A couple of years ago I left a major department store having spent eight great years there working on learning and development. I still remember my first week vividly.

In some ways it was just like any other – a round of induction, meeting key stakeholders and generally getting to understand the business I joined.

But when my external learning and development network heard where I was working, I quickly started to become very popular.

I was flattered at first but it didn’t last long when I realised my contacts were only after one thing. You see, my new employer had a wonderful reputation for customer service. A reputation that is at the core of its culture; its raison d’étre which had been built up over many years.

My contacts weren’t interested in me – they only wanted to know if they could get their hands, through me, on this company’s customer service training course. It was a little vexing.

Still, I did some searching for the said programme, figuring it would be useful for me to know and understand its content.

So I asked my new colleagues where I could find the course, only to discover that there was no ‘formal’ customer services in place. My contacts couldn’t believe it. It got me thinking.

My role was in leadership development, which meant working with the shops’ senior management teams to help maximise their results through the development of their teams and individuals.

After visiting several shops in my first few months it became clearer to me why the business had a great reputation for customer service and how it maintained it. It was nothing to do with prescriptive programmes. It was all about leadership and leaders were leading in ‘great service’.

Walking ‘The Walk’

When you visit a shop for a business appointment there is normally a route from where you are met to the meeting rooms, involving walking through the shop floor and using the lifts. Usually, as the guest, you would expect to be the priority of your host’s attention. Small talk, pleasantries, and the like.

But at this company’s stores I soon realised that, although my host was pleased to see me, on the shop floor I was totally secondary to the customer.

Here, senior managers demonstrated the level of customer service that they expect and require from their teams. They engaged customers as we walked, inviting enquiries and asking questions with a smile and good grace. It was a demonstration to be witnessed by all levels of people in the business. A benchmark to be achieve and aspired too. And a real eye-opener for me.

What happened during that walk was the perfect way of showing the level and effectiveness of the leadership capability of the shop.

Leading great service and the Service Profit Chain

Many years ago I came across and worked with Kaplan and Norton’s theories on the Service Profit Chain which they used to turn around the Sears retail group in the USA.

It is still relevant in organisations today, helping them in ‘leading great service’. It makes the valuable and vital connection between leadership and the bottom line. The department store I worked for, which retains its reputation for great customer service and thrives because of it, is a modern example of these theories still holding true.

The most successful businesses in this sector are those which understand the need for effective leadership and how it can create an environment for people to do their best work. They understand that customer service is so much more than sending people on a course.

So is there customer service in your organisation? If so, how effective is it?

How often is leadership and customer service mentioned in the same breath? Does your business create a culture of great leadership which models the way and engages the heart? Does it give permission to people to do their best work and be proud of it?

If you want to know more about leading great service or the Service Profit Chain please get in touch. I look forward to hearing from you.