Sunday, April 27, 2008

Welcome! Are YOU being served?

You have customers. That may sound ridiculously obvious if you do sell something or funny if you don't sell anything. Many people, including myself till recently, have a meaning that they associate with the word "customer", that is limited to someone who buys what you sell, or someone who you serve at a counter, or someone you provide a service to in exchange for payment.

When I say "customer", I'm really talking about anyone who potentially is in a position to take what you have on offer.
That includes many who you may not even know are your customers in some way.
It could be your child, who you hugged or it could be your boss who did not like your proposal for change.

It could be your child, who rewarded you with a smile when you gave them a hug, or it could be your dad who told you how proud when you got that big promotion at the office, or it could be someone who thanked you for holding a door open for them.
You are my customer already, even if you didn't know it, because you're reading something I wrote. And when I look at the world from this new definition of the word customer, I'm deeply touched by the sheer number of customers I have and what a privilege it is to be able to serve so many people. In one sense, my life is an immensely successful business.
I also started to see how many people I am a customer to and what a gigantic impact they have on my life. I also started to see that almost everyone around me, whether they know it or not, is really really interested in serving their customers.
"Are you being served?" is an expression of my natural desire to be of service that I share with you.

"Are you being served?" is :
* A place for you to share your experiences in serving your customers
* A place for you to come and develop yourself in the skills that will allow you to be of service to your customers
* A place for you to find who your customers really are and what you love about them


My ultimate goal is to develop "Are you being served?" into an educational program in the area of customer service.
One that trains and empowers people to
get only a resounding “YES” in answer of the question "Are you being served?"

This is my invitation to you, to come and find out what's possible for you and your customers out of "Are you being served?".

Some ways in which you could participate:

* Write for this blog. Share your experience. Shares don't have to be impressively long. Anything that you felt inspired by while serving a customer belongs here. Sharing allows you to re-live those moments that were important for you and it has immense value for people who you share with.

* Write a whitepaper or article describing a technique or skill that you've found effective in serving customers. The intent of a whitepaper is for people to be able to reproduce the level of results you've produced, in their own lives.

* Ask for support and coaching on specific areas inside of customer service that you'd like to develop yourself in. If there are no coaches available for your particular area, find someone who you think could be a great coach and have them participate.

* Be a coach. Coaching people will allow you to develop your skill and mastery of it. It's also a great way to make an impact that will extend beyond your imagination, through the results created by the people you coach.

* Ask for support with organizing an interactive session where you and other people who you think are great with customers can meet, share experiences and exchange ideas. A group session is also a great way to network.

* Think up different ways in which you can participate :)

This is a very young project and that's great because your participation at this stage can really impact the way it will ultimately go.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

I can be reached at:
arjunsdarkside@gmail.com