Great customer service is the secret to longevity written by the New Haven County chapter of SCORE and published in the New Haven Register is great article that covers customer service from front to back as it lays out how to provide excellent service.
I am certain that, whoever contributed to this article, probably did things very well in their leadership careers. Leaders who were successful without technology. How did they do that? They spent a lot of time talking face-to-face with their employees about everything.
"When you think about it, you can come up with some great customer service improvement ideas that are unique to your own business. Just step back, look at your business through the eyes of a customer, and go back to work to create the unique business experience you want your customers to have.
Great customer service pays dividends because it makes your employees feel good about where they work, keeps the customers coming back and makes your business more profitable. Walk the talk, and build a reputation for your business that keeps you ahead of your competition."
I especially loved the paragraphs above. Many corporate offices in sales and service industries would also love them. They would read the above paragraphs and say. "Yeah, we're doing that." And they probably are...in the Corporate Office. So, the question is, "What does the frontline think? Do they think the company is delivering satisfaction to customers and to employees? If not, how do we change and improve?"
Team leaders at any level of an organization should make the frontline a big part of the solution. Provide them the opportunity to have a huge voice (every one of them) in procedure and policy. Involve them and they will know that you, and the company, think they are as important as you are.
If I was a team leader right now, I would have casual, congenial, and creative conversation about those two paragraphs. I'd put those words on a poster-size piece of white paper. (No slides, powerpoint, technology) Then I would facilitate an analysis (a meeting, hopefully a series of meetings) of those words as if they were part of the evidence in a murder investigation on, "Law and Order."
The meetings would provide new insights and awareness about a variety of topics, but the biggest value would be that a unified team is being created during the discussions. Extraordinary teams are rare. As rare as a customer service experience that inspires customers to remember, return, and recommend.
The goal is a communication system that engages people in being a part of the team achievement process.
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