The Service Culture Handbook by Jeff Toister: 9 Minute Summary

Summary

Jeff Toister's 'The Service Culture Handbook' is a comprehensive guide to fostering a customer-focused culture in businesses. It underscores the significance of exceptional customer service, drawing on examples from companies like Tampa International Airport, Domino's Pizza, and JetBlue Airways. The book outlines practical steps for creating a service vision, engaging employees, and transforming corporate culture to prioritize customer satisfaction. It also addresses the importance of aligning corporate strategy with customer service goals and learning from past mistakes, as seen in Comcast's turnaround. The handbook serves as a roadmap for businesses aiming to elevate their service standards and achieve success.

Takeaways

• 📚 Jeff Toister's 'The Service Culture Handbook' is a comprehensive guide to fostering a customer-focused culture within organizations.
• 🌟 Companies like Tampa International Airport, Domino's Pizza, and JetBlue Airways are highlighted for their exceptional customer service, demonstrating the impact of a strong service culture.
• 📸 Tampa Airport's creative approach to handling lost children's toys showcases the power of small gestures in creating positive customer experiences.
• 🤝 Exceptional customer service is not just about meeting customer expectations but also about creating memorable, positive interactions.
• 🏆 JetBlue Airways' success is attributed to its organizational culture and the dedication of its crew members to delivering outstanding service.
• 🔄 A customer-focused culture requires alignment of corporate strategy, goals, and metrics with customer service values.
• 🚫 Comcast's customer service transformation serves as a cautionary tale, emphasizing the need for a customer-centric approach and the consequences of failing to prioritize it.
• 📈 Gallup's research indicates that engaged employees lead to higher customer satisfaction, underscoring the link between employee engagement and customer service.
• 📊 SMART goals and regular performance evaluations are essential for monitoring and improving customer service within a company.
• 🛠️ Crafting a customer service vision involves input from all stakeholders, collaboration, and refinement to ensure it resonates with and motivates employees.

Q & A

What is the main focus of 'The Service Culture Handbook' by Jeff Toister?

The main focus of 'The Service Culture Handbook' is to guide businesses on how to build a solid customer-focused culture and provide practical steps to achieve this goal.

How does Tampa International Airport exemplify customer service excellence?

Tampa International Airport exemplifies customer service excellence by creating a heartwarming experience for a child who lost his stuffed animal, taking photos of the toy in various airport settings, and compiling them into an album that was presented to the child upon retrieval of the toy.

What is the significance of a customer service vision in creating a customer-focused culture?

A customer service vision is significant as it provides a clear definition of outstanding customer service and helps align every customer interaction as an opportunity for a positive experience, setting the company apart from competitors.

How do Domino's Pizza and Rackspace demonstrate exceptional customer service?

Domino's Pizza and Rackspace demonstrate exceptional customer service by ensuring personal and memorable customer encounters. Domino's focuses on delivering pizzas hot and on time, while Rackspace's employees, known as 'Rackers,' adhere to the Fanatical Support Promise, working overtime to solve customer issues.

What is JetBlue Airways' secret to maintaining its status as North America’s top airline?

JetBlue Airways maintains its status as North America’s top airline due to its unique organizational culture, where CEO Robin Hayes attributes their success to the motivated crew members who are dedicated to providing exceptional customer service.

How did Comcast address its poor customer service reputation?

Comcast addressed its poor customer service reputation by announcing a plan to revamp their corporate culture, focusing on meeting and exceeding customer expectations, emphasizing periodic employee engagement assessments to identify areas for improvement.

What is the role of senior management in building a customer-focused culture?

Senior management plays a critical role in building a customer-focused culture by securing their commitment to support employee engagement, setting an example through their approach, and championing the values of the culture.

Why are SMART goals important in evaluating a company's customer service performance?

SMART goals are important in evaluating a company's customer service performance because they provide Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound objectives that help monitor and improve customer retention, word-of-mouth referrals, ratings on review sites, first-contact resolution, and average response time.

How can businesses ensure that their employees understand and are engaged with the company's customer service vision?

Businesses can ensure employee understanding and engagement with the customer service vision by developing a formal strategy with engaging action steps, providing training, setting objectives, instruction, and reinforcement, and involving employees in the goal-setting process.

What is the significance of involving stakeholders in the development of a customer service vision?

Involving stakeholders in the development of a customer service vision is significant as it ensures diverse input, collaboration, and buy-in from all parties, leading to a more comprehensive and effective vision that resonates with the entire organization.

How can a company create a comprehensive customer service agenda?

A company can create a comprehensive customer service agenda by implementing specific activities such as annual campaigns to align service vision with strategy, quarterly meetings to reward exceptional service, monthly metrics analysis, weekly team meetings for training and feedback review, and ensuring exemplary daily service by providing necessary resources to employees.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Building a Customer-Centric Culture

Jeff Toister's 'The Service Culture Handbook' is a comprehensive guide that emphasizes the critical role of fostering a customer-focused culture within an organization. The book outlines practical steps to achieve this, drawing on examples from companies like Tampa International Airport, Domino's Pizza, and JetBlue Airways, which have demonstrated exceptional customer service. It also contrasts these with Comcast's previous service failures, highlighting the importance of a clear customer service vision and executive support. The book stresses that every customer interaction is an opportunity to create a memorable experience, which can significantly impact a company's reputation, especially in the age of social media where negative reviews can spread rapidly.

05:00

🛠 Strategies for Exceptional Customer Service

This section delves into the strategies that companies employ to deliver exceptional customer service. It highlights the importance of having a clear customer service vision that is well-understood by employees and aligns with the company's overall business objectives. The summary discusses the significance of engaging employees in the goal-setting process and the need for senior management's commitment to support this engagement. It also underscores the role of leaders as 'culture champions' and the use of SMART goals to measure and improve customer service performance. The section concludes with recommendations for creating a customer service agenda that includes regular activities to reinforce the service vision and maintain high standards of customer interaction.

Keywords

💡Customer Service Excellence

Customer service excellence refers to the practice of consistently delivering exceptional service that meets or exceeds customer expectations. In the context of the video, it is emphasized as a critical component of business success, with examples like Tampa International Airport's creative approach to handling lost items and JetBlue Airways' consistent top ranking in customer satisfaction. The video suggests that businesses must prioritize investing in customer service to ensure positive experiences and protect their reputations.

💡Customer-Focused Culture

A customer-focused culture is an organizational environment where customer satisfaction and service are central to all business practices and decisions. The video underscores the importance of creating such a culture, as it can lead to higher customer satisfaction and business success. Companies like Domino's Pizza and Rackspace are highlighted for their outstanding customer service, which is a direct result of their customer-focused cultures.

💡Hero Moment

A hero moment in customer service is an opportunity for an employee to make a significant, positive impact on a customer's experience. The video mentions that every customer interaction is a chance for a hero moment or a service failure. Tampa Airport's initiative to create an album of a lost toy's 'adventures' is an example of a hero moment, as it delighted a young customer and showcased the airport's commitment to customer happiness.

💡Social Media Impact

The video discusses how social media has amplified the impact of customer service, where a single negative review can severely damage a company's reputation. This highlights the necessity for businesses to prioritize customer service to avoid negative feedback and maintain a positive brand image.

💡Executive Sponsorship

Executive sponsorship in the context of customer service refers to the active support and involvement of top-level management in promoting and ensuring a customer-focused approach within the organization. The video mentions that a clear definition of outstanding customer service and executive sponsorship are critical to creating a customer-focused culture.

💡Employee Empowerment

Employee empowerment is the process of equipping employees with the authority and resources to make decisions and solve customer problems effectively. The video stresses the importance of empowering employees to deliver quality service, as it leads to higher customer satisfaction. Examples include Rackspace's 'Fanatical Support Promise' and JetBlue's motivated crew members who are empowered to provide exceptional service.

💡Corporate Culture

Corporate culture encompasses the values, beliefs, and practices that govern how an organization operates. The video explains that creating the right corporate culture is difficult but essential for a customer-oriented approach. It's noted that businesses must align their strategy, goals, and metrics with their corporate culture to foster a customer-focused environment.

💡Customer Service Transformation

Customer service transformation refers to the process of overhauling a company's approach to customer service to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. The video uses Comcast's turnaround as an example, where they revamped their corporate culture by focusing on meeting and exceeding customer expectations, leading to a significant improvement in their service reputation.

💡Customer Service Vision

A customer service vision is a clear and concise statement that outlines how an organization intends to treat its customers and how customer service contributes to the overall business success. The video suggests that developing an effective customer service vision is crucial for a company's success, as it guides employees in their interactions with customers and shapes the company's culture over time.

💡Employee Engagement

Employee engagement refers to the level of commitment, enthusiasm, and effort that employees put into their work. The video cites a Gallup report indicating that companies with highly engaged employees score better on customer satisfaction. It emphasizes the need for businesses to engage employees in the company's customer service vision and empower them to serve customers effectively.

💡Customer-Centric Strategy

A customer-centric strategy is a business approach that places the customer at the center of all planning and decision-making processes. The video discusses the importance of aligning a company's strategy, goals, and metrics with its customer service vision to create a customer-oriented culture. This strategy is crucial for businesses to differentiate themselves and achieve success in a competitive market.

Highlights

Emphasizes the importance of building a solid customer-focused culture with practical steps to achieve it.

Learn from the successes of companies like Tampa International Airport, Domino's Pizza, and JetBlue Airways.

Lessons from Comcast's previous customer service failures are discussed.

The necessity of creating an efficient customer service vision and engaging employees.

In today's world, a single negative review can have devastating consequences on a company's reputation.

Tampa Airport's innovative idea of taking photos of lost stuffed animals to improve customer service.

The critical role of clear definition of outstanding customer service and executive sponsorship.

Every customer interaction is an opportunity for a hero moment or a service failure.

Domino's Pizza and Rackspace provide outstanding customer service by personalizing customer encounters.

JetBlue Airways' success attributed to its unique organizational culture and motivated crew members.

Creating the right culture is difficult but worthwhile, aligning strategy, goals, and metrics with customer orientation.

Comcast's transformation from America's worst internet service provider to focusing on customer expectations.

Crafting an effective customer service vision that defines how employees should treat customers.

Involving employees in the goal-setting process to develop a customer service vision.

Gallup’s 2013 report showing companies with highly engaged employees score better on customer satisfaction.

The importance of coaching employees about their empowerment to deliver top-quality customer service.

Leaders should be 'culture champions' of customer service and set an example through their approach.

Establishing SMART goals to evaluate the firm’s customer service performance.

The need for training to show employees how to leverage the company's culture to serve customers better.

Creating a comprehensive customer service agenda by implementing specific activities on a regular basis.

Toister's 'The Service Culture Handbook' as a guide to transforming company culture for success.

Transcripts

Jeff Toister

The Service Culture Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Your Employees Obsessed with

Customer Service

Introduction

Dive into the world of customer service excellence with 'The Service Culture Handbook: A Step-by-Step

Guide to Getting Your Employees Obsessed with Customer Service' by Jeff Toister.

This book emphasizes the importance of building a solid customer-focused culture and provides

practical steps to achieve this goal.

Learn from the successes of companies like Tampa International Airport, Domino's Pizza,

and JetBlue Airways, as well as lessons from Comcast's previous customer service failures.

Master the art of creating an efficient customer service vision and engaging your employees

to deliver outstanding service, setting your company apart from the rest.

The Importance of Customer Service

In today's world of social media, a single negative review can have devastating consequences

on a company's reputation.

A single bad interaction with a customer can lead to negative feedback, and this could

happen in any industry from retail stores to airlines to service call centers.

To prevent such situations, companies must prioritize investing in customer service to

ensure positive customer experiences.

Tampa Airport's Customer Service Idea

Tony D'Aiuto, Tampa International Airport's operations center manager, had an idea to

improve customer service by taking photos of lost stuffed animals in various airport

settings, giving children the impression that their lost toy enjoys fun adventures while

waiting to be found.

D'Aiuto combined these photos into a hardbound album, which delighted a six-year-old boy

and his family when they retrieved their lost tiger Hobbes and saw the album.

This heartwarming story quickly gained media attention and showcased Tampa Airport's customer-focused

culture, which D'Aiuto believes should be integrated into everything a business does.

A clear definition of outstanding customer service and executive sponsorship are critical

to creating a customer-focused culture.

Every customer interaction is an opportunity for a hero moment or a service failure.

By implementing D'Aiuto's small but thoughtful idea, Tampa Airport successfully differentiated

itself from other stories of poor customer service.

Exceptional Customer Service

Domino’s Pizza and Rackspace provide outstanding customer service by going out of their way

to make customer encounters personal and memorable.

Domino's delivers over a million pizzas every day and ensures they reach customers hot and

on time.

Rackspace's employees, called "Rackers," adhere to the Fanatical Support Promise, working

overtime to solve customer issues.

According to service strategist Adam Toporek, being a hero means being available for customers

and providing memorably positive experiences.

These companies' uniformly high-quality interactions with customers have made them successful,

proving exceptional customer service is essential for business success.

JetBlue's Secret to Success

JetBlue Airways remains North America’s top airline for the 12th consecutive year,

thanks to its unique organizational culture.

CEO Robin Hayes attributes their success to their 18,000 crew members, who are motivated

to provide exceptional customer service.

Corporate culture consultant Catherine Mattice defines culture as the way an organization’s

members think, act, and perceive the world around them.

Creating the right culture is difficult but worthwhile.

To create a customer-oriented culture, businesses must align their strategy, goals, and metrics

with it.

Additionally, they must provide guidance, align processes, and empower employees to

deliver quality service.

Finally, leaders must champion the values of the culture.

Comcast's Customer Service Transformation

In 2015, Comcast was rated America's worst internet service provider due to poor customer

service.

An infamous call recording of a representative trying to prevent a customer from cancelling

went viral.

However, the blame was put on the company's culture and inadequate policies.

Comcast made it difficult for customers to cancel by routing these calls to "retention

specialists" who were incentivized to discourage cancellations.

High turnover in the customer service industry was also an issue with annual rates of 20%

or higher.

In response, Comcast announced a plan to revamp their corporate culture by focusing on meeting

and exceeding customer expectations.

The transformation emphasized periodic employee engagement assessments to identify areas for

improvement.

Ultimately, Comcast recognized the importance of a customer-focused culture and worked towards

enhancing their customer service.

Crafting your Ideal Customer Service Vision

The success of a company relies on its customer service, and developing an effective customer

service vision can help in achieving this goal.

The vision should explicitly define how employees should treat customers and how customer service

contributes to overall business success.

A customer service vision does not have to follow a particular format but should be clear

and concise to enable employees to understand and rally behind it.

Involving employees in the goal-setting process is also considered a best practice.

The culture of an organization develops over time, and a customer service vision can help

shape this culture.

There are three simple steps to developing a customer service vision: ask for input from

all stakeholders, collaborate to write the vision, and refine it with key stakeholders.

By following these steps, businesses can craft their ideal customer service vision and get

employees obsessed with providing the best experience to customers.

Building a Customer-Focused Culture

The success of any business is tied to how well they prioritize customer service.

Gallup’s 2013 State of the American Workplace report showed that companies with highly engaged

employees scored 10% better on customer satisfaction than did firms with disengaged employees.

So how can businesses build a customer-focused culture?

The answer is to engage employees in the company's customer service vision by first making sure

that they understand it.

Developing a formal strategy with engaging action steps is critical, but it's also essential

to secure the commitment of senior management to support employee engagement.

To exemplify a corporate culture that prioritizes customer service, businesses need to empower

their workforce to serve customers.

It’s important to coach employees about what their “empowerment” means and make

it logistically easy for them to deliver top-quality customer service.

Leaders should be “culture champions” of customer service and set an example through

their approach.

The best evidence of workforce engagement is that staff members believe in the company's

customer service vision and follow it in their interactions with customers.

SMART goals should be established and monitored to evaluate the firm’s customer service

performance, including customer retention, word-of-mouth referrals, ratings on external

review sites, first-contact resolution, and average response time.

When evaluating job applicants, businesses need to consider their culture fit.

Training should be provided to show employees how to leverage the company's culture to serve

customers better, which includes setting objectives, instruction and reinforcement.

By proactively planning, defining, encouraging, and sustaining a customer-focused culture

and its activities, businesses can create a company vision that staff members can get

behind and work towards.

Customer Service Agenda

Create a comprehensive customer service agenda for your company by implementing specific

activities on a regular basis.

Conduct annual campaigns to align your service vision with your strategy, quarterly meetings

to reward exceptional service, and monthly metrics analysis to address problem areas.

Schedule weekly team meetings for training sessions and feedback review, and ensure exemplary

daily service by providing the necessary resources to your employees.

Final Recap

Toister's 'The Service Culture Handbook' offers invaluable insights into creating a customer-focused

culture and driving your company to new heights.

From establishing a clear vision to engaging and empowering employees, every aspect of

building a superior service culture is detailed.

Companies like Tampa International Airport, Domino's Pizza, and JetBlue Airways exemplify

the power of exceptional customer service and the benefits it brings.

Remember the importance of aligning corporate strategy and culture, as well as learning

from the mistakes of others, like Comcast.

In a world where customer service is of paramount importance, this book serves as a comprehensive

guide to transforming your company culture for success.