Bobby Bowden…Saint Bobby to many…announced his retirement today and the reaction from fans, Florida State alumni and his peers has been nothing but great.   While he has come under fire in the past few years for lackluster seasons, Bobby will now be remembered for not only his accomplishments, but also his leadership and personality.

Sure, people will remember the numbers…after all, who won’t?

They are simply staggering!

• 2nd winningest coach in Major College Football with 388 wins (only behind another legend, Joe Paterno)
• 2 National Titles (1993 and 1999)
• 14 Straight 10 Win Seasons
• 14 Straight Top 5 finishes
• 27 Straight Bowl Games
• First team to go wire to wire as the #1 team in the AP Poll (1999)

And we haven’t even begun to look at Conference Championships or number of players drafted into the NFL.

However, it won’t be the numbers that are remembered, but rather his leadership and who he was.  To more than one generation, Bobby Bowden was Florida State University.  He built a program from scratch and, quite honestly, changed it from a history of losing to the powerhouse that is has been.  Here’s a smattering of Bobby’s leadership lessons:

1 – Go to where the action is! He declared that he would play anyone, anywhere and he went on the road, in one long stretch playing consecutive games against Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Pittsburg and LSU.  He won more than he lost against the “big boys” and built the Seminoles into the legend that exists today.  Leaders take on the big issues of the day.

2 – Stay low key!  Even while piling up these impressive numbers, he remained humble and the epitome of polite.  “Aw Shucks” and “Dadgummit” seemed to be the most profane words to emerge from his mouth. Anyone who followed Seminole football can remember countless times where he spoke of the adversity that our team faced, some of it in the form of our opponents, and quite often, much of it was ourselves.   Leaders focus on actions, not words, all too forgotten in today’s smack-talk world.

3 – Surround yourself with the best – Bobby Bowden didn’t make all this happen in a vacuum.  He had great coaches such as Mickey Andrews, Chuck Amato and Mark Richt.  Some left, some came back, but they all helped grow a tremendous program.  Leaders find others who are great and find a way to work with them.

Watching the Seminoles play, whether at Doak Campbell Stadium or, more recently, on TV 3,000 miles away, Bobby Bowden has always been the face of Seminole Football.  Like everyone else, I say goodbye to Bobby and hope that we learn from him and his leadership style.

Thanks for reading, and if you have tickets to the bowl game (his last), please send me a picture from the stands,

Brandon

We are wrapping up the biggest shopping weekend of the year and while numbers are still being calculated, we can take a look at some of the good things that happened with the seasonal frenzy.

1 – Stores used all avenues to reach their Customer.  Online sales went on all week as companies embraced technology and online sales rose, by some estimates 35%.

2 – Everywhere you turned, there was someone to help you.  Stores staffed up and trained their people, and as a result, there was help everywhere. Lines flowed quickly and money was able to change hands.

All in all, it seems to have been a good weekend for business, and much attention was paid to Customers.  However, there is still a month left until Christmas and we want to make sure that we continue to treat our Customer right. Or else…this may happen.  Enjoy the video below and thanks for watching.

Brandon

There is a tremendous amount of hubbub around the D.C. socialites who crashed a White House Party this week.  It seems that Tareq and Michaele Salahi just showed up at the White House, gave the Secret Service their IDs and Social Security numbers so they could be run through quick background checks, and then shook hands with President Obama while enjoying his first (and theirs) State Dinner.

So….what is the problem?

Well, it turns out that they weren’t on the guest list and after she posted numerous photos on her Facebook page, the Secret Service was extremely embarrassed.

Because…..well……um…..this is a head scratcher.

What exactly do you do with uninvited guests?  What do we do with unwanted Customers.

Go ahead and gasp, but we all know that we have all had Customers that we don’t want.

They may be the ones that complain about every little thing.  They could be the ones that are never satisfied.  Perhaps they are the ones that take up all of your time (hello, Mr. Pareto!)

Whatever the case is, what do you do with them?

Do you kill them with kindness?  Do you lavish attention on them and work tirelessly to make them happy? Or do you tell them to go away, as did Southwest Airlines co-founder and former CEO Herb Kelleher when a long-complaining Customer once threatened to leave?

Whatever the case, I would suggest that you find out what they want and then determine if it is reasonable and can be achieved.  Do they feel like they are not getting enough TLC?  Is our product simply flawed and they are unhappy?  Or are they perpetual complainers and we may have to actually fire them (a la Herb).

However, I would not suggest arresting them…especially if it takes a week to figure out exactly if what they did was wrong.

I’d love to hear your stories about Customers that you wished would go away…and your thoughts on the D.C. Party Crashers.  By the way, in case the White House is interested, I am still available to consult as the Customer Service Czar!

Thanks for reading,

Brandon

It’s Thanksgiving time, which is one of my favorite times of the year! I would like to take this time to thank all of my readers for their support. Your comments, feedback and ideas have helped me greatly as I share my stories, tips and ideas about Customer Service.

As we move into Thanksgiving week, I am happy to announce the launch of a new part of Customer Service Voodoo in the form of video.  Periodically, I hope to post very short (30 second) videos with Customer Service Tips and Thoughts.

I would appreciate any feedback on them. Tell me if you like them or can’t stand them.  Whether you think they are a good idea or best left on the cutting room floor.  Hey! If you want to film your own and post it on You Tube, I’ll see about posting it here!

Enjoy the first one and thanks for watching!

Brandon

I think that everyone knows about the National Do Not Call Registry.  However, what do you do when you keep getting calls from a company that you have bought things from in the past?

Over the years, I have bought quite a few family DVDs and workbooks for my kids from a specific company.   In fact, I have purchased just about every item that they own.  Unfortunately, I continue to get robo-calls from them at home to try and get me to purchase the few remaining items that they sell that I don’t have.

Quite annoyingly, these calls come in once a month or so and I have gotten very tired of them.  The phone rings, I answer it, I hear the auto-greeting and then am connected to a sales person who tries to go through his sales pitch.  I listen politely and then at the first pause, explain what we have purchased and explain that I do not want the remaining 5% of their product.

I then explain that I don’t want to get any more calls from them and ask them to either remove me from their list, or to only call when they have new products (which are supposed to come out in 2011 or 2012).

They sympathize, agree, and then tell me that they are going to take care of it.  I hear the tapping of their keys as they note my wishes in their computer systems.

I go happily on my way until one month later….

When they call me again.  And we start the cycle all over again.

I haven’t told you the name of this company (although I have mentioned  them before on my site) because I am giving them ONE MORE CHANCE!

So, here is what I expect them (or any other company that markets to their prior Customers) to do:

1 – Set up a process for Customers to request they not be called (or called except for specific items).  By set up, I mean that make sure that your computer systems can handle these types of requests.

2 – Set up an escalation process so that your sales people can handle people (like myself) who get very upset at the continued calls.

3 – When there is an issue (such as the one I keep having), set up a process so that a manager will follow up and ensure that the issue is handled.

These are not difficult concepts, I am giving them one more time to ge tit straightened out. If not, I will publish their name and contact info, along with their CEO’s home address and phone number, which was readily available using Google.

I hope they’re reading this, and I thank them in advance for taking care of this.

Brandon

P. S. I am a little irritated tonight from them, please, excuse my rudeness.