There is a More Dangerous Pandemic Happening with No Vaccine

5 Quick Tips to Help you Make Price Irrelevant

1. Customer Service Feature Story

There is a More Dangerous Pandemic Happening with No Vaccine

I was recently in Florida enjoying a few days of vacation and warm weather. One of the many things I have always loved about being at a vacation place is how everyone there is relaxed and in a great mood, smiling and saying, “Good morning.” Pre-pandemic, it was different than the typical workday, when people were rushing throughout their day, not paying attention to one another, let alone acknowledging each other. However, on this trip, in 2021, two things surprised me; most people were not wearing masks, very few people were making eye contact, and people were not smiling or greeting each other as they walked past.

This is what a year of social isolation has done to us. It has hardened us. It has made us less engaging. Having spent twelve months in social isolation, we almost have to relearn our people skills. Social isolation causes segregation. The less we get out, the more we are only surrounded by people like us. We don’t see the homeless veteran or come in contact with the cashier, who is a single mom struggling to make ends meet. We lose our empathy. Back in our normal world, we were put in positions to be considerate, by letting other drivers into our lane or paying for someone else’s coffee.

Cost of Social Isolation

There is a greater pandemic that has been growing for the last decade and having a severe impact on our health. There are many things contributing to social isolation besides this current pandemic. Social media is the tobacco company of today. Businesses going all in on convenience at the expense of human interaction. In addition, one of the fastest growing segments in business the last decade has been the gig economy. This rise of the solopreneurs means more people have less interactions with co-workers.

As a result of the loneliness pandemic, back in 2018, the Prime Minister of the UK, Theresa May, appointed the world’s first minister for loneliness, declaring the “hidden epidemic” affecting nine million UK citizens “one of the great public health challenges of our time”. “For far too many people, loneliness is the sad reality of modern life,” May said. “I want to confront this challenge for our society and for all of us to take action to address the loneliness endured by the elderly, by careers, by those who have lost loved ones — people who have no one to talk to or share their thoughts and experiences with.”

“Chronic social isolation might be something like long-term undernourishment, producing steady, aversive need that wears away at our wellbeing,” noted Stanford University’s Jamil Zaki, author of The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World.

You can now Rent a Friend & Rent a Family

What’s the cost of friendship? According to the website RentAFriend.com, it’s about $30 an hour. If you don’t want to go to a work event alone or if you’ve been dying to go see a concert but have no one to enjoy it with, now you can rent a friend. However, it doesn’t stop there. There is a Japan company that has started a Rent-a-Family business. People who are short on relatives can hire a husband, a mother, or a grandson.

We Must Relearn and Reteach People Skills

This is not just a result of the virtual world, businesses all around are building contactless experiences. Drive thru, delivery, self-serving kiosks, and digital channels are exploding all around us. However, this emotional detachment has a cost. That cost is brand loyalty from both your customers and employees.

The best brands address our emotional and social needs. Strong brands define a brand character that reflects our personal values and personality. Organizations must not let relationships become mere transactions. Customers will stay loyal to the brands that help make them feel alive. The most successful companies in the world are not characterized by the best products in the world, but by redefining our expectations. Let’s face it, most products and services today are of similar quality.

Being able to build true sustainable relationships is the biggest competitive advantage in a world where automation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are eliminating millions of jobs and disrupting entire industries, businesses, and careers. In the digital revolution, human interaction, compassion, empathy, and communication skills become a premium advantage.

With the increase in the digitization and automation of customer interactions, your employees must be focusing on building relationships with customers. The most memorable customer experiences are the ones where an emotional connection was made, where both customer and employee felt something.

2) Episode 37: Struggle Well

In Episode 37 of The Customer Service Revolution Podcast,

Chief Revolution Officer John DiJulius of The DiJulius Group talks with a former member of the US Navy, serial entrepreneur and author Ken Falke. Today Ken’s passion is taking care of his fellow combat veterans and their family members. He is chairman and founder of Boulder Crest, an organization focused on the teachings of posttraumatic growth. Ken spends the majority of his time educating the public and private sectors on the issues surrounding the long-term care of our returning military personnel and their families from the last 19 years of war.

Learn:

• About Ken’s highly successful military career
• How he leveraged his successful military career into building multiple businesses
• Why he got into helping veterans deal with PTSD
• Why he wrote Struggle Well – Thriving in the Aftermath of Trauma
• How in today’s world, it is more important than ever to help ourselves and those around us address mental wellness
• Learn the Mental Wellness Model that can be applied to everyone

3) Must watch short video

Watch this 1-minute video on “How to Avoid your Employees from Having Empathy Fatigue.”

4) Quote of The Week 

“It is not your employees’ responsibility to have high service aptitude,
it is the company’s to give it to them.”

—John R. DiJulius III

5) Only a Few Spots Left in the April CX Coach Camp

Have you ever dreamed of owning your own business and making a significant impact? Maybe it is time you become a licensed Customer Experience Coach—register for April’s Coach Camp. 

In April, The DiJulius Group is holding their second CX Coach Camp, training passionate CX (Customer Experience) Coaches. These entrepreneurs are now licensed to train businesses on the exact same methodology that has been used with the best customer service companies from all over the world.