CONSUMER MARKETING
Customer
service
Customer Service Vision
The one statement employees must know
BY JOHN DIJULIUS
W
hen we start working with
a consulting client and tell
them the first place we start
is creating a customer service vision statement, they say, “The last thing we need
is another statement. We have mission
statements, purpose statements, and our
employees can’t even keep them straight.”
Good businesses have evolved away
from lengthy, wordy mission statements
that no employee can recite, much less
remember. Today it is okay to have three
major company statements—provided
it’s clear as to how they differ and how
your employees need to decipher them.
While every company needs strong,
inspiring mission and purpose statements,
they are results, not actions. For example,
if your mission is to be the #1 financial
institution in the world, what does that tell
a bank teller or loan officer to do today as
they interact with each customer? Even
the greatest mission and purpose statements are not actionable by employees.
Let’s look at two great mission statements.
• Starbucks: To inspire and nurture
the human spirit—one person, one cup
and one neighborhood at a time.
• Another Broken Egg Cafe: It is the
mission of Another Broken Egg of America, Inc. to be the world’s best breakfast,
brunch and lunch cafe, delivering guest
satisfaction beyond your expectations with
a warm and friendly smile in a clean and
relaxing family atmosphere. It is our commitment to deliver “Egg” ceptional food
and exemplary service creating a unique
and memorable experience.
Both of those are strong mission statements and do excite people about the impact they can eventually have. I believe
mission and purpose statements should be
shared and discussed at orientation, posted
on walls, even displayed on the company’s
website. I think employees should be familiar with them, but I do not think it is
realistic for them to reme X