Last week I was blessed to present a whole day seminar for the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce in North Battlefield, Saskatchewan, Canada. They billed it as “The Customer Service Event of the Year” and invited all the businesses in the town. I did the morning session on “Spreading Contagious Enthusiasm™– Creating Workplaces of Passion, Purpose and Productivity” which focused on the INTERNAL customer and the afternoon on “The Simple Truths of Service Inspired by Johnny the Bagger®” which focused on the EXTERNAL customer.
Barbara and the Battlefords Buffalo
The Royal Mounted Police of Canada!
There were a number of things about this day that really touched my heart! Derek Schmidt, a young man who is a partner in a haberdashery in town, drove 90 miles to pick me up in Saskatoon the day before and repeated the round trip to the airport two days later. When I arrived in my hotel room, there was a lovely arrangement of fresh flowers and a “goody bag” filled with mementos from the area. The next day Linda Machniak and her staff had decorated the whole presentation area with balloons and butterflies (my logo), and each table had grocery bags (Johnny the Bagger) with one of my books and CDs in each one for the participants.
Barbara speaking to the group
Every level of employee was represented in the room– from front line staff that worked outdoors… to managers and supervisors… to owners of companies, and the interaction and team building during the day was extraordinary. It was a delightful and caring group of folks, and I enjoyed every minute. I learned about the Rough Riders (home team), Canola (their major crop), and even a special haircut that took place for charity! Amazingly, they told me that during the morning session an orange and black butterfly was flying around the room, a small miracle when it was fall in Canada and cold! (I felt sure it was a messenger that I was in the right place doing the right thing! 😉
Working on an exercise togehter
At lunch they handed out HOT TOWELS to everyone as they went into the eating area, something I have never had happen in a session before…..and the lunch itself was spectacular! At the end of the day, a group of men from the Prince Albert Co-op came up and gave me a GROUP HUG, another first! 😉 Then, Paul Sayers, who is a photographer offered to let any groups have their pictures taken with me — what a treat that was! (I will be adding those pictures to the site soon.) He made sure that I had company for dinner both nights I was in town as well. Finally, I got several thank you notes and many affirming comments from the people who were there. The best of all was that two years ago they had had the Disney group and several people told me I was better than Disney. Now THAT is a compliment! 😉
Paul Sayers and his staff
All these things are examples of the customer service I was speaking about, and I was honored to be one of the recipients. I think the Battlefords will be a little bit better place because of our day together. I know I am better because of their caring. What small things can you do in your organization to surprise and delight both your internal and external customers?
