Write your CX Vision in two hours

You want to create a customer experience vision.

A CX vision is the foundation of any service culture. It's a shared definition of an outstanding customer experience that gets everyone on the same page.

The one thing stopping you is time.

You cringe at the thought of endless focus groups, exhaustive committee meetings, and months of back-and-forth. All that to create an incomprehensible word salad that nobody likes.

There's another way.

My proven process takes just two hours. The result is a razor-sharp customer experience (CX) vision that everyone can understand and embrace.

In this post, I'm going to explain why:

  • Two months is too long

  • Two hours is just right

Why two months is too long to write a CX vision

I’ve seen a lot of CX vision projects take two months (or longer). Almost all of them have failed to deliver a useful statement.

The two-month approach relegates the CX vision to a side-project.

Committee members get distracted. Executive sponsors aren’t actively involved. Focus group participants wonder what became of their input.

It leads to a lot of talking in circles. People get confused. The plot is quickly lost. Somebody eventually raises the question, "What are we even trying to do?"

The result is a bloated nonsense paragraph.

One company created a CX vision that covered an entire wall in its lobby. The vision was full of big, impressive words that had absolutely no meaning.

Employees weren’t inspired. They viewed it as a symbol of wasted time.


Why two hours is just right to create a CX vision

Imagine your organization on its best day.

One of those magical days when everything goes right. Customers are delighted. Teams are working in concert. Everyone is dialed in.

Those days happen. Maybe not as often as you'd like, but they happen. And it's on those days that you're fulfilling your CX vision. You just have to describe it.

The two-hour meeting is focused on defining that best day in one crystal clear, razor sharp sentence. It takes just two hours because the goal is to articulate what's already there.

Kitchens for Good provides a great example.

It's a nonprofit that runs a culinary apprenticeship program for people who face barriers to traditional employment. The CX vision at Kitchens for Good is also the organization's mission statement.

Here was the old mission:

Kitchens for Good uses food to transform lives and nourish communities by providing people with the skills and support to launch meaningful careers.

It had some good elements, but nobody could remember it. There were too many words and it wasn’t direct. The mission lacked punch.

A cross-functional team of Kitchens for Good employees wrote a new statement in just two hours. This one is much sharper and easy to memorize:

Transforming lives through culinary arts

The new statement represents Kitchens for Good on its best day. Look at this Instagram post announcing the graduation of three apprentices and you'll see it:

How to create a memorable CX vision

A good CX vision has three characteristics.

  • It's simple and easily understood.

  • It's focused on customers.

  • It reflects both who you are now and who you aspire to be in the future.

I explain the complete step-by-step CX vision writing process in this guide. Here's an overview:

Start with a little preparation:

  1. Get input from employees.

  2. Gather existing missions, visions, and other statements.

  3. Assemble a team of 7-10 people.

The meeting itself lasts just two hours. You'll need a highly-skilled facilitator, so decide whether you need to bring in outside help.

During the meeting, focus on word-smithing a CX vision that reflects that “best day.” It should be one simple sentence that describes what the organization already does well and hopes to do more consistently in the future.

The goal is to write something that immediately grabs people.

"This is exactly why I work here!" exclaimed one participant at a vision writing session I facilitated. The new CX vision clearly captured that "good day" essence.

Conclusion

Writing a CX vision should take just two hours. All you need is a little bit of preparation and this step-by-step process.

It’s the foundation of a customer-focused culture. The type of culture where all of your employees are obsessed with service and always seem to do the right thing.

Get a complete service culture guide in The Service Culture Handbook.

Using a CX vision to guide your growth strategy

Service culture starts with leadership.

Providing clear direction is a core part of a leader's job. Customer-focused leaders do this with a customer experience (CX) vision.

A CX vision is a shared definition of an outstanding customer experience that gets everyone on the same page. It’s unique to your company and brand.

Think of it like a North Star that always guides you in the right direction. The best leaders use the CX vision to guide their growth strategy.

Here are three mini-case studies.

Case Study: Transparent BPO

Transparent BPO is a contact center solutions provider. It's landed on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies for eight consecutive years.

CX Vision

Our passion is the success of your brand.

Transparent handles customer contacts for its clients. The CX vision, which is also the company's mission, reflects the company's aim to help those brands succeed.

CX Strategy

Transparent’s mission statement is central to the company’s strategy. "It's everything about my decision-making," said Scott Newman, Transparent's CEO.

One example is client acquisition.

"It's sort of a two-way selection process," said Newman. "We want to make sure that we're the right fit for them, but also the client's the right fit for us so we are able to continue to live our culture."

Transparent only partners with brands it feels they can truly help. Less than 50 percent of prospective clients are a good fit.

This strategy has paid off. Annual client attrition ranges from low-single digits to nonexistent.

Learn more about Newman's service culture leadership from this interview.

Case Study: GreatAmerica Financial Services

GreatAmerica provides equipment financing solutions to businesses. It's the largest family-owned equipment financing company in the United States.

CX Vision

We help our customers achieve greater success

GreatAmerica uses its mission statement as the CX vision. Its primary customers are businesses that sell office, medical, or other types of equipment to their customers.

CX Strategy

The company provides financing solutions to help its customers sell more.

Account teams work hard to understand each customer's unique needs, and then craft a financing solution to help that customer improve sales.

"Our employees care a lot about whether customers win," said Joe Terfler, GreatAmerica's chief financial officer. "We try to say 'yes' to our customers as much as we can."

For example, GreatAmerica helped one office equipment supplier combine billing for multiple product lines into a simplified monthly invoice. The simplified invoicing made it easier to sell more services, which led to a 20 percent revenue increase.

GreatAmerica’s customer focused strategy has helped it become the envy of the competition.

One rival executive told me GreatAmerica was hands-down their top competitor. He was frustrated because his company consistently lost business to GreatAmerica because of their superior customer experience.

GreatAmerica is featured in Chapter Four of The Guaranteed Customer Experience, How to Win Customers by Keeping Your Promises.

Case Study: Waterton

Waterton is a real estate investment and management company that focuses on multifamily and hospitality properties. It manages approximately 30,000 apartment units.

CX Vision

Resitality®

Resitality is Waterton’s brand promise. It’s a combination of the words "residential" and "hospitality." It reflects Waterton's commitment to managing its properties in a way that residents feel welcome and at home.

"Hospitality is meeting a stranger, and embracing that stranger as a neighbor," said Stephanie Brock, Managing Director of Property Management.

CX Strategy

Waterton is a value-add investor. It invests in apartment communities and increase their value by making improvements to the property and the resident experience.

Improving properties makes it easier to attract new residents and retain existing ones. Brock also stresses the importance of building community.

"Providing those opportunities where they can come together and get to know each other, they want to stay where they're known, and where they know their neighbor," said Brock.

Properties host a wide range of community activities, such as wellness talks, community service projects, and even parties with food trucks.

These events attract as many as 50 percent of a community's residents, and help residents build stronger connections between themselves and the community.

Waterton's community-focused, value-add approach has contributed to steady growth. It now has more than $10 billion in assets under management, a more than 60 percent increase in the past three years.

Learn more about Brock's customer-focused leadership from this interview.

Conclusion

Customer-focused leaders use a CX vision to guide strategy.

It creates better consistency and execution. That helps companies win more customers and retain them longer. Customer retention is the fuel that helps companies grow faster.

I've assembled some resources to help you.

The Service Culture Handbook

A step-by-step guide to getting your employees obsessed with customer service.

Buy on Amazon

How to use inspiring stories to grow your service culture

A customer walked into Nordstrom with two tires and asked for a refund.

Nordstrom doesn't sell tires, so the customer clearly didn't buy the tires from that store. Yet the associate gave the customer a refund anyway.

The story became a legend.

You need legendary stories of your own if you want to deliver legendary customer service. This guide will show you three things:

  1. What makes a great customer service story.

  2. Where to gather your own legendary tales.

  3. How to use stories to inspire your team.

We'll also break down the Nordstrom tire story to see why it works so well at Nordstrom, but probably won't work for your employees.

Photo credit: Mike Mozart

What makes a great customer service story?

Legendary customer service stories help employees understand the service culture. They connect at an emotional level to help explain the customer service vision and inspire action.

Legendary stories have three characteristics:

  1. About your company

  2. An example of the vision

  3. Authentic

Let's see how the Nordstrom tire story fits.

First, it's about Nordstrom.

The tire story is unusual, but nearly every Nordstrom associate can relate to serving a customer who needed help with a return or an unusual request.

Second, the story exemplifies Nordstrom's specific customer service vision:

Use good judgement in all situations.

The Nordstrom tire story is really a story about an associate following the vision.

A different store occupied the building before Nordstrom moved in. And that store did sell tires. The customer explained to the Nordstrom associate that he was told he could return the tires if they didn't work out.

The associate believed the customer's story. His good judgment told him he should try to help the customer.

The associate decided to call a nearby Firestone tire dealer to get the estimated value of the tires. He then gave the customer a cash refund for that amount.

The third characteristic of a great story is it has to be authentic.

What makes the Nordstrom tire story so great is it actually happened. I'll admit, I once doubted the authenticity, until I heard this episode of the Nordstrom podcast.

In the episode, Nordstrom president, Pete Nordstrom, interviewed Craig Trounce, the associate who gave the customer a refund for his tires. Trounce goes into detail about what happened and why he made the decision, which makes the story even more impactful.

Warning: the Nordstrom tire story only works at Nordstrom. It wouldn’t fit the three characteristics if you applied it to your organization. You'll need to gather your own legendary tales to inspire your team.

Where to gather legendary tales

When I advise customer service teams, they often get hung up on finding extreme examples like the Nordstrom tire story. You don't need extreme. Your story just has to be compelling.

Here are a few places to look for examples.

Team Meetings

Ask your employees for examples of things they've done or observed others doing that fit the customer service vision.

I asked a group of customer service reps at a medical device company for examples and learned how an agent went the extra mile to help save a patient's life.

Observations

Spend time observing employees interact with customers and you're bound to find some great stories.

I visited an apartment community to do research before I gave a keynote at the management company's leadership retreat. It didn't take me long to spot a great story.

An employee was cheerfully greeted by several dogs (and the residents who owned them). The employee had made friends with the dogs and residents by always carrying treats for the dogs.

Here's my step-by-step guide to performance observations: Observation Guide

Customer Feedback

You often learn about legendary stories directly from customers. They share tales via conversations, surveys, and even emails or letters.

All you have to do is listen.

I was helping a university's parking department analyze its customer service survey results when an unusual trend emerged. Several employees were repeatedly mentioned by happy customers.

A little more digging revealed these employees went out of their way to create personal connections with the people they served. They got to know people by name and customers got to know them as well. Each one became a legendary example.

Get help analyzing your own surveys: Customer Survey Resources

How to use stories to inspire your team

Customer-focused teams talk about customer service a lot. The Nordstrom tire story is so compelling because employees have heard it many times. They know the story themselves and they use it to inspire their own actions.

Think of situations where you discuss customer service with your team. That's a great time to share a legendary story.

  • New hire training

  • Ongoing training

  • Team meetings

  • One-on-one coaching

  • Team communication

Many Nordstrom stores have a sign near the employee entrance reminding associates of the tire story. It's another way to remind employees about the customer service vision, "Use good judgment in all situations."

Take Action

Remember, your stories don't need to be over-the-top to become legendary. The stories just need to help explain your service culture.

You can start building your legend today. Gather stories that fit the three characteristics:

  1. About your company

  2. An example of the vision

  3. Authentic

Once you have a few legendary stories, start sharing them with your team.

Three ways to test your company values

The data was shocking. Even hurtful.

An employee who worked for another department was sometimes loaned to my team. A monthly payroll report showed a lot more hours were charged to my team than she had actually worked.

This was a great employee. Someone who did good work and was well-liked. She was recently recognized as the employee of the month.

I wanted to believe this was a simple error, so I shared the report with the employee's boss. She was surprised, too. The numbers didn't add up. We did a little digging and found that the employee was falsifying her timecard. In one month, she added 40 hours of time that she didn't actually work.

We brought our concerns to our bosses, and then to human resources. The decision was out of our hands, but our human resources rep explained the company's policies made it clear this employee would be fired.

Except, she wasn't.

Our director intervened and the employee kept her job. The director's explanation has always stuck with me. "How would it look if we fired the employee of the month?"

That moment told me what was really valued.

Despite strong talk about integrity and excellent service quality, the real value for our director was image. Firing this employee would make the director look bad, so the employee wasn't fired.

I learned a valuable lesson that day. When leaders face difficult challenges, actions matter more than words.

What are company values?

An organization’s values describe how its employees do business. They serve as guidelines for the types of behaviors that should be promoted and encouraged.

Values can be very important in a customer-focused organization. They help define the service culture and guide employees when they’re faced with a tough decision.

There's one really big caveat: proclaiming a certain value does not make it true.

For example, Enron was an energy company that made headlines in 2001 for massive accounting fraud. That same year, it published an annual report highlighting Integrity as one of the company's core values.

Values are illuminated by how people actually behave along with the behaviors that are actually promoted and encouraged. You can get an overview of mission, vision, and values from this guide.

Looking at three situations will help you assess your organization’s true values. Each one reveals which behaviors are really welcome, and which ones are not.

Values Test #1: Daily Behavior

The first situation is observing how employees interact on a daily basis. Notice what behaviors are supported and which ones are not. Here are a few examples of specific situations:

  • How do employees approach their work?

  • How do employees on the same team interact?

  • How do different departments work together?

Here are examples of two companies that both stated "accountability" was a value.

Employees in the first company went out of their way to be nice even when coworkers did poor quality work, habitually showed up late to meetings, or failed to meet deadlines. They excused poor performance, rather than address it directly. Honest and direct conversations were avoided for fear of upsetting someone. In this case, being nice was a stronger value than accountability.

Employees in the second company expected a lot from themselves and their colleagues. They worked hard to maintain commitments. Employees challenged each other to do better and were quick to offer support when someone struggled. While still being quite nice, employees were also very candid with each other when discussing workplace issues. In this case, accountability was a true value because that's how people actually behaved.

Values Test #2: Leadership

A second values test is observing how leaders make decisions. Do the corporate values clearly guide their thinking, or do they make decisions that seem contrary to the corporate values?

Here are examples of two companies that both stated "excellence" was a value.

The owner of one company demanded excellence from his employees, yet his own decisions often demonstrated a willingness to cut corners. He purchased poor quality inventory, used the cheapest vendors, and paid low wages. The owner refused to spend money to upgrade outdated systems, even though those upgrades would immediately improve efficiency and quality and save the company money in the long run. His leadership revealed that thriftiness was the real value, not excellence.

The owner of another company also demanded excellence from his employees, and his own decisions backed that up. His company thrived in a price-sensitive industry by running more efficiently than than competition. The company paid better wages and offered more generous benefits than competitors because the owner knew that retaining talented employees was essential to running an excellent operation. Processes and procedures were rigorously documented and reviewed to ensure quality remained high. In this case, excellence was always at the forefront of the owner's decision-making.

Values Test #3:

The third values test is to observe what leaders do when when a situation gives a leader a strong incentive to act against the company values.

Here are examples of two companies that both held quality as a value.

The CEO of one company claimed quality was a core value, but he pushed his team to find ways expand market share, cut costs, and operate faster. New products and promotions were frequently introduced, often without adequate testing. Quality issues often plagued the company, even as it continued to grow, and it soon became known for having the worst quality in the industry.

The CEO of another company also claimed quality as a core value, yet he truly embraced it. He expanded slowly, making sure to maintain the same high standards as the company grew. Operations were run efficiently, yet deliberately to ensure a consistent product. The product line was kept simple so the company could stick to its core competencies and new promotions were rarely implemented. The company became known for having the best quality in its industry.

Conclusion

A list of corporate values on a website or a poster can serve as a good reminder, but those are not always a company's true values. The real test is watching what people actually do.

How campers can make your culture stronger

Carol was a camper.

That's a term for someone who is content in their current job and doesn't want to get promoted, add new responsibilities, or move to a new company.

Carol showed up every day, did her job, and went home. She didn't want to "get ahead." Carol just wanted to do her job. She liked it, and she was good at it.

She had been in the same job for many years when I took over the department. Her plan was to be in the same job for many more.

It took me a moment to understand Carol's value. When I finally did, I realized employees like Carol play an important role on high-performing teams.

Here's why campers like Carol are so essential and what managers can do to appreciate them.

The mistake managers make with campers

Bosses can easily disregard or disparage campers. They assume campers aren't motivated, don't want to do good work, or don't want to learn new things.

As a young supervisor, I was conditioned to dangle promotions and opportunities in front of employees to get them excited about hard work. Heck, getting ahead was exactly why I worked so hard myself.

I didn't understand why Carol wasn't interested. At first it frustrated me that she did exactly what was required and no more. Her coworkers took more initiative, so her steady performance seemed lacking by comparison.

What I didn't notice or appreciate at first was the steadiness that Carol brought to the team. She consistently got her work done, and did it well. Her colleagues could count on her, and that gave them the freedom to take more initiative.

Another mistake occurs during the hiring process, where recruiters often screen out campers. "Where do you see yourself in five years?" is a classic question.

One camper, Sandy, responded by saying, "I would like to be in my position for that long and to have become very good at it." The response didn't go over well with the interviewer.

The classic movie, Office Space, perfectly captured the tension between managers and campers in this scene. Joanna, a restaurant server, is confronted by her manager for not wearing more than minimum 15 pieces of flair, “fun” buttons servers are supposed to wear on their uniforms.

Why campers are essential members of the team

Campers steady the team. They understand the ins and outs of how things are done and often help train new employees. They save their supervisors time. Many are keepers of the team's culture.

Eventually, I realized that Carol was really a supervisor’s dream.

  • There was no drama with Carol.

  • She didn't need much training.

  • I didn't need to give her feedback very often.

Drama, training, and feedback all take a lot of time.

Carol didn't want a promotion, which was good because there weren't a lot of promotions to go around. Ambitious employees eventually leave if they don't get promoted. That means hiring someone new.

Hiring and training new employees also takes up a lot of a supervisor's time.

Over time, I understood that Carol saved me a ton of headaches. I stopped being frustrated and started being grateful when I realized I could count on Carol’s steady work each and every day.

Some campers become the face of a team, an office, or a company.

Milton was stationed for many years at the front desk of his company’s headquarters. He took his title of "Director of First Impressions" very seriously and consistently made visitors and employees alike feel welcome. He quickly learned names and always had a kind word or a funny anecdote to share that would brighten people's day.

Bill spent years at the front counter of a parts shop for a local plumber. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of plumbing parts and could often track down hard-to-find items. His friendly, helpful service was responsible for bringing in many new clients who figured if Bill's service was so great, the company's plumbers must be pretty great, too.

What managers can do to appreciate campers

The best thing for a manager to do is to avoid assumptions and learn about each employees' individual motivations. Understanding what each person wants can help you leverage their strengths while maintaining a work environment where they can thrive.

Carole (not Carol, notice the spelling) shared that a good manager made all the difference. "When opportunities for advancement became available several years ago, I had this conversation with my manager and she was very supportive. I have been in my current role for more than 18 years now (with additional responsibilities added over the years), but still love my job and I am all in!"

Some campers will stay for years and do great work if the job fits their personal lives.

Diane liked the hours of her job. She could come in early, do her work, and get home in time to pick her kids up from school. Having a stress-free job she enjoyed meant she could be fully present with her kinds once the work day ended.

Others hold down shifts that are otherwise hard to fill.

Laura was a single mother with a young daughter. She worked a steady night shift job so she could be with her daughter during the day and have a family member care for her at night while Laura worked. The night shift required someone who could work independently, so Laura was a perfect fit.

Of course, some campers only camp for awhile. Once Laura's daughter reached school age, Laura was able to move to the day shift so she could earn a much-deserved promotion. This also allowed her to be with her daughter when she got home from school.

Managers can often find amazing employees if they’re willing to hire someone who wants to step back from a demanding managerial role and refocus their energy on a job they enjoy.

Terri moved into an individual contributor role after getting promoted several times and spending a good part of her career in leadership positions. "I may not want to ever manage people again, but what I do want to do?" asked Terri. "Be better than last year—every year."

Many campers just want to know their work matters.

Donna took pride in being a steadying influence through multiple mergers and spin-offs. "Over the years I have trained probably around 300 people. I actually trained my Supervisor when he started 13 years ago on the phones. This has happened several times, and that’s okay–I am proud to say it started with me.”

Conclusion

Every team needs a Camper Carol. You can find yours by doing a few things that managers should do with everyone on their team:

  1. Avoid making assumptions.

  2. Get to know each person's individual goals and motivations.

  3. Create an environment where each person can thrive.

When you do find your Carol, recognize and appreciate the value they bring to the team. After all, they're probably making you look like a good boss who has a team with low turnover and high productivity.

What are the advantages of having a service culture?

Imagine you wanted to meet a friend for coffee.

Your friend suggests a place they think you'll like that's located in a nearby neighborhood. You've never been there before and don't know the address. How would you get there?

There are several ways you could find it:

  • Plug the name of the coffee shop into your maps app.

  • Look up the coffee shop's address and plug that into the maps app.

  • Hire a Lyft and plug the name of the coffee shop into the Lyft app.

There's probably several other ways to find your way there, but the point is you'd figure it out.

Employees working in a service culture operate the same way. They’re given a clear direction, and they find a way to get the job done. That is the essence of a why a service culture is so important.

More on that in a moment. But first, let's define a service culture so we're all on the same page.

What is service culture?

A service culture is a type of organizational culture where employees are obsessed with customer service. 

They are constantly looking for ways to act in service to their customers, whether they work with customers directly or support other employees who do. Employees in a service culture have several characteristics in common. They consistently:

  • Think about how to help customers.

  • Act to make customers' lives better.

  • Understand why service is important.

You can find more information about what it means to have a service culture here.

Why is service culture important?

Service culture is short-hand for a customer-focused organizational culture. Employees in a service culture always seem to do the right thing. They encourage each other, proactively solve problems, and constantly look for ways to go the extra mile.

Think of the companies you most admire. Chances are, you'll see many examples of a strong service culture:

  • Employees are consistently friendly and welcoming.

  • Products and services work exceptionally well.

  • Any issues you do experience are minor, and are quickly resolved.

Contrast that with what you typically see at a company that doesn't have a service culture:

  • Employees are not always friendly or welcoming.

  • Products and services are glitchy, and often fail.

  • You often experience issues, and getting them resolved is a hassle.

Which type of company do you want to work for? It seems like an easy choice.

What are the tangible benefits of service culture?

Companies with a strong service culture enjoy a number of advantages over their competition, including increased efficiency, customer retention, and reputation.

Let's go back to the coffee shop example to understand efficiency.

Your friend doesn't need to give you detailed instructions on how to get to the coffee shop. They also don't need to constantly monitor your progress as you navigate your way there. All you need is the location and you'll figure out the rest.

It's the same way in a service culture.

Managers don't need to spend all their time telling employees what to do or how to do it. They also don't need to constantly monitor their employees' actions to ensure people are doing the right thing. Employees know their jobs and do them well.

Customer retention is another benefit.

One executive wanted to better understand customer needs, so he skipped the usual survey and spent a few weeks calling existing customers directly. The idea was to better understand their needs and get feedback on how his company could serve them better.

This simple exercise yielded more than $75,000 in gross profit in just a few weeks. Even better, it provided a blueprint for retaining more customers that he could share with his account managers. It all focused on being customer-obsessed.

Reputation is a third benefit of a service culture.

The founder of a small start-up generated over $100,000 in referral business during year one by getting his small team focused on delivering a consistent brand of service. Despite being a new entrant in a crowded field, the company quickly built momentum by taking business from larger, more established competitors who couldn’t provide the same level of service.

There's one more benefit, and it’s personal.

Imagine attending a networking event where people from various companies are present. One person works for a company that's famous for its service culture. People excitedly ask questions about the company. They make comments like, "It must be so much fun to work there!"

Another person works for a company that's infamous for a poor culture. People approach that person and gripe about their own experiences. They ask for advice on getting complaints resolved. Many make comments like, "It must be a miserable place to work!"

Which company would you rather work for?

Conclusion

Creating a strong service culture isn't easy, otherwise more companies would do it. The reality is it takes a big commitment.

If you're one of the few who's willing to make that commitment, there's a step-by-step guidebook available. It's called The Service Culture Handbook.

Leadership secrets from The Service Culture Handbook

"How do you define leadership?"

That's the question I posed to the self-described leadership expert. I had just met him at a conference. He told me he had spent the past 20 years delivering keynote speeches on leadership and had written several books, so I thought this would be an easy question for him to answer.

It wasn’t.

He stopped and started, struggling to find the right words. He tried a few metaphors that didn't quite land. Finally, he just shrugged and admitted defeat—he didn't have an answer to give.

The speaker wasn't alone. A lot of people struggle to find a clear and consistent definition.

You could ask a 100 leaders to define leadership and you'll likely get 100 answers, but they'd all be different. It's hard to become a "leader" when everyone defines leadership differently.

That’s why, when I wrote The Service Culture Handbook, I initially avoided marketing it as a book about leadership. I thought it would be better received if I focused on the context: getting employees obsessed with service. But leadership is what the book is really about.

It contains a proven, step-by-step process that leaders can follow to build a customer-focused culture in their organization. Here's how the process can help you become a better leader.

What is leadership?

Sometimes, we try too hard to be fancy when a simple answer is right in front of us. The Merriam-Webster dictionary has a definition of leadership that works just fine.

the power or ability to lead other people

Just to be safe, let's look at how Merriam-Webster defines lead:

to guide on a way especially by going in advance

When it comes to leadership, context is essential. “To guide on a way” implies leadership requires a specific task or mission. The Service Culture Handbook helps people build leadership skills in the context of guiding a customer-focused organization.

The book outlines three major skills that every leader needs to have.

Skill #1: Articulate a vision

The first skill in leadership is getting clear about your vision. You can't lead anyone anywhere, or expect people to follow you, if you don't know exactly where you are going.

In the book, I shared the story of an executive who wanted his team to be more like the Apple Store. When pressed for details, the best he could explain was the Apple Store had a reputation for outstanding customer service and he wanted to earn that same reputation.

The executive failed to get his team to embrace his vision, because the vision wasn't clear. He couldn't described what outcomes he wanted the team to pursue or what behaviors were essential to get there.

Without a vision to follow, the team lacked clarity.

In The Service Culture Handbook, I describe a number of customer-focused organizations. All had leaders who articulated a clear vision for employees to follow.

  • REI wants to help you enjoy the outdoors.

  • JetBlue wants to inspire humanity in air travel.

  • The Center for Sustainable Energy wants to make it easy to join the green vehicle movement.

In each organization, the vision is a shared definition of outstanding customer experience that gets everyone on the same page. It acts as a compass to constantly point everyone in the same direction.

As a leader, it's your responsibility to craft a vision, but that doesn't mean you should create it by yourself. Getting input and buy-in from key stakeholders is an essential leadership skill.

That’s why I created this guide to help you engage stakeholders and create your vision.

Skill #2: Engage employees

The second skill in leadership is to make sure everyone understands the vision. Part of guiding others is making sure they know where to go.

This is the true essence of employee engagement.

Employee engagement, like leadership, suffers from having too many definitions. One of the greatest challenges in the employee engagement movement is finding a way to make the concept operational so it’s impact on an organization can be plainly seen.

In my research, I've found on a definition that makes it easy to observe whether an employee is engaged.

An engaged employee is deliberately contributing to organizational success.

According to this definition, an engaged employee should know the answer to three questions:

  1. What is the vision?

  2. What does it mean? (In other words, can they explain it.)

  3. How do I personally contribute?

It's a leader's responsibility to ensure employees are engaged. They should know the vision statement and have a clear understanding of what it means. Employees should also know exactly what's expected of them.

Skill #3: Navigation

The third skill is navigating the team to keep everyone working in the right direction. There are unforeseen obstacles and challenges along any path, and it's a leader's responsibility to keep everyone moving forward.

Every decision a leader makes can either keep the team on course or derail the journey. In The Service Culture Handbook, I call this concept alignment. The decisions a leader makes must be aligned with the vision.

Conflicts happen without alignment. For example, if a CEO proclaims that quality is important, but then authorizes a new product to ship before a design flaw can be fixed, employees aren’t sure whether to focus on quality or meeting deadlines. But if the CEO proclaims quality is important, and insists that new products go through a rigorous design and testing process to prevent defects, then employees will understand that quality is truly valued.

My research shows there are five major areas where a leader should focus on alignment:

  1. Goals: The metrics that define success should propel people towards the vision.

  2. Hiring: Getting the right people on the team.

  3. Training: Giving employees the knowledge and skills to do their part.

  4. Empowerment: Enabling employees to do a great job.

  5. Modeling: Acting as a role model for employees to follow.

Additional Resources

You can get detailed instructions on each of these leadership skills from The Service Culture Handbook.

There's also a free, downloadable workbook you can use the implement the concepts.

Finally, if you have access to LinkedIn Learning, you can view my Leading a Customer-Centric Culture course. It's just surpassed 70,000 learners globally.

A 30-day trial is available if you're not already a LinkedIn Learning subscriber.

7 ways leaders can model great customer service

I recently worked with two clients in the same industry.

There were a lot of similarities between the organizations. The business models were similar, they were roughly the same size, and their products were essentially the same.

Both even professed to be fans of the principles outlined in The Service Culture Handbook.

Yet one company was growing while the other struggled.

The difference was leadership. The CEO of the growing company consistently modeled the service culture he was trying to create. The other did not.

You have to walk the talk if you want your employees to be customer-focused. Here are seven ways to do it.

A leader is presenting to her team.

#1 Clarify your vision

Give employees a customer service vision to follow. This is a shared definition of outstanding customer service that gets everyone on the same page.

A vision gives employees clarity. They know the direction the company is headed in and understand how they contribute. The customer-focused CEO used this step-by-step guide to engage the entire organization to quickly create a compelling vision.

The other leader talked a lot about vision, but did nothing to craft a concrete statement that could be shared by everyone.

#2 Share illustrative stories

Help employees understand the right types of customer-focused behaviors by sharing illustrative stories. These should serve as real examples that help clarify the vision and give it further meaning.

The model CEO consistently shared illustrative stories about individuals in the company providing great service, and encouraged his leadership team to do the same. This helped employees better grasp what they were supposed to do.

The other CEO also shared stories on occasion, but these were usually stories about admired companies from the latest book he was reading. They did nothing to give employees more clarity about their own roles.

#3 Make aligned decisions

Use the customer service vision as a guide for strategic decisions. This reinforces the service culture and gives employees a consistent example to follow.

The customer-focused CEO constantly referred to the vision when making decisions or discussing important issues with his team. The vision served as a compass that constantly pointed the company in the right direction.

The other CEO tended to fire from the hip. Without a vision to guide him, his decisions were often unpredictable and inconsistent. Employees were often confused as a result.

#4 Empower the team

Give employees the tools, resources, and authority needed to do their job. Trust that most people inherently want to do great work and will work hard to produce results if they are enabled.

The CEO of the growing company recognized the importance of empowerment. He carefully selected employees for key assignments, gave them the necessary resources, and let them decide the best way to get it done.

The other CEO tended to hoard information and power. He was reluctant to trust other employees because he felt it took too much time and effort to make sure they were doing things the way he wanted them done.

#5 Hold people accountable

Follow-up with employees to make sure they are on the right path. Recognize great performance when it happens and coach people to get them back on track when needed.

The customer-focused CEO was big on accountability. He regularly checked in with his team and was readily available if someone needed help. Employees didn't hesitate to go to the CEO for help because they knew he was supportive.

The other CEO had more of a fire-and-forget style. He'd fire off an email asking an employee to do something and then forget he sent it. People didn’t take new initiatives seriously because they knew the initiative wouldn’t last long.

#6 Be responsive

Respond to people with the same urgency you expect employees to demonstrate with customers.

The model CEO responded to emails the same day. He quickly returned phone calls and texts, too. Employees knew they didn't have to wait long if they needed something.

The other CEO took days to respond to anything.

#7 Keep commitments

Do what you say you are going to do.

The customer-focused CEO kept his commitments to employees and customers, and was always on time for meetings. If he said he was going to do something, you could count on it getting done.

The other CEO had a reputation for being someone you couldn't count on. He was late all the time. Late to meetings and late on projects. Many things he promised to do never got done.

Conclusion

Take a moment to do an honest assessment.

  • How many of the actions above do you regularly model?

  • What can you do better as a leader?

  • How else can you model your service culture?

I’ll share one bonus way you can model great service: serve customers. Don’t be afraid to join the frontlines and show your team how it’s done.

When I managed a contact center, I regularly took calls at a workstation on the contact center floor. I wanted my team to see and hear me soothe an angry customer or put a nervous caller at ease. It also gave me empathy for my agents because I had put myself in their position.

Your employees are watching you and learning from your actions. Model a customer-focused culture and you'll likely see employees do the same.

How to rapidly improve your service culture

Advertising disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Tell me if this sounds familiar.

The CEO announces a service culture initiative. Anxious to comply with the CEO's mandate, the executive team launches into a flurry of activity. Committees, surveys, and more committees produce slogans, banners, and more committees.

A year later, nothing substantial has been accomplished.

The CEO loses interest and announces a customer experience initiative. Never mind that nobody quite knows where service culture ends and customer experience begins.

It ends badly. Your organization can't be customer-focused if your leaders can't focus.

Not every organization is this way.

A few leaders broke the cycle and did it right. They got results and sustained them. The organization, or at least their individual team, became intensely customer-focused in a short time.

Their secret to moving fast is both obvious and counterintuitive.

A business leader facilitates a team discussion in a conference room.

How rushing hurts customer-focus

My neighbor was in a hurry to get to work one day. It was trash day, and his trash bins were lined up in front of his driveway. The trash truck was at the house next door, leaving just a narrow window for my neighbor to back his car out.

He raced to slip through the narrow space and promptly knocked over one of his bins.

Now he had to stop.

Get out of the car.

Right his trash bin for the approaching trash truck.

Wait as the trash truck blocked his driveway while it emptied his bins.

He could have saved time if he had just backed out of his driveway a little slower to avoid knocking over his bins.

Executives struggle with the same challenge. They’re impatient and don’t take time to set a clear direction or carefully chart a course to get there. Employees get confused and aren’t sure what to do.

There’s a rush of activity, but nothing gets done.

How going slow improves speed

The desert canyon had no clear path. There were several enticing side canyons, and I came to a fork several times. It would be easy to take the wrong turn and get lost.

I was in the wilderness with no cell reception, so getting lost would be bad.

Going slow kept me safe. I stopped each time I was unsure of the right direction. I checked my map, my compass, and the vague trail description I was following. Only when I was sure of the right direction did I begin to move forward again.

View of a remote desert canyon.

Each pause took extra time, but it saved a lot more because I stayed on course.

The executives who build fanatical, customer-focused cultures are methodical about staying on the trail, just like I was that day in the desert.

That's not to be confused with plodding. They still move fast. But these leaders maintain a laser focus on carefully doing what's most important while eliminating unnecessary activity.

One company I worked with, Clio, rapidly grew its service culture with a methodical approach. Their customer-focused culture is profiled in The Service Culture Handbook.

In 2014, I worked with Clio's then director of support, Catherine Hillier, to complete a customer service assessment. The assessment identified specific steps for continued culture growth. 

Rather than attempt to boil the ocean, Clio focused on completing one step at a time.

Some progress came quickly. For example, customer satisfaction jumped from 85 to 93 percent in two months, while increasing customer satisfaction survey responses by 600 percent. (Read more here.)

Other accomplishments came over time.

What hasn't changed over the years is Clio continues its relentless customer-focus.


Take Action

The biggest step towards becoming customer-focused is to provide clear direction. You can't be focused if you don't know where you're going. Likewise, it’s far easier to chart a clear course if you have a destination in mind.

This is true for organizations, teams, or individual contributors.

If you're a business leader, start by creating a customer experience vision for your organization or the team you lead. You can use this step-by-step guide.

If you're an individual contributor, you can create your personal customer service vision by taking the Thank You Letter Challenge. It's a short, three-week exercise that can rapidly improve your customer service results.

You'll find more steps and answers in The Service Culture Handbook.

And if you get stuck along the way, you can always contact me for assistance. I'm happy to be your guide as you develop a customer-focused culture.

How to Create an Amazing Customer Experience

Advertising disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

What do you experience when you encounter a brand for the first time?

According to New York Times bestselling author, Shep Hyken, new customers experience uncertainty. They don't know exactly what to expect from a company or its products. 

Even if that company has a reputation, customers don't know that their experience will match what they've heard.

In the new edition of his book, The Cult of the Customer, Hyken explains how to move customers from the "Cult of Uncertainty" to the "Cult of Amazement."

Quote from bestselling author, Shep Hyken. “Amazement is above average, but it’s above average all of the time.”

Hyken and I discussed a few of the key concepts from the book in this lively interview:

  • Why "cult" is not a dirty word.

  • How every customer starts in the "Cult of Uncertainty."

  • Why you need a customer service vision.

  • Hyken's unique and practical definition of customer amazement.

  • Why leaders need to focus on the details to get amazing results.

You can watch the full interview or scroll down for some highlights.

Why "cult" is not a dirty word

Some people are scared off by the word, cult. Hyken shared an amusing story in our interview (go to minute 1:03) about a customer who so misunderstood the meaning that he refused to take Hyken’s call.

Hyken shared a little history to help explain that cult is not a dirty word.

It comes from the Latin word, cultus, which has several meanings including tilling, adoration, and care. Culture and cultivate both come from this same root word!

While some people associate "cult" with a fanatical religious movement, Hyken uses a broader definition that's much more positive.

Cult: Like-minded people with like-minded beliefs, that are heading in the same direction.

That's not necessarily a bad thing!

You might even belong to a cult and not think of it that way. If you have a group of friends you get together with each Sunday to watch the game, you have a cult! Or if you have a group of coworkers who are passionate about a particular project, then guess what? Cult.

How every customer starts in the "Cult of Uncertainty"

People are not sure what to expect from your company at first.

They might have gotten an impression from your advertising, product packaging, or from talking to an employee. But they won’t know for sure until they've experienced your products or services. 

Unfortunately, many companies keep their customers in a perpetual cult of uncertainty.

A customer might see an ad promising a great product, and then experience something entirely different. Or they might have wildly inconsistent experiences from one time to the next.

Great companies offer a consistent experience that customers can count on.

Why you need a customer service vision

Regular readers will notice I refer to the term "customer service vision" a lot. It's a shared definition of outstanding service that gets everyone on the same page.

When I wrote The Service Culture Handbook, I discovered that having a vision is the cornerstone of a customer-focused culture.

Hyken has a different term, but it means the same thing. He calls it a "customer service mantra." It's a simple statement, preferably one sentence, that clearly defines outstanding service or an outstanding experience.

He shares a great example about The Ritz-Carlton’s mantra at the 6:00 minute mark in the interview.

Creating a vision is the first step to moving customers past the Cult of Uncertainty. (Note: you can create your own with this step-by-step guide.)

There are five customer cults, or phases, that customers can go through. Here's a summary of the five phases that Hyken describes in his book:

  1. Uncertainty: you're not sure what will happen.

  2. Alignment: you understand the mantra, and you're interested.

  3. Experience: you have a good experience that matches the mantra.

  4. Ownership: you've had more good experiences and you like the company.

  5. Amazing: you've had so many good experiences you tell others.

What is an amazing customer experience?

Hyken has a great definition that he shares in the interview: "Amazement is above average, but it's above average all of the time." 

Many companies shoot for the over-the-top, wow experience, but there's a big problem. We just don't have an opportunity to wow a customer very often.

For instance, a client of mine recently told me about an employee saving a customer's dog from a burning building. Now that's a memorable experience! 

So how do you recreate that? 

Unless you work for the fire department, you can't realistically expect all of your customers to have dogs in burning buildings that need saving. And an individual customer is unlikely to have their dog stuck in a burning building a second time. These opportunities don’t happen often!

What you can do is provide a consistently above average experience. That means working hard to ensure there are no service failures. It also entails doing things just a little better than your competition.

Why amazing leaders need to focus on the details

Hyken tells a great story in the interview about a detail-oriented executive (go to minute 17:33).

The executive was touring the gas station where Hyken worked while he was in college. While on the tour, the executive noticed a sign with a slightly jagged edge. He made a note of it, so the sign could be fixed.

When Hyken asked why the executive was concerned with that detail, he explained that he was worried a customer might catch their coat on the sign while walking by. He didn't want to damage customers' clothing.

Hyken took that lesson to heart. By paying attention to those small details, the executive set the expectation that details mattered. It encouraged others to do the same.

Learn more from Shep Hyken

Hyken is one of my favorite customer service keynote speakers. He routinely publishes great content on his blog and his Amazing Business Radio podcast.

In addition to The Cult of the Customer, he's the author of several other books I highly recommend: