{"id":32007,"date":"2019-09-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/yes-is-more-than-an-answer-its-an-attitude\/"},"modified":"2023-11-13T20:50:45","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T20:50:45","slug":"yes-is-more-than-an-answer-its-an-attitude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-care\/yes-is-more-than-an-answer-its-an-attitude\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes is More Than an Answer. It\u2019s an Attitude!"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Yes<\/a>Customers don\u2019t like to be told no. Any request or complaint that is met with a negative response may only add fuel to the fire. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve been intrigued for years by Cameron Mitchell\u2019s philosophy\u2014and also the title of his book\u2014Yes is the Answer! What is the Question?<\/em><\/a>\r\n\r\nWhy did I wait so long to write about this? I have addressed this topic in several other ways. For example, one of my favorite business strategies is \u201cone to say YES and two to say NO\u201d<\/a>, which is all about empowering employees to say \u201cyes\u201d<\/em> to customers. What made me want to write about Cameron Mitchell\u2019s concept now is that I recently had the opportunity to interview Cameron<\/a> and learn directly from the \u201cMaster of YES\u201d himself.\r\n\r\nCameron Mitchell is the founder and CEO of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants<\/a>. There are about sixty of them and they are recognized for great food and great service across the board. As one might imagine, in the restaurant business you get all types of special requests. It would be very easy to say no to a customer for many of these special requests, but Cameron has a different philosophy.\r\n

Yes is philosophical<\/h3>\r\nFirst, Cameron emphasizes the idea that saying yes is philosophical. There are plenty of reasons you might say no to a customer, so you must train your people accordingly. Obviously, you must say no to anything illegal. For example, a sixteen-year-old at a restaurant is not allowed to order alcohol. But you can start with the idea that everyone should try to say yes. Then, through training, give employees examples that show them how far they can go. That\u2019s a good way to start embracing the \u201cyes\u201d attitude.\r\n\r\nAnd \u201cyes\u201d really is an attitude. Bake it into the culture of your organization. Employees must be empowered to say yes whenever possible or to find creative solutions to make customers happy when the answer must be no.\r\n\r\nIf an employee asks permission for something they weren\u2019t sure they could say yes to, then that should be the last time the employee should ever have to ask permission for anything similar. Document those examples for others to follow. Train by citing examples of actual interactions between employees and customers. By the way, if someone crosses the line and doesn\u2019t say no when they should, that is a great training opportunity as well.\r\n\r\n\u201cYes\u201d is more than just a simple answer to a customer\u2019s request or needs. It\u2019s an attitude and a culture. Create an organization focused on taking care of the customer\u2014this could mean saying yes or coming up with other ways to make the customer happy. Serve your customers with the \u201cyes attitude,\u201d and they\u2019ll serve you success for your business.\r\n
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