If you need to contact a customer service call center, today would be a good day.
You will likely get great customer service. Employees will be happy, spirits will be high.
Oh, and the pictures will be fantastic.
From my experience and in talking to leaders in call centers across the industry, today the phones will be answered by vampires, zombies, clowns, and pirates. There will be joy in their voices, a skip in their steps, and their customer service will be delightful.
Why Costumes Lead to Great Customer Service
I asked a seasoned customer service leader why costumes work.
It’s the energy. My theory has always been that results on any singular day are driven by atmosphere. So costume days increase the fun and excitement, and it shows in the tone and inflection. When you are having fun and are excited, the pace of your conversation, the conviction of your voice are upped another level. The secret we all wish we could bottle is the energy and excitement on the floor. For the long-term it’s driven by effective coaching, and the only way coaching works is if you have a willing audience, you get that by how you interact daily.
Why Leaders Should Wear One Too
I have spent much of my career finding excuses to wear wigs, sing songs, and inspiring others to do the same. My “best of” pics lining the walls of my office include my entire leadership team dressed as the gang from Star Wars, Diana Ross and the Supremes, and other “you just had to be there” moments. These times create lasting memories and bring the team closer together.
Costumes work because…
- Costumes are silly, and silly is fun. We all need that
- Fun makes us real. Real creates connections. Connections inspire awesome customer experiences
- Teams long for a leader to show they are vulnerable. Nothing says exposed like a blue wig.
- Risk taking is an important leadership competency, it’s a bit gutsy to ask your team to follow you into a costume, maybe it will make the next risk easier to take
- Silly creates lasting team experiences which draw the team together. “Remember the time she had us all.”(they may complain, but I guarantee the guy who resisted the most has a picture of that day in his office)
- It says fun is good. Let’s make more. And send me your pics.
We came into this world to have fun. As kids, we look to have fun in everything we do. For some reason, this gets lost as we get older. Not this hombre!
Somehow that doesn’t surprise me….;-) Me too.