Service Standards: The Law of the Land

Operating a business without service standards is like living in the wild, wild West. Sure everyone thought they were abiding by the law, but often the law wasn’t clear or enforced. So if a nearsighted rancher shot an alleged cattle rustler who, in reality, was the new vet in town, people understood. It wasn’t the best outcome for the herds wiped out by untreated foot and mouth disease, but hey, you can’t jail a man who didn’t understand the law.

If your business does not have service standards, you’re functioning in a lawless land where anything can happen. Don’t let poor service delivery wipe out your herd, I mean customers. Establish clear, measurable and reasonable service standards that ensure a positive customer experience every time.

Back then, just like now, you couldn’t assume that people would always do the right thing. A dusty prospector might have thought that a horse trough was an ideal bathtub. And, while its dimensions and water capacity are ideal for bathing, it’s location in front of the one-room schoolhouse was not. Unfortunately for the students, treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder wouldn’t make it west of the Rocky Mountains for several decades, but hey, you can’t fault a man for simply wanting to clean up.

Don’t let uninformed employees scare off your customers. Make sure that they fully understand the complete service standard. Do they realize that the phone should not only be answered within three rings but also with a polite greeting? Is it understood that emails and phone calls should be returned by the end of the day and not the end of the month? Is it clear that customers with needs come before Facebook updates?

And if laws, like service standards, were not enforced, chaos ensued. For instance, if the Marshall looked away when his drunken brother assumed the saloon’s barmaid wanted more from him than the half-dime he owed for his shot of rotgut and forced himself upon her, others might follow suit. Every dancehall girl from Long Branch to Dodge City would be fair game for every fur trapping Romeo and card playing Casanova, but hey, they were asking for it by wearing ankle revealing skirts.

Having service standards is great, but if they are not enforced, they’re as worthless as fool’s gold. After you lay down the law of the land with clear and reasonable service standards and educate your employees on their importance, measure and enforce them through customer perception measurement and effective coaching. Soon, your customers will be grinning like a rustler sprung from the hoosegow.

Electrum Branding can assist your business with measuring your team’s adherence to service standards, and can play a key role in creating raving fans! Contact Electrum Branding today.