- How do you you define outstanding customer service?
You probably have some thoughts
or maybe a few examples.
Here's the key question.
Do your employees in your organization or on your team
all share that same definition?
Companies with strong service cultures take the time
to clearly define what outstanding service means to them.
That definition is called a customer service vision.
A Customer Service Vision
is a shared definition of outstanding service
that gets everyone on the same page.
Here's an example of why that matters.
I once went to a store to buy some camping equipment.
I found a sales associate and asked for some help
and she pointed me towards the camping isle,
she was friendly but entirely transactional.
Now it's tempting to blame her
but her approach reflected the culture of the entire store.
That's because they lacked a customer service vision.
I really needed some expert help
so I left that store and went to REI
a company that sells outdoor gear like camping equipment,
bicycles, kayaks and apparel.
REI has a clear customer service vision
which is, "We inspire, educate and outfit
"for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship."
it's easy to see REI employees reflecting this vision.
The associate who assisted me was an avid camper
who enthusiastically helped me pick out
the right equipment for a backpacking trip.
Now this wasn't a lucky accident
REI's culture is built around an enthusiasm
for helping people enjoy the outdoors.
A strong customer service vision
has three characteristics.
The first characteristic
is it's simple and easily understood.
For example REI's vision makes it clear
that the company's trying to help people enjoy the outdoors.
A vision should bring clarity
and it can't do that if it's too long or too complicated.
The second characteristic is it's focused on customers.
Things like profitability or driving market share
might be worthy end goals
but customer focused companies achieve those goals
by focusing on their customers.
Your vision must focus on customers
if you want employees to be customer focused too.
The third characteristic of a great vision
is that reflects both who you are now
and who you aspire to be in the future.
In other words it has to be grounded in reality
so the vision feels authentic to employees.
A strong vision is based on a mixture
of what's working for us now
and what we're going to build on for the future.
Many organizations have a mission,
organizational vision or another statement
do double duty as the customer service vision.
Now that's perfectly okay
in fact REI's customer service vision
is actually the company mission statement.
Keep in mind the key is to give employees
clear and consisted direction
when it comes to serving customers.
So your customer service vision becomes a compass
that always points your employees
toward the same type of outstanding customer service.