Last year, I received a call from the director of customer support for a technology company. Her first words to me were: "I need to hire you. I've realized that our customer service department is the best sales weapon that our competitors have." Her team wasn't motivated to help each other or the customer. As a result their customer satisfaction had reached all-time lows, and this reputation had begun to reveal itself in lagging sales.

I introduced them to something that I had learned years ago in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.

When I was twelve, I started picking blackberries so I could earn money for school clothes. For a while, the thought of new school clothes was quite motivating. One day, however, that changed.

That day, while in the middle of a blackberry patch, I heard a slight rustle above my head. When I looked up, I saw a snake curled around a branch, hissing at me. I decided then and there that I had had enough of the blackberry business.

My last delivery was to Mae and Bea, my favorite customers. Whenever I made a delivery to Bea, he'd always have fresh lemonade which we'd drink in the shade of their oak tree while he told me stories.

On this afternoon, as I was working up my courage to tell him that I was quitting, I asked him, "Bea, what do you use these blackberries for?" I expected him to say that Mae was going to make a cobbler or jelly. Instead, he took a sip of his lemonade, slowly looked me in the eye and said, "Bobbi, we, uh, we use the blackberries as a way to bribe the grandkids to come over for a visit."

As I looked into his eyes, I knew there was no way I could quit. What I was doing was too important.

That experience taught me a key principle of leadership. When we connect meaning to a person’s key values we unlock internal motivation and commitment to excellence.

When I saw the pain in Bea's eyes, I knew there was no way I could turn away from him. In that instant, what I was doing became something bigger and more significant. It became a cause.

At the same time that it became bigger and more significant, it also became intensely personal because it was tied to one of my core values. When our teams are involved on a personal level, they become proud of their contribution, and with that pride they become personally accountable to the outcome. It is with that pride and personal accountability that people will do more – much more – than is merely required of them.

Here are three things that you can do to help your team commit to personal excellence:

1. Help your team discover the value of their contribution. This takes skilled facilitation because you cannot tell them, they have to discover it. If you don't have the facilitation skills, hire someone who does. The investment will easily pay for itself with better performance, customer loyalty and future sales.
2. Help your team identify their core values and their motivating drivers. Once they’ve done that, coach them on how to apply those values in their work.
3. Create a coaching environment for the team. Schedule weekly accountability sessions to keep that fire within them burning brightly. You can achieve this by discussing wins, by allowing them to feel pride in what they are doing, and by giving them a chance to ask for and receive help from each other.

What were the results for the technology company? The customer support team bonded together to increase customer satisfaction dramatically in a matter of weeks. With their newfound pride they worked to bridge the gap with the sales team so that together they could provide a better customer experience. The employees have taken greater initiative in creating a powerful culture of excellence; with management approval, they have – on their own time – formed task forces to create a team vision that is more demanding and personally motivating.

What could you accomplish if your teams were motivated from the inside and committed to personal excellence?

Copyright © 2008 Bobbi Kahler. All Rights Reserved.