About the Episode:
Listen to a remastered episode from the archives… Are you waking up and immediately feeling like crap? I could take a guess that it is linked to a few things. One of them being a lack of consistent sleep or even a mildly consistent diet. Today I dive deep into seven different areas you can improve in to feel better overall.
Listen to the podcast here:
Watch the episode here:
Episode References:
- N/A
Episode Topics:
- Set the right expectations
- Do what you say you’ll do
- Call and duplicate
Hey, what’s shakin’, hey, I’m Rick Jordan today, we’re going all in.
Last night, I was at an event in the town where I live in. That was pretty cool. It was like a celebration like a once in a 100-year celebration because of the day that things fell on. And there was a drone show. At the end of the thing, like at nine o’clock, I was down there with my twins actually returned an aerial. And the drone show was frickin spectacular. There were like 500 drones, I’m not even exaggerating, 500 drones that were in the air doing these things, they had coordinated music. I mean, it was just, it was beautiful. And just moving, it was pretty awesome to see a Chicago suburb like this, just really jump on board to have this amazing celebration use technology to do so. And it was great because the show lasted you know, just like any typical firework show, but it was a drone show, it lasted about 15 minutes or so amazing. Then I go back to the car, and
I get in. And well first I don’t even get in yet, because I’ve got a 2021 BMW X seven as my daily driver, and I go to get into the car, and it’s got the handle sensors like a lot of vehicles do. I mean, doesn’t matter what makes a lot of vehicles have something, whether it’s a button, unlock it from the outside, that way, you don’t have to remove the fob from your pockets. So mine is like you just touch the inside of the handle to unlock it. And there’s like a little kind of raised bump thing, almost kind of like Braille that you put your thumb on to lock it. It’s just a touch thing. So I go to touch it to unlock and the thing doesn’t unlock like, well, that’s weird, though. I’m thinking, You know what, maybe the battery might keep evolving? No, I don’t think so it just had those replaced a little bit ago. So I take the five out of my pocket, and I hit the unlock thing unlocked just fine. Like sweet. Here we go. Just something weird, right?
I go to get into the car. And I go to start it because the push button is like on the council in the center for me, and doesn’t start things starts yelling at me. And I’ve got a message on the dashboard to the right, I’ve got a message on the dash in front of me that says key missing. Like, alright, that’s a great key missing.
And then I’m looking this up. I’m like, Okay, I haven’t had to do this in this car yet. But if you’ve ever had to do this before, there’s a way to start the vehicle if the thing doesn’t see your key, right? You actually remember like some GM vehicles are like a little socket that you place it in. And it just has a reader that’s inside there. Because it’s an RFID chip. And it can see that the key is present so that you can start the car if it can’t use the radios inside to see if it’s there. I’m like, Cool. Where is this thing? Oddly enough, it’s like placing on the steering column. That’s what the screen says I’m like, Cool. So there’s this nice fat BMW right in the middle of my steering wheel. And I didn’t think steering column and I see that I’m like, Cool, I’m gonna tap it to that. Nothing, right? So I’m like, this has to be the wrong spot. So I’m looking around. And sure enough, it’s on the side of the steering column. Like we’re if you if you’re in your 30s or 40s, you know this, right? Because maybe not in your 20s and younger, but if you’re in your 30s and 40s, you know that vehicles used to have physical keys, all of them. And they all used to be for the most part, the keyhole was on the side, the ignition was on the side of the steering column, the right side of the steering column. And that’s where the sensor is. So you look at it’s got a nice little icon of a key got two arrows pointing in, and I’m like, Cool. There it is. So I go and it doesn’t work.
Like the Son of a gun. Okay, so
I have my other key fob brought to me. Right? And I’m like, maybe this fob is dead. So key fob comes, I tried to put the key fob on. And the second one, right, and the second one opens and closes the car, no problem, you still get inside, it still says missing key. I tried to put that one up against the steering column, the car still does not start cannot tell that there’s a key in the vehicle. And now I have both fobs that came with the vehicle, right? I’m actually going through hardware troubleshooting, like I typically have done in years past being a technician and a network engineer, and all of that I’m going through these steps, right? I’m like, Okay, if this one doesn’t work, then maybe this one worked. Maybe it’s a problem here. And I’m just going down the line troubleshooting this thing. The second key fob does not work, like well, that sucks. Now I need to call roadside assistance. No, get out of the car, I call roadside assistance. And they’re like, Okay, well, and they’re going through the same thing with me and all of this stuff. And this was so cool. Because the like I need to read some diagnostics from your vehicle. I gave him the last seven because there’s a BMW app, right that I just logged right in and called them from there. And it started the case connecting me on the phone with them. And then they’re like I need to
I need to access data from your vehicle. So by this time, I’m standing on the sidewalk
There’s a message on the screen that you need to press to allow your vehicle to send me the data. Like, really, that’s awesome, though I go inside the car at this point, this is like a sort of fun experience because the communication is fantastic. And then I get in the car and I see right on the dash, I’m like, there it is. Like, would you like to share your information with BMW roadside assistance? Yes, I would send it straight off to him. So she’s like, Oh, I’m reading the messages here. Okay, it doesn’t recognize your keys. I’m like, I know. That’s why I’m calling you. She’s like, okay, so then she’s like, well, this isn’t gonna happen, right? We have to get you towed. You know, I’m gonna find the nearest BMW dealer. I have your location already. Because you sent that when you accepted. And we’re gonna send a tow truck right there for you tonight. Okay, I’m like, Yeah, tonight’s good. I would prefer to not have this set. Because again, it’s not by where I live. It’s actually in a town that I attended a drone show. And she’s like, okay, no problem, though. While she’s doing her thing on the other line. I’m like, I wonder.
I go to, if I can remotely start my car. Because I have the app, I can remote start the car, maybe then it’ll start and I can get in and then it’ll recognize a key or something, right? So I go in the app while she’s doing all this stuff, and I Remote Start the car. And it’s like, hey, commands successfully sent to the vehicle, like sweet, and I’m standing there. And so like, this thing isn’t started. It said it started on the app, but it’s not started, like, alright, so I tell her I’m like, You know what, I just tried remote starting this thing, because maybe I could get in the car. I told her this. She was like, while you’re trying everything. I’m like, I know, I’m just going through the steps here that I can think of my mind the logical steps. So I go back into the vehicle. Because she needed something, I can’t remember what it is I go back into the vehicle and the preconditioning. Right, the climate control is on, and the dash is all lit up. The car thinks that it’s on. It thinks that it’s turned on from the remote start, but the engine never ran. The engine never even tried to turn over. But the car is like this weird zombie car to where it’s like The Walking Dead, right? It’s like stuff’s going on inside. But the thing ain’t moving. The engine has not started at all. I mean, even the lights that flash when it receives the command didn’t even flash but the inside of the car lit up like a spaceship, and did not go on. I’m like, This is odd. So I’m trying to stop it. I’m like, doesn’t turn off either. She’s like, All right, I’ve got a car coming to you. She goes, Okay, first, Mr. Jordan, you’re going to receive a text message. This is going to be the confirmation of your case number. And then right after that, in about two minutes or so, you’re going to receive another text message with the status of the towing company, I see that your car probably won’t shift into neutral, right? I’m like, No, it won’t. That thing doesn’t start, you know, and you have to have the thing on in order to show. Okay, well, I needed to find somebody. That’s why it took me a couple more minutes that has special equipment to load your car on the tow truck because you cannot shift this into neutral. Like Alright, cool. So she’s like, Okay, is there anything else I can do for you right now, again, you’ll receive a text message that will tell you the name of the towing company and the ETA. You know, right now, you know, we’re guessing maybe about 120 minutes. I’m like, Wow, 120 minutes. So like, yeah, that’s, the information I’m reading back, okay. And I’m like, All right. Well, I appreciate you telling me so we get off the phone.
And no joke. Two minutes later, I get a text message. And the text message says I’ve got it right in front of me right now. Or I did anyways, right?
Maybe it deleted it? I don’t know. But I know it’s right there. Right. Top Rank Telling LLC has been assigned to your service request and will be there in 120 minutes, tap here for live updates on your towing. Like, well, it sucks that it’s two hours, but at the same time. That’s pretty great, right? Because I can just see the live view of this the whole time. It’s like, I so appreciated this process up until this point. And then it was maybe five minutes later, maybe five minutes later that I received a phone call after this text message from the BMW roadside assistance from somebody completely different. And they just said, Hey, Mr. Jordan, I just wanted to let you know, if you didn’t receive the text message that a towing company has been assigned. They’ll be there in about 120 minutes. Like that’s awesome. I got the text message. Thank you. I appreciate you calling me. I hope you’re picking up on the pattern of this story so far. Because now I hang up the phone right? And no joke. Five minutes later, I get a call from the towing company from the actual guy that’s gonna come out and he’s like, Hey, Mr. Jordan, I got the order to tow your BMW. You know, it looks like it’s an M package right? I’m like it is. So he’s like, Well, that has the wider base on the rear tire. So I have to bring some different equipment that’s wider for the rear tires. I think those are 315 I’m like they are they’re freaking wide man. He’s like, okay, no problem. He goes, I know it’s set for 120 minutes. I’m going to try to make it there as fast as I can. I just finished up another tow job. And I will let you know when I’m on my way. I’m like
Okay, cool. That’s great. In the meantime, like, what do I do I just go down the street to a restaurant or whatever. It doesn’t matter, though, in this process, right? It was only about 15 minutes after that, that I got a call back from this guy, a phone call, right? And he says, All right, Mr. Jordan, I’m on my way, I finished up pretty quick. I should be there in about 45 minutes. Like, dude, I appreciate you. And then immediately as he gets there, right, because I’m just sitting there immediately as he gets there. He’s like, I made it here as fast as I can because I know that it’s late, and I wanted to get you on your way. So we’ll get this taken care of, like, Awesome, that’s great. And then after he loads the thing up on the flatbed, he tells me he’s like, Okay, I’m gonna bring this to the BMW in Orland Park, because that’s the closest one, I think that’s okay with you like, Yes, I just had it service, their regular routine service two weeks ago. So great. When I get there, I’m going to call you. And I’m going to take pictures, and I will text message you the pictures so that you know that it arrives safely. Like, do I have to be awake for this? Because I’d kind of like to go to bed. He’s like, No, that’s fine. I’ll just leave the voicemail and send you the text message, like awesome. So still, the guy gets there. And he picks up the phone and calls the very first thing I looked at the timestamps this morning, calls me, and then afterward does exactly what he says he was going to do when he was going to do it, and sends me the text message with the pictures that have arrived. Amazing. And guess what happened at 803? This morning, the service department opens at 8 am. I got a phone call from a service advisor at 803 this morning, not an email, not a text message, a frequent phone call that says Mr. Jordan, I just wanted to let you know that we have your vehicle and that we are pulling it into the shop right now to figure out what’s wrong with this. The only note that we got from the total driver is that it doesn’t start and somehow the remote start works. But it doesn’t. Is there anything else that you’d like to add? And I said you guys have covered, you guys transmitted the message of everything that was wrong with this, the entire scenario here, all the way down to now where you have it in the shop looking at this thing, right? I was so damn impressed by this entire experience. Yeah, it sucked that my car wouldn’t start, especially since it’s only like three years old, and it only has 17,000 miles on it. And the computer seems to be wacky on it’s okay. That was a little frustrating. But I’m like, well, nothing, nothing to really do about it. Right? It was maybe frustrating for like two seconds. I’m not even kidding. Because you have that thing that likes wells up inside you. And you’re like, Okay,
but what can I do? I’m just gonna get through this. And then the best part that kept us is that BMW stuck with me and communicated with me every step of the way. And the most important thing that they did in that communication was, set the right expectations with me, they told me exactly what was going to happen every step of the way. And they freaking stuck to it. And second, they picked up the phone and called me multiple times, they didn’t send an email didn’t send a push notification in an app, they sent a text message. But even though they sent a text message, they also frickin called me to make sure I received the text message, saying what to do with that took it there, right, you can see why this guy was selected by BMW, I think he was just a one-man band. Right? You can see why he was selected with BMW in order to be a towing provider for them, because he did the same exact thing and set forth the same exact cultural experience, the BMW did themselves. Now, I tell you, I don’t know if other brands do this, right? I don’t know if Chevy does this. I don’t know if Honda does it this way. Right. All I know is that have a BMW. And they did it this way. And it was amazing, you know, BMW, a high-end car, right? luxury vehicle, I’ve got an x seven m, it makes sense, the company that I have reached out high-end company, premium prices.
These guys communicated with me how I needed to be communicated with the entire step of the way and how the world sees that communication. Because when it’s something important like this, you don’t just send an email, you don’t just send a notification to an app. Sometimes you can send a text message if you can’t get a hold of the person or to verify something, right to see if you can get a hold of them. But I used to chant this around the office years ago. call first.
Because that’s the only way that you can set the correct expectations.
We call first and we duplicate then we set the expectations. We tell them exactly what we’re going to do in the timeframe we’re going to do it if we can’t do it right then then we actually tell them okay, this is about the amount of time you can expect. So even though it was two hours in my case, even though it was two freaking hours, they still set the right expectations and they underpromise and over deliver the guy showed up in 90 minutes.
I loved it. And he also again kept me updated every step of the way with a phone call.
That’s so personal, and it eliminates any misreadings from text, from email from anything like that. This is why it reached out that we always call first, always pick up the phone, and an email is never an option for first contact. And I’m being serious with that, if that’s something that I ever see anybody continuing to do, you will not work here anymore. That’s as blunt as I can be. Because that is so impersonal. And that’s not who reached out is reach out as somebody that makes the connection and builds the relationship, sets the right expectations, and then lives up to those expectations. That’s the only way with the company that I’ve been building for 13 freaking years, that we can actually provide the service that we need to provide the experience that our customers deserve.
If you pick up the phone, and you do all these other things, right, that I just talked about today, just BMW did.
Your customers or users are going to be amazing. They’re gonna love you. They’re gonna throw up survey results and comments and reviews and all these things that just say you’re amazing, you’re fast. To solve my problem. I even saw one a couple of weeks ago, there was like, hey, it took me a little bit to get to a higher level Tech, we reviewed this right. But once I got there, this was a real common once I got there, everything was taken care of quickly. But it was like my two-hour thing. The right expectations were set from the beginning. So that person knew exactly what experience they were going to receive. So even though they’re like, Yeah, it took me just a bit to get to a higher level tech. But once they did, things were taken care of. They set the right expectations. They set the right expectations the entire way. And we got it fixed. And they were happy. They gave us a thumbs up they gave us a smiley face. They gave us a five-star review whatever you want to call it, and took the time to make the comments.
Always pick up the phone. That’s the first step to any form of communication. It’s so lost on people today. It’s so lost in the service industry. It’s so lost even in just personal communication. Everybody resorts to email or text messages or going to some app, pick up the fucking phone and watch every relationship that you have soar to new heights
Go ALL IN.