Make A Difference

Great customer service is not delivered by a “company,” but by individual team members who understand what it means to be “difference makers.” Yes, it is important to create a culture within a company where customer service is valued and modeled by the leadership. Having the support of those around you makes it much easier to deliver great service.

But what do you do if you work for a company where delivering exceptional customer service is not part of the culture?

That is when you have to dig deep and remember what motivates you to deliver great customer service. Most likely it is a natural desire within your personality to serve others. Remember these key points when you find yourself struggling to serve your customers while your leaders and co-workers don’t seem to care.

1. Check your Motive. When you are the only one in your group who is providing great service, remember that your objective is to care for your customer, not use the situation to make yourself look better than your co-workers.

2. Stay Focused. It is easy to get caught up in the problems and poor behaviors of leadership and your fellow team members. You can get distracted and pay more attention to what is not going right behind the scene than your current customer you are attempting to serve.

3. Ignore Negative Comments. If you are the only one on your team attempting to take care of your customers, you will likely have to deal with negative comments from others who don’t share your passion. Just as someone who does not want to be shown up by a worker who is performing their duty at a faster pace, your co-workers may resent your positive attitude and make light of any compliments from a customer. Train yourself to ignore the critics!

4. Remain Positive. Picture a duck swimming on a pond. Unless something is chasing it, the duck is normally calm and graceful. What do you think you would see if you had an underwater camera? Probably the duck paddling like crazy. We want our customers to see the top of the water version of the duck, not the underwater version. The same thing applies when you have things going on behind the scene at your company that you may not be proud of or are not good customer service practices. Your customers do not need to know that everyone in your organization does not share your passion for providing good service.

You can make a difference! Serving others is a privilege. Just as there are very few companies that are known for their great service, there is also a small percentage of people who have the desire and skill needed to truly care for others.

The good news is that one positive person in the middle of an organization full of negative individuals can make a huge difference and impact the overall reputation of the company to each customer they come in contact with.

Be that person! Your attitude may even be contagious and lead others to catch your passion for service.

Be a difference maker! Start a SERVICE REVOLUTION where you work.

David Reed has an engineering background with degrees in Chemical Engineering and Computer Science from Texas A&M and has worked for Andersen Consulting, Exxon, several smaller companies, and finally at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Just over 12 years ago, David left Disney and started Customer Centered Consulting Group, Inc. (CCCG) Since then, CCCG has been providing speaking, training, and consulting services for a wide variety of clients such as Toshiba, State Farm, GM, QFC, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Halliburton, and many others