Customer Service Starts At The Top – Tal Shnall
Creating a customer-focused culture is a priority for most leaders. Some are very intentional about it while they relentlessly work toward improving the customer experience for their brand. They have the courage to take actionable steps to execute and create a culture of excellence. One of the things that I hear from employees is that their leaders are not walking their customer service talk. In other words, the communication is not backed up by their own example or action.
Many years ago, I remember when I went to customer service training, all managers and department heads were required to attend the mandatory training. Everyone from the top down in the organization was held accountable to the same standards of improving the customer experience. But, training was not enough. You had to walk the talk and be part of the solution. Change begins at the top.
Many managers work on their communication and that’s where it usually stops.  Providing great customer service should be at the top of any leaders’ priority list, but all too often, many managers leave customer service in the hands of their employees, expecting that they will know what to do. This usually ends up in disappointment and lack of employee engagement.
Even in businesses that go to great lengths to hire customer service employees with the right attitude and skills in this area, they still need to provide training, serve as role models, and establish performance standards for service excellence. So how do we create more actionable leadership? What can leaders do in their organization today to move forward and create service excellence?
#1. Be a Role Model
Leaders must practice what they preach.  It’s about integrity. Do you walk the talk? Your own personal example is the best way to get buy-in from your employees. You can talk all day long about customer service, but if your employees don’t see the words backed up by actions, they will lose the trust and credibility. There are great ways to be more engaged and committed to service excellence.  You can spend a day in your customer service operations, take customer calls and listen to customer feedback. More importantly, be part of the solution. Great leaders are servant leaders. They want to serve by helping their teams engage and connect with the customer every day.
#2. Set Clear Service Expectations
Does everyone in your organization understands the customer service expectations? Can they clearly communicate it? Often times, you will find out that the leadership team knows the expectations, but the rest of the organization does not. As a leader, you must be an effective communicator. Take the time diligently to communicate and set clear expectations of service. The more clearly people understand the expectations of excellence, the better they will know they are held to those high standards.
#3. Coach, Mentor and Train
It’s your responsibility as a leader to ensure that your employees are trained in exactly how service should be delivered. This can include everything from how to greet customers, to helping them find items, to how they should handle complaints. Customer service doesn’t stop with the hiring process. You cannot leave your employees guessing as to what they should do. Coach, Mentor and Train people to deliver excellence for the long term.
#4. Accountability and Results
Being in a leadership position, you know that what’s gets measured gets people to be more accountable for their actions. This is not punishment. How will you and your team know if you are reaching your goals? How will you know whether you need to coach and give feedback? That’s why accountability with honest feedback on performance can create a sense of ownership. Otherwise, people will not know whether they are doing the right thing.
#5. Celebrate and Continue To Improve
For the people that do the right thing and deliver excellent service, give them a lot of praise, recognition and appreciation. This is the time where you reinforce positive behaviour and encourage more of it. The other side of it is – to continue to improve and find new ways to raise the bar even higher for excellence.
Tal is a Customer Service Trainer and Speaker, with more than 20 years’ of hotel guest operations. He has facilitated training programs for several hotel brands such as Marriott, Hilton, Starwood and Intercontinental Hotel Group. He adds value through Customer Excellence Training, Leadership Development, Corporate Training, and Executive Coaching. Connect with him on Linkedin
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