Customer Service Paradigm

The opposite of love is indifference. 

The real problem with traditional Customer Service is that the primary intent is to get as many people through the system as efficiently as possible without upsetting them too much. 

The Customer Experience is about creating the kind of emotion that evokes and drives the Customer to want to come back - again and again and again.

• Every human being wants to feel cared about. 

• Every human being wants to feel valued. 

• Every human being wants to look good.

To be ignored is an extremly cold, cold emotional place to be.  Yet I see it every day...

The clinic waiting area with the reception desk situated such that the receptionist's (Director of First Impressions) back is turned to the human beings coming to the desk.

Unfortunately, most Customer Service Experiences are more than a little short in the "caring" department.  Most Customer Service Experiences are quite cold as a matter of "efficient habit".

Why is that?

I believe it is because "corporate America" believes in tangible results more than anything else.  Bring in the immediate return on investment or do not do it.

The drive for efficiency means there is one receptionist greeting the Patient or Customer in an organization.  The number of human beings needing the full, caring attention of the receptionist is overwhelming.  The result is the receptionist hurries through the relationship (if you can call it that).  The Patient or Customer feels little warmth and then is expected to care enough to return to do business in the future.

Take this problem and apply it to call centers, retail, service, and all situations involving the interface between the employee and the Customer or Patient.

The real problem with traditional Customer Service is one of measurement of value creation.  It is easy to measure how much was "done" today by measuring the number of tasks completed.  It is difficult to place a value on the answer to the question, "Have I made a fellow human being feel better today?"  Making a positive difference in the life of those you touch leads to amazing things.

The unfortunate reality