"Delivering World Class Service"
I understand the outdoor wear company L. L. Bean has a tee shirt that it gives to its' employees. On the front, it says, "99.99% service completion is pretty darn good". On the back, it says, "As long as you don't mind disappointing 35,000 customers". I think that says all that really counts about service - you're not going to be perfect, but you have to try, because anything else will make the service worse.
Customer Service always involves balancing the needs of more than one entity, and sometimes they may be in opposition. To make your service World Class, you must resolve this to the best of your ability, and reach for the best solution for all - really work for the "win-win" situation, where all parties' needs are being met to the best of your ability. If you can try to be doing that to the best of your ability, all the time, you will be delivering World Class Service. All Quality Assurance is tied into about five aspects of function: Make it a process; make it repeatable, make it measurable, make it documented, and - MAKE IT SELF-IMPROVING! Ask yourself, do I have a process, that I can rely on to get the work done? Can I do it over and over again, the same way, every time? Can I measure my success, or failure? Is my process documented for the benefit of maintaining the process? Lastly, does my process include within it the ability to examine, evaluate, and improve? Always striving to answer these questions with "yes" will insure you deliver World Class Service. Failure to do so will cripple your activity.
It is not a crime to say, "I don't know" - but it becomes a crime if you don't find out. It is not a crime to say, "I have made a mistake" - but it becomes a crime if you don't fix the error. And it is a crime if you don't apply these to someone in the other seat - work with them, learn with them, fix things with them, and grow together. There are "win-win" situations, but everyone has to work together to reach them. When someone goes into a situation with the attitude "I'm going to win, someone is going to lose", they've already lost. Unfortunately, it is the most consistent and repeatable WRONG thing that happens in organizations - and documented by many failures - don't let it document you that way!
"There is no 'I' in
team", "No man is an island", "The blame game" are all
aspects of the hardest things to do in the world. Not rocket science, not nuclear
physics, or even synchronous satellite communications, but working with other
people! Unlike computers, you can't do a "clear and reset" with people.
Prevent that with good and clear communications, empathy, and diligent search
for winning situations. Forget the other word, and deliver World Class Service.
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