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One of my friends owns a wonderful outfitting service in Saskatchewan, where he guides hunters and fishermen, and hosts church and family retreats in the wonderful lodge he built with his own hands on Smoothstone Lake. I’ve been there several times, mainly for what I call “the Smoothstone experience.”
While I’ve been successful hunting during my times there, my buddy Lyndon never guarantees the outcome of any hunt. Weather can roll in at any moment and obliterate any chances of getting in or out of the woods, animals have this funny way of not doing what you think they will do, and occasionally raging forest fires cause everyone to concentrate on helping the local town survive instead of hunting.
Every year, people walk away from Smoothstone immensely satisfied with the experience, even though they may not have been successful in their quest, and even after spending large amounts of money to do so. How does Lyndon accomplish this? His answer is simple, and we might be able to gain some valuable insight into customer satisfaction in our organizations if we heeded his advice.
“Control what you can control.” He can’t change the weather, the movements of animals, or stop natural disasters, but he can control everything else. His lodge is impeccably clean and comfortable, the food is out of this world, and he takes time to get to know each and every client and responds immediately to any customer request that he can.
His guides are trained to treat guests well and are empowered to take care of any problem that arises without having to get Lyndon’s approval. The results of this type of quality treatment are measurable, and with 80 percent of his clients repeat customers, he has very little need to travel and advertise, and there is usually a waiting list every year and slots are hard to come by.
On the contrary, I just returned from a miserable hunting trip in Idaho, where the outfitter clearly did not have the same view as my friend, Lyndon. Rude, unorganized, with a dirty camp and broken down equipment, we came away from the hunt disappointed and angry for being treated so poorly.
Every day we’d go out in a side by side all-terrain vehicle (ATV) on dirt roads carved into the side of the steep mountains just wide enough for the vehicle. Small rocks the size of grapefruit had fallen from above on many parts of the road and instead of stopping the ATV and moving the rock out of the way we would swerve toward the edge of the cliff in order to miss the rock for fear it might puncture the tire.
The guides didn’t care because the boss didn’t care. If he had told them to keep the road clear because he cared about their safety and the safety of their clients, I have to believe the rocks would be cleared and my life wouldn’t have been in danger 20 times a day.
They could have taken control of that very easily and made our travels much less harrowing on those mountain passes. As a result of poor service, I’ll never go back to that outfitter and will do everything in my power to ensure anyone that asks me will know that this is not an outfit they want to do business with.
How does this translate from the wilderness to the hallways of your organization? I know I would love to tell you I had everything under my control, but truthfully, every day I am presented with a situation that is unexpected. As a former superintendent, I couldn't control a parent’s angry response after I suspended their student, but I could control my response to them, as well as controlling the situation through good policy that was consistently enforced through similar circumstances throughout the year.
The more that can be handled (controlled) at their level, the more time you will be able to spend on other areas, like meeting with colleagues in your field, those under your mentorship or even those on your board. Remember to control what you can control.
Photo source: istock
Have you ever felt the pull to full-time ministry work as a missionary or pastor? If not, you can still make a Kingdom impact without quitting your current job. In this eBook, you will learn the four essentials that can change your perspective of work, your workplace, and most importantly, your heart.
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