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Leadership Must Defend the Customer Service Culture

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Just as important as it is for leadership to create and define the customer service initiative and culture, they must also defend it. This means that if an employee, a group of employees, or maybe even the entire company is not delivering on the stated customer service promise, the leadership must step in to defend the culture and get it (back) to where it should be.

David Zeigler is a very successful owner of a number of Ace Hardware stores in the Chicago area. He is also the former Chairman of the Board for Ace corporate. In an interview I asked him what he felt his primary job was. Without hesitation he said, “To defend the culture.” He felt that one of the most crucial things he could do for his organization and his employees, which Ace refers to as associates, is to define and defend the culture. Ace’s culture is based on providing amazing customer service and being the most helpful hardware stores on the planet. (They have won the JD Power award in their industry for highest customer satisfaction eight years in a row!) Whenever he sees any part of the system or any one of the associates going out of alignment, he steps in to get things back on track.

Art Freedman is another successful Ace Hardware store owner who actually consults and works with store owners worldwide, helping them achieve the customer service that Ace Hardware stores are known for. Art shared a great example of how he once had to defend the Ace culture.

Art was working at a client’s store and noticed a customer was trying to catch the attention of one of the associates who was socializing with another associate. He obviously needed help and neither associate was responding appropriately. Frustrated, the customer gave up and headed down the aisle to find whatever he was looking for.

One of Ace’s non-negotiable tactics has to do with greeting the customer. This associate had failed and as Art says, “He was ‘taking down’ Ace’s culture.”

Art quickly intervened by first helping the customer and then going back to the associates and coaching them on how to properly interact and help their customers. He treaded delicately between a reprimand and a teaching opportunity. When he was finished, not only did the employees understand what to do, they also became defenders of the culture, as well.

One of my favorite examples of this came when a new employee at a hotel was taking a hotel policy literally instead of the spirit in which it was intended. In the process, it was eroding the guest experience. I watched one of her colleagues at the front desk jump in to help her. She was relieved and learned at the same time.

This final example of defending the culture provides an opportunity for me to share an important philosophy about customer service and leadership. When it comes to customer service, you don’t need a title to be a leader. Anyone in the organization can be the one others look up to and aspire to be like. If someone is not acting in accordance with the customer service standards that have been put into place, or any other part of the organization’s culture, you have a responsibility to defend it. Be a role model. Look at it as a teaching opportunity.  Grab it and use it to help the employee grow to be more successful in the future.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert and New York Times bestselling author. Find more information at www.Hyken.com.