I’ve had the privilege of sharing some insights on the business of achieving service excellence and stellar customer experience, through this column. While the feedback on the value of the content and its conversion to practical use have been overwhelmingly positive, some businesses still have a bit of ground to cover in making the final destination of service excellence a way of life.
In the same way that individuals meander along their life’s journeys, these businesses have to overcome the hindrances that detain their ability to get to their own finish lines.
As I’ve mentioned before, many internal dysfunctions detain businesses from achieving permanent solutions to customer happiness and customer success. The challenge is to not allow the horsemen of blindness, denial, apathy and ignorance, to imperil the journey.
Internal blindness can lead to a lack of clarity on the current state of service delivery and hamper the design of a crystal-clear vision of the desired future state of customer experience.
Internal blindness can lead to a lack of clarity on the current state of service delivery and hamper the design of a crystal-clear vision of the desired future state of customer experience. This is a bit of a tricky situation, since many businesses live in a state of denial around the true quality of the experience that their customers receive on a daily basis. In the absence of access to real-time, continuously flowing data, “guesstimation” rules, making the daily picture of customer experience pretty obscure.
This situation raises another challenge, that of the tension between which elements of the current business should be discarded and which should be retained, in transitioning to service excellence. An overly-exuberant business, that is not armed with statistical data and not minded to engage in careful self-scrutiny, may opt to use a broad-brush approach and discard much of the high value systems and processes that should be retained.
Without sufficient clarity and in this sea of blindness, moving forward becomes a hit and miss game.
Even in our personal situations, clarity matters. When an individual is about to go on a trip, he or she decides on which items of clothing to pack and which to leave behind, since every item in the closet should not be taken on the trip. The only items that should be selected, are those that have a useful function, relative to the nature of the trip (the destination).
In many businesses, internal dysfunctions begin to diminish when the will to achieve service excellence, is paired with the wisdom needed to reach the finish line.
Internal apathy towards the existence of rampant discord and conflict across the business, detains the journey. It is neither a good look or feel, for a workplace climate to be overrun with destructive conflict issues.
Not all conflict is bad or dysfunctional. Conflict can start in as innocuous a way as a difference of opinion between individuals, teams or departments. How this difference is managed, determines whether a nasty escalation, or a mature discussion emerges. I have discovered that many managers and leaders simply do not know how to prevent, manage or resolve conflict.
In many businesses, internal dysfunctions begin to diminish when the will to achieve service excellence, is paired with the wisdom needed to reach the finish line. It’s a worthwhile move for businesses that have initiated their journeys to customer nirvana, to dedicate significant effort to removing hindrances that undermine the will to succeed and forestall the widespread promulgation of wisdom around the science of service excellence.
How does a business begin to develop the wisdom to succeed at service excellence?
How does a business begin to develop the will to succeed at service excellence? One way is for that business to think of itself as a five-star brand, even before it becomes a five-star brand. Careful self-scrutiny will help with identifying those areas that are not aligned to the five-star status.
Polish and finesse are distinguishing marks of a five-star brand. Areas that should come under scrutiny for polish and finesse include the people, the physical environment, the level of diplomacy that governs interactions and the level of pride with which work is executed.
How does a business begin to develop the wisdom to succeed at service excellence? One way is to ask itself if the existing employee population possesses the will to succeed, to become a legion of eager to serve individuals, or to demonstrate five-star brand behaviours. The answers to these questions will inform the business on the transitional actions to be undertaken to realign the business around the right people.
A business cannot succeed if its leaders lack the wisdom to guide success.
A business cannot succeed if its leaders lack the wisdom to guide success. The first knowledge gaps that need to be conceded, exist at the top of the business. Failure to do so, will perpetuate the illusion of motion, without actual movement towards the destination of service excellence.
The problem here, of course, is that sooner or later, all illusions become exposed.