Words to live by

Published July 1, 2009 | By Lee

A few months ago, I had to take my little VW beetle in for a check up before making a trip cross country. I was in a new town and was not familiar with the service department. When I walked in, I was greeted immediately by a woman behind the counter. After telling her my name, she politely excused herself to go get the service manager for me. While waiting, I noticed a very large sign at my eye level just behind the counter. It read as follows:

OUR PROMISE

The 5 Customer (Guest) Wants:

Quality in Every Detail
Fast Response
Solution to the Problem
Personal Assistance
Sincere Cheer

I had to smile as I read them. They were simply common sense and the fact that they posted them was brilliant in my humble opinion. What does having this list do for the “guests” that walk in? And how about the employees? What does this say about the company?

I enjoyed a long career with a company that had their Shared Values posted in every store. This was a company that believed in empowering every member of their team to make good decisions based on the company’s values, vision and mission. As a new team member, the first day of training was just about these shared values with the thought that if you found yourself in a position where you weren’t sure what to do, you could follow the values and make the “right” decisions…every time.

It worked like a charm.

What words does your business have to live by?

What is your business’s customer service philosophy?

Would you post them?

Testimonials

“Lee has an excellent ability to ask smart questions, listen and coach individuals to an improved performance. She was instrumental in our efforts to develop and coach our sales teams contributing to 30 consecutive months of positive sales increases. Lee was effective in coaching associates face-to face and over the phone which gave us the flexibility to continue our coaching programs during tough economic times.” ~ Chris Matthies, VP of Sales, Storehouse Furniture, Co-Author of Pathway to Profit, VA. Beach, VA