Leading Superior Customer Experience: Turn Off the Power!
by Kate Nasser | 5 Comments »
Various comments on my last post — Don’t Fire the Customer, Fire Yourselves! — showed that many use the phrase “fire the customer” as a display of power.
Leadership for Super Customer Experience: Turn Off the Power! Image via Istock.
In the aftermath of abusive customers or the challenge of clients who constantly change their minds, some leaders and business owners use that damaging phrase to validate the organization’s position and use it to re-motivate frustrated and demoralized teams.
Yet, the power playing approach leaves a trail of trouble for the teams, the customer service culture, and the company’s reputation and brand.
Turn Off the Power for Superior Customer Experience!
Power struggles establish the dynamic as right vs. wrong.
Customer experience is about perspective and connection.
Power words, like “firing”, conquer & crush.
Customer experience is about awareness, empathy, uplift, and success.
Power-based motivation like “employees first, customers second” sets up a win/lose mentality.
Superior customer experience is about win/win!
“When you lead and serve for power, get ready for a power failure!” There is no greatness in either/or.
Turn off the power struggles, power words, and power-based motivation. If you want to use power, give it to your customers to give you free feedback — communicated with basic respect.
Turn on the listening and learning. Turn on creative exploration for effective problem solving. Turn on innovative thinking for customer satisfaction. Turn on the honest diplomacy to set limits in abusive situations. Turn on the joy of delivering superior customer service.
Lead a culture of excellence for improved performance based in continuous learning — not in power.
How will you ignite the customer service greatness in your organization?
I welcome your perspective in the comments section below. And I am ready to help you the way I have helped countless others in the last 23 years.
From my professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™
Related Posts:
Leadership success: Think Balance Beam Not Mountain Top
Super Customer Experience: Customers & Us in Harmony
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Kate Nasser, The People-Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.
Firing the customer is an essentially defensive action that communicates anger, and therefore aggression. Withdrawing or separating from the customer is an entirely different and potentially positive action both for the organization and the customer. “Firing” anybody is, as you say so well, Kate, about power — and fear — and suggests that the organization really has not decided where a line should be drawn and why. It’s more an act of retaliation, than of separation and begs for the battle to keep happening in a cycle of mistrust.
Such a wonderfully concise summary Dan. Exactly the point — know where your org. wants to set the boundaries and communicate positively to work things out. Separating is far far different from “firing”.
Many thanks once again for your insight and Happy Holidays,
Kate
And to you, too, Kate!
Hi Kate-I think I have a good example of keeping it “Customer-centric”. Just this week, we had a project that, while completed, did not go as smoothly as expected. When I told the client that we would not bill for the rush charges, his response was that he liked how we handled this project and could we please send us our capabilities information so that he could forward it to the rest of his team. Amazing things can happen when you treat your clients well!
Thank you so much Laurie for this outstanding example. You owned what didn’t go so well and freed the client from having to deal with judging the discontent. It allowed them to see your integrity as a capability and true benefit for future success!
Bravo. Your business is a shining example of the benchmark all businesses can achieve. I do encourage others to check out your “translation” services for it is a true vehicle for global success.
Warmest regards and thanks for your additions to this post.
Kate