Customer Service Doesn’t Go from Sh*t to Awesome in One Step

Let’s be honest.  Too many businesses are still chasing the silver bullet for customer service.

A shiny new platform.
A big hire.
A “customer-first” town hall.

And then the hope is… complaints vanish, CSAT jumps, and the contact centre turns into a five-star Tripadvisor page. But here’s the truth: customer service doesn’t flip overnight. It doesn’t go from sh*t to awesome in one big leap.

It goes from chaos to less chaos.
From firefighting to stable.
From “good enough” to consistently good.
And only then… to awesome.

It’s not a jump. It’s a ladder.

Why One Big Move Fails

Transformation isn’t a press release or a PowerPoint slide.

Yes, tech helps.
Yes, leaders matter.
Yes, automation has a role.

But if your processes are broken, your policies unclear, and your data untrusted - you’ll still be stuck. Just with fancier tools.

Great service doesn’t come from one headline change. It comes from hundreds of small, deliberate ones.

What the Climb Really Looks Like‍

The businesses that get it right don’t aim for perfection on day one. They:

• Steady the basics so service is predictable.
• Share insights that the rest of the business can actually use.
• Build repeatable wins that make the “good” experience the default.
• Get service a seat at the table so root causes are fixed upstream.
• Then - and only then - start layering on the wow moments.

That’s how you earn the right to delight.

A Word for Leaders

If service feels messy today, that’s okay. But stop expecting a single “big moment” of transformation. What your teams really need is:

• Space to fix the right problems.
• Support while progress looks boring but meaningful.
• Clarity, consistency, and credibility from the top. 

They don’t need magic. They need momentum.

Final Thought

Service transformation isn’t glamorous. It’s not a one-and-done.

You don’t go from sh*t to awesome.
You go from sh*t… to less bad.
To decent.
To good.
And eventually - when the fundamentals are in place - to truly brilliant.

That’s what real transformation looks like.

Want help climbing the ladder without the chaos?
At The Customer Practice, I work with service-led businesses to go from firefighting to high performance with clarity, not fluff.

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Let’s talk

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