Introduce the Right Hand to the Left: 10 Lessons in Customer Service

Our changing business landscape that is being driven by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is rapidly placing more and more companies under extreme pressure. Depending on the sector, many won’t survive. All of this is happening on top of the pre-pandemic growth in on-line retail, which has accelerated in the past seven months.

One thing the pandemic has spawned is creativity among businesses in how they serve their customers, whether it’s online or still with a physical presence, taking into account the needed health pre-cautions. (Above photo: Upper West Side, Manhattan)

Regardless of industry, the need to pay attention to customer service—how it’s practiced and led—has never been greater. Technology, changing consumer tastes, and the pandemic are three key inter-twined drivers for strengthening leadership in customer service.

Ten Customer Service Rules by which to Lead:

1. Customer service is an integrated experience and is not the sole responsibility of frontline employees.

2. Each and every employee must take personal responsibility for the level of service that he or she provides.

3. Speak truth to power when it comes to ways on how to improve your organization’s service.

4. If management doesn’t get it on customer service, look for an organization that does; don’t play with losers.

5. Management must model the necessary behaviour it espouses each and every day.

6. If an employee screws up, stop, pause and analyze what went wrong. Don’t immediately finger point.

7. Train, train, train…and then train some more.

8. If you’re doing your job well and you get a rude customer, place yourself in his or her shoes; it makes a world of difference.

9. If you have a thin skin, either learn how to thicken it or find another vocation.

10. Take pride in your work as a customer service provider.

There you have it. Ten rules to guide you as a leader in customer customer. However, this is not an exclusive list. Feel free to add to it.

There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.
– Roger Staubach