Meet The Most Liked Person I Have Ever Met

1.    Customer Service Feature Story

 Meet The Most Liked Person I Have Ever Met

Some people are “connectors” by nature. I have long marveled at how easily my brother-in-law Eddie Cheyfitz connects with total strangers and builds amazing relationships. He is one of the most liked people I have ever met. He and my sister Kathy met and started dating in the eighth grade. They just celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary, and they still have an amazing relationship. You will rarely see one without the other. Their life hasn’t always been easy, however. They have overcome two major obstacles. For one thing, Kathy had their first child, a baby boy named Andy, during their senior year in high school. Eighteen years later, Andy was killed in a tragic automobile accident. Both those kinds of events often lead to divorce, so for this couple to have maintained an amazing relationship is incredible.

But there’s more to the story. Because he became a father in high school, Eddie was unable to go to college. He spent 10 years working full-time at a grocery store, until one day, out of the blue, the grocery store closed down. That ended up being the best thing that ever happened to Eddie. It forced him to explore new career opportunities. To pay the bills, he started working in construction, then stumbled on a temporary part-time summer job as an ice cream merchandiser for Carnation—part of the Nestlé corporation—to help introduce a new line of ice cream novelties to grocery stores in northeast Ohio. Eddie gave up a $20-an-hour construction job for a temporary $6-an-hour position in the hope it would lead to a long-term opportunity. Not surprisingly, because of the customer relationships, Eddie built in a short amount of time, his sales outperformed many others. As a result, Carnation offered him a full-time, entry-level position. Once Eddie got his foot in the door, his career took off, and he enjoyed a successful 28-year tenure at Nestlé.

Breaking the Ice

So, what is Eddie’s secret? How does he so easily connect with people and build amazing relationships? I have seen him do it hundreds of times: He will meet someone and within a few minutes have this total stranger sharing amazing details about him- or herself. First of all, Eddie possesses the five characteristics needed to master rapport building: He is authentic; he is genuinely curious; he is a great listener; he displays incredible empathy; and he absolutely loves people.

*Related – How to Master the Art of Rapport Building

Eddie points to the questions he asks when he meets someone as his ability to build instant rapport with others. He says, “Over the years, I developed a routine that I would use in my sales calls that was a good ice breaker, asking, ‘Where are you going? Where have you been?’ to give me an opportunity to learn more about my customers on a personal level. People love to talk about past and future vacations.”

Eddie continues, “It puts them in a happy place where they can share personal stories and make suggestions on great places they’ve been to. I also love to share vacation stories and places I have been. I found that many customers would call me when planning a trip and ask me for advice on places to visit. I always opened our dialogue about personal fun stuff. When it got time to discuss business, my job was a lot easier.”

Around the time Eddie was retiring, I started a nonprofit called Believe in Dreams, which fulfills the dreams of economically disadvantaged youth who have survived nonmedical adversity by providing access to enriching opportunities, connections to the community, and hope for the future. I needed someone to run Believe in Dreams full-time, and I was able to talk Eddie into doing that. I couldn’t have asked for a better person. He was superb at engaging people—from our dreamers (young children), volunteers, and the counselors who nominate their students to big donors who help financially support the charity. As a result of Eddie’s efforts, Believe in Dreams has really taken off and has impacted many children’s lives.

2.    Article You Need To Read

How to spot a fake smile: It’s all in the eyes

After you ensure you are not giving off RBF, you need to make sure you are giving genuine smiles. How can we tell a real smile from a fake one? According to research, your eyes don’t lie. Check out this article How to Spot Fake Smiles.

3.    Short Video You Need To Watch, Share With Your Team & Your Kids

Forget about finding your passion, just go do shit! It is not about how hard you work when doing the things you are passionate about. It is about putting in the same type of energy and effort on the things you are not passionate about that is what really counts.

4.    Quote Of The Week

“We can teach the team the ‘how-to’, but if they don’t have the ‘heart to’,

the ‘how-to’ goes away”

—Lisa Duran 

5.    Resource To Help Take Your Customer Experience To The Next Level

 Customer eXperience Executive Training Online 

While the 2020 Customer eXperience Executive Academy is sold out, you don’t have to wait until January 2021 for the next class to start. The same course is offered online. The Customer eXperience Executive (CXE) Academy’s e-learning course outline has been designed to prepare leaders like you, from around the world, for a new level of leadership, to the benefit of both your career and your organization. This course enables you to assess the current state of service in an organization and work to build a culture within that delivers world-class experiences, consistently.

The CXE Academy Online provides comprehensive training and certification on all facets and responsibilities that fall under the Customer experience. As a student of The CXE Academy Online you will develop your ability to design and implement significant business change that impacts the customer service delivered by your organization.

The series of classes developed for this offering follows the trademarked X Commandments methodology created by John DiJulius and The DiJulius Group. As a participant, you will learn the importance of each aspect of this methodology, and how to implement, execute, and train on each one.

You will start your e-learning with two preparatory courses, The State of Service and Beginning the CXE Journey.  These will be followed by the courses listed below.

Your Customer eXperience Executive Academy Online e-learning program will conclude with a course on training and a final exam to achieve your certification.