Hotel Online
News for the Hospitality Executive

January 8
advertisement



Service Excellence: It's About Your Heart

“If I have no other qualities, I can succeed with love alone. Without it, I will fail though I possess
all the knowledge and skills of the world. I will greet each day with love in my heart.” – Og Mandino

by: Bryan K. Williams, D.M.
June 4, 2013

It’s about your heart. With all I’ve written about touchpointsanticipating needs and steps of service, none of them can compare with your heart. Your heart is what connects with people. Your heart is what allows you to listen empathetically. Your heart is what causes you to give a genuine smile to a complete stranger, who you find yourself now serving. Yes, the heart is what pushes you to love. Love IS service, and service IS love. To create consistent, world-class service on your team, there must be a regular discussion about the heart and its role in driving service excellence.

S.I.F.I. (Superficially interesting, but fundamentally insignificant)

There are those who will mentally fast-forward through any discussion (or article) about the heart. They view this topic as superficially interesting, but fundamentally insignificant. In their minds, they believe that tactics and strategy, alone, will enable them to accomplish their service objectives. Tactics and strategy are not bad things. In fact, they are a necessity. But tactics and strategy are incomplete without a discussion about the heart. Imagine a beautiful care with no driver, or a sleek jet with no pilot. Without the heart, tactics and strategy are simply shiny hunks of metal with no soul.

If you look at some of the world’s most iconic service companies like Disney and Four Seasons, you will notice  that they are blatantly open about their hearts and how much they care about who they serve. They don’t look at service excellence solely as a competitive advantage, but rather as their sacred duty.

So, how do we make the heart our central focus in delivering great service?

  1. Be thankful for the opportunity to serve people who actually want the service/product you provide. Not only do they want it, but they want it from YOU! Don’t take that for granted.
  2. Challenge yourself to WOW somebody everyday.
  3. Before asking for anything, offer to give something first. Remember: Give-Share-Teach.
  4. Learn at least one preference about one customer everyday (preferred name, hobby, pet peeves, favorite food/beverage, preferred mode of communication, line of work, birthday, anniversary date, favorite TV show, favorite music genre, etc). The list can go on and on.
  5. Tell your customers how much you appreciate them (and mean it!)

“But I’m too busy! There’s no possible way I can make each customer feel taken care of.” Do what you can with what you have. Regardless if you have 30 seconds or 30 minutes, approach each customer with kindness in your heart. Always ask yourself, “how can I do more than the bare minimum with this customer?” By asking that question of yourself everyday, you will actually be forming a very powerful thing known as a habit. And since it is a good habit, allow it to take root and flourish.

More than the fancy furniture, expensive equipment, chandeliers, and manicured lawns, every customer is saying, “I want you to know me, pay attention to me, and care about me!” Love is service. Service is love. Use your heart to reach other hearts and success will surely follow.


About Bryan K. Williams
Dr. Bryan K. Williams is the Chief Service Officer of B.Williams Enterprise, and the author of Engaging Service: 22 Ways to Become a Service Superstar and Work Like You Own It! 20 Ways to Go From Meeting to Exceeding Your Customers’ Expectations. Bryan’s passion is world-class customer service, and has facilitated workshops and delivered keynotes all over the world for various companies.  He speaks on a variety of topics related to service excellence, employee engagement, and organizational improvement.  As a consultant, Bryan works closely with companies to design, develop, and implement sustainable service strategies. His company’s online store includes a growing collection of customer service products that are well-suited for your training library.
 

Contact:

B. Williams Enterprise, LLC 

Website: www.bwenterprise.net
Email:  [email protected] 
Facebook: BWEnterprise
Twitter: @bwenterprise
Phone: 240-401-6958

.
Receive Your Hospitality Industry Headlines via Email for Free! Subscribe Here

To Learn More About Your News Being Published on Hotel-Online Inquire Here

Also See: Service Excellence: Can you MAKE your team work like they own it? / Bryan K. Williams / April 2013

Service Excellence: Give What You Can With What You Have / Bryan K. Williams / March 2013

Two of the Most Important Phrases in Service Excellence / Bryan K. Williams / February 2013

Service Excellence: Memorable. Valuable. Relevant. / Bryan K. Williams / January 2013

5 Stars vs. 4 Stars: Focus on Five Star Service in 2013! / Bryan K. Williams / January 2013

Exceeding Your Customer's Expectations? Why Bother? / Bryan K. Williams, D.M. / November 2012

Service Excellence: Four Lessons ALL Businesses can Learn from a Five-Star Resort / Bryan K. Williams, D.M. / November 2012

Customer Service Week - WOW Stories to Inspire Your Team / Bryan K. Williams, D.M. / October 2012

Service Excellence: Three Tips to Drive Repeat Business / Bryan K. Williams, D.M. / October 2012

The LOVE Business / Bryan K. Williams / June 2012

The Next Level in Service Excellence: Give. Share. Teach. / Bryan K. Williams / April 2012

Service Excellence 101: Earn Your Customers' Confidence and Reap the Rewards / Bryan K. Williams / March 2012

Customer Service WOW Stories to Inspire Your Team! / Bryan K. Williams / February 2012

Lead Me: Help Me to Become More Than I Realize I Can Be / Bryan K. Williams / February 2012

Complimentary Teleseminar with Dr. Bryan K. Williams! 10 Things To Improve Service In Your Business / January 2012

Earn and Re-Earn Your Customers' Loyalty / Bryan K. Williams, D.M. / December 2011

Honor Your Customers / Bryan K. Williams, D.M. / October 2011

Work Like You Own It! 20 Ways to Go From Meeting to Exceeding Your Customers' Expectations: New Book by Dr. Bryan K. Williams / October 2011

Service Excellence 101: Be Welcoming / Dr. Bryan K. Williams, DM / September 2011

The Three Ingredients of Engaging Service: Humility, Reverence & Professionalism / Dr. Bryan K. Williams, DM / August 2011

Service Excellence: The MOST Important Thing To Create a Service Culture! / Dr. Bryan K. Williams, DM / July 2011

Service Excellence 101: How to Serve a VIP / Dr. Bryan K. Williams, DM / June 2011

The 1st Step of Service: Be Eager to Serve / Dr. Bryan K. Williams, DM / May 2011

World-Class Service: The Double-Platinum Rule 2.0 / Dr. Bryan K. Williams, DM / April 2011

Customer Problem Resolution: The 100% Principle / Dr. Bryan K. Williams, DM / March 2011

World-Class Service 102: Be memorable / Dr. Bryan K. Williams, DM / February 2011

Take your service to the next level: Only BIG WOW’s…No bow-wow’s / Dr. Bryan K. Williams, DM / February 2011

Service Excellence: Inspect What You Expect / Bryan K. Williams, D.M. / November 2010

Work Like You Own It 2.0; Energize it. Recognize it. Celebrate it. / Bryan K. Williams, D.M. / September 2010

World-Class Service 101: Know the difference between meeting and exceeding expectations / Dr. Bryan K. Williams / July 2010

Service Superstars Part 2: Treat them like they own it! / Dr. Bryan K. Williams / June 2010

Make each touchpoint memorable: Cha-Ching! / Dr. Bryan K. Williams / April 2010

Service Superstars: Work like you own it! / Bryan Williams / February 2010

Complimentary resources from Bryan K. Williams and B.Williams Enterprise! Begin 2010 with a focus on world-class service. / January 2010

Service Ambassadors: The Key to Providing World-Class Service / Bryan K. Williams / November 2009

5-Star Employees - Part 3 / Bryan K. Williams / September 2009

5-Star Employees - Part 2 / Bryan K. Williams / August 2009

5-Star Employees - Part 1/ Bryan K. Williams / July 2009

Engaging Service: 22 Ways to Become a Service Superstar / Bryan K. Williams / July 2009

Complimentary tele-seminars with Bryan K. Williams in July! / July 2009

Building a Team of Living It Employees / Bryan K. Williams / June 2009

World-Class Service: What if every employee served like a concierge? / Byran K Williams / March 2009

5 Star Leadership: What Does It Take to Be a 5-star Leader? / Byran Williams / February 2009

5 Stars vs. 4 Stars: What’s the Difference? / Byran Williams / January 2009

Complimentary training with Bryan Williams / January 2009

The 7 Principles of EngageMeTM is now available! / Bryan K. Williams / November 2008

Hiring and Engaging a World-Class Team / Bryan K. Williams / October 2008

Great Ideas for National Customer Service Week 2008 / Bryan K. Williams / September 2008

Delivering World-Class Service Part 3: Company Service Standards / Bryan K. Williams / September 2008

Delivering World-Class Service Pt. 2: Personal Service Standards / Bryan K. Williams / September 2008

Delivering World-Class Service: Function vs. Purpose / Bryan K. Williams / August 2008

Guest Problem Resolution 101: Power of the Follow-Up / Bryan K. Williams / June 2008

7 Principles to Fully Engage Your Customers – Part 2 / Bryan K. Williams / May 2008

7 Principles to Fully Engage Your Customers / Bryan K. Williams / April 2008

I Am a Service Professional™ / Bryan K. Williams / March 2008

Engage Every Customer…One Touchpoint at a Time / Bryan K. Williams / January 2008

Engaging Service Part 2: It’s All About the Culture / Bryan K. Williams / December 2007

Engaging Service Part 1: Not Just for the Chic / Bryan K. Williams / November 2007

Service Excellence: A Destination or a Journey? / Bryan K. Williams / October 2007

National Customer Service Week is Coming Soon - October 1-5, 2007 / September 2007

National Customer Service Week is Coming Soon - October 1-5, 2007 / September 2007

Engage Me…the Voice of Your Customer www.engagemenow.com / September 2007

Customer Engagement: Where do we begin? / Byran K Williams / August 2007

Engage Me…the Voice of Your Customer / www.engagemenow.com / August 2007

B. Williams Enterprise, LLC Launches Engage Me…  the Voice of Your Customer / August 2007

To Engage…Listen to the Voice of Your Customer / Byran K Williams / August 2007

To Engage the Guest, You Must Engage Those Who Directly Serve the Guest / Byran K Williams / July 2007

Three Service Rules: The Golden Rule, Platinum Rule, and Double Platinum Rule/ Byran K Williams / June 2007

The Greatest Bellman I Ever Met… / Bryan K. Williams / April 2006

Sorry to Say…But Some People Should Not be Serving Other Human Beings / Bryan K Williams / October 2006
.


To search Hotel Online data base of News and Trends Go to Hotel.OnlineSearch

Home | Welcome | Hospitality News
| Industry Resources

Please contact Hotel.Online with your comments and suggestions.