Kindness in Customer Experience

Kindness is crucial in life.

If you have watched 'The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse' you will know when asked what he wants to be when he grows up, replies "Kind". (Note: if you decide to watch this film, a box of tissues is required!)

If you ever watched that amazing channel 4 series - Old People's Home for 4 Year Olds - you will remember that parents of the four year olds were keen for their children to learn kindness to others, which this show certainly had in abundance.

Kindness seems under-rated nowadays. For many it seems soft and not applicable. I would disagree that core activities of kindness such as saying please and thank you, smiling and saying hello and saying sorry when you need to are kind ways to interact with each other.

I would contest kindness as being soft, as in my opinion kindness it is not about being soft, but about being clear, having respect, and care at the same time.

For businesses, kindness is a crucial part of culture and could be seen as this:

“Kindness means acting with respect and consideration while still meeting commercial goals.”

At work, we have had trauma informed training in recent months as well as celebrity experience training too. These do go hand in hand, and I met with a colleague this morning to talk about this and she was regaling me with a recent customer service experience which was amazing she said from start to finish but one of the stand out features was the service staff getting down to eye level to take an order. She mentioned the tables at this venue were low and so this ensured a balance between customer and staff member and she felt how kind and welcoming this was. I had never heard of this customer service tip before so had to add this to my blog today.

Kindness comes in many forms and if you have a look at some of the links below, businesses are taking this seriously:

Linked In: linkedin.com/pulse/kindness-work-corporate-strategy-you-didnt-know-already-sophie-bretag-gwgvc

Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2024/10/15/how-kindness-drives-employee-engagement-and-business-growth/

People Management: https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1863309/why-its-time-organisations-unleash-new-weapon-kindness

Trauma informed training and celebrity experience training rely on kindness, listening, clarity and support. By being empathetic to the customers needs you can help them better. By listening and caring for the customer you win their trust.

So lets start practising kindness with some of the things mentioned about. How about just start with smiling and saying hello to people in your organisation you have never met as well as the ones you know.

They do say, smile and the world smiles back!