By Shep Hyken
I’ve been working with an amazing client. We have helped the client create a customer experience vision and define five behaviors everyone must exhibit to bring the vision to life. This makes me very proud of the work we do.
Communication is one reason that their vision is coming to life. The CEO has sent out videos, regularly schedules town hall meetings, and shares best-of-the-best examples of how team members are creating amazing experiences and Moments of Magic® for their colleagues and customers. In addition, throughout their halls, you can find posters and signage with their vision, their five behaviors, and other motivating and inspiring messages that bring their customer experience initiative to life.
During a recent call with the client, we talked about the posters on the walls. I commented, “What’s on the walls and what happens between the walls must be congruent.”
In other words, don’t let the posters be eye candy without action. The success of the program doesn’t come from simply displaying the ideas we created with them but from the actions taken by the team members.
All of this is happening inside their organization. Their customers don’t know about this initiative. They don’t know about the hours of training the employees are going through. All they know is that the experience is working. Once again, I share one of my favorite concepts: What’s happening inside the organization is felt on the outside by customers.
And while the customers are experiencing the benefits of this company’s efforts, they don’t really care how it happens. They just want it to happen, and when it does, they want it to happen again and again – every time they do business with this company. The reward these customers give isn’t in the form of accolades, although feedback is a gift. It is in the form of repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.
The point of this lesson is simple. Words on a poster or even spoken out loud mean nothing if there is no action to support it. If you spend the time and effort to create a vision, don’t let it die. Don’t let it become a “flavor of the month” that is replaced by next month’s or next year’s theme. Employees will figure it out and not take it seriously. If it’s really important, don’t tape it to the walls, engrave it on the walls. If it’s what you want, make it come to life. It’s not about what’s on the walls. It’s what happens between the walls that counts!
