I’m a Piscean, so maybe that’s why I have a particular soft spot for the FISH! Philosophy and its approach to customer satisfaction, which all began with Fish: A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results (2000) by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen, inspired by the real-life Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle. It’s hard to imagine a less exciting workplace than a fish market but nonetheless, the manager had made selling fish a fun activity for all his staff and ensured a wonderful customer service experience in the process!
The FISH! philosophy is based on four simple principles…
- Play! Have fun at work and make sure customers have fun too. When you have fun doing something you tend to do well at it, and when you do well at something it starts to become fun!
- Make their day! Make the customer your prime focus and be genuinely interested in their conversations with you – picking up on little things that bear no relevance to the business will greatly improve your relationship with customers. This extends to everyone you engage with, both inside and outside of the organisation.
- Be present! Stay focused on the task at hand, whether that’s dealing with a difficult customer or helping a colleague through a difficult call. Focus your body, mind and spirit and do everything you can to stay positive ‘in the present’!
- Choose your attitude! Attitude is a CHOICE and only you have the power to choose which attitude you’ll adopt each day, so choose to be positive and your optimism will prove infectious!
These principles are simple in theory but tremendously powerful when they’re put into practice, whether that’s through bespoke customer service and telephone training or coaching and buddying activities to boost employee motivation. Hundreds of businesses incorporate the FISH! culture to boost both their staff’s morale and their profits! They’ve recognised that company profit is a direct result of true customer satisfaction, where customers feel enchanted by the service they receive, so they keep coming back for more.
In many ways, the FISH! philosophy encapsulates the key elements of delivering remarkable customer service – this ‘super secret’ is all about developing brand ambassadors on your frontline, so get FISHing for those brand ambassadors in your business and offer them any support, mentoring and customer service training they need!
