GM Blueprint / Gold Standards

Easton GM Blueprint · Standards

Gold Standards of Customer Service

Easton Training Center is a place where genuine care for our members and students is our highest priority. We pledge to provide the best service and experience for all of our members. We challenge you on the mats while providing exceptional service off of them, and we strive to fulfill the expressed and the unexpressed needs of our members.

"At Easton Training Center we provide excellence on the mats, and exceptional service beyond them."
The Easton Credo

Three Steps of Excellent Service

Every member interaction, every day, follows the same three steps. They're simple on purpose: simple is repeatable, and repeatable is what makes a standard.

1

A Warm and Sincere Greeting

Use the member's name at least once.

  • Make eye contact.
  • Show enthusiasm and a genuine interest in our members.
  • Smile. It goes a long way.
  • Be cordial, even when you're busy.
  • Anticipate our members' needs before they have to present them to us.
2

Anticipation and Accommodation of Members' Needs

Both expressed and unexpressed.

  • Listening to the needs of our members helps us provide good service; anticipating them is the key to exceptional service.
  • Think ahead. We often know what our members will need better than they do.
  • Anticipate their needs, then accommodate them.
  • Be attentive and pay attention.
3

A Fond Farewell

Give our members a warm goodbye and use their names. Acknowledge each member and make eye contact as they leave.

Our Commitment

The Easton Customer Service Values. Every team member owns all ten.

  1. I always strive to create raving fans.
  2. I am always responsive to the expressed and unexpressed needs of our members.
  3. I own and immediately seek to solve our members' problems.
  4. I am proud of my professional appearance and behavior.
  5. I am responsible for upholding uncompromising levels of cleanliness and professionalism.
  6. I never put the onus on our members. I never put the monkey on someone else's back.
  7. "It's not my job" doesn't exist in my vocabulary.
  8. These values permeate every interaction I have with a member — written, on the phone, or in person.
  9. I understand Easton's Customer Service Values, and I take seriously my responsibility to uphold them.
  10. I am proud to be part of a team that holds itself to the highest standards.

Implementation

These values must be reviewed continually. One training session or a manual won't be enough: continued training, consistent observation, and accountability are required. We're making the decision to own the niche of customer service in the martial arts industry. Excellence, one of our Core Values, demands it.

Questions for Leadership

Are our expectations and our culture visible?

Does our team speak using "we," or "us vs. them"?

Every GM runs a SWOT exercise with their team at the quarterly offsite. Each academy's results are examined together at the following offsite. Our teams should know they can impact our strategic vision.

Do we, the leadership, walk our own talk?

Are we setting the example we expect others to follow?

Does our team know their function and their purpose?

Our function could be First Impressions specialist, Department Head, or instructor. Each position serves its own specific function and role, which contributes to Easton's overall success.

While our functions are different, our purpose is the same: to curate the best possible experience for our members, on the mats and beyond.

Bring It to Your Team

What should we do differently tomorrow?

What changes need to be made?

End every review of these standards with those two questions, answered out loud, by everyone in the room.

Presenting this to your team? Download the slide deck (PDF)