Customer service can sometimes be a touchy subject. Everyone wants to provide a high level of service to the people they call their customers. Everyone wants theirs fans to have a great time and get what they want, but often times just below the surface there’s more to it than that. Many organizations say they are customer service oriented, but actually aren’t that way at all – their actions speak louder than words. For most, it would almost be a crime to NOT say that you’re dedicated to customer service…

But wait a minute, let’s define what customer means. Depending on your role, customer could mean your marketing team of designers, videographers and scoreboard operators. Customer could mean your the people whose laundry you clean, sort and hang. Customer could mean the sponsors who buy advertising from you. Customer could also mean, in the most traditional sense, the season ticket holders and single game ticket buyers who fill your stands every other week. Who are your customers?

As a department, surely the word “customer” ought to encompass all these people. Depending on what your job duties are, it’s up to each individual employee to figure out who they serve and then go and serve them. With that said though, it’s not up to the organization or its employees to cater to every whim of an individual. As soon as you start giving everyone what they want, you will very soon after that have chaos – chaos from being pulled by too many people wanting too much. To prevent such a situation, establish a set of guidelines of what your employees can and cannot do, then give them the freedom to do their jobs.

People are human and will make mistakes, but if you train them well, give them a framework in which to work and give them your trust, great things can happen. Relating to my last post regarding mission, vision, values and goals, employees need a sense of purpose for their jobs, even in a customer service driven environment. Zappos is renowned for their customer service and for connecting with the people who buy from them – take a few minutes to learn more about what they do and how they do it. It’s often difficult to justify “customer service” from a strictly business related viewpoint, but Zappos is a case study of how customer service affects the bottom line in a positive way.

Here’s to the Golden Rule. Go Forth! and treat others the way you want to be treated.