Sustaining a Client Service Initiative

Most client service improvement initiatives fail to produce sustained results. While such a statement may seem harsh, I think that most would agree with it, based on their own experiences. After investing significant amounts of time, effort, and money in service improvement initiatives, most organizations do not attain the sustained results they were hoping for. Failure is usually not due to a lack of creativity or resources, but most often the result of a lack of long-term commitment to the hard work that sustainability requires. The 'launch' phase of an improvement initiative can be challenging, but it is also energizing. Top management is involved in the launch, frontline employees join improvement teams, and service communication abounds. There are skeptics, of course, but most are hopeful that this time things will actually get better. The launch phase may last several months, or even a year, depending on the organization. The service initiative launch usually includes such activities as:

• Creating a service improvement team or committee;
• Developing service standards;
• Communicating the details of the service initiative to the organization;
• Developing and implementing training programs for all employees; and
• Developing and implementing a service recognition program.

Each of the above activities is important and must be carefully planned and executed. The launch, however, simply gets things going. Then comes the excruciating and disciplined work to keep things going. Most organizations simply aren't that committed and stop short of doing the things that truly sustain the service initiative. Delving into the bowels of the organization and messing with processes, procedures, structure, etc., is very difficult and usually not as glamorous as the initial launch. But that is where sustained improvement lies. This article provides principles and processes for achieving long-term success.