Do You Follow This Top Customer Service Guidance from Mother Teresa and My Barber?

"...We Can Do Small Things With Great Love."

- Mother Teresa

I am a strong believer that while it can be very challenging, delivering good #CustomerService and experiences is an objective that is always attainable.  There are, of course, key questions stakeholders responsible for an organization's customer experience must ask themselves in this quest. These questions include:

• Do we have a vision of what a good experience looks like from the customer's perspective?
   
• To what extent are are we willing to to make the financial and operational investment needed to achieve the vision?

Regardless of the vision or the amount of overall investment an organization is willing to make, all efforts will be futile unless the following question can be answered with a resounding "yes".

• Are we willing to consistently do even the smallest thing to let our customers know we truly care?

While others may have a different view, I assert the strongest foundation for delivering good to great customer service and experiences begins here.

It's really amazing.  What appear to be the smallest and easiest things to accomplish can reap substantial customer service benefits when handled appropriately.  As a case in point, let me share a story about my local barber and the service legacy that has grown from a simple greeting.

Since opening its doors in the early 90's, Nick's Barber Shop and its owner Vance Harper, have become institutions in Stone Mountain, Georgia.  Beyond its core business of hair care, Nick's frequently uses it resources to help projects aimed at improving the community and the lives of others.  As a result of these efforts, Nick's has accrued substantial goodwill with its clientele.

The shop has remained in the same location from day 1, retaining the ambiance that has caused many to flock to its chairs and Vance's team of barbers.  Nick's Barber has cut the hair of many; both recurring local customers, as well as the occasional sports celebrities who have ties to the area.   It is an "old school", non-pretentious environment that has everything you would want from a neighborhood barber shop;  good conversation on every topic under the sun, sports on television, music, as well as frequent joking and jabbing among all the employees and customers.  By the way, they also give great haircuts.   I almost forgot to mention the haircuts due to the overall experience found at Nick's.   An experience that begins from the moment you enter the shop's door.

"Alright!!......"

That is the greeting Nick's barbers shout in unison each time a customer enters the shop.  It is a practice begun by Vance when he initially opened the business.  It blew me away the first time I visited and I never cease to be amazed by their day after day, month after month, year after year consistency in executing this greeting.

I always knew the greeting made me feel special each time I went for a haircut; however, I truly came to appreciate its power after becoming a student of customer experience strategies.

In response to my question about the greeting's origin, Vance informed me he started the greeting when Nick's first opened.  He only had a few barber chairs at the time and had not yet learned to cut hair himself;  therefore, he perched himself in a chair next to the door and gave a hearty "alright!" to everyone who entered.  Vance explained he did this as a means to provide emotional empowerment to the African-American males who were his customers.  Unlike they might experience in other barber shops, restaurants, retail stores, or elsewhere, he wanted the men entering his establishment to feel special and welcomed.   What began as a salutation designed to empower and say "thanks", over the years evolved into the signature piece of Nick's Barber Shop's customer experience.

Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Nick's has tapped into greetings magic.  They have consistently done a relatively "small" thing to show customers they truly care. Each customer is greeted immediately, energetically, and is made to feel truly welcomed. This sets the stage for the entire customer service process and the recurring customer experience one finds at Nick's.



With Nick's Barber Shop as his flagship operation, Vance has become a noted and successful businessman in the local community.  The thread of customer care symbolized by "alright!" and woven into the fabric of Nick's Barber is evident in his various business and community pursuits.  To piggyback off the Mother Teresa quote heading this post, doing a small thing with great love has help guide Vance and Nick's Barber in constructing a customer experience based upon a vision of what their customer's need and desire.....We all should be so fortunate.

To receive notice of future blog posts, you can follow me via Twitter, Facebook , LinkedIn, or Goggle+.

I also invite you to view my website and Pinterest content.

#CustomerService
#CustomerExperience
#CustomerSatisfaction
#BadService