Selfless Service — A new mindset to Customer Service

November 2016. London.

It was my first ever visit to a foreign country. I was terrified.

I had to use public transport to get somewhere. I was terrified, again.

I’m not a fan of public transport as I get lost all the time. I’m also slightly introverted. I am more likely to end up on the last stop of the wrong train than stop to ask someone if I’m on the right train.

I took the London Underground and surprisingly, I reached my destination without getting lost. More importantly, without asking anyone.

The entire journey was such a smooth ride (not the train journey, that was a little bumpy). From the moment I entered the station till the time I got out, it was a natural flow of things. I did not get stuck at a single instant and it felt like I knew what to do next automatically. It felt like I had taken a sip of Felix Felicis (Potterhead alert!)

How did that happen? How did London Underground make me feel so comfortable when I was at my most vulnerable state? (without internet on my phone cuz the subway blocks mobile signals)

Simple. They put my needs above their own. They put their customers needs above their own.

They did what I call, Selfless Service.

What did they do?

Well, it’s pretty simple. All they did was help me in the right places at the right time.

For example, whenever I had to make a left or a right, there would be signposts guiding me in the right direction all the time.

And the best part is, they only gave me information that I needed. They did not stick the entire map in front of my eyes and said “Go figure”

Also, they predicted what information I would need and put it there.

London Underground is connected by different lines. Usually, you might have to change trains at stations and they have this really useful map stuck inside their trains to help passengers switch trains with ease.

If that wasn’t enough, they even help me make choices before I board the train! How awesome is that!

But what about Self Service?

Self Service is great but let’s pause to think what Self Service really means to the customer.

By asking our customers to self serve themselves, we’re asking them to stop what they’re doing, go over to a place and help themselves.

We’re interrupting our customers’ routine.

If the London Underground had self service, I would’ve had to pause at every juncture to go ask a help counter for help and move on. But can you imagine my experience? I’m constantly interrupted to achieve my end goal — transporation.

I look at Self Service as a selfish approach to customer service. It focuses on the organisations’ goal than the customer.

Self Service is about “How can I help my customer when they need me?”

Selfless Service is about “How can I ensure that my customer will never need me?”

It is not about you, it is about the customer. It is always about the customer.

I’m not suggesting that we completely do away with the self service model. It needs to exist! But that shouldn’t be the default way to get things done.

Why should I be Selfless?

If you have watched the FRIENDS TV Show, here’s what Joey says:

Here’s what I think will happen if you approach customer service with a selfless mindset

Customer Service can become a lead generation source

Customers are your most effective marketers.

If you treat them well, they can get you more qualified leads than your best marketing wizard on the team! 

If we make our customers feel good consistently (consistently is key here), they will automatically start recommending us to their friends.

It’s a simple concept. Anyone would recommend anything if they think it’s going to make them look good.

What must we do now?

I believe it is simply a mindset change that we must adopt to provide great customer service. In a Selfless world, customers’ needs are put above the organisations needs. We approach customer service from the customers’ perspective.

We stop asking “How many tickets have I resolved” and start asking “How many customers have I made happy today?”

We stop asking “How do I set up a knowledge base?” and start asking “How do I get information to the customer in a way they understand?”

We stop asking “How do I build a ticket form?” and start saying “How do I design an experience for my customer to give me the information I need?”

We stop making customers come to us and we start going to them.

We stop thinking from our perspective. We start thinking from the customers perspective.

We stop being selfish, we start being selfless.

This blog is simply a start of a conversation. I would love to talk more about this!

Leave a comment or private message if you want to talk more about this

P.S I presented this topic in an ITSM Conference. You can find the slides here and also an ITSM specific blog here.