First-Class Customer Service Business Results Are Built On Self-Respect
Greetings *|FNAME|*,
Take a moment to remember an incident recently when you enjoyed first-class customer service that brought you deep satisfaction. Was it buying groceries, or talking with a bank teller at your credit union? Was it while getting your heat pump fixed, or during a meeting with your children's teachers? Before Christmas, Paul and I met with my care team to discuss the results from the chemo and what are next steps, post-surgery. Drum roll please.... I'm currently cancer free!!
That was the great news. But there was something more... because during our many conversation(s) with doctors, physician assistants, nurses and technicians, I could not help but appreciate MD Andersen's incredible culture of customer service first-hand:
- The plastic surgeon sat with us compassionately listening to all of our challenges
- The receptionist remembered my last name an hour later after she had greeted countless patients
- The ultrasound technician continually made sure I was comfortable
- The perpetually friendly nurses did so much with a smile
- The PA always called me "Dr. Ebbers" and was forever friendly
No one sounded rushed or felt hurried. Instead, all members of the team performed their roles with steady, consistent kindness, answering every single question we had, whenever we had one. Paul and I experienced a deliberate and systemic expression of respect, which we appreciated greatly.
Customer service really is just another name for 'respect of others'. Good customer service is good business, but this goes well beyond annual customer satisfaction surveys, corporate mantras or periodic team building initiatives. It starts with how your company's values are expressed in practical ways, by every team member. Because we humans are attuned to whether we are being genuinely treated with respect, or simply pacified. So in order to deliver first-class customer service each day, we start by fortifying self-respect in our individual lives, then throughout our business practices.
People Who Have Healthy Self-Respect...
- Hold themselves accountable for their beliefs, thoughts, attitudes, words, and behaviors.
- Take personal responsibility during a conflict, amending behavior that harms or may harm others.
- Maintain healthy boundaries and stay true to themselves, without becoming defensive.
- Understand others have different challenges and give them grace without resentment.
- Can clearly observe others who lack self-respect, but do not let it get in the way of working together toward mutual success.
People Who Lack Self-Respect...
- Blame those that "make" them have disrespectful behavior towards others, OR take all the blame on themselves and let others off the hook.
- Minimize their own questionable behavior and refuse to change, OR take responsibility for everything and change in an attempt to make people accept them.
- Maintain rigid boundaries and amass power for themselves with no regard to how they achieve their position, OR have very permeable boundaries to abdicate control and ownership they should keep.
- Are defensive and demand perfection in others, OR allow people to run over them and forever apologize.
Do you notice all the "OR" items in the behaviors of people who lack self-respect? That's because circumventing self-respect quickly warps our behaviors in different ways. Remember that self-respect and self-disrespect lie on a behavioral continuum, and what is done internally projects out to touch others externally. Seeming to hold ourselves in high regard at the expense of others is just another clear indicator of low self-regard.
Self-respect is a life-long journey for all of us. Back in December, I mentioned how I'm taking more time to enjoy life in the many ways it shows up. This is a new growth area in my repertoire, so I'm practicing extra vigilance in my self-respect so that I can better reinforce Change by Design's systemic commitment to showing respect toward others. I believe that the buck stops here.
As you kick off Q1 of 2023, consider some ways you can nurture and strengthen the practice of self-respect throughout your workplace. One approach is starting to rephrase the tone and voice throughout the organization from a negative one to a positive one. Another approach is aligning the company values to the results you seek, so that customers are delighted by the respect you and your colleagues show through the products and services that you provide. But whatever way you go, remember that self-respect starts with you!
Respectfully Yours,
Sue
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