What is an organization’s “culture?”   It is simply a critical mass of the attitudes and behaviors of its people and groups. The fifteen statements below each reflect an important “cultural” reality impacting customer service and loyalty.  They have shaped our customer service program's success.  Do they shape yours?  How is your customer service culture?

1.   T / F:  In our organization we operate under the assumption that customers view customer contact persons as “the organization” and representatives of what the organization means to them personally.

 2.   T / F:  We communicate regularly the importance of realizing everyone in our organization has customers: external (“paying”) customers and internal (work group/ inter-work group) “customers.”

 3.   T / F:  We design our processes and train our people around 2 things customers want to know: (1) Do you do what you say you will? (2) How do you handle problems?

 4.   T / F:  Realizing that organizations choose, consciously or unconsciously, to be financially driven and/or customer-driven, we make decisions remembering that organizations working from a short-term, financially driven philosophy are not as effective in service situations.

5.     T / F:  Since front line persons make most customer service decisions on a daily basis, our top management understands their key role and allows them to inform the organization about customer needs.

6.     T / F:  We promote the status of front line customer contact people to a position of value and respect—they are not considered the least educated, trained and paid.

7.     T / F:  We allow our customer contact personnel, not management, to control the quality of the service product.

8.     T / F:  Management believes in the importance of good service and actively supports it.

9.     T / F:  We measure customer service results in a way that leads to greater focus on the importance of individual efforts.

10.    T / F:  We emphasize that customers perceive service to be “good” when positive individual interactions occur—crucial encounters that can be considered “moments of truth.”

11.    T / F:  “Customer first” behavior is rewarded and encouraged to be repeated.

12.    T / F:  Customer service skill training is wall-to-wall.

13.    T / F:  Our corporate culture supports continuous improvement of customer service processes.

14.    T / F:  “Customer first” attitudes, along with results communicated continually to all employees in simple terms create a climate for quality customer service in our organization.

15.    T / F:  Corporate goals, policies and procedures reflect a “customer first” mind set, while we foster a rewarding service-focused climate.

YOUR CUSTOMER CULTURE STRENGTH…

 13-15 “TRUE” -- You are likely experiencing customer (and employee) loyalty and advocacy.

10-12 “TRUE” -- Do you have good customer satisfaction scores, but customer loyalty is strained?

Less than 10 “TRUE” -- Are you struggling with customer satisfaction, loyalty and brand reputation?  Do you have low employee morale and high employee turnover?