t all begins with a thought. Thoughts turn into words, words turn into
behaviors, and behaviors turn into habits. In fact, anything we consistently do
will become a habit. Napoleon Hill wrote: “Thoughts are things, and powerful
things at that.” It generally takes anywhere between three to four weeks of daily
repetition to form a habit, but once it’s formed, it is very difficult to not do it.
The mind doesn’t know if it’s a good or bad habit. Your mind just accepts
whatever you feed it, and the habits ensue. To deliver a consistently exceptional service
experience, there must be habits that are hardwired throughout your entire team.
Williams shared his insights on customer service to help inspire the General Session audience during the 2016 ISPA Conference & Expo.
Service Culture
A strong service culture is comprised of
multiple people who have developed
strong service habits. Is it the norm for
everyone to escort rather than point directions? Or is it just a few team members
who do it? Is it the norm for everyone to
learn guest preferences…or anticipate
needs…or follow through with resolving
guest complaints? Or is it just a few team
members?
Exceptional service cannot be dependent on whether a particular employee is
working. I don’t know about you, but
there are some places I only visit on
certain days at certain time periods,
because a particular person is working.
That is the exact opposite of a strong
service culture. No matter who is working,
the service should be memorable. No
matter what time of day it is, the service
should be memorable. No matter if it’s a
weekend or weekday, the service should
be memorable. No matter if it’s busy or
slow, the service should be memorable.
Strong habits can supersede individual
moods and push everyone toward a
common direction.
Oftentimes, people ask me about the
first thing they should do to develop a
team of people who deliver engaging
service. The first thing I tell them is to
make service the most important thing to
the team. It cannot be equal to any other
objective, and it certainly can’t be an item
on a to-do list. Every process on your
team has to be anchored in service.
Basically, anyone should be able to look at
any of your team members, and see that
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