Have you thought about your level of awareness recently? There are important things that happen day after day while we work. The phone rings, an email arrives, or a customer walks in the door. After a short time those things become natural to us. They are expected and thus we develop a natural response when they occur. Our awareness of them steadily decreases as our responses become more ingrained into our daily routines.

Quick Question: Would you notice if I switched the men’s and women’s signs on the bathrooms in your office? What if I removed them entirely?

I certainly wouldn’t notice. For one, like most restrooms, the doors are just opposite each other, tucked inside a hallway. But, more importantly, I’ve been responding to the same event in exactly the same way for more than six years. I get the urge, get out of my chair, walk down the hallway and plunge through the door on my way towards stall # 1. Ok, maybe TMI there, but you get the point. My awareness of the men’s sign has dropped to a point where it wouldn’t even matter if it was removed.

We are creatures of habit. Whether it’s the “urge to go” or an interaction with a customer, our responses to those events become highly normalized and routine at some point.

But I Love Routine!

Repeatable events are the birthplace of rigid systems and scripts. They are the beginning point for BPM consultants (I should know). We say, “When event XYZ happens, then the next steps are this, that, and the other. Always. Without exception.” It’s simple, it’s reliable, it’s manageable. But if it isn’t flexible, it’s worthless.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a strong proponent of developing systems and implementing them across the enterprise. Where companies go wrong is not empowering their employees to move outside those systems when special circumstances arise. They believe the system is perfect. The mindless cogs that make up the workforce need not think or process the unique situation. Just follow the system and everything will be fine. Thus, they effectively train awareness right out of their employees.

You must be aware of each situation’s unique circumstances and be able to respond accordingly.

Imagine if I was living in a complete state of oblivion and my bathroom routine was so strict and rigid that I was unable to veer from it. One day the bathroom has a problem and the toilet in stall # 1 is broken. Oh no!!!
Within my rigid system I would be forced to stop and wait until it was fixed. Meanwhile, the simple problem of a broken toilet would magnify itself a thousand times over as I wet my pants like a two-year-old. What about stall # 2, you say? Oh sure, that’s a viable solution to the problem, but it isn’t part of my system and I’m too unaware to notice it sitting there two feet away.

Of course this is a overly-dramatic example, but haven’t you seen things like this happen in real life?

When Rigid Systems Fail

Chris Brogan wrote a post back in January titled, “How Systems Thwart Service.” In summary, he was issued a free voucher by Southwest, but he lost the accompanying paper ticket that was to allow him onto the flight. The seemingly simple solution of printing another ticket was somehow lost in the rigid system Southwest has (had?) in place. The Southwest employee helping him was unaware of the special circumstances and (apparently) not allowed to veer outside the system in order to turn a simple problem into a remarkable experience. In the comments of his post, Chris shared the experience he had with the Southwest employee:

She wasn’t especially helpful. She was limited to her script, so to speak. So, it wasn’t that she wasn’t nice, but she wasn’t effective.

For a company that prides itself on service and experience, this was not their best work.

How do we fix this?

Each interaction you have with a customer will have a feeling and momentum to it. It will have its own set of circumstances and characteristics. To create a great experience, you must be aware of your customer’s attitude, needs, past experiences, and limitations.

To treat every customer the same is to ignore them. Pigeonhole your customers into one simple category and they’ll feel unappreciated and unwanted.

The next time the phone rings, or you start answering an email, or a customer walks in your door, you should stop and make sure you’re fully aware of the encounter and the impression you’re making. Pay special attention to your customer and they’ll take notice. They’ll feel special and appreciated, which is what a remarkable customer experience is all about.

Question: What methods or systems are you using to become more aware during your interactions with customers?