Not everyday bears rich fruit. In fact, there are days – too many to count – when you feel bruised and battered by events. Days when nothing seems to go right, from the stubbed toe to the burnt toast to the parking ticket planted on your car windscreen. I can think of many such days and remember the blessed relief that came many hours later when I finally sank into a blissful sleep. Strangely, it took much of my life to realise that this was not some payback from an external source, but a self-inflicted wound. It is our intent that creates our mood and it is our mindset that determines our relationship with events. Put simply, we choose our attitude.
So, you ask – what about those things that are sent to try us, and turn us from a Buddhist monk to a psychopath in a matter of seconds? My answer to that – it is still within our power to face it out in public and find our own private ways to deal with our frustration. I have learned to do this in front of my customers. They always see a positive and enthusiastic individual focused on their needs. I have still to apply the same technique with colleagues, friends and family – that is for another discussion.
Taking your troubles to work and allowing them to influence mood and events is just plain wrong. The impact on customers – it can break a relationship forever. If, that is, they have that choice. In this country we used to expect gruff and uncaring service. But, our acceptance of poor service has a much lower threshold than it used to be. That presents a serious challenge for business owners and public service leaders.
We have all encountered the low postured, ill-tempered and overly officious front line person who tells you in all but words that they are having a bad day – a hangover, a domestic row, an upsetting letter. They don’t want to be there and the last person they want to see is you. When this is what passes for customer service there is an inevitable chain reaction – you (the customer) feel compelled never to return and you tell as many people who will listen about your hideous experience. The trouble is people do listen – they love to hear of bad service examples. If you embellish the story, as we tend to, it will be passed around in dinner table conversations for years to come. It may even be used in presentations and training sessions.
How about this from an NHS Accident and Emergency department somewhere in England: Patient enters in severe pain only to experience this sinister encounter at the reception desk:
Patient: Hi, I am in agony here. Can I see a doctor? It’s my….
Receptionist: Name please.
The patient responds.
Receptionist: Are you the patient?
Yes, answers the baffled patient.
Receptionist: Is the patient conscious or unconscious?
This a classic gatekeeper story – a first line of contact who believes their role is to place barriers in front of people rather than to ease their anxiety and make their lives easier. The problem with this story and many more like it is that it erodes expectation. Low customer expectation is in my view, the public sector’s enemy number one.
It delays early contact (nipping a problem in the bud), it increases the likelihood of no shows (wasted time and costs), it promotes anxiety and tension, makes people feel devalued and prepares people for confrontation not cheerful constructive dialogue. Staff get increasingly demoralised (even good ones are subject to aggressive and irrational behaviour). That in turn increases stress and absenteeism.
All this adds up to unnecessary costs – the last thing public services can afford right now. This is a perspective that’s rarely aired; yet I am sure a real cost and benefit analysis would reveal some interesting information. The argument always dwells on cutting services not enhancing them. Why should good people doing a vital job be sacked, when there are countless other ways of making savings. The business world operates in a different environment – screw with your customers and they will go elsewhere. Hungry new companies are springing up all around us. Often it is their approach to their customers that gives them an immediate edge in the marketplace. Those that offer an exceptional service will prosper. That is the dog eat dog world that has for so long created innovation and prosperity. Those businesses that fail are those that don’t deliver what the customer wants – simple.
Without competition we need a different credo. Public Service employees need to feel that they are a vital link in a bigger chain of delivery, that they are key to the nation’s mood, humour and sense of wellbeing. These are important people – they care for our children, older people and our health. They help keep our roads safe and clean. Some do it exceptionally well – they walk with a spring in their step, they look you in the whites of your eyes, they act with enthusiasm, they are alive and interested and always want to do better
I want to see them – people who make their patients, clients and service users feel good, who save the day by stepping beyond the call of duty rewarded. Here we can take a leaf from those who fund our sports. They learned that backing success inspires better performance and creates world-beaters. Cycling, swimming, rowing and sailing attract money commensurate with ever improving performance. The British Team’s unprecedented success at the Beijing Olympics is proof positive that this formula works. The Athletics team know that they have to do better if they are to attract more financial support. Brutal? I don’t think so.
What outrages people is the reward of failure.
I meet people everyday that work in important public service jobs, whose commitment, intelligence and determination to improve the lives of their customers is exemplary. Back them, reward them and use their example to inspire others and create new standards.
I am so determined to help make this happen that I will speak at any event where this message can be aired – at no charge.