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Tips on How to Celebrate Customer Service Week 2018
Customer Service Week spans October 1 through 5 this year.
Customer Service week is the designated week to celebrate the folks in your company who work with customers and build strong relationships with them. These are the people your customers associate with your brand when solving problems and answering questions.
There are people in your company not working directly face to face with your customers. Their contribution is behind the scenes to support someone who does, so everyone needs to be encouraged and rewarded for their work and efforts.
Here are suggestions to celebrate the work and value your teams bring to your customers, boost morale and teamwork, and raise companywide awareness of the importance of customer service and how it plays into the overall customer experience.
Monday – Kick the week off with everyone in your company signing a pledge to continue the commitment of delivering excellent customer service. Provide coffee and doughnuts, bagels, fresh fruit, etc. to celebrate and as a “Thank You” for the commitment everyone made.
Customer Service Pledge example –
I pledge to deliver the very best of myself to our customers. I will do this by…
- Understanding the customer is trusting us to help them succeed and with their money.
- Being positive, proactive, and professional with customers and coworkers.
- Listening to our customers with an openness and empathy.
- Resolving all issues as thoroughly and promptly as possible.
- Keeping customers informed and updated.
- Expressing thanks and that we value every single customer.
- Asking for suggestions and feedback to improve the way we work with customers.
You may consider having a theme for the week. Some suggestions are…
- Show Customers the Love in the Details
- It’s Easy and Fun to Work With Us
- Our Customers Are Successful Because We Care Enough to Do Our Best
- Everything Counts in the Eyes of the Customer
Talk about how the theme applies to your staff and the overall customer experience. As leaders, be sure to genuinely thank your teams and staff for the work they do to be the best representatives for your company.
Tuesday – Make it Personal
Deliver a handwritten thank you note to everyone in your company with two or three sentences expressing thanks and giving a specific example or characteristic you appreciate about that person.
If your company is large, have every manager or supervisor write and distribute the letters of thanks to their teams.
Have everyone in the company write a note of thanks to a peer or coworker expressing sincere thanks and appreciation for the work they do that helps the customer and their team members.
Wednesday – Have Fun and Relieve Stress
Be creative. Hand out stress balls, stress relieving adult coloring books or pages and colored pencils, fidget spinners, back and neck pressure point massagers, print out yoga poses for the workplace (https://www.verywellfit.com/yoga-stretches-at-your- desk-3567200 ), etc.
Play games. Have teams or departments spend a little time just playing and getting to know each other in fun. No cost examples are…
“Two Truths and a Lie” where everyone shares two true things about themselves and one lie. The rest of the team tries to guess the lie and everyone gets to learn a little more about each other.
“Guess Who Owns This” – Everyone writes down a little-known fact about themselves on a slip of paper. All slips are then folded and place in a hat or bowl. Someone picks a slip, reads the written fact, and the group guesses who wrote each one.
Other ideas include organized team challenges, bowling, movie night, scavenger hunt, dinner, etc.
Thursday – Show the Love
Each group or department would be visited by a member of the leadership team for a sincere “Show the Love” talk thanking them for the way that team or group has worked with customers, helped solve a problem, or gone above and beyond in some way for the company or the customer. Be sure to be specific. Generic “rah rah” speeches are rarely effective or appreciated.
Share stories with each other about the wackiest customer request, their favorite customer that they’ve worked with, the nicest thing a customer ever said to them, or a way they knew they really helped a customer out. This is a great time to use humor and learn from everyone.
Friday – Wrap Up
Everyone loves food. If you haven’t had a food-focused day… this would be a great day to do it. Either cater lunch in or plan a potluck. Everyone loves food. Decorate the lunch room with balloons and streamers to celebrate your staff, teams, and the way they dedicate themselves to working in the best interest of the customers and the company.
Remind them of the pledge they signed on Monday and express your sincere thanks and appreciation for their commitment to delivering the best service possible.
The goal of Customer Service Week is to celebrate, recognize, and reward the efforts your team makes.
Take the suggestions and personalize them within your company. You can make this a fun and successful week for everyone involved by being creative.