The Department Of Customer Love

Source: Forbes

What’s in a name? Sometimes changing the vernacular within an organization can have a huge impact on behavior and mindset. For example, the receptionist may be called the Director of First Impressions, a clever title to describe the person who answers the phone on behalf of the company. Apple calls its in-store service and support technicians “Geniuses.” Talking to a genius seems much cooler than talking to someone in product support. In our company, Shepard Presentations, we all get to come up with our own titles. We have a Director of Reputation, a Manager of Many Things and a Director of Details. My title is Chief Amazement Officer. These titles are fun descriptions that establish the mood of our culture. 

Along the same lines, some organizations refer to their customers by a different name – guests, clients, members and more. One of my clients uses the term “neighbors.” When customers walk through the doors, they are greeted with an enthusiastic, “Hello, neighbor!” This helps to establish a positive mood and build rapport with the customer. You can hardly call out, “Hello, customer!” when someone walks through the doors. That sounds weird.

Then there are clever department names, especially in the customer service and support world, such as Customer Success Heroes, User Support Gurus and Customer Relationship Builders, just to name a few. One department name caught my eye recently and inspired me to write this article. That was Looker’s name for its customer support department, the “Department of Customer Love.”

Looker is a data platform company that helps its customers use information about their business, including their customers, to gain better insights and make data-driven decisions. When Looker’s customers have a problem, they don’t contact customer support – they contact the Department of Customer Love. And what they get is an experience that lives up to the department’s name.

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