The first step in becoming legendary is to make a firm commitment that customer service is a priority for your company. But it’s not enough to have a commitment to great customer service. You have to demonstrate that commitment to your team and to your customers.
But, before you can even think about improving your customer service, you have to look at what is either your greatest asset or your biggest problem.
Your employees!
Think about it. You personally might give the greatest customer service on earth. But, if your employees don’t give great service, your good work will be of little importance in the overall scheme of things. My guess is that they contribute way more to your customer service and bottom-line, than you are able to do on your own.
While that is almost certainly true, my question is, where is your gratitude for all their contributions and more importantly, how often do you express it to them? My guess is that if you asked most of your employees if they feel appreciated by either you or their managers, the answer at best would be a cautious “maybe” or “sometimes”. If I asked them if they got enough expressions of gratitude from you, I’d be willing to bet the answer would be “No.”
Before you can expect your employees to provide good, great or legendary levels of customer service to your clients, you have to give your employees the same kind of “service” you want them to give to your clients. You have to take care of them, as you want them to care for your customers. You are the “model” that demonstrates to them, how you expect them to treat your customers.
So, how do you do that? What is it that your staff needs to “feel” from you in order to go out and give that same “feeling” to your customers? Well, here are a few suggestions.
Most people believe that more money is the key to getting employees to provide stellar customer service. And if you agree with that, you would be wrong.
No one objects to having more money thrown their way that I am aware of, but money is NOT #1 on almost any employee’s list of “must-haves” when it comes to feeling appreciated. In fact it barely makes the top ten!
Famed psychologist Abraham Maslow has determined that there is a five level hierarchy of “needs” that every employee requires in order for them to be fully engaged, fully motivated and fully able to provide excellent service to your customers.
Levels 1 and 2
The first two levels are fundamental and answer very basic human needs. If either of these is missing on a regular basis, you have no chance of having your company provide even decent customer service. Zero, zip, nada!
Levels one and two speak to employees’ basic need for food, water, shelter, safety, security, and freedom from fear. The degree to which you are able to provide a safe, consistent working environment, the more your employees can relax and without fear, do the work that needs to be done.
Level 3
Level three provides a sense of “belonging”. If your workplace environment doesn’t foster a team spirit, a sense of togetherness, “all for one and one for all”, your team will feel something is missing and be ill at ease. In its simplest terms a company that answers needs at this level, gives its people a sense of being “loved” by management and connectedness with their associates. As the Beatles put it, “All you need is love”. As simple as that sounds, obviously it isn’t given how few people really feel “love” or deep caring from their bosses or their fellow employees.
But, even if you give your people a sense of security where they feel secure about keeping their job, your workplace is physically safe, and they feel a sense of belonging with their team-mates, there’s still more to do before you have a highly functioning culture.
Level 4
These next two “higher’ levels of “needs” are the ones that a manager will want to address in order to fully engage your employees and have them naturally and consistently provide great service as a result.
Level four is the level that makes or breaks your efforts to create a culture that demands and gets amazing customer service day in and day out.
It is at this level that people’s needs for “esteem” is or isn’t met.
A. This level identifies the very important human need for people to experience a feeling of self-pride, “achievement” and “accomplishment.” People want to feel good about themselves and know that others hold similar feelings about them. They want to grow in knowledge and advance. The pursuit of this basic need drives people to excel and succeed. So, ask yourself, do you provide opportunities for your employees to expand their skills, to advance, to take on more responsibility? If not, you are denying them one of their most basic human needs and the results will be decreased engagement and unhappiness. And, that loss will show up in how they treat your customers.
B. Secondly at this level, people have an intense need to be recognized. This is huge. Recognition is way, way above mere money as a motivator. So, again, I ask you: Do you openly and/or regularly, in private and in front of team-members, express your gratitude for a job well done? Do you thank your employees in a myriad of ways that signals to them and to their fellow employees, what a great job they’ve done and how valuable they are to you and your company? Not just every once in a while, but do you express your pride and gratitude regularly and with passion? If not, your people will not be happy, feel fulfilled, and will, most likely spend a significant amount of their time looking or hoping for a new job where they can satisfy that need.
C. And lastly, people demand respect. That’s right. R-E-S-P-E-C-T! And how does one show respect? By asking for people’s honest feedback and then acting upon it. By empowering them. By making sure that they have everything they need when they need it to do their jobs well. How about showing them consideration, thoughtfulness, empathy, and kindness? Sure! Who doesn’t want to have a caring boss who looks out for a worker’s personal needs on a regular basis in addition to the needs of the company!
What about trust? Trust to make decisions on their own (within parameters of course) without having to check in with a supervisor every time. What about honest feedback both positive and corrective, that tells them they are worthy of your attention, that you think they are valuable and that they CAN be better 신림 노래빠.
Rarely do companies meet these four levels of needs for their employees and just as rarely do companies actually provide world-class customer service for their clients. One almost always follows the other.
Level 5
But there is another level and it is this level which is almost always achieved by companies that are known for their above and beyond, “Legendary” customer service.
This level is known as the level of “self-actualization”. It is at this level that people begin to think about their need to become more of who they really are, to become their best self, to truly grow. It is here that people demand that they be given opportunities to grow, to advance, to expand their skills and be able to demonstrate those skills. If you don’t provide ways for people to get better and move up, you can bet that they will rapidly start looking for a new job that offers them advancement and development of their whole selves.
I know that in many companies there just aren’t ways for everyone in a company to move towards the top. Even so, if you express your caring for your people by asking THEM how THEY want to get ahead, even if you don’t have the opportunity within the company, you can make your most ambitious employees feel loved and respected by helping them find jobs outside of yours to fulfill themselves.
So, let’s be clear. People have needs. The degree to which you answer these most basic human instincts will determine their level of involvement and engagement and those levels of involvement and engagement will determine the quality of customer service your company provides.
If you want great customer service, slow down and have a look to see if you are treating your employees in the same way that you want your best customers to be treated. If not, before you worry about what you want your employees to do to treat your customers right, make sure that you teach them by treating them that way first. Do that and the second step, translating that out into the field, will happen easier and faster than you would ever have imagined!