I'm moving some things around in my office and I've got stuff in boxes in every corner. I glanced over at one of the boxes today. It's a Zappos.com box and right there on the side it says, "Powered by Service."
Pretty impressive. I've blogged about the great Zappos service and their core values before. But I don't think I realized that good service is much more than just something they do. It's actually a part of their DNA. So much so that it's on their boxes. But just a slogan on a box doesn't mean much unless you can back it up with action. You have to be committed to it for to really mean anything.
Watch this.
4 weeks! Every employee must go through a 4-week training period where their DNA is altered to become service oriented. That shows commitment. And did you notice the costumes and the toys? That's culture. They've done a great job of extending their culture to every single person on staff.
What about you? I know from experience, it's so easy to just get the staff to a place where they can do the job and then throw on the front line. At camp, we're usually so starved for help that we get staff to the front lines just as soon as we can and expect that they'll pick up the rest on the way.
But here's the deal (and don't ever forget this…ever) great service doesn't happen by accident. It happens on purpose. Consider being much more intentional in your training about the stuff that really matters to you. Remember, you can't be everywhere at once. You can't talk to every single customer and answer every phone. You have to train your staff to uphold your standard…even when you aren't there.
Don't leave it to chance. Be remarkable. On purpose.
Excellent post Mike. Great service does not happen by accident!