Follow the Golden Rule

 

The Golden Rule is the ethical concept of reciprocity.  Our actions towards other should be representative of our expectations regarding how we ourselves are to be treated.  When we think of the idea of customer service, it is the Golden Rule that should be the baseline for all our decisions.

I have spent my entire professional career working very directly with ‘customers’.  I spent many years working as a teacher with students and parents as my customers.  It was my responsibility to provide a service – in that case, education – and meet the varying needs required by those customers.  Since then, I have assumed a more direct customer service roll in the field of health care.  My experiences in these positions have solidified my belief in the Golden Rule in all circumstances, but especially in working with customers

As employees of our organizations, it is important to remember to view our actions from the customers viewpoint.  Customers are not privy to all of the behind-the-scenes information to which we have access.  It is the customer’s perception of a company, a brand, an individual, or a specific situation that will determine whether they feel validated or ignored.  We as professionals have power to mold this perception in a positive way.

Customer service is not always as easy to provide as we may like.  The perfect world would see organizations with teams who were able to provide customers whatever they wanted whenever they wanted it.  In reality, however, customer requests may be entirely unreasonable or, unfortunately, fraudulent in nature.   How do you provide exceptional service to customers while simultaneously acting as a conscientious agent of your organization?

Through this blog, we will explore ways to provide exceptional customer service in the modern day.  We will look at the societal, generational, and technological changes that require us to adapt our actions and methods of communication with customers.