...treat your employees better. The Customer Service Chain is often a useful visual in building a culture of serving the servers to boost the customer experience and live up to the organization’s brand promise. Its core message is “if you’re not serving customers directly, you need to serve someone who...
Read post »...Leadership Effectiveness Research on the strong connection between leaders serving the servers who then delight customers has been around for decades. Here’s one of many Zenger Folkman studies correlating data from 360 ratings of leadership effectiveness with customer survey data: Flip Your Organization Chart It’s been said that no...
Read post »Many of this month’s blog posts have been around improving the rampant levels of declining customer service levels in most organizations. Managers often point to frontline servers attitudes as the source of the problem and look for quick motivational or training fixes. But who hired the servers? Who trains them?...
Read post »...system is serving and continuously get their input on whether it’s meeting their needs. Keep systems focused on serving customers and serving the servers. Partner with those who use your systems and/or make them work. Bring vendors and frontline teams together to develop systems that are “wholistic” and interconnected. Ensure...
Read post »...times a day, he asks if there is anything he can do to help me. He acts like he works for me.” Exactly. Tomorrow’s issue of The Leader Letter publishes my September blogs. Our lead article is serving the servers to delight customers. Part of this comes from leadership and...
Read post »...or worth investing in. Employees reciprocate. Not serving the servers Few employees directly serving customers can provide excellent service when they themselves can get only mediocre support from above. Ineffective processes, misaligned systems, internal conflict, bad communication, uncaring bosses, inadequate training, faulty feedback loops” the list of factors that contributes...
Read article »...units small and decentralized. This promotes unity, commitment, and independence. People can move quicker and more readily see the results of their actions. Use the Customer Service Chain in building a culture of serving the servers. Its core message is “if you’re not serving customers directly, you need to serve...
Read post »...and levels of internal service. The leaders in these organizations have a deeply ingrained ethic of “serving the servers.” As Yogi Berra might have once said, it’s not rocket surgery. Dissatisfied frontline servers or producers are highly unlikely to produce satisfied customers. In the end, servant leadership is where a...
View page »Imagine sitting in an overcrowded medical clinic waiting room and spotting this sign on the wall, “When your number comes up, please have your symptoms ready.” You won’t likely ever see that sign. It’s too honest. But there’s a high chance you’ll encounter that attitude. Too many organizations are inside...
Read post »...themselves…. companies that had a 1-percentage-point lead over their peers in key customer journeys typically enjoyed a 2-percentage-point advantage in revenue growth. In addition, companies that deliver excellent customer journeys increase employee satisfaction and engagement by 30 percent.” Research on the strong connection between leaders serving the servers who then...
Read post »...key external partners (such as distributors, strategic alliances, suppliers, etc.), everyone in the organization supporting the producers and serving the servers, shareholders or funding partners, and (very deliberately last), management. In top performing organizations, each area is strong and constantly improving. For example, in our technological age, we all need...
Read article »...departments. What’s missing in this measurement mania is the customer. High-service providers measure from the outside in. They begin by measuring what’s important to customers. Next on the priority order are the needs of those serving the customers. Then attention shifts to the people producing products or serving the servers....
Read article »...the performance gaps. Next on the measurement pecking order, are the needs of those external and internal partners serving customers. Then attention turns to the people producing products or serving the servers. The measurement needs of managers and support departments come last in the customer-partner chain. Most managers rely far...
Read article »...Credibility Gap Looking outside, instead of within — for ideas, expertise, and advice Not serving the servers “Blame storming” Confusing information and communication Open doors and closed minds Avoiding feedback about themselves How to Bridge the Credibility Gap Listen up Reach across the great divide Get their input Run two-way...
Read post »...system everyday are far more likely to be practical and relevant. And when they’ve been involved in making the improvement decisions, employees have a much higher degree of ownership for the customer service standards they have helped to set. How well are you serving the servers? How do you know?...
Read post »...Mail column Bridging the Credibility Gap, I described how leaders widen that gap and how to bridge it: How Managers Widen the Credibility Gap Looking outside, instead of within — for ideas, expertise, and advice Not serving the servers “Blame storming” Confusing information and communication Open doors and closed minds...
Read post »...here and quotes to note here. In a Globe & Mail column Bridging the Credibility Gap, I described how leaders widen that gap and how to bridge it: How Managers Widen the Credibility Gap Looking outside, instead of within — for ideas, expertise, and advice Not serving the servers “Blame...
Read post »“We found that there was a cause-and-effect relationship between the two; that it was impossible to maintain a loyal customer base without a base of loyal employees; and that the best employees prefer to work for companies that deliver the kind of superior value that builds customer loyalty… building loyalty...
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