Guest Blog: National Customer Service Week is Nearly Over…Now What?

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post, my colleague Bill Gessert writes about National Customer Service Week and shares ideas to continue the celebration next week and beyond. I especially like his comment: A customer experience IS NOT an “event.” – Shep Hyken

It’s Friday of National Customer Service Week, 2014 edition….the last day of this great week.  Hopefully, your organization has had a week full of Celebrating Customer Connections, the theme of this year’s NCSW.

But now what?  What happens after this week is complete and the celebrations are over?  To answer that question, I want to go back to the roots of National Customer Service Week, initially launched in 1984 by the International Customer Service Association (ICSA).

The ICSA leaders understood the vital role that customer service plays in business.  They already knew that the customer experience was something that could be measured and directly linked to revenue and profits.  Their decision to launch National Customer Service Week was an effort to bring well-deserved recognition to service providers, but not just during the first week of every October.

Listen to what past ICSA President John Kressaty said about the purpose of NCSW:

“National Customer Service Week activities have far-reaching effects in October and throughout the year. “There are two main purposes of National Customer Service Week,” said Kressaty.  “It lets you recognize the job that your customer service professionals do 52 weeks a year. The other purpose is to get the message across to a wide range of businesses, governments and industries that customer service is very important along with bottom line profit in running a business.”

So, just because this National Customer Service Week is nearing completion, recognition of the contributions of your service providers should not stop!  In fact, it should be a year-long, strategic element of your business planning.

A customer experience IS NOT an “event.”  It should be a carefully crafted strategic contact between two of the most important people to your business or organization – your customer and the individuals who connect with them!

Here are my suggestions for Monday, October 13^th, and beyond!

• Get your top executives involved in the customer experience. A client tells me that his customer service operation is “broken.” An analysis of the situation revealed that, among other issues, the customer service providers in the organization felt like no one understood how challenging their job actually was.  Least of all upper management.  My suggestion was that every senior executive, including the President, spend a minimum of one hour per month sitting with their service providers and actually taking calls.  The impact of this strategy was enormous.  Opening their eyes at the executive level, they now understood how important their customer service providers really were to the organization.  And the reps now felt like upper management cared.  This led to all sorts of positive and strategic changes.  Service improved dramatically.
• Create and implement professional development plans for your customer service providers. These are the people that have the most interaction with your customers on a regular basis.  That core experience prepares them well for other roles in your organization, but they will need further development.  Invest in them!  Show your entire organization that one of the best paths to promotion is through the customer service department!
• Use your social media channels to share the great experiences your customer service reps provide to your customers. This can be a very powerful means of providing recognition throughout the year.  Some companies encourage their customers to give “shout outs” to any customer service provider that creates an exceptional experience for them.  Think about that!  The customer actually becomes your brand ambassador!  You can’t buy better PR!  And it provides meaningful recognition to your customer experience reps throughout the year.

There are lots of other ways to keep the energy around National Customer Service Week going all year.  I would encourage you to consider the three that I’ve provided.  Trust me, if you do, the ROI will be measurable and meaningful to your business.

Happy National Customer Service Week!  Now, make it last!

Bill Gessert has served as President of the ICSA and has for the past seven years. Bill is now Director of Business Development for Fernley & Fernley Inc. Based in Philadelphia, Fernley & Fernley provides professional management services to non-profit trade associations and professional societies.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors, go to customerserviceblog.com.