Another Great Week

Another Great Week

Jim Hinshaw
Contributing Writer
Improvement Professional, President & Sales

Just finished up a trip back east, where I was blown away by service at a Hertz rental location.  Specifically at the Philly airport.   I started my trip in Rochester, NY.  Rented a ride from Hertz, and actually worked hard at getting an upgrade.  Told the lady behind the counter that I had a lot of driving to do, sometimes with clients, and needed a great ride.  She hooked me up with a Land Rover Discovery.  Did not realize that Hertz rented Land Rovers, cannot remember seeing one in the lots I frequent.  Drove from Rochester to Harrisburg PA for the second half of my trip, ended up dropping off the car at the Philly airport.  When I pulled up, greeted by Doron Howard, who shook my hand, thanked me for renting from Hertz and introduced himself as the manager of that location.  Asked me if everything had gone well with the car.  Sure did, I replied.  Doron asked me if I was flying out that evening.  Told him no, actually the next morning, staying overnight at a hotel just a couple of miles away.  He said, allow me to give you a ride to the hotel.  See, I could have taken the shuttle to the airport, then called the hotel, waited on their shuttle, got to the hotel about 30 min later.  So I said “you are my best friend!”  and gladly accepted his offer to ride to the hotel.

As we drove I complimented him on the Hertz employees I have met and interfaced with over the last 4 or 5 years.  Rent almost every week, and 75{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} of the time it is with Hertz.  They are a partner with Delta, so I get airline miles, and they have great rates as well.  He toldme it is all in the hiring process.  They ask specific questions and listen for specific words in the applicant’s answers.  If the words don’t appear, they are not hired.  Seems simple but profound.  The real proof is when the customer has a situation that is not good, when something goes wrong.  Life is easy when everyone is happy, test comes when we encounter a problem.  That is when Hertz’s hiring system shows benefits.  Right down to the shuttle drivers.

This all comes together with ideas that work in sales and in interviews.  First concept is to take the focus off of you, put it on the other people involved.  When you give them full attention, it makes the interview, the meeting, the dinner so much more rewarding.  In sales, leave your personal problems outside the door.  When you get home, leave the work problems outside the door.  See a pattern here?  My wife and I have a system that works for us, actually works for me since I travel a lot.  When we are watching TV, and one makes a comment, the other one pauses the TV show.  Easy to do with TVs today, pause live as well as recorded.

Another great idea is to listen hard, and not interrupt the other person.  That is hard to do, when you know where they are going.  You actually don’t know where they are going, just think you do.  We just can’t wait to share, since we are important.  Repeat back what they said, to be sure you heard it as they meant it to be heard.  We often hear what we want to hear, not just what was said.

Another concept that I know works is to not say “NO”.  Especially in sales, or an interview, just don’t say no.  When a potential employee asks if you have a profit sharing plan (and you don’t), share with him the benefits that you do have.  Works in sales as well.  When the customer asks if your solution will include something it does not, and cannot not, share with them what it does include.  Then ask the customer or applicant if that makes sense.  Are they ok with that answer?  If not, ask why that is so important.  Maybe they had a bad experience and felt like that part would have helped them through that problem.  Actually, there is no such thing as a perfect fit.  We are all forced to make allowances, compromise on what is offered in comparison to what we want as an outcome.  Just the way life is.

One more sales concept that is not used enough today: make more statements.  When you spew out a series of questions, it can be intimidating to some.  We do have to find out some things, but we also can share the benefits we bring, and not turn those into the obvious questions that can only be answered “Yes!”.  Does anyone have allergies, asthma conditions we need to address?  Yes, our whole family.  Our perfect air system can clean up your indoor air so you will feel better, sleep better, enjoy your home more.  Instead of: wouldn’t it make sense to clean up the air in your home to help your family…?  Goes back to the concept that people buy benefits, not features.

Just some rambling thoughts triggered by a great manager at a Hertz rental location.  Thanks for listening, we’ll talk later!