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Hey, it’s not my job! by Tom Reilly Lack of ownership is at the heart of most management challenges. Managers are always seeking ways to get employees to take ownership of their careers, problems and opportunities. Books are written on the topic. Seminars include this as a vital discussion topic. Inspiring employees to take ownership is as great a challenge to executives as swelling the bottom line, not that the two are disconnected. Nowhere is ownership more important than with customer satisfaction. Too many people are willing to let others assume responsibility for creating satisfied customers. Companies encourage this thinking when they assign the name “Customer Service” to a department, a counter, or a group of people. When you have a product to return at Wal-Mart, where do you go? Customer Service. If you have a complaint, contact Customer Service. If you have a question that no one can answer, you will be routed to Customer Service. It’s as if this department is the clearinghouse for every problem a customer could have. The problem with this thinking is that customer service becomes the exclusive responsibility of a few people who have been designated as customer service representatives. For the rest of us, customer service is not our responsibility. Wrong! Customer service is everyone’s responsibility. How you do your job, how you interact with your peers, and how you interface with customers determine the way your company competes in the marketplace. The way you approach your job and how you contribute value determine the quality of your company’s products and services. Your initiative, commitment to excellence, and follow-through affect customer satisfaction even if you have no direct contact with customers. The quality of your effort affects the quality of your company’s solution for customers. How you interact with your peers has an outward rippling effect on customer satisfaction. You can only serve external customers to the degree to which you serve each other. When employees battle each other for power, recognition, and rewards, customer satisfaction is a casualty of that battle. When departments fight turf wars, there is little energy left over to battle the real foe—customer dissatisfaction. How you interface with customers determines your company’s image. Your company can spend millions of dollars promoting an image, but how you treat customers speaks more loudly about your feelings for customers. If you view customers as an interruption, they hear it in your voice. If you frown when customers call, customers see it in their mind’s eye. If you believe that serving is a pain in the neck or someone else’s responsibility, it’s difficult to conceal those feelings. Customer service is everyone’s responsibility, regardless of title or position. It’s your job. It’s your peers’ job. It’s your boss’s job. Everyone is responsible for creating satisfied customers because everything you do affects customer satisfaction in one way or another. ****************************************************************** Tom Reilly is a professional speaker and author of the book, Customer Service Is More Than a Department: It’s an Attitude! (Motivation Press) You may visit his website, www.TomReillyTraining.com or call him at 636-537-3360. |
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