How do world-class organizations and leaders create and sustain a culture of excellence? Well, they have six principles in common!
Principle 1 – Vision & Mission: What drives a company to thrive, grow, and inspire? It all begins with a clear vision and a powerful mission. You see, a strong vision provides a sense of direction. It’s the “why” behind everything a company does. It shapes the future, aligns teams, and fuels ambition.
Meanwhile, the mission defines the “how.” It’s the guiding principles and actions that turn vision into reality, creating value for customers, employees, and communities. That’s why Principle One of The Six Principles of Service Excellence are Vision & Mission. Together, a strong vision and mission can build trust, drive innovation, and set a company apart from the rest. Is your company ready to lead with purpose? Well, Start with a vision. Act with a mission.
Principle 2 – Business Objectives: What sets high-performing companies apart? It’s not complexity, it’s clarity. Just 3 to 4 simple objectives can drive a business to excellence. You see, clear objectives provide focus. They help teams understand what’s important, directing energy and resources toward what truly matters.
And, when everyone knows the target, every action, decision, and effort is aligned—creating momentum and synergy. That’s why Principle TWO of The Six Principles of Service Excellence are Business Objectives. Because, simple objectives help foster accountability. And, they MUST be specific, measurable, actionable, and inspire the team to push for results. Does your team have 3-4 objectives – that are clear, simple, powerful. Why? Because that’s how world-class organizations stay focused, aligned, and driven to excel.
Principle #3 – Standards of Excellence: Every company has a vision and mission, but how do you bring them to life? Well, it starts with clear Standards of Excellence which are just a few simple actions and behaviors necessary to ensure your team CONSISTENTLY provides an exceptional customer experience.
The good thing about Standards of Excellence is that they provide clarity — by providing a common language that guides decisions, inspires accountability, and empowers everyone to perform at their highest level. And, we all know that when employees understand what’s expected, and when they align with the company’s vision and mission — creating a culture of consistency and excellence is achievable. All it takes are 5 to 10 simple yet powerful standards of excellence. That’s how world-class organizations turn their vision and mission into reality, every single day.
Principle #4 – Intervention & Learning Strategy: In today’s competitive market, exceptional customer experience is everything. But how do you ensure it’s consistent and flawless? Well, it starts with conducting a Customer Experience Gap Analysis — which is a powerful process that helps leaders identify where their customer experience excels… and where it falls short.
You see, our Six Principles of Service Excellence Gap Analysis also reveals the gaps between your Vision, Mission, Business Objectives, and the actual experience customers receive. Then comes the Learning Strategy—which is targeted training (for leaders and employees) to close identified gaps, empowering your team with the skills and confidence to deliver outstanding experiences every time. And, with the right strategy, you turn insights into actions — and actions into exceptional service – elevating your customer experience from average to extraordinary!
Principle #5 – Organization Alignment: Once the vision and mission, business objectives, and standards of excellence have been established for your organization – how do you ensure all team members are aligned? Well, Principles 5 – Organizational Alignment is the communication process that ensures alignment, buy-in, and accountability.
Organizational Alignment ensures leaders consistently reinforce excellence through engaging activities like Daily Team Huddles; Monthly Departmental Meetings; along with other energizing written, visual, and virtual communication tools accessible to employees. And the purpose of Organizational Alignment is to consistent communication so there’s CLARITY and no CONFUSION concerning what is expected in raising the bar and elevating the customer experience from average to extraordinary.
Principle #6 – Measurement & Leadership Accountability: When it comes to raising the bar, and elevating the customer experience – how do you know that all of the efforts your leaders, team, and organization are working? Well, Principle 6 – Measurement and Leadership Accountability is the answer! That’s why KPIs (your key performance indicators) are established and measured to ensure leaders understand what levels of excellence they are accountable for driving and achieving with their teams.
And examples of what’s measured on your dashboards could be: Revenue Growth and Profitability; Net Promoter Scores or Customer Satisfaction; Labor Retention and Turnover; Employee Engagement or Satisfaction; Quality Improvements; and Customer Complaint Resolution – just to make a few. In essence, Measurement and Leadership Accountability ensures we focus on the right metrics necessary to drive excellence, achieve results, and foster an environment of self-accountability in driving excellence.
If you are seeking tangible solutions to help your team raise the bar and elevate the customer experience, we may have the training programs you need. Contact us at [email protected] to learn more about our CX Consulting and Training Program