Have you seen the 5-hour ENERGY® television commercials? They depict men and women (usually at work) who can’t muster the energy to finish their workdays without a shot of 5-hour ENERGY.

This is a sad testament to employee engagement, the quality of work environments, and employees’ physical health due to bad habits (poor diet, insufficient sleep, excessive caffeine, too much screen-driven entertainment, etc.). Why not skip the 5-hour ENERGY and get a good night’s sleep instead of watching several hours of television?

Do you want to know how to get natural energy that lasts longer than five hours? Find work that you enjoy doing. Shop for wholesome foods rather than giving in to the efficiency of another meal from a fast-food drive-thru. Unless you have a newborn (in which case you get a pass on this one), get 7-8 hours of sleep. Go to the gym or, if you can’t find the time, at least get out and walk.

Why waste time looking for substitutes for discipline when there are no substitutes for discipline?

It’s the same with customer service. If employees attempt to impress customers with artificial enthusiasm during Customer Service Week (October 1-5) but then revert to indifference for the next 51 weeks (or until the next corporate-sponsored customer service rally), then it’s a poor substitute for having the training, tools, and motivation to deliver exceptional customer service throughout the year.

Just as 5-hour ENERGY is marketed to those who need to generate another five hours of focus to compensate for poor habits, Customer Service Week is often embraced by companies that celebrate their customers for one week to make up for 51 weeks of indifference. But neither substitute is sustainable.

Real energy is much more effective than synthetic energy. And genuine customer service, delivered consistently throughout the year, is far superior to employees’ artificial enthusiasm for five days in October.

P.s. Enjoy Customer Service Week — but if you’re in need of responsive customer service, you better hurry! Customer Service Week officially ends on Friday, October 5th!

Tags: consistency, Customer Service, Customer Service Week, focus, motivation, priority

This entry was posted on Monday, October 1st, 2012 at 9:59 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.