Define a customer service strategy

- What is customer service strategy? Let's define it here and identify the role your customer service strategy has in guiding decisions you and others in your organization make. Consider first strategy in a general sense. The term has been around for at least a couple of centuries, and originally referred to planning and directing military operations. In recent decades, strategy's become widely used in business and government. Strategy can be defined as a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim. Strategy is distinct from vision. Put simply, vision's where you want to go, and strategy's how you're going to get there. In the early 1960s, John F. Kennedy announced the ambitious goal of sending a person safely to the moon before the end of the decade. NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, reflected the strategy established to achieve that vision. The definition of strategy is easy enough to understand, right? So why then are there so many different interpretations of strategy? Well, one reason is that many use the term when they're really referring to tactics or goals. I was talking with someone in a gym recently who said his strategy is to workout, run or play basketball, at least four times a week. Now, I often use strategy in a conversational sense as well, but if we're talking about definitions, working out really isn't a strategy. His vision is to be in good health and probably live a long life for his family and future grandchildren. His strategy is to eat a healthy diet, get checkups, and stay fit through regular exercise. Working out then is part of a tactical plan to support his strategy. Another reason strategy is interpreted differently is that in many organizations, there is by necessity an overall corporate strategy, and then strategies within specific divisions or business units such as IT and marketing. And sometimes strategies are built around emerging trends such as AI. Now, while each should be complementary, they can play out in somewhat differently. Your customer service strategy should reflect and support your organization's overall vision and strategy, but also be specific enough that it guides developments and decisions around customer service. When the first Disneyland theme park was built in the 1950s, Walt Disney and his team expressed the service vision very simply as, "We create happiness." The strategy they put in place then saw the entire theme park as a stage, and employees as cast members. They then established some simple quality standards to support this vision. Five standards are at work today. They include safety, courtesy, inclusion, show, and efficiency. And under each, Disney itemizes key actions. Under show, for example, are the actions, I stay in character and I keep my area show ready. They then describe the behaviors that support each action. So you're not going to find gum wrappers littering the ground, or catch Cinderella checking her smartphone by the backstage door. Disney brings vision and strategy to life through the actions of every employee. Customer service strategies are different from one organization to the next, but in every successful organization, they serve as a bridge between the organization's vision and mission, and the decisions and actions that happen every day.