The Service Mentality
“Yes - we can do that for you. What was the question”?
That’s the kind of response you expect when someone is displaying a service mentality. It’s always about your needs over theirs. When you’re on the receiving end of that kind of approach, you feel appreciated. You feel like they are paying attention. You feel like your needs are being met and that fosters the type of relationship most businesses depend on. At the end of the day, every company has a customer, and your success depends on servicing that customer to the best of your ability.
A service mentality establishes a true sense of partnership, and it goes by many names. These days, most people refer to the service mentality as being “client-centric”. One thing to point out before we go too deep - The customer is not always right. They may be wrong, but they do deserve respect. They are paying for a service and it’s your job to provide that service, and the best way to do so is to put their needs ahead of your own. You can do so with a smile, even when you are in disagreement and trying to demonstrate an alternative way of working. If you are an agency, or a technology partner, or a vendor, it really doesn’t matter. You don’t have to wait for the customer to say jump in order to say “how high”. You can approach the relationship from the point of view that you will do whatever is necessary, within the obvious ethical boundaries of course, and if they know that, you establish the bond required for success. As a matter of fact, if you’re confident in the service you offer, and you value the relationship you have, you can actually just commit without even knowing the question.
I used to be an agency person, and I worked with some amazing people in the agency world. I was part of 4 different agency teams, but one of those agencies was a truly special experience because we lived by that initial approach of the service mentality. We knew we could do anything, and we would pitch our clients, and service them, with that mentality. We knew we could get anything accomplished for our clients, and they believed it too. In most cases it didn’t even matter what the challenge was. We knew, we had confidence, that we could solve the problems for them. As a result, our team had an almost unparalleled, unmatched run where we didn’t lose a pitch in almost three years. We just won and we won because our customers knew we were there for them. We had great ideas. We had a history of excellence. We won with a great team, a very creative approach and the unwilling belief that we led with, “Yes we can do that”! I even once stood on a table in the room and explicitly guaranteed that we would deliver what they needed. You know what? We did!
Our clients were amazing too. They knew they could trust us and we would find a way. It helps when you are an agency leading an industry that had little to no rules. It was easy to differentiate yourselves because the industry as a whole was immature and we could push the envelope in so many ways. We could work with pricing models, we could leverage publisher relationships and we could simply try new things and think differently about our approach. Nothing was written in stone, yet. It’s harder these days, but I would hazard that having a service mentality still helps, and the confidence that you can deliver goes a long way.
Avis, the car rental company, used to have a tagline of “We Try Harder”. I don’t know if they still use that one, but it resonated with me. They were willingly acknowledging that even if they weren’t number one, it was ok. Simply put, they would work on your behalf harder than the other car rental companies, and that you, the customer, would be happy. That line worked great because almost universally, the experience of renting a car is horrible. It has improved in recent years, but no matter what, Avis was known as a company that would try harder for your business. It was more than “We’ll pick you up” from Enterprise, or whatever Hertz says (we’re big and we’re everywhere, or something like that). Avis had/has a service mentality and that makes the customer feel good.
By the way, a service mentality doesn’t mean you have to be servile. You can be confident, and portray yourself in that manner. You just know that when your client or customer needs something, you will “try harder” to accomplish the goal. You will do what it takes, and most the time it takes thinking differently to be successful. That’s where this column comes full circle. A service mentality can coexist with a “think differently” approach. It means you tackle each problem with a fresh perspective, and with the intention of doing what needs to be done.
So the next time you are in a situation, like a pitch or a client meeting, just keep in mind that your attitude and approach will go a long way. You can let the customer ask the question, but you should know in advance that you will do what needs to be done (once again, obviously within reason and the bounds of legality). If you adopt this service-mentality, it will serve you well. I am certain of that.
photo accompanying this post is courtesy of UnSplash