I was recently asked by a client to speak to her team about how they can elevate the customer experience. This stopped me in my tracks – because, at first I thought: NO, I can’t do that - that’s not my area of expertise. And then I was reminded - of course I can.

I am a customer – therefore, I, like anyone else can be an expert in it what it feels like to have great customer service.

Experiencing customer excellence is just like experiencing a great performance – you are always left feeling better for having been in the room.

My most recent surprise customer excellence experience was not at a high-end department store or resort, but on the phone with the customer service operator at of all places Speedway Gas Stations.

I had been charged what I thought was an exorbitant amount (way more than the now typically exorbitant gas prices) for my gas at one of their stations. I called the station, who said call the 1-800 number.

Thinking I’d end up in a black hole of automated responses, I reluctantly dialed 1-800….imagine my surprise when within one minute a human being answered, who then directed me to another human being, who then explained that by using Apple Pay a reserve had been put on my card – not the actual amount of the charge (something I know I could have figured out myself). Problem solved and a satisfied customer.

It should all be that easy.

 But at the end of the whole interaction – it wasn’t the process that mattered – it was the attitude of those I spoke with. They were helpful, pleasant, empathetic, and patient. All feelings I know we want all our customers to feel.

Suddenly I knew what my presentation would be about – cultivating customer excellence heroes. Reminding everyone that how they show up and communicate with customers is as important as the resolution of the problem. Sharing stories about customer interactions – good and bad because we can only grow from our failures if we share the learning out loud. Solving customer service scenarios that are typical derailers. And most important, creating a vision of what great customer service can look like.

In The Service Culture Handbook, author Jeff Toister extols the value of a customer-focused culture and learning from customer service mistakes. Most important, he says that developing a customer service vision that is clear and concise is key to helping the team realize it.

Consider the customer service legends, from Zappos and their Customer Wow, to Nordstrom, and Ritz Carlton – each one of them became legendary by establishing a customer focused culture, articulating a vision of how to achieve it, and then ensuring that their vision was realized one customer interaction, and one story at a time.

By the time I finished the session with my client’s team each member had  articulated their own vision of customer excellence, shared a story of their own customer excellence experience, and they even ended the day with a new rallying cry to ignite customer excellence for the team going forward – simply: “Let’s Go!”

Next time you have to call 1-800…whatever, pay attention to how you feel when you are done. And then take the time to ensure that your own team is energized about customer excellence and is energizing their customer relationships.

It's as easy as the EDGE: Explore, Dream, Grow & Excite®:

• Explore: Energizing Customer Connections

• Dream: Envision Customer Excellence & Share Stories of Past Customer Excellence

• Grow: Moving the Obstacles to Customer Excellence

• Excite: Igniting a Culture of Customer Excellence

Outlaw Leadership® is all about impacting those you wish to impact, lead, and serve with excellence – especially, your customers.