Note from Rich: Shep Hyken is the dean of customer service speakers, and a New York Times bestseller with multiple #1 customer service books. And a prince of a guy. Few people are as on-target about how to succeed through excellent service as Shep. This guest blog shares a taste of his brand-new book Amaze Every Customer Every Time - check it out, and buy a copy today for some great free gifts!
Building the ideal corporate culture
doesn’t happen by chance. If you are a leader of a company or organization and
you want to instill a customer service culture, how do you make it happen? To
become a customer-centric company requires first building an employee-centric
workplace.
If you want your customers to be
amazed – and loyal, and refer their family and friends to you, etc. – what you
need to do first is amaze the employees.
If you want a real-life example that
proves this concept, look no further than Ace Hardware. If I asked you to think
of a word that describes the Ace chain of retail hardware stores, chances are
your response would be “helpful.” And there’s good reason for that. Ace stores
are billed as The Helpful Place and
they work hard to truly operationalize the word helpful into their culture.
That is their version of customer service and what gives them a competitive
edge, even when faced with competition from much larger hardware and home
improvement stores such as Lowe’s and Home Depot. They attract customers by
living up to the promise of being the
most helpful hardware stores on the planet. Not just nice, not just
friendly – helpful. By delivering
that level of service, they are able to win in a very competitive industry.
And, as I mentioned earlier, the
secret – for Ace and other successful companies – is that they don’t begin by
focusing on the customer. To truly become a customer-focused company, they
first focus on their employees.
This is not a new concept at Ace. It
isn’t a temporary customer service theme. It has always been part of the Ace
philosophy. Ever since the first Ace Hardware store opened in 1924, it has held
to this belief that serving the customer begins by first serving the employee.
They hire the right people and train them not only in the technical details of
the job, but also to deliver the Ace brand of helpful service. As management
and employees treat each other with respect and dignity, they have a model for
how to treat the customers.
Other companies understand and live
by this philosophy as well. I have always been a big fan of Southwest Airlines
Chairman Emeritus Herb Kelleher, and one reason why is that he believed in
putting employees first. By doing so, he said, the employees will in turn treat
the customers (or passengers) well. And what happens when customers are well
taken care of? They are happy, and they reward the company with repeat
business. And who else is happy? The shareholders! And it all goes back to the
idea of focusing on employees first.
You want to aim for alignment in your company. Ever been in
a car whose front end is out of alignment? It causes the entire car to shake.
In business, if the employees don’t experience the same treatment, promise and
value that you want for the customer, then the customer experience can be shaky
and the entire company can suffer.
Shep Hyken is a
customer experience expert and the Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard
Presentations. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling
author and has been inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall of
Fame for lifetime achievement in the speaking profession. Shep works with
companies and organizations who want to build loyal relationships with their
customers and employees. For more articles on customer service and business go
to http://www.hyken.com. Shep’s new book is Amaze Every Customer Every Time.
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