Is it possible there is something to be learned from the Fire Service when it comes to handling customer complaints? I strongly believe so and share that learning here. Scenario: Imagine a car accident on a busy highway, multiple serious injuries and heavy traffic. You know there will be lots of screaming and emotion, and this really is a life and death situation for the people involved. The Question is ... What would you do? The amateur care giver rushes in looking for the sickest person, gets caught up in the emotion and most likely gets themselves injured or killed in the process. Not good and they are just making things worse. In the Fire Service as professionals we give attention in this order: #1 Yourself. You can't help anyone if you get hurt. #2 Your crew. You need to watch each others' backs. Safety first. #3 The public. Don't let the situation get worse. #4 The patient. This person is already injured. This doesn't need to take long, and it's not without empathy, but it is the order of business. IMHO handling customer complaints needs to be done on the same basis. #1 You need to be true to yourself and your own integrity; don't promise what doesn't feel right. With an irate customer you need to either withdraw or manage them to a point that the conversation isn't abusive. Look after yourself first. That may sound a bit rough, so let me be clear. Faced with an irate customer the first thing you must do is dampen the flames by making it very clear that you empathise, feel their pain and will work to fix the problem. Until you're in rapport the conversation will go nowhere. But that's not how it works in the Fire Service, and it's not the same thing as agreeing with the client. #2 Look after your team. You can not under any circumstances deflect the anger from yourself by directing it at other members of the team. Your relationship with your colleagues, and the reputation of the company needs to be healthy past this one incident. If you have their back, they will have yours. Also, taking it on the chin is good for the spirit and shows everyone we're in this together. #3 What ever you do, don't compromise the good of the company long term just to make this problem go away. So many companies get into trouble by introducing policy after policy as the result of issues to "work around them" instead of taking the time to put things right. #4 With these things in place, look after the customer. The person first and then the situation. Do this with urgency, control, empathy and show them you care. I hate complaints in our company, but we all know they happen. It's how you handle them that counts. Most people are not used to being looked after properly and being heard. Show them your company is different. As with the firefighters, be a professional at handling complaints and you will get control more easily and this might just be the time you make a friend for life. I wrote another post last month called "Why do people find customer service so hard", or to read the other stories in this series: click here Enjoy, and let me know what you think below. Please read my Firefighters disclaimer

For god sake ... if you are going to be in business have some courage. Without it you will die. Firefighters are the people running into a fire when everyone else is running out. They're being brave and courageous, but that's not the same as saying they aren't scared. Whenever you go on a call you never know what you're going to get until you're there. Will this be a false alarm or the big one? Adrenaline runs for a reason and that is to prepare you for the job ahead. A healthy amount of fear keeps you safe. As I am sure you have heard before ... Courage isn't not being scared, it's being scared but doing it anyway. Nothing could be more true in business. Successful people have a plan, and a healthy amount of fear, but do it anyway. Less successful people spend all their time preparing; they worry about loosing the house but in the end do nothing. They attempt to remove all risk, but that isn't possible, and dare I say it, doing nothing has its own risk. My question to you is ... What one thing should you do tomorrow that just needs you to go for it?

Does marriage have a lot to answer for? Hmm, good question. Personally I don't think so, but it does bring its own set of challenges. My belief is that relationships, whether with family, friends or lovers, "ebb and flow", a bit like the tide, and this means they need constant attention and will change over time. Like everyone, Sonya and my relationship has had its high points, but also some low ones. Currently things are absolutely wonderful and the low points long forgotten. The interesting thing, however, is, at their 'worst' relationships have the opportunity to become their 'best'. Why? Well, because you have nothing more to lose. - why not say what hasn't been said before? - why not deal with the issues that have been bothering you? Often the things we fight about are not the things that are really the issue; they are just a symptom of a much deeper issue. The question is, do you have the courage to say what needs to be said, and the strength to listen? I was reminded this morning of a number of mentoring situations where I have been asked to give guidance to a small business in serious trouble. It is amazing how almost always the fundament issue comes down to a conflict between the owners, or the owner and their spouse. It isn't that the business isn't viable but that there is a difference of opinion between the couple, or that they each have a very different tolerance for risk. When asked by some close friends to help them review a business they wanted to buy, I spent more time convincing them that they needed some "rules of engagement" than that they needed a good plan. I knew they were extremely capable and the business would come naturally; I just needed to make sure they both were clear on their own "risk profile" and how the long hours of work would impact on their lives. If you are having issues in your business, are there issues at home that need to be resolved before you can prosper? Maybe you need to spend some time reassuring your spouse that things will be ok, or just possibly you need to suck up a little pride and admit you need some help. At the end of the day you also need to know, who is going to be the boss Just my 2 cents worth on this beautiful morning. What are your thoughts?

Recently I wrote about mates being awesome, and the best thing about joining the Fire Service is the camaraderie that comes with it. Honestly, I have never been involved in anything that has such a strong sense of community, and that holds the value of "having each other's back" so highly. It is an incredible organization for that reason. Our company, Queensberry, also has an amazing culture that fosters the feeling of one family and of looking after each other. We are very proud of the fact that, in all the past entries we've had in the "Best Places to Work Awards" we have been in the TOP 10, and we put the result down to our feeling of 'oneness'. There is lots of documented evidence of the value to an organization of a "tight" team and camaraderie. Of course we know that it takes time and effort to build these bonds, and although it can be very difficult the payoff potentially huge. I raise this today however as a note of caution. Being too close can turn from an asset to a liability when things go wrong, especially if you have weak leaders who fail to differentiate between friendship and the needs of the business. You must always, in business, socialise and be friendly ... foster the feelings of family and community. But you must also retain authority and be the boss. Don't let the informality of friendship slip over into the work relationship as it is so so hard to get discipline back once lost. Be careful... How are you going in your business? How are the boundaries? Do you have a good relationship with staff ... Too easy on them or too hard?

It's Sunday morning so I want to go back to bed ... It's a bit of a worry since I have been up since 5.30 am and its now 10, but that's another story. My father in law, who unfortunately passed away earlier this year loved this piece of Shakespeare ... It was truely his lifes inspiration, so today I borrow from him. We miss you Alan. "Thus conscience does make cowards of us all" hmmm Interesting! Enjoy x To be or not to be, that is the question; Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to — 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause. There's the respect That makes calamity of so long life, For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, Th'oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of th'unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pitch[1] and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act III, scene I