service – Page 2 – leadership dots

leadership dot #4794: blast

November 17, 2025November 14, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

The drive-thru at Arby’s featured a quick mnemonic to help employees deliver good customer service in the event of a problem:

B = Believe — Don’t question, Don’t argue, Always believe the guest.
L = Listen — Give your full attention. Let the guest speak uninterrupted.
A = Apologize — Be genuinely sorry. Show sympathy and ownership to change the situation.
S = Solve — Fix the problem and go above and beyond to exceed their expectations.
T = Thank — Make the guest feel as your #1 priority. Make sure the guest is happy.

I think their BLAST model is applicable beyond fast food and can help you address most situations where someone is upset with you. The next time you’re faced with a customer with anger blasting out of their ears, give it a try and see if you can’t blast their grievance away.

leadership dot #4786: rags

November 9, 2025November 8, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

On a recent business trip, I stayed in a hotel that catered to the blue collar crowd. I think I was the only one in the parking lot without a work truck or pickup.

In the bathroom, there was a basket of black hand towels, along with this laminated message: “I’m nothing but a pile of rags…living a life forlorn…I’m old, tattered, and possibly stained. But wait! I am still clean and can be put to work if you, dear guest, would give me a chance. Use me, for heaven’s sake, to wipe your boots and shoes, your hard-working hands, your makeup, even your windshield or motorcycle. I’m tattered but clean and ready to be used instead of a new fluffy towel on those dirty jobs you need done.”

Given the typical clientele, this idea made perfect sense. I’m sure there was dirt and grime from working in the field, and having special towels to accommodate their needs while preserving the white towels was a great idea…

…only the towels were embroidered with cute eyelashes and the words “makeup.” It was a departure from what the message said, implying they were tattered black rags to be used on the slimy jobs vs. a dainty eye makeup remover. I don’t picture a burly man in muddy boots cleaning them off with a makeup towel. Everyone would have been better suited with plain, black clothes.

Do a double check to ensure your message aligns with what you actually deliver, and wipe away any mismatch.

leadership dot #4659: touches

June 21, 2025June 11, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Maybe I’m just more aware of the little things when I’m on vacation, but in downtown Denver, I saw many examples of intentional, special touches to make the life of a tourist a bit easier.

Three examples:

When the elevator doors opened in the hotel, there was a giant number of the floor, also color-coded to help visitors instantly recognize their floor
The buses had small containers with slips of paper listing the bus number. If you wanted to lodge a complaint or compliment, or needed to reference a specific bus for any reason, you could grab the number instead of trying to remember it
The hotel breakfast bar provided small bags, making it easy for guests to take fruit or other items to go

None of these enhancements were monumental, but they were all nice gestures of hospitality. Is there a small convenience that you could provide to make it a bit easier for guests or clients? Pay attention to what other venues provide for you and consider replicating the little touches in your organization.

leadership dot #4654: annoyances

June 16, 2025June 10, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Anyone who has stayed in a hotel room has likely fooled around trying to get the drapes to fully close, lest that sliver of light shine through in the morning and disturb your rest. There are countless memes and home remedies (such as using the clips on the pants hangar to secure the gap), but it always seems that there is a problem spot.

Finally, the Courtyard chain has resolved the problem by making the drapes traverse the entire length of the wall, with the window occupying its normal dimensions. This results in the drapes closing in front of a wall (not a window) and fully eliminates the light gap. Bravo!

Sometimes, we spend our energy trying to invent new things or come up with the next big idea, but it is often the small annoyances that irritate us the most — and are easiest to fix. Maybe instead of trying to create that next dazzling plan, you’d be better off working to keep the light out.

Window on left, wall behind drapes on right — making it easy to pull the drapes closed in front of a wall instead of window

leadership dot #4652: post

June 14, 2025June 10, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

The sign at the entrance to any national park is a prime photo opportunity. Recognizing this, Rocky Mountain National Park not only had an area for cars to pull over and made the sign easily accessible, but they went a step further and facilitated solo photographers. The “picture post” allowed people to position their smartphone at an optimal height and even provided rocks to hold the phone/camera in place. It was a simple yet thoughtful welcome to the park.

How do you welcome guests to your office or home? Your graciousness doesn’t have to be elaborate, but a bit of intentionality goes a long way in conveying hospitality.

leadership dot #4612: bad taste

May 5, 2025May 4, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

It’s easy to pay attention to the front-of-the-house functions when you’re running an organization, but the back-of-the-house functions often are what make the front-facing work possible. This was evident at Chipotle this weekend when there were workers taking orders from customers — but left without food to serve them. Once again, the restaurant was out of guacamole even though the revenue from their lucrative add-on could have paid the wages of the employee to make it.

All the attention was on the food line, but it appeared that no one was assigned to address the other aspects of running the business. Trash cans inside and out were overflowing. Tables were dirty. The cash register had no one tending to it unless someone was pulled off the line.

Whether you work in an office or restaurant, don’t overlook the infrastructure needed to support the main product. The food can be great, but if the whole experience isn’t, customers leave with a bad taste in their mouth.

leadership dot #4611: alerting

May 4, 2025May 3, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

As I wrote on Friday (dot #4609), ’tis the season for many organizations to have extended planning retreats or other off-site functions. Most groups put considerable effort into the content for those days, but managing expectations for a closed office is often overlooked.

One company, User Interviews, proactively addressed its absence with an email the week before, alerting customers of its event and providing helpful links in case there was a delay in reaching customer service. It did not entirely close its office, but let people know that response times may be slower. This helped to align expectations and (hopefully) trigger customers to reach out in advance or after the event.

If you conduct an extended meeting, don’t leave one person behind to staff the office. Practively plan and allow everyone to attend without returning to a host of customer complaints.

Thanks, Meg!

Screenshot

leadership dot #4607: go undercover

April 30, 2025April 29, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

We take for granted that when we walk into a business, they will have what is necessary to function. I’m learning that is not always the case.

Yesterday at Chipotle, they were out of veggies. My friend paid in cash at the register, and they were out of singles, leaving them to give her almost $5 in quarters. Then I went to get a drink, and they were out of Coke and Mr.Pibb. Any one of those lapses would have been annoying but brushed off, but when there is an accumulation of problems (and not the first time similar things have happened at this restaurant), it points to a management problem.

It is also likely an upper management problem since no one seems to have corrected this pattern. Do they even notice it? If you have a front-facing business, it is to your benefit to employ/deploy secret shoppers. When I worked on campus, I learned so much from taking a class, from registration challenges, billing delays, the condition of classrooms, difficulty in navigating the learning management system, etc. They were all things I would have never seen from my office, but they were clear when I saw them from a student perspective. I wonder how a Chipotle exec would have felt about walking out with a pocket full of quarters.

You don’t have to be an undercover boss, but getting direct input from a user perspective is a valuable management tool. Craft ways to let others share their experiences about what your organization is really like.

leadership dot #4590: multiple choice

April 13, 2025April 11, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I have written before (dot #4489) about QuikTrip’s superiority in customization. Their vast selection of toppings, condiments, smoothies, fountain pops, slushes, and flavor boosters allows customers to have snacks and beverages just how they like them.

QT has now adapted that same philosophy to its Nitro Coffee Bar, offering multiple choices in both hot and cold lattes, complimented by an extensive flavoring bar where customers can create beverages to their exact preferences.

QT consciously chose to go deep into the products it offers, providing many more options than almost anyone else. Where is your organization on the breadth-depth spectrum? You may want to pour yourself a latte and ponder where you should land.

leadership dot #4585: recovery

April 8, 2025April 7, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

When I attempted to pour a Diet Coke at Quik Trip and discovered the dispenser was empty, I alerted the cashier. He apologized and said he was unable to refill it right away, but instantly gave me coupons for two free drinks in the future and said I could have any other fountain drink now if there was anything else I wanted.

While it wasn’t the immediate remedy that I hoped for, it was obvious that this situation had happened before and they were prepared to address it. It was far better than a “too bad, so sad” dismissal that occurs in many other service situations.

Things will go wrong in your organization, especially if you are in retail or a customer-facing role. Take a cue from QT and equip your team to recover quickly and turn a bad situation into a customer service save.