Guest Blog: Mind blowing customer service starts with mind blowing employee service

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post, my colleague David Martin writes about the amazing internal service he has experienced at the company for which he now works. I love how Bellhops continuously try and make their customers happy. What a great company culture they have created! – Shep Hyken

Author note: This guest blog post should be read as a complement to Alison Brattle’s February entry titled, “How Internal Customer Service Can Strengthen Your Business.”

One of the first things I noticed when interviewing at Bellhops was a sign hanging from the wall that read “Treat the Bellhops like kings.”

Bellhops–college aged movers–are the lifeblood of their namesake business, a tech-enabled moving and lifting company headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Leveraging the sharing economy to have a market presence in more than 130 American cities, the business would utterly fail without a legion of empowered and motivated bellhops in the field delivering premium customer service every single day.

On my first day on the job, I spent a few minutes going through Yelp customer reviews of Bellhops experiences nationwide. They were wildly flattering. I then learned that the company has a +62 Net Promoter score, on par with Zappos, Amazon, and Southwest Airlines.

I asked VP of Customer Experience, Nate Sexton, how it’s possible to get hundreds of geographically dispersed undergrads (all bellhops are active college students) to earn a customer care ranking that industry giants would be envious of.

“Simple,” he said. “We engage our bellhops the exact same way we treat our customers.”

In other words, Bellhops executives and support staff provide great customer service to their own employees. Indeed, they are treated like kings. Here’s an excerpt from an internal company wide email sent out by Bellhops COO Matt Patterson:

Bellhops are the Kings of the company. We are nothing without the bellhops. The green headband (company trademark) is their crown. Every bellhop who crushed a move and got a great review has to hear about it from us. Positive reinforcement and encouragement is essential. When they call in, we need to take care of their every need. If a bellhop is visiting headquarters, everyone needs to get out of their chair and cheer that warrior on.

Bellhops aims to blow each of their customer’s minds. But considering that most consumers already expect good service, blowing minds requires more than just delivering quality work. Blowing minds requires the delivery of an incredible overall experience.

Knowing that bellhops routinely bring their customers things like bottled water and snacks for moving day. Taking that spirit further, headquarters set up a concierge department that works with bellhops in each market to find out ways to make their jobs as memorable (in a good way!) as possible.

Are two newlyweds moving into their first home together? Great. The concierge team could work with the bellhops to bring those lovebirds a Monopoly set so they can throw great board game parties. Is a family with young children moving? The bellhops might just show up with toys for the kids since many of their own will be in boxes.

Happy customers equal strong markets. And those healthy markets equal more jobs for the college bellhops. The bellhops work hard to foster great experiences for customers, and they know that headquarters will work with them to help make that happen.

The equation is as straightforward as can be: Bellhops provide great customer service because they, themselves, are the recipients of it from headquarters.

These variables aren’t just tied to the sharing economy. They are the same for any business–brick and mortar, or online. When an employer blows the minds of their employees, those team members will likely do the same for the customer.

David Martin is on the Marketing & Communications team at Bellhops, a tech-enabled moving a lifting company headquartered in Gig City (aka Chattanooga, Tennessee).

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com. Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article:

Is Zappos Marching Bravely into the Future?