It should come as no surprise that customers continue to rate excellent customer service high on the list of things they look for when choosing a company to do business with. The amazing thing is that most companies, in spite of customer demand, continue to offer customer service that is mediocre, or worse. It would seem that some companies just prefer to insult customers and lose business on purpose. The more likely answer is that they just don’t have a good customer service management training plan in place. We DO understand the value of great customer service training, and our Customer Service Management Training classes will empower you to train your customer service staff to give great service all the time, and keep your customers coming back to you.

While there are no definitively right answers to that question, most people come to some conclusion that customer service is a critical component of your competitive advantage. For most businesses, the customer service they offer can vary from exceptional to not so hot, depending upon circumstances.

Why is that? Why does the same company, and even the same people within that company provide world class customer service some of the time, and marginal service (or worse) other times?

That answer can be found in asking a different question: “What makes you (or your staff) happy when serving your customers?” While these answers also vary, most people come up with some sort of variation of “I am happy when my customer is happy.”

Do we enjoy dealing with agitated or disgruntled people? Normally not. We derive our joy from delivering value, by making others feel good about their experience, and by exceeding people’s expectations.

What comes first then? The happy customer or the happy person serving the customer? This is not the chicken or the egg quandary. The happy person serving the customer NEEDS to come first, because it is a very unusual day when your customer comes into your business looking to cheer YOU up.

This all seems very obvious. At the same time that many people realize this truth, it is rare that people consciously take steps to make sure that their greatest customer service assets are being serviced too - whether that person in on your staff, in another department, or if that person is YOU. It is critical that you continually improve the emotional, physical and mental support you are supplying to the people serving your customers.

One of my friends and colleagues, Paul Wesselemann, shared a story about his time working at an HIV/AIDS support network. He explained how it was absolutely unacceptable to come to work when you were feeling even a bit ill, as even the smallest cold could be extremely dangerous for someone with HIV. He was REQUIRED first and foremost to take care of himself, make sure he was 100% before he was allowed to offer help and support to others.