Imagine if every customer service experience you had was a luxury experience.
Imagine walking into a hotel where every employee smiles at you as though you were the most valued customer on earth. Where every question or request you pose is answered with an assuring, “It would be my pleasure to. . .” Where no request is too great. Where you would be assured that, each and every time you ask for something, someone would take care of it for you. Unfortunately, not every customer-facing employee can act like the employees at the Ritz-Carlton, but imagine if every customer service experience you had was a luxury experience. Businesses would thrive on customer satisfaction alone.
“Our ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.”
If you have had the pleasure of a Ritz experience, you are aware that the employees go above and beyond to make sure your experience is as dreamlike as possible. Perhaps it is because of the way the employees are valued. When talking about employees, Simon F. Cooper, president of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, said, “our ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.” This seems to be a rare approach to how most managers view their customer-facing employees.
The Employee is as Valuable as the Customer
If their customer-facing employees are valued, then the customers will be valued.
The average scenario goes something like, “the customer is always right,” and that is the bottom line. What businesses need to consider is a waterfall effect. If their customer-facing employees are valued, then the customers will be valued. Even the most willing and selfless customer-facing employee does not want to feel like a servant. People want to be valued and treated like people regardless of the fact that their job requires them to care for the needs of others. When employees feel valued, they will value consumers in return. There is a codependency between the value an employee gives and the value he receives. So if an employee does not feel valued, he will likewise not treat a customer with value either. This is not to say that all customer-facing employees will only act kind toward customers under specific conditions, but if all customer-facing employees are to give value, then they need to experience value. Managers should address their employees with respect and remind them that, although the customer should be a top priority for the employee, the employee is still a top priority for the company.
Continue this series by reading Part 2 and Part 3 to discover the key to customer service.
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