What'S The Secret?: To Providing a World-Class Customer Experience

Chapter 3. World-Class Service Sins

What prevents companies from being world class?

If you are not serving the customer, you better be serving someone who is.

—Tom Strauss, President/CEO Summa Health Systems

If you ask 100 managers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders why delivering superior customer service is so difficult, you will hear the same answers over and over again. Answers like:

"Our business is unique."

"In our industry it is so hard to find employees, let alone ones that care about service."

"We can't afford to pay enough to get quality people."

"The younger generation doesn't care."

"We have a totally different customer, it is much more difficult."

"Employees just take the easy way out."

"Employees just don't care."

"Employees don't get it."

"We are understaffed."

None of these answers are the reason why the vast majority of companies struggle with inconsistent customer service, they are the results of the reasons.

Before you can take the necessary steps toward creating a world-class customer service organization, you must first be fully aware of what prevents companies from consistently executing at a high level. In my experience researching and working with hundreds of companies across various industries, what companies need to do and what gets in their way are identical. Just knowing the end result doesn't tell you the real "why." For instance, you may know you have front-line employees who are not engaged and always seem to take the easiest way out versus handling a situation ...