Thursday, January 10, 2013

Customer Service

Okay, so...I am going to deviate from my usual rants about the tropics, and discuss something more business like and professional (which is NOT to say that I am going to get all "stuffed-shirt"), heck...I'm not even going to include any pics in this post!
You see, in one of the social media groups I engage in, someone posed the question "What are the qualities of a customer focused (hotel) business?" And the responses he received were all good...but not great...and the reason is that they all miss the core element which is absolutely required...they all used words like exceptional, exceed expectations, consistency, desire and motivation...one individual came very close when she mentioned "teamwork across the organization." And while these are all critical, they miss the mark!
First, customer service needs to be approached like it is it's own entity and must be built on a sound foundation. Identifying the foundation and implementing it are two entirely different things and if not approached properly, all efforts will eventually end up as "lip service" as one response indicated.
So what is this core element? It is so critical that I can compare it to Math 101, which is an absolute prerequisite to Architectural Design....that's right, it is the simplest of principles on which math is learned that are so necessary to one's ability to come even remotely close to understanding architectural design. (Trust me...I suck at both math AND architectural design) but I think you get my meaning here...
Mediocre "external" customer service can only be achieved if the prerequisite of mastering (and I mean mastering) "internal" customer service is accomplished first.
I have implemented this concept in several companies and it truly makes all the difference in the world!
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If you would like to know more, and discuss how this can be accomplished in your organization, please feel free to post a comment here, or drop me an email at bob@skipjackmarketing.com and I will be happy to discuss how this principle can change your organization.

Until then

Hit 'em straight!!

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