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Actually, many people seek out customer service roles for themselves. The four wealthiest individuals I know, all “retired” and ranging in age from 61 to nearly 80, have voluntarily and deliberately arranged their lives so that they are heavily involved in some aspect of customer service. They like and want to do customer service.

Conversely, the people I know that do a poor job of customer service are often way down on the wealth and earnings scale. Just because you and your customer work for the same entity and draw your paychecks with sequential serial numbers, does not mean you should treat your customers any differently than if they walked up from the outside. Internally, we hear comments from the people inside which we expect to serve us that are great examples of poor customer service:

1. I am too busy.
2. I forgot.
3. I need these forms filled out before I can do anything.
4. We don’t have the (fill in the blank) needed to do that.
5. Before they let everyone go around here, I would have had time to help you.
6. That looks like a really interesting project, and I would like to help, but (fill in the blank) has to be done first.
7. Why didn’t you ask me about this a couple of weeks ago? I could have helped you out (grit teeth and repeat silently to oneself: “Because you were no where to be found two weeks ago.”).

XCS is not always practical, but it should always be our goal. No complaints, no excuses, just help out our fellow worker.

Some will say, “Well, it sounds like I will be worked to the bone. What’s in it for me?”

Answer:

1. Raises and/or
2. Promotions and/or
3. Survival of downsizings.

I heard a gentlemen speak one time who had been the CEO of Porsche. I know some of the readers of this column were at the same meeting and heard him say this, which I found quite simple but very profound:

“You are hired based on your resume (curriculum vitae) and fired based on your personality.”

How true! I have sat in downsizing meetings several times and watched the process as we decided how to get from our current employment level to the level mandated from on high. Everyone, and I mean everyone, who got axed was axed on personality. An XCS attitude could have saved some of them (to the loss of others, since it was a zero sum game). The point is, at that point, you are not part of the crowd—you stand out as your own shining individual self, good or bad.

XCS can make a difference if you adopt it and choose it as your personal path, no matter what else is going on around you. Be like a professional golfer—they do not play against each other—they play against their own mental attitude and personal set of professional goals.

So, if you buy into this column, and want to start moving towards XCS, where to start? My suggestion: stop answering the phone when someone is in your workspace and stop answering your cell phone when you are in someone else’s workspace or you are in a meeting. It is a start.

For safety this week, I want to focus on safety at home. We were visiting an elderly relative last week. She is fairly mobile, but needs a walker. We arrived at a destination, got out of the car, and I retrieved her walker. She, my wife and I (Laura and I had our hands full of other things) were headed away from the car. Our highly independent elderly relative attempted to take her walker up the curb, lost her balance and fell. Her head sounded like a pumpkin as it hit the concrete parking lot. Long story short, after the arrival of an ambulance, two nights in two different hospitals, she’s fine. My wife and I were apoplectic and very thankful that our errors in trying to do too much at once, instead of all of us focusing on getting this fine woman properly seated, did not end in complete disaster. Be careful around such situations and focus 100% on helping the infirm in your party until you have them properly and securely to their destination.

Be safe and we will talk next week.