You need to be sure that everyone in your business understands your Make-You-Happy Customer Service Expectations, and when you implement the 55 Secrets to Make-You-Happy Customer service everyone will know your expectations (Many of the 55 Secrets are post on this website).
There is absolutely no excuse for anyone at company to not know your customer service expectations.
Very shortly after they are hired, each new team member spends about 3 hours with me in a customer service courses meeting. A good share of that meeting is dedicated to our customer service philosophy at American Retail Supply. In that meeting we watch the Disney portion and the Stew Leonard portion of the DVD "In Search of Excellence" by Tom Peters.
So I talk to our new team members about Disney. I tell them that I'm a huge Disney fan. I point out that we have huge stencils in 8 different locations on our walls with the Walt Disney quotation, "Do What You Do So Well That People Can't Help Telling Others About You". I point out to them that we have over 30 Disney prints throughout the building reminding them to "Do What You Do So Well That People Can't Help Telling Others About You".
I point out to our new team member that Disney's goal is to be sure that each and every guest is satisfied. I tell them, as much as I love Disney, our goal is far beyond just a satisfied customer. Our goal is a Loyal Happy Customer. Sure, our customers won't be singing, "Zippity Doo Da" when they get off the phone with us, but we do expect much better than just satisfied customers.
Then I go on to tell them one of our old goals. For about 20 years now we've had 3 what we call "Things To Remember". When new team members start working here everyone who can come back to me the day after their Traditions 1 training with the 3 Things To Remember memorized gets a $50 gift certificate to a local restaurant. Then we use these "Things To Remember" often in our internal communications to emphasize Make-You-Happy Customer Service.
I tell the new team member that one of our "things to remember" used to be "We want to out-Nordstrom Nordstrom"... But it is no longer one of our "Things to Remember" because now we expect to out-Nordstrom on a daily basis. Legendary Nordstrom customer service is not good enough for us. We set the customer service bar extremely high and we make sure everyone understands what that level of customer service is.
In this initial training, we continue to review the In Search of Excellence DVD and discuss that the presentation says that company employees at Disney are trained to know that Disney is, "above all entertainment". We discuss that our company is above all Customer Service.
We discuss The #1 Rule in the Park at Disney. That rule is that "no one is allowed to see a Disney character with his hat off, the image must be maintained at all times".
We then discuss that the #1 rule at American Retail Supply is "Service the Customer".
So, satisfied customers aren't our goal. Loyal customers are. Loyal customers, who love shopping at your store, love you and your team, and who are not going to leave you for a few pennies and will very likely tell their friends and family about you.
So be sure that everyone in your organization knows your customer service expectations.
