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You're a Customer Service "Hero"... So How's Your Customer Service?

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Brian Cantor
Brian Cantor
01/28/2013

Is a man made a hero when he does something amazing for an audience or when he routinely accomplishes equally-amazing feats without any notice?

That question, applicable to all forms of behavior, has particular implications for the world of customer management.

Time and time again, the business media showers adulation on those brands and representatives who perform heroic acts of customer service, and it is these stories of unrestricted customer-centricity that come to create a standard for the business function.

Nordstrom refunded a customer for a purchase he made at another store. Morton’s surprised a fan with a Porterhouse steak the second he arrived at an airport. If you want your brand to earn a reputation for customer-centricity, you must live up to this standard of heroics.

Just recently, LEGO dazzled the customer management worldby replacing a toy misplaced by a seven-year-old customer. Notable about the act was not simply LEGO’s willingness to replace the toy but the child-friendly tone embedded in the customer service representative’s letter to the customer.

This was a representative—and a brand—that "got" its customers, and the story unsurprisingly sparked social media comments like "the best customer service story of the year" and "why LEGO’s customer service department should run the world."

If my tone seems sardonic and poised for a twist in which I complain about how the aforementioned acts tales of heroism do not necessarily reflect a commitment to customer-centricity, perhaps I am not as unpredictable as I would like to believe.

Indeed, I do not believe that occasional acts of heroic customer service provide a guarantee of an organization’s customer-centricity.

But I also do not discount their importance in creating that optimal customer service culture. I do not dismiss them as meaningless anomalies in the effort to build more meaningful, lasting relationships with customers.

At the recent 8thAnnual Call Center Summit, StubHub’s Randy Rubingh identified tales of heroism as a cornerstone of the customer experience journey.

These stories of a brand going beyond the call of duty for its customers should come to define the organizational culture and provide a roadmap for excellence.

While it would be nice if Morton’s delivered a steak to every hungry traveler, the most important takeaway from its "stunt" is what that effort says about its concern for the customer.

Rather than forever labeling Morton’s as the "restaurant that sometimes delivers steaks to dudes at the airport," it should label Morton’s as the brand that "cares enough about delighting its customers to do things like deliver steaks to dudes at the airport."

That latter label, though less precise in defining the exact service customers will receive, speaks more fundamentally to the construct of the brand. It signals to customers the extent to which they matter to the business, and it provides agents with a context for service interactions.

The impact on agent culture is particularly important because it reminds representatives that successful customer experiences come not from specific policies and procedures but from an underlying commitment to satisfying the customer. When an agent thinks through a customer interaction, it is imperative that he guide himself not by the moments in which his organization looked inward but by those in which it looked outward to deliver what the customer wanted.

Will some customers be disappointed that they will not necessarily get free LEGOs or unwarranted refunds every time they contact support? Yes. But a far greater mass will appreciate interacting with a brand that is willing to think creatively about satisfying customers because it means there will be some value to the interaction.

Knowing that "policy" is not what matters encourages them to ignore the stigma associated with customer service and believe in the brand. It encourages them to willfully engage with the brand, which is the first step in creating a great customer-organization relationship.

Moments of customer service "heroism" can literally define a brand’s legacy, and organizations should absolutely consider how their customer experience can be "marketed" to a positive end. But the real value lies not in what made headlines but in why the organization delivered the experience that it did.

With that why as a guiding light, agents will know that a commitment to the customer is not open to compromise. They will know that the organization stands behind their interest in delighting customers and that those customers—and the greater marketplace—appreciate the commitment.

As a result, they will consistently provide an elite experience, regardless of whether the cameras are rolling and the bloggers are typing. And when they reach that point—a point at which they adhere to the broader vision that was epitomized by isolated moments of heroism—they will truly become customer service heroes who deliver heroic customer service.

Image from "Action Comics No. 1"


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