SAS

“1. It should be clear, concise, and understandable. Dilbert defines a vision statement as a “long awkward sentence that demonstrates management’s inability to think clearly.” Make sure you prove the notorious cartoon character wrong. 2. It should communicate, in actionable ways, the things you need to do to satisfy, impress, and keep your customers. 3. It should be consistent with other things you tell employees about the organization’s mission, brand promise, and purpose. 4. It should pass the employee “snicker test”: Reading it, whether on paper or out loud, should help your people better understand what to do, how to do it, and why to do it, not make them giggle, guffaw, and roll their eyes heavenward. It’s important that the service vision be ambitious yet grounded in reality, and not written as if it’s an advertising slogan.”
― Chip R. Bell, Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service

“5. Processes must be regularly updated to ensure they reflect customers’ ever-changing expectations for service. The top ten most important processes—those deemed to have the biggest impact on driving and sustaining customer loyalty—must be singled out annually for an “alignment check” and tune up. Today, customer expectations change at supersonic speed as customers are influenced by their service experiences with organizations of every type and effectiveness. Staying in touch with these ever-changing customer service expectations is crucial to an organization’s success. Just as you would expect a complete checkup from your doctor during an annual physical, so too should your most important processes undergo the rigors of an annual evaluation of their effectiveness at delivering or enabling service to customers in an appropriate fashion.”
― Chip R. Bell, Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service

“We are really anxious to do all we can to improve our service, and your feedback would be very helpful.”
― Chip R. Bell, Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service

“• Ask front liners to use it to evaluate your unit’s policies, procedures, and general “ways of doing things.” Are they consistent with the vision? Do they really help get things done for the customers? If not, where do they interfere with giving good service? And how can they be changed? • Hold “what’s stupid around here?” meetings. Use the vision statement to help identify outmoded practices, timewasters, repeated trouble spots, and customer-vexing aspects of your business that make you look dumb to your customers—and each other. • Set “stop, start, and measure” objectives. Perhaps once a quarter, ask every employee to come with a list of items under three headings: 1. Things we should stop doing around here 2. Things we should start doing around here 3. Things we don’t track or measure—but should”
― Chip R. Bell, Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service