Why Customization is Killing Your Customer Service
Video Transcript
Okay, I have a hot take. Customization is killing your customer service. Teams like HR, IT, sometimes finance where you are servicing your internal customers.
Here's one thing I see that I notice specifically for internal service departments can really undermine your credibility and your ability to do great work for your organization.
Something I hear a lot, especially in the HR space is that We need to service people. We need to give them what they want. We have to help them find these custom solutions. Here's what I'm telling you. The over customization is killing your customer service. Sometimes when I work with these groups they think that by customizing, making exceptions, bending the rules, et cetera, we're giving the people what they want.
And that is what is going to have happy leaders, happy teams, happy employees. I'm here to tell you that really the happiest people are the ones who expect consistency and get consistency.
What I see a lot is that [00:01:00] internal customers will come to these internal service departments looking for something. And if the answer is different every single time. This guy got this, this gal got this, what am I going to get? That no matter what you give them, it maybe doesn't feel like enough, or it feels like even if you bend, they're still looking for more. So here's what I'll tell you. People are far more likely to accept the recommendation or the direction that you're saying you have to go if it is consistent. That does not necessarily mean they're not going to push back on the process or the rule or the policy.
And you know what? I'll be honest. I actually think that's good. Because sometimes we need to reevaluate our policies and make sure that they are in line with what best services the business, but if you are an internal service department or you lead an internal team and you are constantly finding that the rest of the organization is battling with your team or your department, you need to go look at your processes and look at how many exceptions you are making.
Because when there's so many exceptions, there's no longer a rule. That's when the organization is not going to [00:02:00] trust the recommendations that you have coming out. That's when they're constantly going to push back. If you want to increase your influence, you want to increase your effectiveness
and honestly increase your customer service and the sentiment around the service you are providing internally. Look at your processes, start to make them more consistent and really look at your policies, your processes, and make sure they're both honoring the integrity of your area, say HR, but also very much in service of the business.