Last week was Customer Service Week … an international event devoted to recognizing the importance of customer service and honoring the people who work on the front lines serving and supporting customers.
In 1992 the U.S. Congress proclaimed Customer Service Week a nationally recognized event as well. It’s celebrated annually the first week in October.
Or is it? I saw absolutely no evidence of it in the five states I happened to be traveling in over those seven days!
In past years, I have always tried to provide a blog article during the last week of September to prepare our clients for this special week. In those articles I have shared a variety of advertising, marketing, and celebration activities which can be used in hopes of gaining full advantage of this promotional week.
This year I decided to pass. I wanted to try something a little different by simply observing which organizations might celebrate and utilize this very obvious occasion.
I sadly found nothing … and I can’t blame it on the fact that I happened to be working in an area which simply fell short on their efforts. I happened to be in five different states that week and still saw nothing.
- Nothing on television.
- Nothing on the radio.
- Nothing on the Internet including Facebook, Twitter, etc.
- No billboards on the side of the road.
- Nothing in my mailbox.
- Nothing in the newspapers.
- Nothing in any magazine.
- No banners in the windows of an store.
- No signs inside any store, restaurant, etc.
- No Customer Service Week specials being offered.
What happened?
There are actually dozens, maybe even hundreds, of ways that Customer Service Week could have been promoted to increase customer traffic, awareness, sales, image enhancement, etc. And yet … nothing.
Maybe we were all too busy complaining and crying about the economy, rising prices, taxes, government leadership, fair trade, loss of customer loyalty, competition, and the growing number of reasons on which we can blame our declining business results.
Obviously, there’s nothing that can be done about that first week in October of 2011. It’s dead and gone. Far too many missed the opportunity. However, maybe it can serve as a valuable, however costly, lesson for us.
Next year we can rally everyone in the organization in hopes of coming up with new, creative ideas in which to celebrate Customer Service Week … ways which will send a message that we DO, indeed, value and appreciate those who have permitted us to serve them. Let’s let them all know that our doors are always open and that we realize we have no business without them.
It’s time many businesses wake up and realize what it really takes to maintain and grow a business in today’s ever-growing chaotic and competitive business environment. There is no existing success formula that doesn’t include “customer” in some way.
Personally, I don’t think there should be a Customer Service Week! I feel we’d be much more successful if there were only a Customer Service DAY, and we honored and celebrated it 365 days a year!
What did your organization do this year during Customer Service Week?
Will you be around to celebrate the next one?
About Harry K. Jones
Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.