John Tschohl, founder and president of the Service Quality Institute, emphasizes the need for relentless commitment to service, empowerment of staff, and constant training. Without these, even the most esteemed brands risk losing their edge and ultimately, their profitability.
I have been skiing in Vail Colorado, one of the best skiing areas in the world, for over 50 years. George Gillett originally built Vail Resorts. When I first met George in 1978 I asked him what he does and he said, “I am in customer service.” George also has an endorsement in my book, Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service. George bought Vail in 1985. In 1997 Vail Resorts bought Vail from George Gillet.
I’ve used Vail Resorts in my seminars across the world for over 30 years. They were a “10” A great role model for leading-edge customer service. They now own 42 mountain resorts but they have left their Mojo. They lost their focus on the customer experience. I was skiing in Vail in January and most of the employees do just enough to not get fired. A lift ticket today is $295. If you call 1-970-754-0015 they outsource their call center to the Philippines
When COVID hit Vail Resorts they lost their focus on customer service and they have never recovered While I was in Vail in January they had a front page negative story in the Vail Daily with Taylor Schmidt asking for dramatic changes in management. If you want to see hard numbers from an investor’s perspective, this is worth reading.
Very few top executives understand the Service Strategy. Taylor Schmidt with Late Apex Partners does. Top management at Vail Resorts does not. If you do not train all your staff constantly with something new and fresh the customer experience slides. It starts with 1,000 cuts—anything to save money.
Amazon 2024 Results $63.2 Billion Increase in Sales
Amazon increased sales by 11% to $638 billion in 2024 from $574.8 billion in 2023 a $63.2 billion increase. AWS increased sales by 19% to $107.6 Billion. Net income in 2024 was $59.2 billion. Amazon is the most customer-driven firm in the world. Here is the link for Proven Process for Driving a Service Culture. Amazon has flawless execution of all these steps.
Strategy: Build passion and strategy with service strategist and customer service guru, John Tschohl
Leadership: Develop your leaders to manage, motivate, and lead an empowered customer-driven workforce and reduce the friction that prevents an awesome customer experience.
Tools: Use our proven certification seminars and training programs to change attitudes and behaviors and develop customer-centric employees.
9 Principles of Creating a Service Culture Relentless Strategy:
- Focus on strategy:You must be Relentless and it has to be a way of life. Amazon understands this better than any of its competitors.
- Reduce Friction:Remove stupid rules, policies, and procedures. This improves speed, reduces costs, and improves the customer experience.
- Empowerment:Empowerment is the backbone of great service. Everyone must be empowered. It takes 2 miracles at one time to get an employee to spend $10. At Amazon, they are by far light years ahead of everyone.
- Speed:People today expect and want speed. You must drastically reduce the time for everything you do. Products are delivered from the same day to two days at Amazon.
- Training:All employees must be trained in customer service with something new and fresh every few months. Ninety-nine percent of customer interaction is with your front-line employees. They are the least trained, least valued, least paid, and the face of your organization. There are no educational institutions in the world that will train your employees.
- Remember Your Name:The most precious thing to a customer is their name. Remember it and use it.
- Service Recovery:When you screw up you must keep the customer and all employees must practice the 4 skills of service recovery.
- Reduce Costs:Price is critical with all customers. Service leaders are frugal and always looking for ways to reduce costs. All my research shows service leaders are aggressive at eliminating waste and costs. Everyone buys at Amazon because they always have the best price.
- Measure Results:You must measure the results of creating a service culture to keep top management passionate about this process, the financial investment, and the time required. A $63.2 billion increase in sales and Net Income of $59.2 Billion in profit are incredible results.
About the Author
John Tschohl is the founder and president of the Service Quality Institute—the global leader in customer service—with operations in more than 40 countries. He is considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on all aspects of customer service and has developed 17 customer service training programs, including Remember Me, that are used by companies throughout the world. His monthly strategic newsletter is available online at no charge at www.customer-service.com. He can also be reached on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
For more information on John Tschohl and the Service Quality Institute, visit www.customer-service.com.
