{"id":30885,"date":"2013-05-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/trust-enhances-employee-and-customer-experience\/"},"modified":"2024-01-18T21:06:26","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T21:06:26","slug":"trust-enhances-employee-and-customer-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-culture\/trust-enhances-employee-and-customer-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Trust Enhances Employee and Customer Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Key to a Customer Service Culture<\/h2>\r\n\"InTrust is key in the customer and employee relationship in a customer service culture.\u00a0 In the perfect setting, management must trust employees, employees, management, and the customer must trust the company.\u00a0 This is the \u201cThree-Legged Stool\u201d theory in action.\u00a0 For those not familiar with this concept, it is simple. If you have a three-legged stool and one of the legs is taken away, the stool falls over.\u00a0 If anyone of these groups mistrusts any of the others, there is no chance for customer loyalty.\r\n\r\nSo, what is mistrust?\u00a0 A lie, of course, would cause mistrust, but this is more about confidence.\u00a0 Can people count on people?\u00a0 Does the system always work, or is there doubt, even the smallest amount, that something will go wrong?\r\n\r\nFrom the customers\u2019 viewpoint, is there confidence in the information or the service they get from someone at the company?\u00a0 Do they trust the company can do a good job?\u00a0 Do they trust that the value is there?\u00a0 And, of course, do they trust the integrity of the company?\r\n\r\nFrom the managers\u2019 viewpoint, is there confidence<\/a> \u2013 or trust \u2013 that the employees will do a good job?\r\n\r\nFrom the employees\u2019 viewpoint, do they believe their managers trust them?\r\n\r\nYears ago, I worked at an auto parts store.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know much about auto parts, but after a short period, the owner trusted me enough to leave town for a weekend and put me in charge.\u00a0 Sure, I made mistakes, but he trusted me to use my best judgment.\u00a0 It was an incredible learning experience, not to mention a confidence booster.\u00a0 He took advantage of my mistakes and turned them into learning opportunities so that I would do it right the next time.\u00a0 Then he trusted me enough to leave again.\r\n\r\nJohn Venhuizen, Ace Hardware\u2019s CEO, summed it up well in an interview: \u201cEvery time a customer walks through our doors, that customer trusts our associates (employees) to help them solve a problem and to buy the right product.\u00a0 The solution we come up with possibly involves the home where their kids sleep every night.\u00a0 Now, whenever you accept advice from someone about what you\u2019re supposed to do in order to protect and take care of your home, that\u2019s a significant leap of faith.\u00a0 That means the level of trust and emotional connection that an associate needs to be able to build up with the customer is huge.\u00a0 By the same token, the trust and emotional connection the store owner builds up with the associates must also be pretty huge.\u00a0 So, we know that in order to win that high level of trust with the consumer, we have to establish a trusting relationship with the employee first.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn a perfect business relationship, trust abounds not just between the customer and the company but also inside the company.\u00a0 It enhances the customer experience.\u00a0 It enhances the employee experience.\u00a0 In business, trust is a must!\r\n\r\nNOTE: This article is a modified excerpt from Shep Hyken\u2019s book Amaze Every Customer Every Time: 52 Tools for Delivering the Most Amazing Customer Service on the Planet<\/i><\/a>.\r\n