Dear Joel, your website said that we could get free buttons if we sent you our picture wearing our SMILE buttons So here we are! The HR Department at the San Diego Padres Baseball Club. We are finishing up our SMILE! week at the Padres Front Office. Our employees enjoyed the video of Reggie and we'll be showing it again and again at our orientations. We think that we are a great organization, but your video has inspired our employees to do even better. We will be giving away a lot of smiles this season.
       > Sherry Atkinson, HR, San Diego Padres Baseball Club

REVIEW of SMILE! - RECOMMENDED: 3.5 stars
SMILE! tells the story of a singing and smiling bus driver named Reggie Wilson. It's a story that will make your customer service employees feel good. And more, it will help you cultivate an infectious positive attitude that will improve customer service. The video's premise is simple and light on prescriptive content but is powerfully motivational. We follow Reggie on his Seattle bus route and watch him interact with his riders. We see how Reggie makes them feel good and actually feel good ourselves! Viewing the video is enough to warm the toughest audiences. The video is similar to that bestselling video about the Fulton Fish Market, also in Seattle.

The package includes the 12-minute video, a 25-page facilitator guide, and a handful of "SMILE" buttons. The guide structures a 1.5- to 2-hour seminar that includes large group discussion, small group activity, a team attitude assessment, and personal action planning.

With the guide, both novice and experienced facilitators will feel comfortable and supported. Their only requirement: enthusiasm and a positive attitude that rivals Reggie's. As with (the bestselling video about the Fulton Fish Market), modeling positive behavior is the facilitator's primary role.

Recommendation: SMILE! is a unique and compelling video because of Reggie Wilson. Enthusiastic motivational presentations can sometimes help sales and service employees improve their attitudes, but Reggie's story makes the case better than words. If you need to encourage a positive service approach (or have a difficult or 'poisoned' service environment), SMILE! is a great training choice. **Training Media Review (www.tmreview.com) reprinted with their permission.

Looking for SMILE! stuff? check out the new SMILE! t-shirts! (link)

I looked long and hard for a program to use for the Metro Transit Authority (MTA) here in Nashville. There are hundreds of customer service training tapes out there and none of them seemed appropriate. As soon as I saw 'SMILE!' I knew I had found my program. And when the folks at the MTA saw it - it sealed the deal. SMILE! is now a part of the new employee training as well as the customer service training for all existing MTA employees. Thank you for bringing a SMILE! to the faces of so many here in Nashville; if I could have rubbed Aladdin's lamp and got my wish - it would have been THIS program!
       > David L. Preston, Hospitality Industry Training Director, Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau:

SMILE!'s message is right on target and gets to the heart of what customer service is all about - attitude and caring about people. It is an excellent tool to launch a discussion about both customer service and attitude. I did the training yesterday with a mixed group of frontline employees. The video was a hit and the small group discussion worked well. Group discussions tend to take on a life of their own and this one definitely revolved around people taking responsibility for their own attitudes. I would say that the main learning point, for this group, was that they have control over how their day goes. This was a novel idea for many of them.

Taking ownership for our lives is a difficult undertaking for many people so I was happy to see some "lights go on". If they use this insight back on their jobs, it will make a real difference in their own lives and in customer service.
       > From Daphne Wright, Director of Training and Education for the South Georgia Medical Center.

Read more about the spirit of customer service: How SMILE! lifts the spirit.

I just wanted to take a minute to expand on our experience with the SMILE video ... the SMILE video boosts that philosophy to a level where our employees can actually see how to apply them to their own lives. Reggie took those 4 key factors and applied them to become world famous in a whole new way.

We use this video to primarily show our Executive Directors who run our Assisted Living Communities. Our approach is to show them that they are the bus drivers and they need to make sure that people (their customers and employees) want to get on their bus because of who's driving it. If there are some bumps or a wrong turn on the way, no one wants to get off, they are on the bus because of who else is on the bus. The energy this video provides them is contagious. They have a clearer idea that employees and customers have a choice of busses, but they chose theirs!!! Thanks again for this wonderful video.
       > Mary Culver, Training Specialist, Atria Senior Living Group

I enjoy the program a great deal. I use it in my orientation program during that dull time after lunch. It picks everyone up and we have a great time. Reggie is such an engaging character that it's almost impossible not to get involved with the video. By the time I have people moving their chairs and singing, they are ready to meet Reggie. We set up the chairs in rows with an aisle- just like a bus- and we sing along. I think the concepts are clear and clearly presented. Oh, and we all wear the SMILE! buttons, too!
       > From Candy Gusst, Director of Training, Beneficial Savings Bank

“SMILE is a wonderful tool for internal or external customer service, as well as teambuilding training. Its upbeat and practical approach keeps people engaged and having fun while providing ideas that can be immediately put to use.”
       >  Chris Petrizzo, Training Manager, Pikes Peak Library District

I use it more for a motivation enhancer than I do for customer service, although it would certainly work well for CS. I think it teaches the importance of individual "accountability" for the organization...going beyond your regular "responsibilities". Everyone has their regular job responsibilities...that's what I pay my people for. Accountability to me means going beyond your regular responsibilities. It means being accountable to your team members, the customer...the situation at hand. It means being accountable for your personal attitude when dealing with others. These are the things I talk to our employees about when I show the film.
       > From Sam Splear, Manager QCHR, The John Deere & Company

Dear Joel - Adored the video! Adored Reggie! And I adored the the inspirational message! It is perfect for Customer Service and for a sometimes needed shot of encouragement. I absolutely LOVE the button! With a rapidly downturning economy, and a lot of people seeming in dire straights, the button seems to cheer them up when they come into my office and see it. I have been told that I am always smiling and I'm often asked how I do it - the button reinforces that. I would love to purchase more buttons...!
       > From Kari Turner, United States Postal Service

In order to enhance my customer service workshops, I searched long and hard for a video that would be exceptional and effective. We watch every penny here at Customer Science and I wanted to make the right investment. Well, the Smile video has been a goldmine for me! Every class that sees it loves it. I think Reggie has really helped me drive home the issues of customer service. I am now getting requests for the SMILE pins from everywhere! Of course, they are only available to my students, after they see the video and attend the class! After training a medical office recently, I returned to the office on other business and was thrilled to see what they had done! They had spelled out SMILE with magnetic business cards on the side of a file cabinet - what a tribute to the impact of the video!
       > From Peg Parker, training consultant with Customer Science

Over the past two weeks, I presented eight 3 hour customer service workshops to approximately 500 front line supervisors and workers. The title of the workshop "Customer Service - The Other Side of the Desk" emphasizes the importance of attitude, empathy, and communication in dealing with customers. The SMILE! video is the ideal video to help front line staff recognize and rediscover the difference that they make in the lives of people when they maintain a bigger vision. Too often, they get caught up in the daily grind of their jobs and forget the profound influence they have on the lives of so many people. It also helps them recognize that their own lives and jobs will be enriched and more satisfying than they can imagine by maintaining a positive attitude. They loved Reggie. SMILE! provided them the opportunity to laugh and smile. Thanks!
       > Karen M. Stengle, The Rushmore Group

I just saw the SMILE! training video- WOW! What a great tool to train people. I would love to order an extra 100 SMILE buttons, too!"
       > From the training manager of a large department store

The video is great fun! I hope to take a ride on Reggie's bus sometime! But seriously, SMILE! is extending the value we got from .... (another popular training program), thank you.
       > HR Training, Gov't. agency

I recently saw your SMILE video at a meeting. I thought it was wonderful. I am interested in purchasing more smile buttons!        > HR Director, Retail chain

I would love to have sheet music for Reggie's songs. Please make this part of the trainer's guide! Thank you!
       > Librarian, state college

I've watched "Smile" twice now and I'm just blown away, as are the rest of our staff. It is so great on every level, even technically. You are a genius. Thanks for sending.
       > HR Director, bank

I received the SMILE button from my long time friend Reggie. Whatever Reggie does to improve the way people are living, I'm there to support him.
       > Local rep for a US Senator