Devoted to customer service and the principles of exceptional customer services

I’ve had some time away from this blog to let my mind relax and contemplate the state of customer service.  Much of what I’ve been thinking about has been in alignment with a book that I’ve been reading titled How You Do... What You Do: Create Service Excellence That Wins Clients For Life by Bob Livingston.  I’ve been having quite a few “Ah-ha!” moments and I’m excited to share with you some of these thoughts…

I’m only at the beginning of the book and feeling very inspired by what Livingston says.  Here’s a little tidbit from Chapter 1 that resonated with me:

"It is not that people don’t care about relationships and don’t consider Service Excellence their job.  Nor is it that they are unwilling to make sacrifices, put other people first, or go out of their way to ensure flawless execution of the service chain.  It is simply that they do not appreciate the significance that their interactions may have on the person or client they are serving."

Which brings me to the title of this post…

I really want people to start looking at customer service from a different perspective - to view service as starting from within - an “inside-out” perspective, if you will. And the first step is to… 

Find Your Purpose

Many of us don’t really think of our jobs or careers as making a huge impact on other people’s lives, much less think about what our real purpose in life is.   People who work in these service positions are just doing it to “pay the bills” or they believe subconsciously that they’re not worthy or have the ability to do what they really want to do.   They’re caught up in the drama at work…and all of these things have an effect on people’s psyche.  It’s all about Me! Me! Me! In the process people have lost sight of the consequences of their actions.  They’ve lost sight of their purpose and they feel like what they’re doing has no purpose.  

When we think about customer service, most people talk about how to improve customer service.  I myself have written tons of articles offering advice on what businesses could do to make sure their customer’s are happy.  However, with this article I’d like us to dig a little deeper…I’d like for us to really think about why we do what we do and how we can change our idea about what excellent customer service is.  By focusing on you for a little while and understanding why you do what it is that you do, perhaps this will give you a little insight into why you act the way you do towards customers.

Ok, so now you know that your job is important.  What’s next?

Remember That the Customer Is King…And So Are You

We’ve all talked about how the “Customer Is King” and yes, I do believe that this statement is true.  We want the customer to be happy and we do everything in our power to make sure everything in our business is running smoothly so that customers are happy.  

However, remember that you, too, play an important role in the grand scheme of things.  You are King too!  Don’t wait for a boss to tell you that you’re doing a good job.  Just keep on doing what you’re doing with the knowledge that you are making a difference.  

Photo Credit:  Sam UL