Filter-Free Fridays.com

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I appreciate that you have been a follower and/or subscriber to this Blog. But, this Blog will, sadly, be coming to an end in a few short weeks. We encourage you to join us in our new location at BuildingABetterWorkplace.com.

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Come on over to the new location. Things are happening there.

I appreciate that you have been a follower and/or subscriber to this Blog. It has been my pleasure to work for you. But as I attempt to streamlinhe our educational compenent, this Blog will, sadly, be coming to an end.

As we move all of our posting to one central Blog location, BuildingABetterWorkplace.com, this Blog will cease to exist after the next 30 days.

I encourage you to join us in our new location at BuildingABetterWorkplace.com.

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Again, thanks for the opportunity to serve you. I hope you’ll join us at our new Blog location.

With gr-Attitude,

Kevin Burns

“We’re closing in five minutes!!!!”

How many times have you been told that by “customer service” personnel (yes I used quotations on purpose)?

I have even been yelled at upon entering the store twenty-five minutes before closing. What does that say about the staff? Worse yet, what does that say about management that lets staff get away with, in essence, saying, “your needs are less important than me getting out of here so hurry up Buster.”

While looking at expensive dishes in a small, Independant store, I was approached hurriedly by the sales clerk who seemed impatient that we were still in the store so close to closing time.

Exasperated she exclaimed, ” we are closing in like two minutes.”

I immediately shot back, “we’ll leave then” looking her square in the eye.

She backpedaled making some lame apology. Too late. I didn’t want to buy here anymore.

The evidence in retail establishments is staggering but this happens in every organization: people who don’t want to start something that they know they can’t finish before closing time. Clock watchers are time-thieves. They cost your organization money and productivity and take a big bite out of a culture that claims to be customer-focused.

How your people handle the end of the day is more tell-tale than how they handle the start of the day – especially around engagement.

If you, as a customer, get the warning that they will soon be closing, walk away. You deserve to be treated better. Besides, there’s a huge difference between locking the doors and being “closed.”

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Kevin Burns – Workplace Expert – Management Consultant – Keynote Speaker

Honest communication is the backbone of any successful corporate Culture initiative. You can plan and strategize all you want but in order to make a positive change in Culture takes communication – people talking directly to people.

Hiding behind voicemail and email doesn’t make a workplace any better. Harboring bitter resentment towards a co-worker without addressing it only creates more animosity. Filter-Free Fridays are designed to get stuff off of your chest before that stuff eats into your guts and creates an ulcer.

You don’t have to be hurtful in being honest. In fact, honesty is so rare in the workplace that any sign of it might be conceived as a breath of fresh air.

So, on Friday, take back your spine, pony up and if there is something that needs to be addressed, then address it – in a non-hurtful way. Here’s a key ingredient to excellent communication on Filter-Free Friday: be respectful – not regretful.

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Just thought I would update you on what is happening. I am continuing to take time off away from blogging while I finish up my newest book,  “Tweak – The Definitive Management Strategy to Build Your Dream Workplace, Attract The Best Talent, Regain Your Sanity and Never Have To Deal With Problem Employees – In Ten Seconds Or Less!”

I hope to be back here blogging again within the next 30 days.

But that doesn’t mean we’re closed. Meghan is still taking bookings for 2011 speaking presentations. Feel free to go to www.kevburns.com to get more information or call us toll-free at 1-877-287-6711.

Looking forward to serving you better,

Kevin

On Filter-Free Fridays™ you get the opportunity to tell businesses, organizations and people how they are doing – in a non-hurtful way.

Last Friday, my wife and I headed out for some Italian at one of the city’s most expensive Italian restaurants. We had never been to this particular restaurant before but the reviews showed well.

We ordered a glass of red wine, the Caprese salad to start and my wife ordered the House Specialty Lasagna and I ordered the Veal-stuffed Cannelloni. They brought fresh bruschetta on crostinis as their welcome. Delicious – well as delicious as you can make tomatoes in December but well spiced and flavorful. The Caprese was alright I suppose – but again made with out-of-season tomatoes – it was good.

Then the main courses arrived straight from the oven in the same dishes. We had to wait several minutes before we could taste since it was piping hot. When we did, my wife thought the bechamel/tomato sauce (which the pastas were swimming in) tasted more like Campbell’s Cream of Tomato soup, both pasta dishes were overcooked (disintegrated when touched) and there seemed to be a lack of any sort of seasoning. Have you ever tasted veal or lasagna without seasoning? Well it’s tastes like … uh … nothing.

The “pepper girl” came by a few minutes later and asked if we wanted fresh pepper. I simply replied, “I don’t think that’s going to fix it.”

She immediately summoned our server (turns out he was the owner) and when asked, we simply said that the sauce tasted like tomato soup, the pasta was overdone, there was no seasoning and therefore no taste and perhaps it was the worst pasta I have ever had in an upscale restaurant (true).

“Well then this place is not for you,” he barked and angrily gathered up the dishes. “I will pay for what you’ve eaten. You can leave at any time,” he barked and then threw the dishes into a tub in the kitchen (really he threw them). And we left.

If it doesn’t taste good, don’t eat it anyway and then pay for it. Say something. The worst that happens is they ask you to leave. I suppose I could have said everything was “fine” but then I would have been lying and the next customer who ordered the same dish would get an expensive mouthful of nothing.

On Filter-Free Fridays™, you’re not just helping the business get better, you’re making it better for the next person. Tell the truth. They need to hear it.

It’s the Holiday season. I know this because the malls are full and so are their respective parking lots. The problem is that there could be more parking available if not for the selfish displays of a few drivers who could care less how they park.

Strange isn’t it that people can go to the mall to buy a beautiful gift for a loved one while at the same time thumbing their noses at everyone else. They don’t care how they park, they don’t care that they take up two spaces and they certainly don’t care that they inconvenience you. No because they’re selfish, self-absorbed little idiots who, if they understood the spirit of the season, would park respectfully to allow others to have a happy holiday season as well.

So here’s my solution: it’s Filter-Free Fridays™ so the gloves are off. Right now, cut and paste the following and put it into a Word document four or five times on a page. Make it 16-point type and a bold font and when you print them out, cut them into strips:

• Hey selfish jerk, thanks for parking with such lack of courtesy during this Holiday season. It’s obvious that whatever gift you bought today won’t matter because the Spirit of the Season is apparently lost on you. The truth is, I left you this note because you parked liked a selfish jerk. I didn’t damage your car but you might not be so lucky the next time you don’t think about others. Wake up – oh and Happy Holidays. (www.filterfreefridays.com)

Carry a bunch of these in your car this Holiday Season. You’re going to need them. It’ll take the edge off when you place one under a windshield wiper. Then you can go shopping smiling – with the full Holiday Spirit inside of you. And if you see someone parking like a jerk, correct them before they walk away from their car. I’ll bet most sheepishly return to their cars and park properly. Embarrassment works.

I received my American Express bill last month as usual. The amount owing was a few thousand dollars – so I paid it, in full. Even though I charged nothing to card for the next month, I still received my American Express bill this time with an interest charge of $7.80 owing.

Huh? But I paid it all off last month.

I called American Express where they happily explained to me that the interest had accrued a few months prior and that was the reason that $7.80 in interest was still owing.

“Well then you sent a bill that wasn’t complete,” I offered, “and if you send me a bill and it shows an amount owing on it and I pay it before the due date, then we should be square. You sent me a bill that was not complete and I don’t think I should have to pay more than you billed me for.”

I was asked to hold for a moment. The clerk then returned telling me that he had waived the interest owing.

How many people would have simply accepted the convoluted excuse about interest accruing months previous and simply given up. If every month, 100,000 people were to do that worldwide, then the credit card company would generate $780,000.00 of new income monthly.

The first excuse is to test to see if you’ll go along with it. When you don’t go along, you get rewarded.

Speak up. It’s Filter-Free Fridays™ – a day when you speak the truth – to help, not to hurt. Stop being taken advantage of. Stand up for yourself. Use your voice.

Part of the reason behind Filter-Free Fridays™ is to give you a chance to tell your team members, fellow employees and the really important people in your life how you really feel about them – especially if they impact your life in a positive way.

Everyone should have at least one person who impacts their life in a positive way. If you don’t have one, you’re hanging out with the wrong crowd. I have one in my life that, over these past two years, has made a tremendous contribution to my life in helping me be better – every day.

Her name is Trish and we have known each other since Grade 4. She got pushed ahead the year after we met allowing her to skip Grade 5 so, come high school, we never took any of the same classes. But I saw her everyday. Once, I asked her on a date when I was 15 – she said yes. I took her to a school dance but never asked for a second date only because I thought she was just being nice by agreeing to go out with me – she wasn’t. My self-image as a teenage boy needed some work. So I had to live with my crush on her and never acted on it for fear that she might say no.

Going to a small high-school of 200 students in a small town, everyone knew everyone else. We had the same teachers, went to the same church, had the same friends, knew each others’ parents and came from the same economic background. We had history and a keen understanding of each other’s values. We came from the same place physically and philosophically.

After high-school graduation we went our separate ways: her off to university and me off to Kapuskasing, Ontario to take a radio job. We never spoke again for 30 years – until a high-school reunion. We developed a great friendship over the following six months seeing each other only once in that time due to living 2000 miles apart.

Over these past two years, Trish has become my mentor, my confidante and my best friend. There isn’t a day where we don’t laugh to the point of tears or just relax and feel safe to just be who we really are. There isn’t a day where something ever goes unsaid or that a dream goes unspoken. There isn’t a place we don’t visit together or support each other to be healthy and happy. And if she leaves to do a little shopping, a little part of me goes missing for that few hours while she is away.

Tomorrow, in Gatineau, Quebec, I am going to marry the girl I asked on a date some 35 years ago – and she is going to marry me. She said yes. We will be surrounded by our families and close friends – many from high-school. Trish’s 20 year-old daughter will be Maid of Honor and my 25 year-old daughter will be Best Man.

But the lesson we offer to our children is to set a standard and never settle. Keep your standards high and always believe that if your relationship seems like a struggle, it may not be the right one. The right one makes loving easy.

So pardon how long my gushing might seem, but once in a lifetime, someone comes along who just rocks your world and, in the words of Jack Nicholson, makes you want to be a better man.

Tomorrow, I will prove it when I simply say, “I do.”

And that, my friends, is a glimpse into my personal life – Filter-Free. Do the same for yourself.

I inadvertently broke the LCD touch-screen of my new camcorder this week. In a panic, I emailed Panasonic to find an Authorized Repair Depot. They emailed back next day suggesting that I contact Southland Crossing TV here in Calgary. I called Southland immediately. But because I would be traveling within a week and needed to take the camera, they asked to see it and diagnose it right away. They confirmed the LCD screen needed to be replaced – but because it is a professional camera and a new model, they couldn’t access the parts catalog online.

Melanie at Southland promised to call Panasonic directly – and she did – three times with no reply. Then she sent three separate emails begging for Panasonic to return a call which she finally received with an acknowledgment that the part would be sent by air overnight – no extra charges for overnight shipping.

Melanie then sent me this by email: “Hi Kevin, I heard back from Panasonic. The part is in stock with them, cost of the part is $161.40 + GST. If this is OK, please give me a call so I can create a work order.”

I called immediately and Melanie promised to alert me when the part arrived so they could get the camera in right away. The challenge was going to be scheduling because of Remembrance Day. They would be open Thursday but closed Friday and Saturday. She told me the part was being shipped by overnight courier and scheduled to arrive by 9 am next day.

Melanie called at 9:30 saying don’t leave the house because the part isn’t here yet – but I was already on my way. I left the camera anyway with the intention of picking it up by end of business regardless of whether it had been repaired.

Then, at 11 am, this email arrived: “Hi Kevin, the part arrived & it has been given to Rommel to work on. I will advise once it is completed.”

An hour and a half later: “Hi Kevin, your camcorder is done. We will be here till 5:30 today.”

Calgary is a city of 1.1 million people. Southland Crossing TV does business like they’re in a small town. I gushed to Melanie directly that the service experience was incredible and that given the opportunity, I would return to them in the blink of an eye.

On Filter-Free Fridays™ you speak your truth in a non-hurtful way. Well here’s the truth, if you’re in the electronics repair business, Southland Crossing TV is the service model you have to compete with. Yeah, good luck to you. It’s going to be pretty hard to top that. And given the choice between you and someone like Southland, why would anyone choose you?