Customer Service - Where did it go?

I attended a seminar yesterday on Customer Service. My expectations were that it would be filled with tips to help employees become better at providing customer service. My expectations were blown away. The gentleman who led the seminar was fantastic. I thought I would share one of the topics covered during the seminar as it applies to everyone no matter what you do for a living.

One section from the seminar was titled, "Quality Customer Service is ATTITUDE". Whatever you do, do it with a positive attitude. If you don't enjoy what it is you do, then do something else. I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Life is too short to be miserable at a job you hate.

Think of it this way, let's say you start working at the age of 22 and retire at the age of 65. That's 43 years working. During that time, even if you take 2 weeks off a year for vacation, you still will work 10,578 days as opposed to having 4,482 days off, which includes 2 weeks a year vacation and weekend days. That means you will work 58% of your life for 43 years! Why in the world would you spend over half of your life doing something you hate?

The speaker related the following story to illustrate how you can enjoy anything with the right attitude. He is from a small town in south Georgia. At a local barbecue restaurant where he frequently goes with his wife and granddaughter, the same man worked as a volunteer greeter for years. Every time he walked in the restaurant with his granddaughter, the greeter always greeted them in an enthusiastic way and always remembered his granddaughters name. This really delighted his granddaughter.

Recently, the man passed away. By the world's standards, this man was a nobody. All he did was enthusiastically greet people at the door of a barbecue restaurant. However, at his funeral, a huge line of Georgia State Patrol cars were lined up and leading the funeral progression. The reason... The restaurant was a frequent stop for the patrolmen while on duty. He touched their lives so much that they all wanted to be there at his funeral.

In short, Customer Service is being nice to people and treating them the way you would want to be treated. Sound familiar?

The golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I'll share some other stories from the seminar in upcoming posts.

Until tomorrow, make it a great day!