Please note, the title of this article refers to people service and not customer service and no, that is not a mistake.

If you want to take your business to the next level, toss out the antiquated notion of customer service, and embrace the all-encompassing notion of people service.

Please allow me to clarify what I’m talking about.  Take a few minutes and read this article. I think you’ll find it worth your while. Then I invite you to order my  book “Out With Customer Service, In With People Service.

What is people service?

Customer service refers to the way you treat your customers in business.  People service refers to the way you treat everyone in your life.  Big difference and an important distinction!

Allow me to explain what this has to do with business.

John Donne is known for having said that no man is an island. Those words are particularly true in business.  Your business is not an island.  It is part of a community.  It is located in a business district, it is attended by community members, and those members also go to church with you, eat at the same restaurants as you, send their children to the same schools as you, and attend the same recreational activities as you.

In such a situation . . . in such a community . . . it is impossible to separate the individual from the business, because you are the face of your business.  You are a walking, talking, breathing personification of your business, and as such you are constantly conducting “people service” with every interaction you have on any given day.

This is crucial to understand, so pay close attention.

From a business standpoint . . .

Because you are the face of your business, what you do and say outside of your business is a direct reflection upon your business, and

From a personal standpoint . . .

How you treat others outside of your business will spill over to the way you treat customers at your business.

Which all leads to an obvious point

Not only should you concentrate on the way you treat customers, but you  must also learn the importance of treating everyone with great people service.

And what does that look like?  What does “making a living, making a life” look like?

Trust, mutual respect, welcoming, openness, and teaching by example . . . that’s what it looks like!

I once knew a man. When I knew him he was eighty-five years old.  He was playing checkers in the park and I sat down to play him a game,  just two strangers sharing a moment of mindless entertainment.  The man was charming.  He was hilarious.  He was insightful, caring, and he genuinely wanted to know about me and dreams/goals.

I learned two weeks later that the man I played checkers with was one of the richest men in the State of Texas.  He was retired from his business, he was worth in the neighborhood of $500 million, and he was one of the nicest men I have ever met.

He understood, and lived, people service!

Treat others like they are human beings, not possible customers, and your business will reap the rewards.

Contact Linda for more information.