I witnessed a disheartening situation this week where a printer/copier technician who TRULY tried to help a customer was somewhat reprimanded for dealing with a matter outside of his area of expertise. He is a hardware expert and the problem the customer appeared to be having was on the software side. In my opinion the technician did everything exactly right. He listened to the complaint without saying, "I'm sorry, that is not my area of expertise, you'll have to call in another repair order." He then called a technician who did have expertise with the software in question. He stayed with the customer (who was on the telephone with the software technician) for several hours until they had exhausted every possibility for fixing the problem. The reason he stayed? In case the software tech needed him to make some adjustment to the settings on the hardware side.

The individual doing the reprimanding actually belittled the tech with, "You don't know anything about software-you're just a nuts and bolts guy, right?" I was infuriated, "just a nuts and bolts guy?" And what would that company do without these talented hardware techs? This tech understands that everyone is in customer service and he represents the kind of care that every customer wishes to receive. I would hire him in a heartbeat and I congratulate him for doing exactly the right thing!

I can't understand why the above mentioned tech wasn't celebrated for his great efforts. Was it the time he spent standing by and helping with test prints?

Did the person doing the reprimanding have ANY idea what a good investment that 2 hours of pay could have been had they handled the situation differently?

Think about your own actions. Even if you are not reprimanding individuals who operate "outside of the box" in the interest of customer service, are you celebrating their efforts? And what if their efforts fail? Do you celebrate the try?

I've worked with hundreds of companies during my seventeen years in consulting and without exception they all believe that good customer service is critical. I'll bet all of you reading this newsletter believe it too, right?

The question you need to continually ask yourself is: "Am I consistently walking that talk? When I'm under pressure to meet a deadline or save money, do I forget about quality customer service as a priority?"

By walking the customer service talk and celebrating those who strive for good service, you accomplish two important things:

1.) Exceptional customer service with every contact.

2.) Employees who feel good about what they do and about themselves!

Click this link to learn more about the booklet, 180 Ways to Walk the Customer Service Talk. It is packed with powerful strategies and tips to cultivate world-class customer service. This is a resource you will want to distribute to every person in your organization.