Being Passionate About Customer Service

[A blast from the past. As in, May 2016.]

It may sound a bit strange to talk about passion when it comes to customer service. Perhaps, but I believe that having a real interest in and passion for what one does cannot help but to infuse that activity with power.

This is particularly true when we speak of serving others.

And that is what we do in a business – no matter what our role – we exist to serve the customer. For without a customer there is no business.

There is a very big assumption at work here about “being passionate” and it is that you like what you’re doing.

Oh, maybe not every detail of your job, certainly. But it is assumed that you really enjoy your work and look forward to being there. It is assumed, as well, that you have a genuine interest in the nature of your company’s service or product. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be working there, right?

Okay, so I may be pushing this assumption a bit far, I know. But this begs a really crucial question that must be addressed: If you don’t like what you do then why are you doing it? If you are an employee this is a critical point to consider.

If you are a business owner… then you especially need to think about this. It’s been said before that no one cares about your business as much as you do. So it naturally follows that if you don’t like your business then…

How Does Being Passionate Show Up?

Dave Ramsey said it this way:

“The secret ingredient to small-business success is you. You are the energy, the ideas and the passion. You are the enthusiasm and the smile that greets the customers.”

People respond to people. Customers have an experience each and every time they interact with and do business with you and your company. And to a large extent the quality and impact of that experience rests on you – how you show up, how you conduct yourself, and especially by how much energy and passion you display.

In other words, if you truly enjoy what you are doing and you truly believe in your product or service, it will not only be seen, but it will be felt! And it will show up in your customer service.

Another statement by Dave Ramsey speaks to this idea:

“Everybody wants to be successful in their job and make lots of money, but personal happiness is just as important. If you wake up jazzed about what you’re going to do every day, chances are you’ll be successful and happy. But if you wake up dreading the day and your job, then I can almost guarantee you won’t be financially successful or happy.”

I am not speaking of a false or manufactured interest. We have all experienced this at one time or another. The forced greeting, the strained smile – the perfunctory responses that have somehow been imposed on otherwise unengaged and dispassionate employees.

And I am not advocating overbearing intensity either! It can a bit unnerving to be greeted by someone in a place of business who is overly forward, unnaturally animated, or in some way needlessly intense.

What I am speaking to is authenticity. If you truly love your work and love what you offer or provide for people, then it will show in what you do and in your customer service.

Be real, be authentic, and have fun!