There are clearly significant benefits to be realized from trying to improve an organization’s service/quality. And that’s why managers devote so much time and money to training programs that “instruct” employees on the specifics of dealing with customers. What these managers don’t understand, however, is that such attempts are largely cosmetic. Real improvements in customer service start with providing superior service and support to the employees themselves.
Taking an organization from good to great customer service ultimately depends on the people who provide that service. It can only happen through the volunteerism – the willingness to go beyond what is merely required – of people who serve on the front lines. Going from ordinary to extraordinary performance happens through the discretionary efforts of front line staff deciding to make the thousands of customer connections they manage every day as positively as they possibly can. This loyalty can’t really be forced on people. It only happens through a “culture of commitment,” where front line people reflect to the outside the intense pride and ownership they are experiencing on the inside.
The following are some examples of the research showing the connection between internal and external service:
- The best predictor of customer satisfaction among workplace attributes is what Vanderbilt professor Roland Rust calls service climate: “Those attributes of overall workplace climate that characterize how well-equipped employees are to deliver customer service, such as the adequacy of resources and equipment and job skills development.”
- For every one percent increase in internal service climate there is a two percent increase in revenue.
- In cardiac care units where nurses’ moods were depressed, patient death rates were four times higher than in comparable units.
- Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration found that employees’ emotional commitment and sense of identity with the company is a key factor in providing excellent service.
- A study of call centers conducted by The Radclyffe Group found that “satisfied contact center employees make for satisfied and loyal customers…customers decide whether or not to make future purchasing decisions with a company, or to recommend its services to others, as a direct result of their experiences with a contact center representative…key indicators of contact center representative satisfaction include relationships with co-workers and management, job challenges, and frequency of development or training opportunities…sense of pride with their job and within the overall company.”
A company’s external customer service is only as strong as the company’s internal leadership, and the culture of commitment that this leadership creates. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, our service or brand promise can’t fool all of our customers all of the time. If the service messages are out of step with what’s ultimately experienced by customers, marketing dollars are wasted. And customer dissatisfaction rises right along with staff turnover.
Organizations, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, workplace, training, customer loyalty, relationships, customer service, internal service, leadership
When organizations spend time and money on customer service training, it may be wasted if leadership isn’t developing a culture of commitment to their employees.