How To Keep Customer Service Alive
Have you ever had a burst of motivation to get fit, purchased a gym membership, new workout gear and a shiny new water bottle, only to start and then stop? If so, you are not alone.
USA Today reports that 67% of gym memberships go completely unused. But even among those who do use their gym membership, many are not exactly regular. Finder.com says 56.6% of members use the gym twice a week, 20.7% go once a week, 6% go once a month, and 7.4% go less than once a month.
Why is this?
It can be easy to start something, but maintaining it is a bigger challenge. You only get results with sustained effort. You can’t expect to go to the gym once and get fit. It is the same for customer service. It is not a one-off training event or something mentioned in the corporate orientation and never heard of again.
One of the service leader’s most critical roles is to keep it alive every day. Matt Church, one of my favourite mentors, says, ‘It is the role of the leader to light the fire every day’.
Reinforcing the importance of the customer is essential. The human brain stores information so that frequent use and repetition make it easily accessible. Sporadic use causes the information to slip further down our memories and be forgotten. It’s like when you meet someone and learn their name. Chances are that if you see them often, you will remember their name. But if it is a year down the track and you haven’t seen them, there is a greater likelihood that you will forget. It is not because you have a bad memory; rather, it is information you have not needed or accessed.
Behaviour increases in probability when its outcomes are reinforced. Some practical tips for reinforcing the principles of service include:
Using recognition as a positive way to reinforce service.
Making customer service the number one agenda item in every team meeting.
Ensuring each person who joins the organisation has customer service training. Provide ongoing refresher training.
Incorporating customer-driven metrics to measure outcomes for all teams.
Celebrating wins and success with each individual and the team.
Reinforcing service standards and behaviours, every single day.
Ryan Holiday writes the Daily Stoic Blog. He shared Aristotle’s words, ‘Virtues are formed in man by his doing the actions’. The writer Will Durant interpreted it:
“We are what we repeatedly do… therefore excellence is not an act, but a habit.”’
In other words: Excellence isn’t this thing you do one time. It’s a way of living. It’s foundational.
And that is the key message for leaders in reinforcing and sustaining a service mindset and culture. It is an ongoing and constant focus, every single day.
