This blog is an open conversation for sharing insights, examples and ideas on how to build a Superior Service Culture.
This is a community space to share experiences, stimulate thinking and explore different points of view. We will share our thoughts with you and welcome you to share yours.
The problem with Customer Service Training
Many organizations spend heavily on service training and wonder months later why no substantial improvement has been achieved.
Training teaches someone how to “do” something in a specific situation. Training, by its nature, is tactical, prescriptive and differs between functions and departments.
This can result in a fragmented understanding of service inside an organization. It can also leave employees unsure what to do when they encounter a situation they have not been trained to handle. This leads to frequent escalations that take time and resources to resolve with no guarantee of a desirable outcome for the customer.
Build a Superior Service Culture
Organizations that build a Superior Service Culture create an environment with a shared understanding of fundamental service principles and common language to speak about and deliver superior service.
In a Superior Service Culture, everyone is educated, motivated, recognized and rewarded for creating increasing value for customers and colleagues.
A Superior Service Culture must be intentionally designed, developed and sustained over time. A proven architecture of service education, leadership, momentum and support can be applied to successfully engineer a Superior Service Culture throughout your organization.
Why bother?
Organizations that provide superior service – and constantly step up to new levels – create value for customers beyond the usual comparisons of price, features and specifications.
This deepens your relationship with customers, earning higher volumes, margins and profits. This differentiates you from the competition and leads to a sustainable competitive advantage.
What’s next?
At a macroeconomic level, service industries are replacing manufacturing, agriculture and resource exploitation as a cornerstone of economic growth in developed and developing countries.
In developed countries, the impact of globalization, commoditization and ease of switching suppliers means customers have more choice. Organizations must work smarter to create profitable relationships and sustain customer loyalty.
Service excellence is no longer the exclusive domain of hospitality, retail and food and beverage sectors. Internet technology, trade liberalization and maturing markets have increased competitive intensity across many industries including medical, financial and professional services, technology, telecommunications, manufacturing and even government sectors.
As customers become increasingly sophisticated and expectations rise, what delights customers today is merely normal tomorrow. Superior service is now a moving target.
Customer service training alone cannot keep pace.
To win in today’s world, you must build a Superior Service Culture.
I totally subscribe to Ron’s view about customer service education vs training. There is simply no way we can predict all the situations that can happen in today’s complex and inter-connected world. Our best bet is really to have thinking people who act guided by core principles, not people trained to replicate actions based on known situations. In fact, with every passing moment, there are no two situations that can ever be the same!
Michelle’s comments are right on and it is so important that we do lead from our core values, mission and vision. The complexity of todays service environment require everyone to have the ability to make decisions and do so quickly and of this comes back to hiring the players right up front. I believe this is where many companies, mine included need to spend more time and resources.
Truly agree with Mark we must pay attentoin to any orgnaizations core values and act accordingly there will be more chances to win the customer satisfaction & believe. Moreover we have keep in our mind that what is our company slogan and mission achieve productive results.
My belief is that people that provide brilliant customer service do so from the heart. There is a genuine desire to create a “moment”, they understand the importance of now to the future of the customer relationship. I believe its a personality trait not a skill that can be taught. I’ve worked with some people that Ron Kaufman would earn his money trying to bang the concept into their heads.
@ Louise. I appreciate your comment and agree with you that some follks are born with that “personality trait” of caring about and enjoying serving other people. I was very fortunate that my grandmother was a person like that (she taught kindergarten for 40 years) and I learned that view of the world from her. That said, I also believe that people can be taught and learn how to create great experiences for other people – but this is not (yet) taught in schools where it should be, so we all end up “learning together” in real life. Thanks for being someone who notices and cares!