Create a Service-Excellence Culture

1. Sit down with your team and involve everyone in creating "guiding principles" for your office that require everyone to uphold core values of honesty, professionalism, ethics, integrity, caring and health. Work with your people to create additional words and phrases that display caring and professionalism. When everyone in your organisation is involved in creating a service excellence culture, you may find that everyone will tend to promote and adhere to what they have helped to create--provided that YOU walk-the talk.

2. Create a written customer care policy with your staff and adhere to it. Discuss it on a regular basis, as opportunities arise.

3. What gets measured gets attention. Set up a system for customer care measurement. Include retention rates, satisfaction rates and number of complaints. Record situations where you EXCEEDED customer expectations, and think about new ways you can continue to exceed expectations in the future. At first, it may seem time consuming to do this, but you'll be pleased how this will pay off. So use the combined brainpower of your people to determine what measures are important to your company and make a commitment to improve them.

4. Set the example for customer service excellence, and provide service excellence to your associates by treating them with respect. It's only right, for if you don't treat your staff well, how can you expect them to treat your customers well? Mark Twain said, "Always do what's right. It'll astound some people, and gratify the rest." Remember, when a customer calls or walks through your door, your people are a reflection of how they are treated by YOU.

5. Ask for cooperation, it can make a real difference. Remember that cooperation is not always something that is given; it is earned, just as you must earn the loyalty of your customers. Treat each person in your company as well and respectful as you would your biggest customer. Strive to develop strong relationships with everyone. Working in a place where a spirit of cooperation exists will help establish a service excellence environment. You and your entire company can then serve customers and each other well; and, hopefully have some fun doing it.

6. Develop an obsession for being the best you can be with every customer. Treat everyone within your company the same. If you are committed to providing service excellence both within, and outside your company, the rewards will be yours--both your customers and your people will stick with you.

7. Make your people feel they are working WITH you, and not FOR you. If you display dynamic leadership, and are loyal to your employees, your people will work hard to help you retain customers and establish customer loyalty.