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“When did we become so casual in our attitude about the poor delivery of exceptional customer service?  Who gave you permission to stop giving our clients red carpet customer experiences?”

Those were the opening statements (questions) that an executive asked his direct reports in a recent meeting.  I cannot begin to tell you the high level of nervousness and seat twitching that permeated the room.

Apparently, a client contacted the executive and sharply criticized his organization and staff for a horrible customer experience.  That communication was followed by several other clients who shared a similar passion about less than stellar service.

Almost all companies host semi-annual or annual business planning conferences to bring together senior-level managers from units and divisions from across the company and develop goals and strategies to improve business and increase profit margins. Yet few companies undertake a similar process to discuss how to engage with customers — the lifeblood of all companies.

The CEO of a particular Fortune 500 company’s direct involvement in customer engagement sparked a company-wide dialogue about how dramatically customer behavior had improved employee morale, production AND the profit margin…in that order.

So…you couldn’t just “let it go”.  You are a supervisor observing your employee first ignoring then giving mediocre service to a prospect who is about to walk out the door, no sale.  The scene did not settle well with you so you intervened and provided exactly what the prospect needed resulting in her becoming a customer.  Your keen proficiency created a memorable customer experience that is now connected to your company brand.

Mediocrity is the enemy of success and employee training MUST stress that on several levels.  Your staff has to get in the habit of asking themselves, “What am I doing today that will make my customer want to do business with me and NOT with my competitor?”.

Loyal Client Lost Due to Horrible Mistake

A recent visit to my florist (of which I have been a loyal client for about five years) left me angry and mystified.

Three employees (including the manager) were leaning against a table behind the counter as I walked up for service.  Without making a move, one of them asked what I needed.   I said that I wanted to order flowers for my mother…before I could give her additional information, the employee who was identified as being new on the job, walked to the counter and asked me when the funeral was scheduled.

Have you ever experienced radically amazing customer service?  What is it?  It starts with employee empowerment.   Let me give you an example.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel provides employees with $2,000/day per guest to “make it right or delight” customers.  From the first day on the job at Ritz-Carlton, employees are encouraged AND empowered to correct problems and improve the guest’s experience.