Customer Service for All

Leadership Coaching Notes July 2010

Customer Service for All? 

Randy preaches that outstanding customer service drives success. He sponsors staff trainings and recognizes those who walk the extra mile to anticipate and meet client needs. He truly cares.

In a recent meeting, he encouraged everyone to serve every customer brilliantly, every day. Then, he invited questions. A first-year employee in the 3rd row raised his hand, “How do leaders in our company expect us to treat our customers better than leaders treat us?” The room went silent.

How Would You Have Responded?

Randy knew he faced a moment of truth. Remembering his coaching practice on listening, especially when he was surprised, he intentionally relaxed, smiled and asked a great question. Rather than jump to squash an inflammatory question, rather than minimize a difficult question or defend an accusatory question, Randy paused and chose to respond with curiosity.

(What one question would you have asked?)

Randy’s question showed everyone he wanted to learn. Listening was a customer service skill he’d taught many times and he used it here. His great question invited deeper understanding and avoided what could have become an awkward, downer, gripe session.

(Have you thought of your question yet?) Randy asked, “What is it we do with customers than you want leaders to do with you?”

What Do You Think He Learned

Randy was pleased and chagrinned by what he heard. He was gratified that staff showed so much knowledge about client service. He was disquieted, but intrigued, by the power of what they proposed

After the discussion, Randy thanked them for stimulating feedback. Then, he took the following 3 questions to his next leadership team meeting. Giving the above background, he summarized:

1.    We expect staff to meet with every customer before they start every project to define joint standards for success. We ask them to learn what clients want and clearly explain what we can and can’t do so we minimize surprises. We expect them to negotiate specific clear agreements for working together during each phase of work. We encourage them to bend when possible to give our clients a positive experience.

How well do we, as leaders, use these same project standards with our staff?

2.    We require staff to set regular meetings with clients throughout delivery so we stay connected and catch potential issues before they become big problems. We encourage staff to make it easy for clients to tell us how things are going. We expect staff to listen and act on what they hear so they build loyalty.

How well do we, as leaders, apply these standards in our staff interactions

3.    We require our teams to measure customer satisfaction at the end each engagement. We judge our success, publically, by the percent of our clients who would refer us to others or use us again.

How well do we, as leaders, hold ourselves to that same standard for our work?

Some of his colleague shifted in their chairs. Randy heard excuses he’d initially given himself, “But it’s not the same. We pay our people to do these things! We don’t have time for these.” He challenged them one step further. “What would happen if all of us walked the talk of applying just these three standards to how we lead the people we depend on every day?”

What Happened?

To this point, a few leaders have accepted the challenge of applying client service standards to how they interact with staff. They are discovering how demanding it is to use them… and how gratifying. These leaders improved their previous scores on the staff engagement survey more than their peers. They are seeing higher
than average scores on their customer feedback. Day in and day out, they notice they have fewer frustrating fires to put out and more mutually rewarding conversations. They are hooked.

What’s Next

Whether you are a friend, a parent or a leader, take a look at how consistently you live the standards you hold for others. Consider what might change if you lived the same expectations for civility, politeness, honesty, service, and caring. If you or others you are developing are intrigued with exploring what could happen if you shifted, contact me. Our first conversation is always free.

If you have other great questions you would have asked in Randy’s situation, let me know and I’ll share them with everyone. Email me at mkimbell@corporateadventure.com.

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All the best,

Meredith Kimbell
Executive Advisor,Strategy Consultant
Corporate Adventure

Leadership Coaching Notes uses real or composite client examples drawn from 25 years of coaching and consulting with leaders committed to solving their toughest personal, interpersonal and organizational issues.
Unless otherwise attributed, all material is copyrighted by Meredith Kimbell © 2011. All rights reserved. You may reprint any or all of this material if you include the following:
“Leadership Coaching Notes © 2011 Meredith Kimbell, Corporate Adventure, Reston, VA. Used with permission.”