January is a time to sing “Auld Lang Syne” (“Long, Long Ago”) as we reflect on the past and make new resolutions (pledges) for the coming year. While your mother probably told you the road to hell is paved with good intentions, resolutions can become solid elements of a professional contract, not just a good intention. They can be infused into our performance standards and incorporated into our accountabilities. Here are 10 resolutions to consider for 2016:
1. We will help our clients become as smart as possible by hardwiring learning into every encounter that we control or influence, not just what happens in our classrooms or online learning programs.
2. We will learn as much about our client’s aspirations as we do about their needs and expectations by asking questions that help problem solve, not just report or respond.
3. We will create access to our unit that ensures timely, easy client communications. If the Publisher’s Prize Patrol were calling us about our winner’s check, we sure wouldn’t put them into our voicemail!
4. We will become an ongoing, proactive learning resource to our clients to help promote their transfer of learning, application, and improvement. Our responsibility to our clients’ learning does not end with the class evaluation sheet.
5. We will let our clients customize how we do business with them by building our systems and procedures around what works for them, not just what is convenient for us.
6. We will make every part of our clients’ experiences with us consistent with how we want our unit to be remembered. Disney World doesn’t do “partial” magic; they make everything magical—from the parking lot to the attractions.
7. We will never stop learning from our clients the ways we can improve. We will plead for face-to-face, ear-to-ear, and click-to-click candor and thank our clients for what their feedback and suggestions help teach us.
8. We will never, ever break a promise or commitment. We will either reliably keep our promise or renegotiate it early.
9. When we make a mistake, we will acknowledge it quickly, honestly, and with a sincere apology. Then, we work to make great service recovery something our clients tell others about. Our clients may not always be right, but they are always our clients, and our job is to help them feel right.
10. We will always remember that great service to those we serve starts with great service among our team members. We will work to be known for zero silos, awesome handoffs, seamless systems, and colleagues who enjoy serving each other as much as serving our clients.
Chip R. Bell is a keynote speaker and the author of several best-selling books. A frequent contributor to Training, his most recent book is “Sprinkles: Creating Awesome Experiences Through Innovative Service.” He can be reached at http://www.chipbell.com.
