Good morning and happy Monday!  If you are like many today, the winter weather is a little dreary, the days are getting a bit longer and the countdown to summer break has begun.  I am sure the festivities of the Super Bowl Weekend did not help matters much either!  UGH!!!!  Talk about a double whammy to start the week off!

Anyway, instead of focusing on the fact that it is Monday, let’s discuss some ways that we can elevate our service to others.  If you have been following my writings, you should know by now that my “#1 pet peeve” is BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE!  Why does this grate on my nerves so bad?  Simply because this is one aspect of our business that we can control.

In an unstable economy like the one that we have, it is so vitally important to control the things that we can in order to maximize our effectiveness. I came across a wonderful resource that I wanted to share with you.  Steve Curtin writes a blog (http://www.stevecurtin.com/) and many of his topics are focused on the customer experience.  I highly encourage you to touch base with this blog… so many great stories and ideas. One that stuck out to me was called “Service Elevated” You can read the entire piece here – http://www.stevecurtin.com/blog/2010/09/29/service-elevated/ .  But to give you a snapshot, Steve discusses three behaviors that delight customers. Here are three of the behaviors:

1. Express genuine interest: To express genuine interest in a customer is to go beyond that which a customer typically expects during a customer service interaction. For example, most customers might expect a supermarket cashier to smile, make eye contact, and add a bit of enthusiasm to her voice. These qualities may not always occur but they are the basics of a face-to-face customer service interaction.

2. Share unique knowledge: To share unique knowledge with a customer means to go beyond the job knowledge that is ordinarily expected of one’s job role. For example, most restaurant guests expect for servers to possess basic job knowledge such as the evening’s specials, the soupe du jour, information about food preparation, ingredients/allergens, availability, pricing, etc.

3. Deliver service heroics: To deliver service heroics means to go beyond the customer’s expectations in providing him with an exceptional customer service experience. Sometimes, this will require an employee to go above and beyond the call of duty. He may be challenged to perform beyond the scope of his job description. By developing and mastering these behaviors, both toward our students and employer partners we can begin to exceed expectations – and also deliver upon our institutions outcome objectives.

It is through these behaviors, exhibited on a consistent basis, that career services offices can regain credibility and be a relevant and meaningful part of the college experience. Give them a try… let me know how it works!  If you have some specific examples of these three behaviors, please share them below!

Thanks so much… see you next Monday!