“Customer Service is not a department…it’s an attitude.”  How true is this phrase? As much as we try to complicate what great service is…it can be pretty simple. Customer Love, by Mac Anderson, is a great book that highlights unforgettable true stories about individuals and companies who have created extraordinary service experiences for their customers. WOW's! Companies like Nordstrom, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, and others. What makes this little book so good is that the stories collectively inspire and remind us of what great service can look like and that it doesn't have to be complicated. 

Happiness in the workplace has a lot more to do with you than you may think, and less to do with the workplace itself. What makes you genuinely happy in your job surprisingly isn't about promotions or higher pay.  It's not the things that happen to us; instead, we all create our own personal experiences.  Srikumar Rao, the author of Happiness at Work states, "The knowledge that we are responsible for living the life we have is our most powerful tool."  

Looking ahead at the specific industry of which your service business or professional practice is a part is also important.  To determine which trends are significant to you, explore the marketing elements of your industry.  These include the following: general changes in your industry, changes in services in your field, pricing changes, changes in the way your service is distributed or delivered to your clients, possible changes in promotion, changes in the clients themselves.

-Jean Withers and Carol Vipperman, Marketing Your Service

Think of your most recent purchases. What were they?  What do you like most about them, or what made you decide to buy them?  Perhaps some of your purchases were things like gas for your car (you appreciate being able to get from point “a” to point “b”), lunch (you LOVE the taste of fresh veggie fajitas), and flip flops (great color and so comfortable).  Now let's go back- when I asked about your most recent purchases, did you consider any that were for intangible items and services?  I bet 90% of you say “no,” and the reason is that for many of these, there is nothing for you to touch, taste, smell, and see; therefore, it’s harder for you to think about these items as actual purchases since you can’t picture them, or their benefits, in your mind (you can't exactly taste or smell what good health insurance is, right?).  If you are in a company that sells services, this should give you pause. With few or no tangible characteristics to what you are selling, it is harder for you to differentiate yourselves from your competition. Your customers instead have to consider price, reliability, customer service, and performance when they decide to buy from you.

Make it easy.  As a part of any employee orientation there should be time spent on noticing and reacting to the opportunities on when and how to make purchasing easier for the consumer.  Executive retreats would benefit from spending a day (or more) on evaluating the ease for the consumer to do business with their company.  The world of consumer purchasing has changed, and some companies are more in tune to these changes than others.  Consumers today are web-educated, mobile app data explorers who react to the best deal that they can understand.  Marketing messaging has, in many cases, overwhelmed the consumer.  So what's the answer?  Keep it simple/easy.

Something that is always relevant and seemingly misunderstood is the Customer Experience. Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine of Outside In defines this as, "Customer Experience is how your customers perceive their interactions with your company."  Here's some compelling proof on why this topic deserves focus and understanding: Over a recent 5-year period when S&P 500 was flat, a stock portfolio of customer experience leaders grew 22%!  

To further break down what's the "customer experience," it's the product and services you offer, how you manage your business, and what your brand stands for.  It 's what a customer perceives will happen when they try and buy your product, use it, and/or what would happen if there is a problem with it.