3 Themes for National Customer Service Week 2016

September 19, 2016

National Customer Service Week 2016 is just around the corner!

Starting on Oct 3, National Customer Service Week is an opportunity for you and your team to shine a spotlight on the importance of customer service to your organization.

A good starting point for celebrating national customer service week is to adopt a theme for the event. Having a theme makes the event more manageable by enabling you to center the activities around a specific customer service concept.

The official theme for this year’s National Customer Service Week is “ONE GOAL, ONE TEAM, NO LIMITS.” Make sure to check our the International Customer Service Association’s website for more on the official theme and to request your NCSW celebration guide.

Below are three additional themes you can use in your organization for this year’s customer service week to either complement the official theme or to serve as a focal point based on the current needs of your team.

3 Themes for National Customer Service Week 2016

The titles of the themes below are mere suggestions; the concepts are what is important. Make sure to adapt the title to your organization’s culture and communication style.

#1: The World Revolves Around Our Customers

Being customer-centric is more than just a catchphrase, it is a customer service principle that should permeate every part of your organization. Focus your celebration on how you can put the customer at the center of everything your organization does.

Concepts to center activities and discussions around:

Is the customer at the center of everything we do? Are there parts of the customer journey that are less customer-centric than others?
What processes or policies do not center around the customer? How can we make them more customer-centric?
Are the customer’s needs front and center when new initiatives are being considered? How about… New technology? New policies? New procedures?

Supporting quote:

When you’re trying to make an important decision, and you’re sort of divided on the issue, ask yourself: ‘If the customer were here, what would she say?’
Dharmesh Shah

#2: We Create Great Feelings for Customers

Customers rarely interact completely rationally with our organizations. Their emotional state, how our organizations make them feel, is what will determine the quality of their experience and their loyalty. In an excellent article for the Harvard Business Review, researchers found that emotional connection matters more than satisfaction.

Concepts to center activities and discussions around:

How can we make sure not to create negative emotions in customers? Are we pulling any of their service triggers? How does it occur and how can we prevent it?
Refer to the list of “high-impact motivators” in the HBR article mentioned above. How do we give our customers a sense of belonging? How do we help them stand out from the crowd? Evaluate the motivators that are most relevant to your customer’s journey.
What are the most emotionally resonant parts of the customer’s journey with your organization? At what touch points are customers most likely to feel emotionally engaged either positively or negatively (what we call “pressure points” here at CTS Service Solutions)? How can we improve the emotional impact at these pressure points?

Supporting quote:

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Maya Angelou

#3: We Deliver Customer Experiences as a Team

Customer service is a team sport; we are stronger when we work together to create customer experiences that are hassle-free and resonate with the customers. Often, a failed customer experience is the result of a team that did not work as one.

Whether it be taking time to document issues, taking extra steps to smoothly transfer customers, or understanding that the customer doesn’t care whose job it is, teamwork is truly a core component of great customer experiences.

Concepts to center activities and discussions around:

How do we support each other in delivering customer experiences? Are we aware of the impact our actions have on other departments or colleagues?
Are customers transferred painlessly and successfully between team members? Where do transfers break down? How can we make them more rare and more smooth?
How do we treat our internal customers? Do we provide Hero-Class® customer service to our colleagues and other departments? How does this affect our experience? How does it impact the customer experience?

Supporting quote:

Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
Vince Lombardi

More Ideas for National Customer Service Week 2016

Of course, the above themes and concepts are simply a starting point. Once you have a theme, get together with your team and construct a program to keep energy and engagement high throughout the week.

Need more ideas?

We’ve written about national customer service week many times in the past. To learn more about the event and to find additional ideas, check out these blog posts: