‘Born to Serve’ … this strap-line suits me and my place in the meaning of service.

Born to serve

My Dad was a farmworker all his working life, looking after ‘shire’ horses and serving them well. In turn, they served him and all the benefactors of the crops they reaped. This approach is simple to understand but not quite so easy to employ in different situations.

It took me years of growing up to realise how important it was to adopt this leadership philosophy in business; I tried translating this into the meaning of service that worked for all my business stakeholders, including myself. I now realise that you don’t become an effective leader in anything unless you have been its servant in one form or another. Even many years of studying business management and seeking innovation didn’t, on its own, do the trick for me.

There’s a need for two distinct dimensions … seeking ideas and serving the cause when looking for the meaning of service. These two categories have given me an appreciation of ‘seeking the market’ and ‘serving the customer’ roles in business. I think I speak for many people when I say that it is  almost impossible to seek and serve to a high level at the same time. This means that to be successful in business (and life in general), we invariably have to share the overall load using other members and their teaming skills.

However, I’m reminded that “Nothing always works”! This is an old addage I came across after learning many different ways to skin the business cat. It refers to one of the laws of nature that suggests no matter how well you plan, something will confound you – a bit like  Murphys Law  “If something can possibly happen, it WILL happen when you least want it and expect it.” Even teamwork can come unstuck unless you have trained everyone for everything under the sun. That’s why individual team members of any business should be empowered to take the reigns when Murphy’s Law kicks in… it’s their business afterall!

Remembering the care and service aspects of my Dad with his ‘Shires’, I now realise just how instructive his lifestyle was on me. As I was progressing through the development stages of my business, Customer Service came out with the greatest need. “People buy from people”, I was told. “Not shops, websites or machines!” In this analogy, it’s the horses interraction with  the farmworker that really matters. The mechanical bits of the system usually work well, it’s the people bit that often needs attention and lots of lubrication.

I am now a willing and enthusiastic servant of my prospects and customers… I enjoy it too. No matter what, where or when something is needed to help them, I am only too pleased to serve and satisfy their needs. I ignore the need for sensitive and quality care at my peril. Afterall, when looking to me for the meaning of service, how could I expect any customer of mine to remain loyal, especially after a long, hard day … with a stone lodged in their hoof!

I am teamed up with the No 1 Online Service Provider (CHRIS FARRELL) at http://www.footprintdirect.com