Published on October 2, 2019 Shep Hyken Customer Service & Experience Expert, NY Times Bestselling Author and Keynote Speaker
The first full week in October is National Customer Service
Week, and each year about this time I write an article encouraging
you, if you haven’t already done so, to consider some type of celebration.
The International Customer
Service Association started Customer Service Week in 1984 in an
effort to recognize employees who deliver great service. In 1992, President
George Bush officially designated the first full week of October as National
Customer Service Week and proclaimed, “A business will do a better job of providing
high-quality goods and services by listening to its employees and by empowering
them with opportunities to make a difference.”
It is important to note that the reason for NCSW wasn’t to
focus on customers but on the employees of
an organization. With that in mind, I’d like to break down three opportunities
to consider for the week.
1.
Focus on employees: As just
mentioned, this was the original intent of the “holiday.” Yes, I call it a
holiday. If the retail word can refer to Black Friday as a holiday, we can
refer to NCSW as a holiday as well. You don’t have to hold a fancy event. If
you want to celebrate with food, it can be as simple as a pizza party after
work – or maybe have a food truck show up at lunch. Consider having the
leadership team or managers of departments write personal notes of appreciation
to the employees they work with. There are plenty of ways to show appreciation.
If you want some ideas, you can look at last year’s article where I
featured 10 ways to celebrate the week.
2.
Honor your vendors: While your
vendors may not be customers, without them you may not have a business. We
encourage you to forge a relationship in which vendors become partners, helping
to create success for both parties. When a vendor is nothing more than a
supplier, you can buy what they sell from anyone. However, when the vendor
understands your business and can help create success – not just sell “stuff” –
then you have the opportunity to grow stronger together. For that, they should
be recognized and appreciated. Maybe it’s just a nice note. Maybe it’s a
reception during NCSW week. It doesn’t matter as long as your vendors/partners
are recognized for the contribution they make to your success.
3.
Appreciate your customers: Even
though NCSW is to be focused on employees, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t
recognize and honor your customers. This could be a missed opportunity. What
can you do to show appreciation to your customers? In the past, I’ve suggested
having employees write notes to customers. And, similar to what you do for
employees with some type of event, do something similar for customers. Or
combine them. And, if you do, mention to your customers that you are honoring
your employees and would like them to join in the celebration.
There are many ways to take advantage of National Customer
Service Week. Just search Google and you’ll find many other great ideas. My
take on this is that big celebrations are fun, and there’s nothing wrong with
them, but sometimes it’s the little celebrations that are more meaningful –
especially when leadership is involved. Sure, a lot of this depends on the size
of your company. I’ve been asked to speak at NCSW events where there were
several thousand in attendance. And, I’ve been invited to parties where there
were only 20 people. It’s not the size of the celebration that counts. It’s the
thought and meaning behind it.
Finally, I’d like to end with a reminder that I include at
the end of most of the articles I’ve written about NCSW. While it’s just one
week, it doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry about the other 51 weeks
throughout the year. Honoring customers and employees
should be something we do every week. Maybe we should call it National Customer
Service Year!
Shep Hyken is a customer
service expert, keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling business
author. For information, contact 314-692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The
Customer Focus™ customer service training programs, go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken
No comments:
Post a Comment