Middle Column
The directive for employees to “go the extra mile”:
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Customer Service Initiatives: Additional Factors
High-level best practices in customer service are necessary but require supporting framework for success. Let’s say your group, that provides either internal or external customer service, now has a clear directive to “go the extra mile.” That’s a start, but is it enough to really make any lasting or measurable change? Will the customer experience be better? Unfortunately, it is very common for a directive like this to simply wither away without anyone even noticing or caring since everyone has “real” work to do anyway. The directive was a good first step but was severely lacking in enough structure, detail, context and examples that it was almost guaranteed to die.The directive for employees to “go the extra mile”:
- Means nothing if they don’t know how to do that
- Means nothing if they don’t know when to do that
- Means nothing if unless they know they have the authority to act
- Means nothing if they don’t have some concrete examples with context
- Means nothing if there are not some parameters or constraints on the “extras”
- Means nothing if they are not given some flexibility
- Means nothing if the culture punishes initiative
- Means nothing if examples are not communicated and discussed routinely
- Means nothing if this concept is not covered in detail during new-hire training
- Means nothing if there is insufficient documentation to support this directive
- Means nothing unless the positive “buzz” of this campaign is maintained