I have a pretty strategic view of customer service: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Last week something happened to illustrate just how damaging it can be when you screw this up.

 

About 15 years ago, while at Xerox, I took over a territory consisting of commercial and quick printers. Just as I started, one of the franchise printers went out of business. Basically, he just locked his doors and walked away leaving the equipment in place. He did not sell his franchise but a brand new owner with the same franchise name moved into the location. Understandably, the new owner wanted the other company’s equipment removed so he could set up for business. But try as I might (those of you who know me know that means a whole lot of trying and a whole lot of creativity trying to solve the problem), I could not get Xerox to pick up the equipment. It seems the previous company had defaulted on their lease agreement and until that dispute was settled, they could not or would not pick up the equipment. It didn’t seem to matter that the lessee was no place to be found and not likely to make good on the lease payments, especially now that he had shut his doors. Finally, the owner of the new business moved the equipment out into the alley. He took a picture of it next to the dumpster, pinned it to his bulletin board and talked about it to anyone who would listen. I was known as the Xerox rep that went back on her word or the Xerox rep that couldn’t get anything done.

 

Flash forward 15 years. I am presenting at the national conference of owners for this franchise and guess who is in the audience? And what’s the first thing he says to me? You guessed it, “Remember when you didn’t pick up that machine and I had to put it out in the alley?”

 

This is an example of doing the right things instead of doing things right. Xerox followed its rules. Even though I argued that they were likely to end up with nothing if they followed those rules, no manager was willing or able to make a decision contrary to those rules. In the end, Xerox didn’t get any more money from the original guy, the new guy bought a Kodak instead of a Xerox and my reputation was tarnished…with this guy, at least. If he is still carrying this around fifteen years later, how many others did he tell? What impression of Xerox or me did they have as a result of this story?

 

In one of Jim Collins’ books, he shares an example of how the Ritz Carlton gets around this type of thing and is able to consistently deliver a fantastic customer experience. Employees have a fund of $2,000 to use at their discretion to fix a problem, any problem a customer is having. They trust their employees to spend it wisely and I bet they get their return on that investment. I know I’ve loved every minute of my stays at the Ritz Carlton at Tyson’s Corner, Virginia and Naples, Florida. 

 

So why is it so hard to deliver “remarkable” customer service? How many times have we heard from airlines, retail clerks, mechanics, service professionals of all types, “The system won’t let me do that.” They are basically saying that their system won’t let me be happy. Really? The system hates me? Systems are programmed to prevent people from doing things they shouldn’t do but unfortunately they, all too often, stop people from doing what they should do.

 

Are your employees empowered to provide remarkable service to your clients? To overrule the rules when they don’t work? To do things right instead of doing the right things? If not why not? If your answer to this question is you can’t trust your employees to make good decisions then why do they work for you? There are tons of great people out of work today who could be trusted to make wise decisions. If you are going to taut customer service as your differentiator, then you better darn well deliver it. I don’t expect much when I go to a fast food joint, and I usually get what I expect. But when I go out for a $300 dinner, I want it to be fantastic. I want it to be memorable. I want to be able to talk about it. So tell your employees that you want every customer to think you’re fantastic, to remember their experience and to tell others about it. Let them take it from there, and if they can’t then get some who can.