Last week, I wrote a post comparing customer service to professional baseball. I’d like to continue the sports metaphor by sharing an activity that customer service professionals can borrow from professional athletes.

You can prepare for big moments by visualizing yourself succeeding.

It all starts by clearly describing what success looks like. All organizations should have a clear definition of outstanding customer service. (If yours doesn’t, you are welcome to use this vision tool to create one.) The next step is taking this definition down to an individual level so that you can articulate how you personally contribute to outstanding service.

Finally, it’s time to create a drawing, collage, or other form of visual art that depicts you providing outstanding service. Don’t worry about the artistic merit of your visualization. What’s important is that you can see yourself succeeding.

Example #1

This example comes from a company that sells flowers and plants to florists. A customer service rep at one of the company’s wholesale locations focused on helping customers make their small businesses more successful. He used his product knowledge to help florists select items that would sell well in their stores. Here is his vision drawing:

Image courtesy of Mellano

Example #2

The second example comes from a research hospital. A customer service rep who worked in a department called research stores helped keep researchers supplied with the equipment necessary to conduct their experiments. His vision was to help researchers solve problems by sharing solutions he had learned from others. Here is his vision drawing:

Image courtesy of Gerald Smith