Had an encounter earlier this week that still raises my blood pressure a couple of points when I think back on it. I'll wager you've experienced something similar one or more times in your life as well.

I was grabbing a late breakfast at the local diner after a morning business meeting. Even though it was still before noon the parking lot was already packed with cars. No doubt the early lunch crowd was cued up and ready to eat. I lucked out and spotted a vacant space right near the front door. Despite it being somewhat of a tight fit I managed to pull my car in so I was almost perfectly positioned between the yellow demarcation lines of my particular parking space. Before shutting off the car and heading in I sized up the amount of space the cars on either side of me were left to work with.

The car to my left had an adequate amount of elbowroom for opening both the front and rear doors, however the car on my passenger side was going to have a tougher time of it. The owner of that car had parked OVER the yellow line and was encroaching into my space by a few inches. There was room for access and egress, but it was going to require a delicate touch with the doors and maybe a bit of contorting to squeeze into their car.

For a nanosecond I debated parking in a different spot...one that would have been several rows away from the diner entrance. But then I thought, "why should a perfectly good parking space go unused because this person (on the right) wasn't considerate enough to park THEIR car well within the yellow boundary lines of THEIR parking space?". I decided to stay put.

Three eggs, home fries, turkey bacon, toast and coffee later I returned to my car to find both of the adjacent neighboring cars still where I left them 45 minutes earlier. At the same instant I opened the driver’s door to jump behind the wheel my cell phone rang. I decided to take the call on the spot – while still parked – rather than try to talk while attempting to back out of the parking space.

Sitting in the driver's seat a couple of minutes into the call I felt (and heard) a pretty loud "thunk" coming from the right rear passenger side of my car...like the sound of a car door hitting me! Still talking on the phone I turned to my right and cocked my head to see who had opened their door into the side of my car. I couldn't make it out clearly from my vantage point, but it looked like someone was now sitting in the left rear passenger seat of the car to my right. The driver was nowhere to be seen.

I resumed my conversation only to be interrupted a moment later by the same loud jarring thunk! This time it was apparent that the person who'd been in the rear passenger seat had opened the door (once again into my car) and was exiting their car. This person – a middle-aged woman as it turns out – was now maneuvering her way into the driver's seat of her car.

For a THIRD TIME I heard and felt the impact of her car door into the side of my car...this time as she threw open the driver's door. Now, however, she paused after doing it to give me a glaring look of anger and disgust through the right front passenger window of my car! That was the last straw. I tossed down my cell phone in mid-sentence, jumped out of my car and confronted her. "Lady, do you have problem?", I asked.

She immediately launched into a tirade about how inconsiderate I was to have parked in such a way as make it difficult for her to get into her car! Never mind the fact that she had parked well before I got there in such a way that ANYONE attempting to use the adjacent parking space was going to have to deal with her lack of consideration (a point I was quick to make in response to her off-the-wall rant); she was dead set on making me the bad guy and shirking her own responsibility in creating the problem. More importantly, she could have just as easily tapped on my window while I was still in the car talking on the phone and nicely asked me if I'd move my car so that she could easily get into hers. I would have done it in a heartbeat; sparing two temper tantrums and three "dings" on the right side of my car in the process. That would have been too easy, though. Instead, she was all about assigning blame and avoiding responsibility.

It was on the verge of getting BIG TIME ugly when I decided that rather than throw more fuel on the fire I'd bite my tongue and let her drive off in a huff.

Charged with adrenaline, I got back in my car and attempted to resume the interrupted phone call. Unfortunately for the person still waiting on the other end I instantly launched into my own rant – about stupid irresponsible people – while attempting to explain the interruption. Thankfully the caller was a friend who could appreciate the situation. Upon finishing the call I sat there stewing for a couple of additional minutes before starting the car.

As I tried to objectively assess the encounter, it occurred to me I had to assume my own responsibility in causing the incident. Had I simply chosen NOT to park in the space once I realized it was going to be too close for comfort the obnoxious episode would never have happened. My bad! But that realization in no way excused “Ms. Manners” from her even bigger responsibility faux pas. To park in a manner that virtually assured she was going to get hemmed in and inconvenienced and then to go ballistic on the party (for being inconsiderate of her) that decided to grab the space demonstrated a colossal lack of personal responsibility on her part. You can't have it both ways. Like the old adage says: every time you point your finger three more point back at you.

If you ever find yourself in a similar situation any time in the future, keep the following thought in mind: accepting personal responsibility for all the circumstances in our lives isn't always the easiest (or most fun) thing to do, but it's an absolute necessity if you're striving to become a more fully functioning human being. Dr. Wayne Dyer eloquently sums it up best in this recent blog post: Accept Responsibility

Tags: Responsibility, Acceptance, Patience, Tolerance

Had an experience a few minutes ago that I think bears mentioning. I was on the phone with a customer service representative from Bank of America. The conversation lasted nearly 15 minutes, and during the entire time I couldn't help but marvel at what a great job the agent was doing!

It was one of those out-of-body, third person experiences where a part of your brain separates itself from the conversation at hand and takes on the role of "observer." What it observed was a friendly, helpful and articulate representative who right from the start went out of his way to make MY interaction a pleasant and informative one. What makes that remarkable is that it happens all too infrequently these days...especially, it seems, when dealing with large corporate entities.

I was so impressed with his performance that at the end of our conversation I asked to speak to his supervisor so that I could immediately give him the "props" he so clearly deserved. After being transferred to my guy's manager, I went on to give the supervisor an earful about what a great job one of his team members was doing.

The manager was taken aback! Certainly not in a bad way, but surprised nonetheless that a customer would go out of his way to compliment the performance of a customer service representative. He said that just about the only time a customer asks to speak to a manager is to register a complaint; that people seldom-if-ever take the time to praise good performance. He thanked me profusely and assured me his man would publicly benefit from my show of appreciation.

After hanging up I got to thinking about how much customer service across the board could be improved if only people would take a few extra minutes (like I did) to give credit where it's due on those occasions when they encounter superior service. And this doesn't just apply to phone support.

Take it into the real world and effusively compliment your over-the-top sales/service rep wherever you may encounter him or her...be it a restaurant server, a parking valet, a sales clerk in your favorite clothing store, the bank teller, etc. And be sure to deliver the same kudos to their superiors. This is an example of positive reinforcement in action.

The more we acknowledge and encourage great service and behavior the more of it we'll see. It may not happen overnight, but it has to start somewhere, and we can each play a role in that process. How about you? Have you recently had a superior customer service experience that compelled you to go to a higher authority to report it? And if so, what kind of reaction did you get?

Tags: Customer Service, Engagement, Sales Support

After reading the title of this post there are probably a few of you who're going to need a minute to pluck your minds out of the gutter. That's okay, take your time. The rest of us will just hang out here until you regain your composure.

Okay, now that I have everybody's undivided and uncompromised attention let's talk about sticky and stuff. In that order.

As the image accompanying this article clearly illustrates, stickiness is what happens when something (in this case a nasty piece of well-chewed gum) latches on to you and won't easily let go. Whether we're talking gum, barbecue sauce, duct tape, plant burrs, annoying song melodies, super glue or mutant velcro, the net effect's the same: once you've crossed paths with a tenacious tagalong, separating yourself from it isn't always an easy task.

With the possible exception of the leftover barbecue sauce, nothing else from that short list is something you'd usually willingly and/or cooperatively welcome into your life in the first place. Doesn't matter. Anything that's sticky by nature doesn't need your permission to do its thing. And guess what? That's actually good news! Read on to understand why.

As a fiercely competitive “New Economy” business professional, you should always be looking for cool and innovative ways to reach and expand your market. Regardless of whether you're selling a product or service, your ultimate goal is to own the hearts and minds of your prospects, customers and clients. And that's most effectively accomplished through the implementation of potent, emotionally-charged sales and marketing campaigns, along with the delivery of a kick-ass product or service that rocks your customers' world! Oh, by the way, what I just described in that previous sentence is your "stuff."

Is this beginning to make sense? Your marketing stuff, your sales stuff and your product/service stuff needs to be so sticky (in a good way) that people can't get it out of their heads or stop talking about it.

Stickiness needs to be engineered into every component of your business at the cellular level. You want to create the business equivalent of the catchy commercial jingle or #1 radio hit that drills deep into the brains of your audience and relentlessly reminds them of who you are, the astonishing and unique value that you provide, and why they need to get their hands on it ASAP!

There are lots of ways to do this, and, fortunately, they're not always costly, complicated or convoluted. However, they do need to be consistent and compelling. That's a lot of alliteration to wade through, but when it comes to creating stickiness, those last two "Cs" are the most important ones.

Your stuff needs to be – at the very least – interesting to your audience. Even better, though, is if it actively engages them...gets them involved in a conscious and deliberate fashion. The more invested (and I don't necessarily mean from a dollars and cents perspective) people are in something, the more memorable and sticky it becomes.

Your marketing should invite participation and feedback. Your sales process needs to be dynamic and customer focused (i.e. what's in it for them). Both your follow up and ongoing customer service need to be value-driven and openly encourage input and suggestions for improved performance. And all of these things need to be practiced consistently. Because if they're sufficiently engaging and compelling, and they occur with a precisely-choreographed regularity, they can't help but become sticky in a way that serves the interests of both you and your audience.

How about you? Is your "stuff" sticky? Does it meaningfully engage your prospects and customers in a way that puts you "top of mind?" Your ideas and comments are welcome and appreciated.

Tags: Customer Service, Marketing, Stickiness, Engagement