What provides meaning to professional life? Is it a fulfilling purpose, honest pay, moral alignment, or simply having friends among colleagues? All sorts of things, and any combination thereof, deliver meaning and purpose to people’s professional lives. Vision statements encapsulate these motivations in (hopefully) tidy declarations, and these derive from the values that people saturate them with.
If there is one universal value though, it is likely meaning, when we feel like our work has a purpose to it that is greater than the individual.
Essentially, we want to know that our work makes a positive difference. Whether that impact is for one or thousands, making sure that employees can understand and influence this impact is what heightens great businesses beyond the rest.
A customer service vision statement is a business’ opportunity to create an ethos of more meaningful work, motivate its employees, and improve overall employee performance.
Why Write a Customer Support Vision Statement?
Does a stated vision statement really make a difference?
People get motivation from meaningful work, and a customer service vision statement encapsulates the meaning of the work in one statement. Think of the greatest lines from books and movies, musings or concepts that immortalized that piece of work. That’s essentially what a vision statement does – etches the business philosophy in stone ala Hammurabi.
While the statement alone won’t magically skyrocket employee performance – rather it’s a tool for setting the vision.
A statement sets the vision because:
- It makes work principles, values, and missions clear.
- It helps employees understand what the organization strives to achieve.
- It makes employees realize their daily impact on the world.
If the business and its leaders follow and respect the vision, the impact can be significant. That’s why it’s the leaders’ jobs to ensure that the statement is reflected in all facets of work culture, even the most mundane aspects.
How to Write a Customer Service Vision Statement
A customer service vision might be just one sentence. But it’s gonna pack so much value that people in your organization might start quoting it.
No worries — no need for advanced business writing skills here. You’ll have a good idea of how to write the statement by the time you’re done reading.
1. Do Research
There are a few things to consider before writing a customer service vision statement. For a statement to make sense, it must:
- Be realistic and achievable
- Correspond to your employees’ goals
- Reflect the mission, vision, and values of your company
Start by writing down your company’s mission and vision. They reflect your ultimate goal that drives the entire company, of which the customer support team is a major part.
Here’s a company mission example from Walt Disney:
Your goal of writing down the mission is to understand your company’s ultimate goal and how it’s trying to get there. That goal will impact the customer team vision statement, too.
Next —
Ask your customer support team about what they consider as meaningful work. Scholar studies involving business executives show that community spirit, shared work commitment, and positive attitude are common answers.
Compile the team’s answers, mission, vision, and values into one document. You’ll use that doc to help you stay focused.
Now, it’s time for us to try writing.
2. Write Only One Sentence
If you can’t explain a customer support vision statement in one sentence, then there’s a chance it’s not clear enough for you. This means it might not be clear for the team, too.
A short customer service vision statement is also more memorable.
This vision statement example —
“To be the best part of our guests’ day.”
It is short and sweet, so people won’t have a hard time memorizing it.
What if you don’t manage to fit the statement into one sentence on the first try?
No worries.
You can always make it better or ask for writing help online if you lack writing skills. Spend a minute or two reading reviews — this thesisgeek review is a good example — to choose writing experts for your project. Even the best entrepreneurs often hire writer with experience in creating company missions and team vision statements. Getting professional help might help save time and make a quote-worthy statement.
3. Make It Meaningful
Now’s the part where we turn to that document you compiled. Find the answers about meaningful work from your team.
Take a close look at those answers. What are some common themes you see? How do they want to build customer trust? Is there something that might motivate your employees?
Try finding words that indicate how the team wants to impact the lives of every customer, and ultimately make the world a better place.
Vision statement example—
Let’s say you found that many team members want to make customers feel cared for, and this should be the main difference from the competitors.
Then you might arrive at a vision like this (courtesy of Chick-fil-A):
“To make our guests feel cared for, unlike anywhere else.”
Considering your team’s feedback this way is a good idea to make them feel heard and appreciated.
4. Ensure that Employees can Influence the Statement
A customer team should be able to influence and control the vision statement. From the very beginning, a leader should take their input into consideration to create the first draft.
But it doesn’t end there —
The final statement draft should be under the control of every customer support team member. That “under control” part is what makes the team feel in charge and making a difference. Ultimately, it helps make their work more meaningful.
To make a customer support statement under the control of employees:
- Get feedback — consider employee feedback at all stages of writing. The final statement should receive positive feedback from every team member
- Add something that employees influence — it could be a situation or an impact that the team influences with their work, e.g., customer satisfaction or some customer service metrics
- Mention work practices — you can add words like “above and beyond” or “do whatever it takes” to imply a commitment to excellence, employee autonomy, and freedom
5. Run a Quality Check
Beautiful.
Now you have the first version of a customer service vision statement.
You’re almost there. The only thing is to ensure that we have covered all bases. One way to go about that is to ask yourself these questions:
- “Can the team influence and control this statement?”
- “Did I write the statement in one sentence?”
- “Does it reflect the overall goals and the mission of our company?”
- “Does it mention how our team can achieve our vision?”
If you answered “no” to even one of these questions, go back and give writing another go. But if the answer was “yes” to every question, then congrats! You’ve done an awesome job of writing an inspiring customer service vision statement.
How to Write a Customer Service Vision Statement: Final Thoughts
“A revolution starts with a clear vision of a world different than the one we live in today.”
These words by Simon Sinek, a speaker and an author, show how impactful customer service vision statements can be. The journey to your goals begins with a clear vision, and that one sentence might be just enough to get started.
