National Customer Service Week is coming up next week, October 5 – 9, so we came up with 5 ideas you can use (one per day) to celebrate with your team and your customers.

(Looking for more ideas? Check out our 2016 post: 3 Themes for National Customer Service Week 2016)

History of National Customer Service Week

First, a quick history of National Customer Service Week (NCSW). NCSW was established in 1992 by proclamation of President Bush (#41). The proclamation begins:

In a thriving free enterprise system such as ours, which provides consumers with a wide range of goods and services from which to choose, the most successful businesses are those that display a strong commitment to customer satisfaction. Today foreign competition as well as consumer demands are requiring greater corporate efficiency and productivity. If the United States is to remain a leader in the changing global economy, highest quality customer service must be a personal goal of every employee in business and industry.

(Read the full proclamation.)

Of course, as we all know, every week should be customer service week; however, NCSW affords us the opportunity to highlight the importance of customer service, to generate discussions with customers and team members, and to celebrate the accomplishments of our teams.

5 Ideas for National Customer Service Week

Monday: Give Thanks

Create two short videos: one thanking your customers and another thanking your team. Post the videos on YouTube or the company intranet. In the videos, express your gratitude, of course, but also speak about any activities you have planned for customer service week that are relevant to that group of stakeholders.

If video is not an option, then make sure to thank your team and your customers via handwritten thank you note or email.

Tuesday: Listen Up

Dedicate a day to “phoning for feedback.” Reach out to a random assortment of clients and check in with them. Thank them for their business, ask how the service has been, and so on.

Here’s the key: Have every team member call at least one customer. Discuss what you learned from the calls and how you can make improvements. (And don’t forget to resolve any service issues that come up during the calls!)

Wednesday: Let the Games Begin

Don’t let hump day take the wind out of the week. Create games and contests around customer service. They can be elaborate, as in game show style, or simple, as in quick quizzes. Much will depend on your environment, but even on a busy retail service floor, you can create games that are fun for your team but don’t disturb operations.

You just might have to get a little creative.

For a number of game ideas, check out this site.  (This website does sell commercial items related to NCSW. No affiliation with CTS.)

Thursday: Share the Stories

Collect the best customer feedback and the best customer service stories and put them together to share with your team. For larger organizations, it can be a PDF sent via email. For smaller organizations, have meetings or quick huddles to share some of the stories. Make sure to highlight any Hero-Class® acts of service by team members that are present.

The positive stories can reconnect people to your mission, highlight the impact great service has, and make customer service week about real service execution, so it does not become another corporate ra-ra event that disintegrates from memory the moment it is over.

Friday: Party Time

End National Customer Service Week on a calorically, positive note. Have cake. Have pizza. Have non-GMO, organic broccoli. 🙂 Just make sure to relax and celebrate customer service and the impact it has on everyone’s life.

We at CTS Service Solutions hope you have a great National Customer Service Week! Let us know what your organization did to celebrate.

Previous posts on National Customer Service Week:

• 2011
• 2012 (link no longer active)
• 2013