Today you can count yourself fortunate to get served, never mind delighted with the service you receive. Everywhere I go I am appalled at the level of customer service – now there are notable exceptions, but the vast majority of companies and organisations have gone to hell in a handbasket when it comes to World-Class Customer Service.

A few recent personal examples – the Vodafone shop in Sydney, Australia where the assistant kept chatting to who knows who, on her mobile phone, the entire time she served me. The York, UK taxi driver who played his car radio so loud he could not hear where I wanted to go and when asked to turn the radio down a bit became aggressive and abusive.  In Dubai, the Emirates Business Lounge Assistant who refused to accept my recently out of date Business Lounge Card because they did not have an electronic card reader that would have accepted the card (the account was valid). She did offer to let us in the Lounge for $40 each, no thanks. I am sure you all have your own customer service disaster stories.

During the 1980’s and 1990’s customer service became a great differentiator between good and bad companies, but today customer service is too often seen as window dressing. When electronic systems improve your customer experience then fine and dandy – but it is people contact, whether on the phone or face-to-face, that makes the real difference. Computerised systems mask the differential – try taking away the system and many companies would fall flat on their face.

Teaching World-Class Customer Service at school should not only be compulsory, but should be an essential part of a young person’s development – demonstrating both in case studies and personal projects the difference that World-Class Customer Service makes in today’s fast-moving electronic world. Teaching children how to perform World-Class Customer Service would make life not only more pleasant, but outstandingly so.

Many Private and Public service organisations have long ignored the benefits of world-class customer service in preference to an employee-first culture. Organisations have abandoned world-class customer service in favour of software that makes for a better customer service experience, because it’s easier and does not depend on employee performance!

Unless something is done, World-Class Customer Service will go the way of the Dodo bird and become something quaint that a previous generation used to do.  But they will miss that special feeling that world-class customer service brings – the employee who not only delivers great service but also ensures that everything possible is done for the customer. The employee who follows-up of their own volition to ensure that the customer’s experience is the best it can possibly be and is done with a genuine smile – that employee has made a real difference in someone’s life – not just completed the sale!

We should honour people who provide World-Class Customer Service because they are distinctive in a world that is moving towards sameness.  Just think of how great an experience your local National Health Service, Local Council Authority, Vodafone Shop or Airport could be if they only learnt how to provide and execute World-Class Customer Service?

Imagine a Health Service that provided you with a choice of appointment dates to suit you,  with same day test results, and with a personalised medical service designed to meet your needs, quickly and responsively.

Or a Local Authority that made living in your area a delightful experience with low council tax, super services and fewer regulations.

How about a Vodafone Shop Assistant that listened to your needs and helped you design a package that suits you – rather than their local sales targets.

Heaven help us if we could get an Airport designed for passengers – where we could feel comfortable and safe without feeling like we were the terrorists.

If you want to make a difference – try providing World-Class Customer Service – it is not the easiest way, only the best way!  World-Class Customer Service puts customer first and is identified by such customer comments as – “extraordinary, outstanding, unique, unprecedented, remarkable and phenomenal.”

Now does that describe what you experience out there every day? Try and have a good one!

Do you have the ability to be flexible?  To tune into your persistence gene OR change your view when it might makes things go better OR listen like you have never listened before? Are you prepared to work harder than you have ever worked before and make personal sacrifices on behalf of the turnaround? Can you make tough decisions, even when it means personal pain for people you like – in and out of the business?  Can you be ruthless, but only when you have to. Can you lead, motivate, cajole, manipulate and drive those who can make the changes needed to turn this thing around?

Let’s say that you have been given responsibility for turning around a business where sales are down, it is losing money, and suppliers have tightened their credit lines – shareholders have become desperate.  Let’s get down a bit further – sales have plummeted, quality issues abound – customers call, but only to complain – your best people are leaving, or have already gone. A bit further maybe?  Negative cash flow is strangling your ability to survive and the Bank is losing patience – by the hour. Nobody has any new ideas – the clock says 5 minutes to midnight – closure looks like a certainty. Still interested?

First of all do you look the real deal? Are you positive, ebullient, approachable, determined? Remember everyone is looking for you to lead them out of the mess – it’s no good going around as if the world is about to end, in a turnaround it might just do that! You see, leading turnarounds is not just about doing the right things – although that helps – it is also about the leader looking and talking as if a better time is within reach. Making your vision come true and getting your people to believe that it will is key – and is what counts – it will turn around mainly because the leader looks and acts as if the vision will be achieved.  Most companies are somewhere in a turnaround process – some are doing well and are coming out of trouble – others are heading straight for the rocks! Many are just in denial! If you are heading up a turnaround – be sure to know where the business is in this cycle – or you will be in trouble soon enough!

People like to think they work for a successful business. They want to feel part of something worthwhile - sure they need their salaries and yes, salary levels are never enough, but given the fact that salaries don’t always relate to business success (more the pity) – it is  essential that the Leader gets the people facing in the same direction. If you want to turnaround a business – make sure everyone is facing in the direction that will make the business succeed!

People naturally follow good leaders – “do you sound great, look good and have a spring in your step?” – It might help at this stage to let them know why you are so confident! So having done all the good business practice things – like – prepared your new Vision and Business Plan (and checked it with your mentor, if you don’t have one, stop and go and do something else!) – you will have surrounded yourself with good and loyal key managers and employees (not every employee or manager is key!) - you have checked with your wife, husband or partner that they may not see much of you for a while and have explained the outline of the plan for the business to them – why you think you can pull it off – and why you need their undying support and commitment! (after all, if you can’t convince your loved ones you will succeed, how will you convince others?)

Having travelled this far – You are now ready to meet with your employees, suppliers and other stakeholders in the business so you can put your message over. This is the key element of any turnaround – if you can win over the employees, I will guarantee that the rest of the journey will be a tad easier! Be clear with your people – tell them the risks and explain the challenges – don’t mince your words, tell them exactly how bad it is and how you and them are going to move to a more secure and rewarding time – watch your words, employees tend to have elephant-type memories – don’t promise what you can’t deliver! Ask for an extraordinary effort and lead by example. Above all else get people involved at all levels – a turnaround is not the same as every day work – so demonstrate that things are different and why – organise events like Suppliers Day/Family Days/ Key Employee Seminars – and every quarter spend time face-to-face with all the employees, where you and your key people present a Quarterly Business Review – as you make progress have key managers and employees do presentations about their delight and disappointments -  make sure you explain the delights and disappointments of the previous three months and lay out the targets and challenges for the next three months.  Be straight forward and explain financial details in a simple and easy to understand manner. Encourage questions from the floor and be honest in your answers.  Look out for likely recruits to drive your vision into the culture of the business – especially from those who ask the hardest questions. Turnarounds are not for the feint-hearted, awkward characters often thrive in this environment – remember – you can often turnaround loud-mouths into becoming leaders in their own right – they just need to be shown the light!

As you progress through your turnaround, don’t forget to ask your supply partners for help and reward them when you can with extra work. Whilst it is important that shareholders and senior directors perhaps in other parts of the business are kept informed – remember shareholders have a different role to play in a turnaround – they are probably fed up and looking for some comfort when you arrive – but within the business comfort may be in short supply, particularly in the early days of the turnaround. A turnaround in its early stages is no place for shareholders or their representatives – you need to be focussed without the need to provide comfort too soon. By all means invite them to special events – but not to soon in the turnaround.

If your business is part of a larger group, then by all means be appreciative of helping hands from your peers, but again don’t forget that it is what you do that will make the real difference – so be friendly and avoid enemies – but get on with the job in hand and simply keep your peers informed about your progress.

So in summary – my tips for anyone leading a turnaround are:

• Prepare well – clear the decks of the dead wood and surround yourself with people that are loyal and believe in what your doing.
• Be prepared to make tough decisions.
• Act quickly and be decisive.
• Be optimistic, never bad-mouth the past and remain focused on the main challenges.
• Promote, reward and encourage your key people, ignore those who are cynical.
• Sound good, look good and walk good.
• Remember it usually takes longer to get out of a mess than to get into one.
• Regularly check progress with your mentor.
• Present regular Quarterly Business Reviews to employees – be consistent and admit mistakes.
• Involve and encourage key employees, suppliers and hold positive events like Family Days with the proceeds going to charities.
• Look out for stars – especially the ones that disagree with you – promote people who stand up to you in debates and give them a chance to shine.
• Turning around a business is probably the most worthwhile thing you will ever do – so get on with it!