Sunday, we were heading to Grandmom’s house to celebrate cousin Ben’s 14th birthday when Sarah told my wife, Dee, to “put the CD on, Mama!”
It was Steve Green because she’s six, so of course it was… it’s always Steve Green or Veggie Tales or Jethro Tull… though usually not Jethro Tull.
As she and Deidre were singing track 13 from Hide‘em In Your Heart, Volume 2, I started realizing how, once again, The Bible offers us not only the way to live but to work.
The song is Think About These Things. The verse is Philippians 4:8.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (ESV)
There were my wife and my daughter singing the ideal aspirational strategy for any business trying to improve their customer experience!*
1. Whatever is honorable: Do the right thing for the customer every time – even when it hurts – especially when it hurts!
2. Whatever is just: Do you always act according to your core values, morals, and beliefs. Do you employees know your core values, morals, and beliefs?
3. Whatever is pure: What’s the simplest way to serve our customers? How can we remove any obstacles or inconveniences in their way that prevent them from doing business with us?
4. Whatever is lovely: How can we add more kindness, empathy, and beauty to our customer’s experience?
5. Whatever is commendable: Can we treat them so well and with such care that they tell someone about us?
There’s your path to Praiseworthy Service! It’s simple to remember, and it’s the right way to do business.
We’ve written extensively about Shareworthy Customer Service here over the last four years after Best Buy Made My Mom Cry. In my extensive research after that horrible episode, I discovered that every delightful customer experience is a combination of 14 facets of either professionalism or kindness.
But that’s a pretty intense system, and it’s a Monday… so why don’t we start simpler… and thanks to my wonderful daughter and her Mama, we can.
Five principles to put into practice this week… why not spend 15 minutes each morning with your team mapping and tuning your customer experience to find ways to apply them.
- Monday: Honorable
- Tuesday: Just
- Wednesday: Pure
- Thursday: Lovely
- Friday: Commendable
It’s going to be a week full of awesome. Don’t you agree?
*Every business should be trying to improve their customer experience. As long as Disney and Apple and Nordstrom and Ritz Carlton are still trying to improve, you should be, too. Another way of putting it is: You should only plan on trying to improve your customer experience for as long as you plan to be in business.