Confessions of a Customer Service Superhero

Every Superhero has an origin story…

In 1993 I was shipped off to a secret facility in Orem, Utah for eleven weeks. It was billed as a “Management Training Boot Camp,” but after that experience, I was never the same.

Prior to attending this “Boot Camp” I was just a regular guy, not a great employee – I was a little bit selfish, and sometimes I could be a jerk to both my employer and to my customer.

I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I remember one job I had as a busboy; I was the only busser working on this particular Sunday lunch shift, and I decided that since the world revolved around me, I was only going to move at what I deemed a comfortable pace. The line of people waiting for a table kept getting longer and longer. Tables were empty, but they were still dirty so no one could sit there, and I, for some reason, refused to move any faster.

I wasn’t that bad at every job I had before arriving at the Management Training facility, but I wasn’t a good employee by any stretch.

During those eleven weeks I was exposed to a different way of thinking. I was given books like The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, and In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman. I was also taught things like: “The customer’s always right.” and “If you don’t take care of the customer somebody else will.” They’re clichés now, but I had never heard them at the time.

The most influential service lesson I learned during those eleven weeks was this:

THE CUSTOMER IS MY BOSS. I WORK FOR THEM. 

THEY PAY MY SALARY.

Of course the place where I work gives me a paycheck, but it’s the customer who gives them the money. Maybe it was the rebel in me that latched on to this one so ferociously, but I loved the idea and still embrace it to this day.

When they told me this, it was as if these people had placed a little white-hot, radioactive “larva” in my ear, and it squirmed its way into my brain.

As this larva, this worm, began to make its home in my grey matter, I began to see everything differently. I instantly understood that if I truly had the best interest of the customer in mind while I did my job, I couldn’t make a mistake. I looked it up, and dictionary.com calls that bulletproof.

This “radioactive larva” morphed into a “bug” that continued to grow inside me. It not only took over my brain, it took over my life. I began to consume customer service books, and seek out customer service thought leaders.

I became obsessed with the customer experience, which caused me to develop additional... well, abilities. Some people call them Superpowers.

For example, I can now read a customer’s mind. I put myself in their shoes and analyze things from the their perspective. Empathy. By doing this, I can determine their needs, and how best to help them, without them verbalizing anything.

Bullet Proof.

Mind Reader.

These are just a few of the powers I have developed over the last twenty years, and I will discuss more of them as the Blog continues.

If you will allow me though, I will touch on one additional power:

Transference.

I can transfer my abilities, or Superpowers, to anyone that truly wants them. Let me know if you'd like to set up a consultation or perhaps a training seminar for your service team, so you can begin to consistently deliver "Superhero Service" to each and every one of your Guests.