By Mike Antich

Do you service customers or users? If you think this is semantics, then you have the wrong mindset. Promising good customer service is not the same as delivering it. To be successful in today's environment, it is critical to create a shop culture of providing high-quality service that provides an unwavering focus on the customer. Not only does this entail understanding customer needs, wants, and expectations, it involves having an almost obsessive desire to satisfy your internal customers.

In order to develop a service mindset, you need to view work from the customers' perspectives. Define your functions with the customer in mind. As fleet manager, you have to understand service technicians aren't the first line of defense in raising the customer service bar - you are! The fleet manager is responsible for creating a shop culture that values internal customers, even difficult ones. As a leader, your success is based on growing others in your operation. It's all about making the people who work for you customer-oriented, more resourceful, and dependable.

To build a customer service mindset, you must employ both formal and informal metrics to measure progress. Solicit regular feedback from customers using customer surveys, but also use informal methods as simple as conversations and direct observations. These informal methods will alert you to service deficiencies. By not using informal metrics, you run the risk of detaching yourself from customer-related issues.

While measuring customer satisfaction, you should also continually gauge the job satisfaction of your staff. The first rule is to get out of your chair and walk the shop. Observe what's going on in the shop and in the yard. Talk with technicians and find out what's on their minds. Listen to your staff not only for what they say, but also what they don't say. When legitimate complaints are brought to your attention from the shop floor, support your team by addressing them with management.

You must communicate service standards to your staff. Ensure everyone in the organization understands what are acceptable levels of service. Use e-mail, staff meetings, and one-on-one conversations to continually reinforce the high customer service standards you've set for fleet operations. You need to constantly recommunicate this message so that it becomes part of fleet's everyday operating procedures. However, a customer-service mindset is created by actions, not words. Memos and presentations that tout "best-in-class service" don't mean a thing unless your fleet organization lives, breathes, and delivers this customer service. Establish recognition program that clearly reflects the emphasis on customer satisfaction. Reward behavior that exhibits a customer-service mentality. When someone does a good job, give them positive feedback. Let others on the team know when someone receives accolades from you. By doing this, you reinforce the service message not only to your team, but also your customers.

The most important (and perhaps most difficult) task is getting your team, as a whole, to develop a customer service mindset. You need to develop ways to get your team excited about customer service. Motivate them to get passionate about satisfying others. Help them understand the internal customer is their No. 1 priority. Greet customers with a smile when they come to into the shop. However, the most important aspect to customer service is consistency. Consistent customer service means customers will be complaining less and complimenting you more. The same applies to your employees. If you're consistently listening to their needs, employees will come to you with ideas and solutions to help improve job satisfaction and customer service.

One way to ensure the highest (and a more consistent) level of customer service is to operate under a service level agreement designed to fulfill end-user requirements. A service level agreement documents allowable downtime, identifies cost issues, and customer performance requirements. Those fleets that employ service level agreements usually have multiple agreements with different user departments, typically, fire, solid waste, police, and public works or street maintenance departments. A service level agreement creates a professional business relationship with a customer department that is noticed by senior management.

Walk the Walk

Internal customers are too often treated as a captive audience that can be dictated to and shown less respect. However, it is important to remember that the reason fleet departments exist is to support customer departments. Customer service has a dollar value associated with it. For example, every hour of downtime costs your organization real dollars in lost productivity.

Establishing a customer-service mindset within your fleet organization creates customers satisfied with your services. (These are powerful allies should management ever consider implementing a managed competition or give consideration to privatizing fleet operations.) Nothing creates more credibility for your team than for senior management to hear departments compliment you on the quality of customer service they receive. But to earn the praise, you must walk the walk and talk the talk.

Let me know what you think.

mike.antich@bobit.com