Can You Really Give 100% Customer Service All The Time?

If you’ve ever worked in customer service or as the owner of your own business, you’ll hear it all the time — give 100% all the time. That means 100% of your best 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

As you might expect — that’s downright exhausting when you try to think about it too much. Because the truth is, your energy ebbs and flows throughout the day. But as with everything that requires effort, when you think about it too much (and don’t do anything toward it), it sits there like a heavy cloud over you. It nags at you, reminding you, “give 100% all the time”.

The answer is that yes, you can give 100% customer service all the time — but perhaps up until now, you haven’t been: You might feel like you have, but chances are, your 100% customer service is divided up into pieces — carved up like a pie:

• 50% going to just making it through the motions of the day
• 20% to thinking about what the previous customer just said or did
• 20% to anticipating what the next customer might want
• 10% focus on the actual issue at hand.

The issue is that when we segment ourselves like this to try and be all things to all people, it’s clear we’re not giving 100%. Instead, 100% of whatever your focus is on at that moment (the customer and their needs) needs to actually go to them. Not the person before or after them, not what Karen from HR wants, not your doctor’s appointment later and not what you’re fixing for dinner tonight.

Things like these, while important, are pulling you in different directions and turning your focus away from giving that 100% that you know you’re capable of. It’s very easy to commit to something and give it your all for a day or two, but then the momentum wears off… you don’t see the results that you want quickly (or at all), and your motivation slumps.

It’s also very easy to give 99%. But in this realm of “the 99%” is all of those unfinished hopes, those unchased dreams, those things that you’ve put off for “sometime, when I have more time”. Pick those up — they’re deserving of your 100%. When you give 100% in other areas of your life, you’ll be amazed at how many things start to fall into place, and how much less you need to concentrate on those other nagging things that were weighing you down.

Suddenly, when you don’t have to worry about those things and can focus specifically on that person at that moment, it’s very easy to give 100%. Then, simply rinse and repeat. At first, it may be easier said than done, but with practice, the process becomes much easier.

And if you need some help clearing out those tasks that are taking away from your 100%, why not reach out to us here at Workdom today? We can help with all types of customer service and marketing so that every impression you make is one where you’re exceeding customer satisfaction from the very start!

Originally published at https://www.workdom.io on March 27, 2020.