams.  Instead, I get excited to talk with them about one of my favorite subjects, creating the right mindset so they can accomplish their goal of losing weight or making it to the gym 3 times a week or reframe from eating the junk food.

I am a big believer that you need to have the right mindset in order to accomplish any goal in your life and it is no different with your health and wellness goals.  I instruct people they need to get in the right mindset before they make their goal or goals or they will be doomed from the beginning.

So, you are probably scratching your head and wondering what I mean by the right mindset.  Let me explain in a little more detail for you to grasp the concept. If you are going to a cocktail party and know that the host is going to be serving your favorite junk food and favorite crazy martini and you are 3 weeks into your New Year, New You diet and have done an amazing job and are already down 5 pounds, here is what you need to do to get in the right mindset before you arrive at the party.  After you have finally gotten ready for the event, you need to sit down in a quiet place and put your mindset on for the event.  You will instruct yourself that you will not eat any horrible junk food that will be on the table and that you will only have 1 glass of red wine and then sparkling water with a lime afterwards.  You will be amazed at how powerful you will feel at the event when you stick to your goal and get home feeling accomplished and proud of yourself.  Plus when you get on the on the scale the next day and are down another pound you will high five yourself in the mirror.

Because you mentally put your mindset on and in place with what you will eat and drink at the party you will be successful in accomplishing that goal for the evening and keep you on track towards your bigger weight loss goal.

The same will go with planning for your workouts each day.  If you put your mindset that you will workout at 1 PM and bring your gym back to work and when your 15 minute calendar alarm goes off, you will jump-up from your desk, grab your gym bag and head to the gym for your workout.

We fail ourselves on a daily basis when we are not in the right mindset to obtain our goals. I know you can accomplish anything when you put your mindset to the task.  Good luck with goals and establishing the right mindset to accomplish those goals and always make it a great day!

Ok people, if you are doing a hard core cardio program before your weights, you are doing your muscles a dis-service.  Ideally, you should do your big cardio days on your day off from weight training.  You are depleting your energy levels when you do your cardio first and your muscles are then not performing at their best.

You should warm-up between 10 to 20 minutes before you start your weight program and you can use any type of cardio equipment for the warm-up.  This will properly warm-up your muscles, ligaments and tendons to help prevent injury.

I know you are saying to yourself that you do not have time to fit everything into your day and I you have to do everything when you are at the gym.  Well, I am a believer that you have time for anything you want to do in your day, you just have to prioritize and that will be another blog from me.  If you do not have a plan for your workouts, I highly recommend hiring a personal trainer and I feel the best in the industry are at Fitness Together, www.fitnesstogether.com.  The trainer will take your goals and put together a workout program for you that will incorporate weight, cardio and yes wait for it, NUTRITION!  Your program will change every 6 to 8 weeks to keep the body progressing towards your goals.

I wish you the best of luck with your health and wellness goals and remember you need to write down your goals first in order to accomplish those goals.

Make it a great day and this marks my first blog!  One of my goals accomplished!

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!