You Know It When You See It

by: Brad Roteman, Vice President Member Advocacy, Healthcare Systems Federal Credit Union

Great service, defining it takes so much effort and usually leaves out so much. Why? Perhaps, because like so many other human factors, great service is something we perceive and feel, and is not easily measured. Just as Olympic athletes in gymnastics, diving, ice skating, and other sports not decided by statistics such as how high, how fast, or how many points are scored, great service is something we rate by how we feel about an experience.

So, what can we say with confidence that great service is, and is not, so that we can train and coach people to be able to achieve it on a consistent basis?

First, think about what we know great service is not. I think we can all probably agree that great service is definitely not having to stand in line for what seems to us to be a long time.

Second, we can likely agree that it does not make us feel insignificant in the minds of those with whom we are doing business.

Third, great service does not make us think about ways to avoid the experience we are having in the future. Great service is also rarely felt when we feel someone is trying to sell us based on their own agenda.

Finally, great service does not make us feel angry about the way we are treated. Take some time and think about other things you know great service is not. Then think of the last time you actually experienced not so great service and how it made you feel about the company that served it up to you.

Now, think of the great service experiences you have had. Guaranteed, they will be fewer and far between! What made them great experiences? If asked could you measure them quantatively? Likely not! But, you knew it when you saw it, didn’t you? Just like you knew a great performance by a figure skater, or when you saw a diver leap from a platform twisting as if by magic through the air and entering the water with not so much as a splash, rather like a knife through melted butter. The feeling you had was a WOW I wager. You felt something stir within you that said, “I am seeing something very special here”. You likely wanted to see even more of it!

If we sit in our offices and look at reports we will never see the behavior that makes a member or prospect want more and say WOW! We have to get out from behind the desk to observe our service and sales people in action in order to see great service. We have to take the time to do exit interviews with members to discover what did or no did not make them feel they had just witnessed great service. Ask them what was missing or present that gave them the feeling they are leaving our facility with. Ask them now while the feeling is fresh and raw. Observe, question, learn to feel the experience yourself and you will come a long way toward being able to better define, train, and coach consistently great service.

Brad Roteman has served HSFCU since February 2005. He is a former district sales manager with Bankers Systems, Inc., now Walters Klewer Financial Services. Brad has won numerous awards for sales excellence and sales management. He has been a featured speaker for many organizations both within and outside of the credit union industry. www.hsfcu1.org