For years I have heard a simple phrase over and over and over concerning customer service. (Or really anything I guess.) I have heard it so many times in fact that I heard myself say it last week, twice! In the same conversation! I hope someday I can be forgiven. And now for the phrase:
“We pride ourselves in customer service.” You know, now that I type it out, I don’t even know if I am saying it right. “in customer service…,” or “on…,” or “in our…,” I don’t even know. But anyway you say it, it is a dumb thing to say. And this is why.
You usually hear someone say this overused, misunderstood phrase in order to apologize for messing-up or exhibiting crappy customer service. But regardless of whether or not you have just made a mistake and are trying to talk your way out of it, or have been brainwashed to think that this phrase makes you sound smart or cool, you should not ever say it. The point of all of this is that “priding” yourself in customer service is a waste. Actually be good at customer service. Don’t tell people “I like customer service because I read in Forbes that good companies have good customer service,” but figure out how to actually HAVE good customer service and then go out and execute. (Do it!)
It drives me crazy when I talk about how important doing something is with no, or little intention to actually do it. Customer service unfortunately falls in this category sometimes.
The interesting fact is that there is a fine line between being exceptional at something, or just good at it. The bad news is that we barely push ourselves that one more step to be exceptional. The good news is that if you are good at something you are usually tantalizingly close to being exceptional at it. If you just do it!
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