11 lessons from microsofts initiative to create a sustainable service culture

Microsoft Operations manages a huge portfolio of ever-changing products, business units, customers, clients, and partners. Here are few tactics that have brought good results as we work to Build an Uplifting Service Culture

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11 Lessons from Microsoft’s Initiative to

Create a Sustainable Service Culture

Guest Post by Tom Moran

Director, Customer and Partner Experience, Microsoft Operations

Microsoft Operations manages a huge portfolio of ever-changing products, business units, customers, clients, and partners

Here are few tactics that have brought good results as we work to Build an Uplifting Service Culture:

Tie it all to your mission Are you the nation’s greatest place to gather? Trying to help

people and businesses realize their potential? Building a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online? These are powerful

statements and every employee needs to understand what their specific contribution

means

Get the senior leaders fully bought in – there is nothing more important If they don’t

walk the walk and talk the talk, it is extremely difficult to do it alone as a grassroots

effort Your efforts won’t be sustainable, you won’t change the culture, and while you may end up with some short term gains you won’t be really enabling people to create lasting change

Don’t send mixed messages This is one of the biggest mistakes I see Everything,

whether you call it building blocks, systems or whatever, needs to be aligned Look at your recognition programs – do they reinforce your values? Do your job postings communicate how important the customer is? Do internal communications talk about service in a

consistent way? Make sure your company’s building blocks are aligned There is one

important rule – systems drive behavior… and behavior drives results Don’t expect

different results without changing the underlying systems that drive behavior.

Use data to identify the most important priorities It is easy to try to go after

everything, but it does not work for results Just pick the 2-3 service priorities that are most important and focus If you can quickly drive success in a few key areas, you will not only make a noticeable difference for customers, you will gain the credibility needed to continue

The Perception Points model is powerful – use it It shows where each team is

dependent on others to deliver a great experience It also allows you to be intentional

about the experience you want to deliver It is easy to focus on what you specifically own, and deliver, and not on how a customer experiences what you deliver, which leads to the next point

Identify core experiences that matter Make sure somebody truly “owns” the

success of those experiences end to end Somebody should have a commitment around that experience, and it should be based on the customer’s view of the service or offering

Don’t assume there is a single path for a customer Remember that not everyone is

the same – different people value different things, at different times It is easy to try to put everyone in the same bucket, but the fact is, needs and values change There are times when speed is more important than quality, for example And the reverse can be true, even for the same person on the same day Simply said, to create value, you need to understand what it is that someone values

The Six Levels of Service model is magic – it makes it super simple to communicate

why we need to keep pushing the bar We have to constantly step up in order to exceed expectations – and it is quite eye-opening when people realize that today’s excellence is tomorrow’s mediocrity

Make sure people have something measurable to achieve and be recognized for

achieving They and their managers need to be committed, rewarded and

recognized People want to do great work, they want to know they make an impact that

is measurable and appreciated.

Find advocates or champions in other parts of your organization You can’t do this

all by yourself And in the same vein as the saying “death by a thousand cuts”, great

service is accomplished by thousands of small actions Besides the immediate benefit of additional reach, this helps develop the broad leadership skills necessary throughout your organization to drive future success

Finally, keep it simple!