Serve the Future

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I wasn’t a great saver when I was a young adult. I lived week to week, looking forward to my paycheck and budgeting exactly what I would spend each dollar on, including my living costs, without much to spare. As a young adult, I guess, like most of us, life was about being in the moment. I wasn’t wired to think too far into the future, let alone long-term. 

If only someone had said to me back, then, ‘Put $25 a day in your St George savings account and thirty years from now you’ll have over a million dollars’. Upon reflection, someone probably did tell me that, I just chose to ignore it! 

Service culture transformations – improving service outcomes and shifting people’s mindsets and habits for better service interactions – require you to take a long-term view. Just like someone probably told me to save $25 a day all those years ago, I am that someone telling you now to start taking small steps today to build long-term loyalty in your staff and customers.  

It’s tricky to think long-term about the service you are reimagining for the future when the world of work is chaotic, fast and intensely demanding. 

But to serve the future is the responsibility of leaders of today. 

The future staff in your business and future customers of your business are your responsibility now. They will thank you for your decisions, investments and actions today. It doesn’t come naturally to think about the future when the demands of today are intense – but business leaders who are thinking ahead about the future of service and making tangible plans for the future of service will thrive. 

Take small steps to strengthen the relationships with people you serve now and in the future.