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Pygmalion in service

If you studied management anywhere along your journey, then you may recall the seminal Harvard Business Review article by Sterling Livingston titled Pygmalion in Management.

Essentially, the article dealt with the self-fulfilling prophecy (or Pygmalion effect from Greek mythology) in management—a supervisor’s expectation of a subordinate’s performance that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, for better or for worse.

The same thing is true in customer service.

Pygmalion in service suggests that there is a very real self-fulfilling prophecy in the delivery of customer service when an employee’s expectation of company standards and service levels directly or indirectly influences his or her attitude and performance.

Why is customer service consistently better at a luxury or full service hotel than an economy or select service hotel? And why do many high-end retailers have reputations for providing exceptional customer service while discounters generally are known for good prices but mediocre customer service? Why do we tend to receive better customer service at a fine dining restaurant than at a quick service restaurant?

I’m sure some of you are thinking: “Well, Steve, the high-end brands that you’re referring to have chosen to invest more money in their delivery of customer service. It’s reflected in everything from the customer to employee ratio to the fresh-cut flowers in the restrooms.”

I get that reasoning but it only addresses half of the equation.

Every business is made up of processes (like staffing models and restroom accents) as well as the attitudes of its people. And, while there is a cost associated with upgraded processes, there’s no such cost associated with upgraded employee attitudes. They’re free.

Employees choose their attitudes. Positive attitudes towards customers and customer service (conveyed by smiling, eye contact, and adding enthusiasm to one’s voice) are optional—which explains why you and I seldom encounter positive attitudes from enthusiastic and engaged employees.

There’s no reason for a front desk clerk at a Super 8 motel not to smile and welcome a guest similar to a front desk clerk at a Four Seasons hotel. There’s nothing stopping a cashier at Walmart from making eye contact with a customer in the same way a salesperson does while ringing up purchases at Nordstrom. And there’s no excuse for a server at Anthony’s Pizza & Pasta to not add enthusiasm to her voice like a server at Christini’s Ristorante Italiano in Orlando, Florida.

As managers, you tend to get what you expect. Expect your employees to embrace your organizations’ high customer service standards. (They are high, right?) And expect your employees to choose attitudes daily that are positive, helpful, and engaging. (Just like the attitudes you model, right?)

Do this and you will create a Pygmalion effect in customer service that elevates the performance expectations of your employees—regardless of whether or not they work at Nordstrom or Four Seasons.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, August 1st, 2010 at 2:09 am and is filed under Customer Service, Employee Engagement, Enthusiasm at Work!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • http://RestaurantWorx.com Jeffrey Summers

    100% agree with the “Pygmalion premise”. (Sounds like a good network movie-of-the-week!) but I disagree on a couple of points.

    The financial investment is more than half of the equation, in fact, it is the entire equation. Without the ability to invest in “A” level talent, a business cannot grow itself into a better attitude toward customer service. This investment includes, “A” level recruiting, “A” level operations, “A” level leadership, “A” level facilities, “A” level coaching and training, etc…

    When you get down to the level of being a commodity and competing solely on price, you forfeit these things that can help you grow into a higher level of productivity, sales and brand perception – simply because you do not have the resources to compete at a higher level for the very talent you and I both seek.

    So given this, I disagree with the 2nd point, that ‘upgrading employee attitudes’ is free. While employees do choose their attitude, business leaders choose the employees, create the contextual support and processes and create the culture that defines the brand. This requires tremendous commitment and investment in people and bricks-and-mortar

    This is a great post and should be the beginning of very necessary conversation on more than a few fronts.

  • http://www.stevecurtin.com Steve

    Jeffrey, first of all, thank you for consistently weighing in on conversations here and elsewhere on the web.
    I certainly agree with the thrust of your comments – that there’s a correlation between investment and product and service quality. I still believe, however, that investment is only half of the equation. If you’ve ever been disappointed in the customer service you’ve received from an employee at Disney, Lexus, Ritz-Carlton, or Nordstrom (when these are the types of companies that tend to invest more dollars in recruiting, coaching, training, etc. than their peers), then that illustrates the point that regardless of the investment made in processes (e.g., recruiting, coaching, training, etc.), a customer’s overall satisfaction usually hinges on the quality of his one-on-one interactions with frontline service providers. If their attitudes aren’t where they need to be to convey personal interest, genuine enthusiasm, and a level of engagement, all the imported Italian marble and gold fixtures are for naught.
    There’s no doubt that companies that invest in screening job candidates using Talent+ or similar selection tools do a more effective job at hiring the right employees for the right jobs. I’m a big believer in these tools and recognize the cost associated with them. Even so, there are plenty of employees who will report to work tomorrow morning and (although they’ve successfully navigated a sophisticated – and expensive – hiring process) will not smile, make eye contact, or add enthusiasm to their voices (among other customer service gaffes…).
    I’m suggesting that the remedy for these omissions lies within the employee (e.g., his demeanor, disposition, attitude, personality, etc.) and costs him absolutely nothing to exercise. It’s simply a choice.

  • http://RestaurantWorx.com Jeffrey Summers

    Then I still disagree. I never blame a line staffer for their attitude or poor service. I blame the businesses lack of leadership.

    Employees won’t change their attitudes on their own. There has to be some motivation equal to or greater than the effort to make the change for them to do so. But that’s the hard way.

    The easy way is for management to learn how to attract the right talent with the right attitudes in the first place and establish a culture that does not allow for inhospitable attitudes.

  • http://www.stevecurtin.com Steve

    I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree agreeably. I give hourly employees more credit than that. There are just too many examples of individual service providers who choose to excel in the area of customer service despite the service cultures in which they work.
    Larry, the TSA agent in Tucson comes to mind as does Marty, the tollbooth operator in Chicago. And then there’s Fred, the postal worker made famous by Mark Sanborn.
    There’s no doubt that investment and leadership influence employee attitude and behavior but they don’t determine them. As humans, we can exercise independent will – despite the environment created by leadership, our peer group, or even customers.
    Jeffrey, as always, thanks for pushing back and forcing me to re-think and go deeper. I truly appreciate it.

  • http://RestaurantWorx.com Jeffrey Summers

    You can’t determine them. You can only hire them. Your own examples are the example. Sometimes managers luck out and are a given a present in the form of a Larry or Marty or Fred. The same organizations that employ these people didn’t create them and these individuals are the exception to their own organization’s rules.

    Also, I don’t ever try to change people once I hire them. I hire the level of talent I’m looking for, give them world-class training and Coaching and then set loose within the business.

    Thanks for creating the forum to discuss these issues. I’m a big fan as you know.

  • http://www.stevecurtin.com Steve

    Totally agree with your service philosophy and the underlying premise of your comments. The challenge for companies (and the reason some of them hire you) is that they have a whole lot of folks on their payrolls, call them incumbents, who have quit and stayed. The easy answer is to riff these employees and replace them with motivated and enthusiast employees. That’s not always possible or advisable – even with national unemployment near 9 percent.
    Many of these employees are just going through the motions day after day, shift after shift. It’s quite sad really… I see you and I (and others like us who inherit apathetic/unmotivated employees – hourly and management – in our work) as customer service ambassadors who have been given the opportunity to create the awareness necessary to bring our clients/audiences to the same conclusions we’ve drawn (e.g., about the importance of serving and retaining customers) by engaging them in our speaking/consulting work. In the end, each individual employee has to choose how he interprets his responsibility relative to serving customers and to what extent he will go to satisfy (or delight) them.

  • http://RestaurantWorx.com Jeffrey Summers

    I don’t allow them to make the choice, I make it for them. I’d rather run my business with only half a staff of people who care, than a full staff of those who could care less. It cannot be about what choice the employee makes.

    It is absolutely critical that the business leadership take the most proactive stance possible in determining who gets to play and who doesn’t, while setting the stage for allowing great talent to thrive.

  • http://RestaurantWorx.com Jeffrey Summers

    ..and it’s not only advisable but absolutely necessary in order to create a world-class organization. The 1st thing we ALWAYS do when we become engaged by a new client, is to purge the dead vines so the rest of the plant can grow more abundantly.

  • http://www.stevecurtin.com Steve

    I respect your resolve. It brings to mind Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO, who at one time was offering $2K to Zappos employees who chose to quit rather than stay and commit to delighting their customers.

  • http://RestaurantWorx.com Jeffrey Summers

    Just for the record, I was paying staff up to $250 each to leave back in 1988 and have done so ever since. But I’m a huge fan of Tony for much more, including our shared belief that your culture is your brand.

  • http://www.KristinaEvey.com Kristina Evey

    Great post! This is absolutely true. People generally rise to our expectations and if we expect them to perform to our culture standards, that is typically the outcome. There was a key point in that sentence, our culture standards. When we make the right hiring decisions based on our service expectations determined by our culture, the likelihood of excellent service being delivered rises. As you said in the post, employees choose their attitudes. When we hire right, we hire those folks that choose to adopt the right attitude and the customer ultimately benefits.

  • Ted Coine

    Great post. I’ve built my career around just this premise: that any company can provide five-star customer service, and any business leader who doesn’t is a fool. It’s as simple as 1-2-3… 1. Hire for attitude. 2. Inspire through pride in the company, and by treating employees right. 3. Train for skills. Do the first two and the last is a breeze.

    Examples of companies that pull off five-star service without charging five-star prices? Try Chick Fil-A, a fast food joint. How about Zapos – not bargain-basement, but not “ultra-retail” either. Wegmans Food Mart in the northeast is iconic for it’s service, and it’s a grocery, competing on price like all the others.

    Where there’s a will – and a culture of service & pride – there’s always a way!

  • http://www.greglevin.com Greg Levin

    Good stuff, Steve.

    In my opinion (and based on what I’ve seen in my 16 years as a researcher and journalist in the customer care industry), it all comes down to a solid agent recruiting and selection program.

    The best contact centers — those whose agents regularly deliver positive and even powerful customer experiences — view hiring less as an acquisition tool and more as an engagement and retention tool. They take the time to attract the right type of people, provide them with a realistic job preview during the application phase, and assess their skills/attitudes to ensure they are a fit for the organization. As a result, these centers are forever staffed with talented and committed agents who respect customers — and earn their loyalty.