A Simple Smile

I am reading Marcus Buckingham’s latest book ‘Design Love In’ and that has helped me to name, at least in part, the general malaise that I am seeing so frequently in the world and particularly in the world of work.  His argument is that too many interactions are purely transactional and process driven, devoid of any meaningful human interaction which ultimately leaves us, as people, feeling left out, forgotten, on the outside, unfulfilled and processed: rather than seen, heard, felt and mattering.

So I thought I would use the week’s holiday to simply observe more mindfully how my reactions varied after interacting with the various businesses I encountered. By and large I felt neutral to angered by most interactions. The airport, taxi and even the hotel caused me to feel processed if not downright angry. I don’t think you get a worse example of being a number, rather than a person, than air travel. Now I understand why I dislike it so much, particularly going through security. And if you choose or have to use a low cost airline you are definitely not a person, just a potential for additional income in seat 16C.

There are many lessons from this week of observation but the overriding one is that the biggest difference in my experience was triggered by one simple act, that of smiling. Not the fake ‘have a nice day’, painted on, ‘Pan Am’ smile so many are schooled in, but the heartfelt Duchenne smile of someone who loves their job and loves helping people, of someone who genuinely sees, hears and cares. This was the thing that connected all of the positive interactions and separated them from the majority which may or may not have been efficient but were certainly unfulfilling.

The one thing all our customers have in common is that they are people, so shouldn’t we treat them as people and not just as a revenue potential in seat 16C?

So the questions for today are:

• How people centric is your approach at all touchpoints?
• What do your NPS scores say, do they prove or disprove the question above? Remember that only the very top score counts. Not the top two.
• Do you know whether your customers feel seen, heard and cared for or simply processed?