The 4 Ps of sustainable service success

Clichés are rife in the service promises of companies professing their unwavering commitment to rendering outstanding service. But if a company really wants to see tangible results from their service initiatives, they need to take into account the new service environment which calls for individuals who are willing and able to translate their business unit's service standards and vision into proactive service behaviours that deliver on the touch points that matter most to clients.

Knowledge is base camp. The summit lies in creating a discipline of execution where the company's brand and service promise is proactively taken from the 'walls to the halls.'

Initiatives therefore need to adopt a holistic approach in enhancing participants' ability to step into their clients' vision and talk the clients' language- adding value to their clients through their personal credibility and client-centric focus. Service initiatives should explore the tools and strategies to turn relationships with both internal and external clients into the competitive differentiator.

Here are our holistic '4P's' service training approach (Personal, Process, People, Planning) in creating a client-focused culture that translates into bottom line impact:

1. Personal

Positioning yourself as a service differentiator - playing to your individual strengths to achieve your company's service vision.

How we work, where we work and why we work will be unrecognisable as business dynamically re-invents itself. It's up to the individual - there are no rescue teams. The Personal element of the service intervention gives participants the leverage to build on existing competencies and develop new strengths, enabling them to position themselves as the service differentiator. The focus is on the individual and their unique role and contribution in achieving the company's service vision.

Positioning yourself as a service professional - something to thing about:Identify your personal top 5% of talent, strengths and expertise - the things you do better than most. Think creatively of ways you can apply this unique skill as a way of impacting internal and external client relationships and service delivery.

2. Process

Staple yourself to your process to ensure that critical touch points are supported by value- driven actions
Companies are realising, more and more, that every contact with a customer is an opportunity that can help strengthen the relationship and improve the way they do business with the customer.

The Process element provides participants with a detailed understanding of the service experience from their client's perspective. This is done using the "staple yourself to your process" concept (Shapiro; Rangan and Sviokla; Staple yourself to an order; Harvard Business Review; August 2004), which allows participants to track their service processes through the eyes of the client. The objective of this focus area is to get participants to step into the vision of their internal and external clients - ensuring a benchmark level of service excellence and value-driven actions at all critical touch points.

Positioning yourself as a service professional - something to thing about:Customer relationships aren't formed exclusively on the golf course or at business lunches but more importantly, on how a business unit or department analyses their process from the client's perspective in order to deliver where it matters. Ever tried ringing the office and asking for yourself when you are out? Try it. See how the perception of availability, immediacy and professionalism is managed at the touchpoint. Now think of how these small details are making a powerful statement every time one of your clients ring through.

3. People

Managing and building key stakeholder relationships that support a strong service culture.

Ultimately service is about relationships, and great service - about building strong internal and external relationships that translate the company's service vision into a tangible reality. Internally the challenge is to work with internal partners in a way that creates a seamless and professional experience in the eyes of clients - as key players in your company's value chain.

On a client front: you have to be able to have manage the perception of immediacy and availability; transform resistance into negotiated outcomes; really listen and not just wait to talk; and walk in the shoes of the client adding value around specific and broader business issues. This comes down to interacting with your clients in a way that makes them feel comfortable and at ease personally, but that professionally their issues are taken seriously. Hence the emphasis of the Interpersonal element - while your technical skills or product knowledge may be excellent, your relationship-building skills base must be strong enough to transcend the challenge of a demanding service reality and client base.

Positioning yourself as a service professional - something to thing about:

The choice of words we make when speaking to internal and external clients frames the context within which they receive the message. How we say something is more important than what we say when it comes to the perception our language creates. Consider the following example:

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I will only be able to check that for you tomorrow.:

versus

"I will check that for you tomorrow and let you know by 11am."

4. Planning

Translating service skills into a tangible and measurable reality.

The Planning element encourages participants to take the initiative as they leave the session, having committed to a gutsy personal and department service action plan, which translates talk into tangible results. This challenges the dominant logic of feel-good inspirational sessions, which may leave you with a short term high, but will be low impact in the long term.