Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Marriage Driven Excellence

Great customer service includes understanding what customers want and anticipating their future needs. It includes reducing errors, meeting individual specifications, and reducing complaints. Many business books will tell you that how a company recovers from errors will determine how many customers they retain and how many they attract. As I thought about this concept, I realized that marriage is one really long customer service test.

When you think about what to make for dinner or what birthday gift to buy, you are practicing customer service. In this case, your customer happens to be your spouse. When you leave out the bean sprouts in pad thai because you spouse doesn't like them, you are meeting a customer specification. When your husband towels off before getting out of the shower to prevent soaking the bathroom floor, he is reducing the amount of complaints he receives.

Next, examine how you recover from an argument or disagreement with your spouse. Do you tell of all your friends your frustrations? Do you give your spouse the silent treatment for a few days? Do you sleep on the couch? Or, do you let it go and enjoy the rest of the night? One of the most significant factors that determines marriage success is how the couple handles and recovers from conflict.

In the next couple weeks, I'll be covering specific customer service lessons that I have learned over the years and how they relate to building a better relationship with your spouse. These lessons will help you transform your relationship and help you recover from conflict as it occurs. Lastly, these strategies will help you become more COMmitted.

Lee

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