You know, the Customers.

And the only reason I'm bringing this up is because of some of the comments that were posted on that major web site about that organization that helps people beautify their homes had been just sort of swimming around my head the past day or two.

And it got me to thinking about how we "train" our clients to accept the level of service we wish to provide.

I'll say it one more time.

We train our clients to accept the level of service that we wish to provide.

Now if this is not hitting home with you, go ahead and turn off the computer. You don't need to read this article at all. Just go and watch the game, or a movie or purple dinosaurs with cute names.

I'm talking about how we provide a level of service that our Customers not only become accustomed to, they begin to expect. And that is a good thing. They know the level of service they are going to receive 100% of the time. It does not really matter if it is good or bad service at this point.

Problems occur when you step outside the limits you and your Customer have defined based on past experiences that your Customer has had with your organization. Good or Bad. Let me explain by giving you some examples.

Your Customer comes in and complains about a purchase. During the investigation of the request you discover that the purchase was quite some time ago and now the widget(s) are out of warranty, thereby guaranteeing a loss by your company should you decide to exchange or refund the item(s). You, acting within company guidelines and management policy, explain that although you would like to exchange the widget(s), your hands are tied. Your Customer then pulls out the "I had this happen once before and you guys exchanged it" card. You stand firm, offer an apology and explain that company policy had changed.

You have just completed training your Customer to the new level of service your company provides.

They may become excited and pull out the "I'm never coming back into this store again" card.

However, no matter what ever happens in the future to this Customer in regards to your company, this is the new standard of service they understand and will measure you by until they are trained again. Good or Bad.

Same scenario. This time, you exchange the item, provide a discount on the new item purchased and invite the Customer back into your store for repeat business.

Again you have trained them to the level of service they can expect each and every time they come into the store from that point forward. How do you start the process of bridging your Customers expectations with your employees proficiencies?

By setting the the standards you expect from your associates, team members and employees and completing a "Train to Retain" campaign. Through training and understanding the effect you have on your Customers in everyday service you can learn how to "train" your Customers. It can be done with lunch and learns, role play (probably the best) or a series of seminars that combine all of those elements and give quick hits on areas that you need to improve over a course of several days. And of course followed up with competency testing.

It sounds simple; however in a large organization with a high personnel turnover it is extremely difficult to maintain those standards.

It's why it's so important to keep key trained and dedicated personnel and allow them to train all who follow them.

So, if you want to raise your CSI index in a hurry, train your personnel to train your Customers the way you want them to be trained.

Or just go watch Barney.