It’s all well and good to pontificate about “the customer comes first” or “deliver outstanding service” but oftentimes it’s hard for your team to wrap their heads around what that really means. You can say these things until your jaw muscles are sore and post all the “customer service rules” you want on their cubicle walls but only a small percentage of the teachings will stick.

I come from the school of learning by doing. When you see something first-hand or participate in the activity, retention of such information is exponentially higher. Training your people this way provides them a situational context to refer back to. They can articulate and remember the concepts and precepts you’re teaching much better than if you talked their ears off in a classroom. If you want them to retain the information, let them live the lessons. It’s sort of like telling a kid the stove is hot. They kind of understand the concept “hot” but don’t have context around that. Let them touch it and they’ll never forget the definition of “hot” let alone the event.

I was helping an organization move from mediocre service levels to trying to provide outstanding, individualized service to over 400,000 customers. We’d bring our managers in for training and talk AT them all day. Some of the information stuck. A lot bounced off and fell on the floor.

I wanted them to truly understand what “customer-focused” means. I had a choice – I could either talk AT them first thing in the morning in a classroom or I could show them and have them live it. I obviously chose the latter. Read more