What do we care about most when we're the customer?

If you're buying a soda at a convenience store, does care matter?

If you're prepping for surgery, does care matter?

If you're buying a ticket for a basketball tournament, does care matter?

I believe care always matters.  Simply caring enough about the human you are serving goes a long ways toward creating the relationship that brings them back and encourages them to talk about how easy it was to do business with you.

Be inspired to care. It makes a real difference.

Sometimes we make it more complicated than it needs to be. 

We are people.  We all serve.  Regardless of job title or job function, we're all in the service world, serving customers, co-workers and our communities.

How well we serve matters.  People receive what they want, need and deserve from those providing the service.

To help us serve well--with enthusiasm, passion, commitment--we need to be inspired.  Because, go back to point number one, we are people.

Words matter with people, at least as much or more than they might with animals.  Sometimes I think we are kinder to animals than people, but that's another blog.

For now, let's focus on how we inspire people to serve.

One simple way is to use language that inspires.  Positive, uplifting words--yours or those from others--can inspire employees to serve in ways that show enthusiasm, passion and commitment.

Here are three of my favorite quotes I use to inspire audiences to choose positive attitudes in customer service:

"A man is about as happy as he makes up his mind to be."  Abraham Lincoln.  (Ouch!  I first heard this quote when I was whining about a significant change in my life...and it changed me forever.)

"There is little success where there is little laughter."  Andrew Carnegie  (It's OK for us to have fun on our jobs...even a patient who had survived brain surgery said in one of my focus groups that the hospital could have made it "fun" as a way to make their stay better...wow!)

Another favorite:  "You can if you think you can."  Norman Vincent Peale  (This quote encourages me to solve problems when instead I want them to simply disappear.)

Peale's quote also relates to my favorite cartoon character, Bob the Builder, who taught my grandkids to say, "Yes we can!" when asked the question, "Can we fix it?"

Can we fix customer service?  Yes we can!  It's people, inspired, passionate and committed to serving people. 
But it requires a bit of service inspiration.  Isn't that what we all want, need and deserve?