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March 28th, 2005
A message from Mike Jacoutot to All SHC Associates

What is Service Excellence?

I recently had a great conversation with a dedicated, top performing associate who asked me a very simple question;

“Mike,” he asked, “What exactly do you mean by Service Excellence?”

I loved this question. They were truly seeking to understand! “Well,” I said, “Service Excellence is a lot of things…not something you could put into a sentence as a definition.” As I thought, I thought from a client/talent perspective. After all, I am a customer to a lot of companies. “What is Service Excellence to me?” I asked.

• Service Excellence can be something as simple as the individual who checks the customer’s name twice for the correct spelling on e-mail, a card, or a proposal. It can be something as simple as making sure of the correct name spelling on a meet and greet invitation. (Having a last name like “Jacoutot,” typically no one knows when it’s spelled wrong except me and I appreciate it when it’s spelled correctly!)



• Service Excellence is an associate that stays past closing time to service a talent who arrived or called at closing time, and made them feel like they were the center of the universe.



• Service Excellence is answering the phone “Thank you for calling Supplemental Health Care, Mike speaking, how can I help you?” and really meaning it-every single time!



• Service Excellence is not having an answer to a client/talent problem, but calling them anyway and letting them know that you are still working on it and should have an answer in an hour or by the end of the day.



• Service Excellence is taking the time to “seek to understand” both client and talent needs in an effort to make a Superior Match.™



• Service Excellence is receiving a call from another associate (accounting, payroll, human resources, etc) and showing them the Respect of our core values by calling them back within four hours.



• Service Excellence is calling our health care professionals the first day on the job and asking, “How is it going?”, and then following up with them a week later and every week thereafter.



• Service Excellence is calling the facility and asking, “How is Mary doing?” or “Is John meeting your expectations?”



• Service Excellence is understanding that each client/talent contact is a “moment of truth.” It is an opportunity for the client/talent to form an opinion of you and Supplemental Health Care. It is a unique opportunity to set ourselves apart from the competition.



• Service Excellence is making sure all our talent is 100% compliant--every single time we place them. That is our promise and we must keep our promise 100% of the time!



• Service Excellence is calling our nurse, therapist or radiological technician and letting them know their physical or license is about to expire and asking “How can I help?”



• Service Excellence is a recruiter who loses a talent to a competitor, and holds themselves personally accountable for the loss. After they get over the initial shock, they place a call to the talent in an effort to learn “the wrong’s they need to right.” These are people that know a loss is an opportunity to learn. I love these people.