Pattern for Excellence. Brigham Dickinson
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in our communication that it has lost its meaning. There are so many other ways to express real empathy for one another. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. You can empathize with a customer and use that to relate to their situation or need. Simple expressions in your tone of voice as you listen shows that you feel what they are describing. Agreeing with them or expressing that you can only imagine how they feel shows great empathy. If what they are feeling is caused by you, you can apologize, take full responsibility and list specific steps you will take to correct the situation. Showing you care goes a long way in rectifying difficult or awkward situations. They are not awkward at all when you show respect for an individual’s worth.
5. Say “YES” – Give Beyond Expectation
Do you give first, to create WOW Experiences and build long-term relationships? Customers tend to mirror what we say and do in our interactions. When we say “no,” they say “no,” when we say “Yes,” they often say “Yes” in return. Once I was hosted for dinner by a famous chef named Kent Andersen in Provo, Utah. He stated that he always looks for ways to say “Yes” when serving customers at his restaurants. He told of a time when a customer noted with sadness that his banana Foster was no longer on the menu. He immediately sent one of his busboys out the back door to the supermarket to get everything he needed so that the customer could have the banana Foster he craved. “Yes” is about giving beyond expectation to create WOW Experiences and build long-term relationships. Focus on what you can do for the customer as opposed to what you cannot do by always saying “Yes!”
6. Ask – Encourage Autonomous Work
Are you accountable to clarify what is missing, learn the right answers and respond accordingly? This principle is about taking ownership of what you do. Scripts and selling systems help you know what to say and what questions to Ask and they can be a good starting point in any position. Obviously, it helps to know your playbook. However, there is a big difference between knowing each play and carrying out each play effectively. The principles in the Pattern for Excellence precede the skill set (scripts and selling systems) because it is essential that you first understand, then perfect the skill. In the Ask principle, the notion of autonomous work comes into play. Your actions must become intentional in nature; your company’s purpose must so motivate you that you do not consider how hard the work is, how long it takes or how much you are being compensated to do it. The service you provide must come from the heart. It must be bigger than you—a cause worthy of your effort. Since every customer is different, you need to ask questions to clarify what the customer wants—the desired outcome to their circumstances during each transaction—and respond accordingly. With this autonomous mindset, a disciplined response to a customer’s need or want is not just about knowing what to say or do; it is about learning how to say or do it in response to the specific expectation set by the customer. When you are empowered to use your judgment to create WOW Experiences for your clients, you will more consistently provide phenomenal customer service and exceed their expectations. You will become proactive in responding to customers’ needs and wants. That is the Ask principle in action.
7. Be Valuable – Consciously Create Value
Do you create value within your area of responsibility and encourage your peers to do the same? Although you may be a customer, you are not your customer. Treating others the way you want to be treated is a default or reactive way to serve others. It is much more effective to get clear on how others want to be treated and then proactively serve them in that desired way. Creativity, innovation and maybe a little discomfort may be required on your part. When we endeavor to create value for others by providing a service in a unique and innovative way, our energy goes up. We feel good as we go above and beyond to create WOW and help others feel good. These good vibes between the service provider and client are perpetuated.
When you, the service provider, create value for your clients, independent of how hard it is, how long it takes or how much you are being compensated to provide it, you become invaluable to your company. You become valuable, even indispensable. Be creative in the way you serve others, innovative in ways others do not expect, and you’ll experience great satisfaction when you hear them say words like, “remarkable,” “extraordinary” and “WOW.”
8. Be Grateful – Honor Our Stewardship
Serving others together in stewardship is a blessing that we honor and value. When you sincerely thank someone, your expression of gratitude towards them means that they made a difference. When people feel they have made a difference, they feel important and become more connected and loyal to the one that expressed gratitude. Recognizing the time, contribution or effort of another requires humility. Seeing that the work you do needs customers, it becomes a stewardship—an opportunity to serve and create WOW Experiences for others. Doing work that fulfills you isn’t work at all—it is a cause that you honor and value.
These eight principles in the Pattern for Excellence constitute the behaviors and framework for learning best practices in phenomenal customer service. Mastery of these principles empowers you to achieve at a higher level and makes you more valuable to the company and clients you serve. You become more aware and persuasive in your communication. You get more done in less time and are able to create more WOW Experiences for your clients.
Practice without principle is obligation
A practice is how you deliver a product or service:The action steps, applications or procedures that you use to complete the tasks associated with your job. We have become accomplished at doing our jobs and teaching others how to do their jobs without first teaching the Why, the purpose behind it.
People are proficient at practicing their professions. Mail carriers deliver the mail. Car salespersons sell cars. Orthodontists straighten teeth. Telemarketers answer phones. Technicians fix things. Plumbers, teachers, attorneys, and scientists all have a job to do. Day after day, people clock in and clock out to meet their obligations in the practice of their professions.
Obligation: an act or course of action to which a person is morally or legally bound; a duty or commitment. —Google Free Dictionary
When we were kids, we rarely understood why we had to do chores. When we asked, the common response from our parents was “because I said so!” Thus, because our parents “said so” became our motivation.
One of my fondest recollections of my Grandpa was his commitment to creating teaching opportunities while he and I worked together. No matter what we were doing, he took the time to explain why we were doing it. His explanations made a remarkable difference because it transformed our work from a list of meaningless tasks to a cause with a noble purpose.
Answering the “why” in regards to “what” you do is critical because it directly impacts the passion and personal drive you bring to your work. Stop looking at your job as an obligation and start answering the reason “why” you do what you do and “what” motivates you to do it. Otherwise, your ability to perform at a higher level is hindered as well as your ability to motivate others.
Practice Born of Principle is Service
Principles are the “what” in your interaction with others. They identify the values or guidelines that motivate the behaviors in your practice. These principles are fundamental truths that serve as the foundation for a system of individual or organizational beliefs. It is out of this set of principles that your practice is transformed from the mere obligation to work into a belief that your work is an opportunity for service.
Service (v): the action of helping—Google Free Dictionary
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