The Power of Service

"People who truly understand God's purpose for their lives know that we are called to be intimately involved with one another." – Zig Ziglar

Business and motivational trainer, Brendon Burchard, tells his story about an incident in the Dominican Republic that forever changed his life. At the time, he was lonely, depressed and emotionally dead after the breakup with the first woman he ever loved. A friend was driving too fast late one night to make a sharp turn and the vehicle went out of control. While it was tumbling, three questions came to his mind: Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?

He was bleeding and felt like he was going to pass out after the car came to a stop. Burchard worried that he might not make it, but he then had an overpowering feeling of centeredness that caused him to have an intense sense of gratitude and appreciation for life. While in this state, he realized he had been given a second chance to live, to love, and to make a difference that really matters. The experience totally shifted his mindset, renewed his sense of purpose and drove him to be more intimately involved with others in order to make a difference in their lives.

It is through experiences like this, when life seems to be on the brink, that people make a major shift in thinking from “what’s the most I can take from life, “to “how can I more fully give back or serve others.” Service is an interesting concept that people instinctively know is right and good, but it might go counter to their natural inclination to get the most for the least. Service means to give oneself freely for the benefit of others in a way that adds value to their life.

It may seem counterintuitive, but the more you give, the more you will get in life, and trying to get more (at the expense of others) will get you less in the long run. This principle can be summed up by sales and success author, Zig Ziglar: “You can get anything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want."

It seems like a simple formula. The more value you can add to your customers’ lives, the more value that will be added to your life. The term that identifies this value-adding activity is “customer service.” Serving your customers in a way that gives them greater value is one of the best ways to differentiate yourself from the numerous competitors who sell similar products or services. It is often the distinguishing characteristic of businesses that are outstanding in the minds of their customers.

In a recent survey of 93 local business owners and managers, 73% stated that they have a regular customer service training program in place. If that is accurate, you, the customer, should feel the difference in the way you are served. So the big question is: “Do you feel like the majority of the businesses you patronize are effective with their customer service training? Are you encouraged to return more often, purchase more on each visit, and refer others to those businesses?”

When you think about it, there are only three ways that any organization can grow their business through customers. First, they can increase the number of new customers that buy from them. This is where the majority focus their time, energy and money through advertising, promotions, and other marketing tactics. By getting more customers, it helps replace those lost through attrition.

The second way to grow your business is to increase the average amount of each transaction. This is often the “low hanging fruit” that most businesses do not do a good job plucking. It can be done through up-selling, cross-selling, and bundling products to encourage customers to buy more on each visit.

The last way is to increase the number of repeat purchases from your current customers. This is where the real money is made in business because it typically takes less money and effort to convince already existing and satisfied customers to return. However, how many of you feel like the businesses you patronize are effective at inviting you to come back?

Customer service is not only a nice aspect of business, but a vital key to staying in business and growing it exponentially because it affects all of the three ways to grow your business. Outstanding service encourages customers to return more often, purchase more on each visit, and it creates an effective sales force from your customers, who tell other people about the value you can offer.

Through a focused program aimed to train your staff to better serve your customers, you will not only create more loyal and dedicated customers, but you’ll gain the added benefit of developing more loyal and dedicated employees. This in turn will reduce your overhead costs through lower turnover, and it will get everyone focused on the same page.

I’ve been fascinated with the power of service over the years and have invested a lot of time and money in training, research and books. I created Northern Marianas College’s customer service course because of the importance I know it has in business. Effective customer service is so powerful because it can make a difference in many different areas of your business, and the attitude required to serve well carries over into many other aspects of your life. So, in the spirit of service, I want to give back to the businesses by offering some ideas in future articles that can be shared or used to better train your staff in customer service.

I’d like to end with a quote from Albert Einstien, who said: “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” By adding value through service to the greatest number of people, you will receive an abundance of value into our own life that will allow you to get anything you want, and to make a difference that really matters in the lives of your customers.