There’s no such thing as customer service. No such thing – because customer service is not one thing. Contrary to what many business books seem intend on preaching, and what the CRM technocrats have continued to trumpet, customer service cannot be adequately quantified singularly.

That’s because “customer service” should not be oriented around a single, generically set schedule of KPIs, response times and IVR technologies. Customer service by the numbers is not the basis for any form of difference, and the whole point of competitiveness, surely, is difference. You’d think we’d all agree on that, you’d think everyone could see that experience is everything and that unique experience is the logical basis for preference. Yet so often, too often, distinctiveness is the last thing that customers get.

A customer service experience based on “best practice” might be technically correct but too often it’s devoid of personality. And because everybody’s serving by the book rather than from the heart, all customers get is variations on the same tedium. Cut out the brand name, and they could be dealing with anybody. Hell, competing companies even use the same voice-over to tell you they’re too busy to talk with you right now, and would you mind holding while they replay all the songs you hate, very loudly, in your right ear.

So, if it’s not about a vanilla flavour of service, what is it about? Well, as far as I’m concerned, customer service should be about keeping your promise, your way. Promise? what promise? The one you’re making as a brand. That’s right, customer service needs to be branded. Actually, great customer service needs to be experienced to be believed. By contrast, generic customer service is the prevalent, boring and forgettable catch-all.

A personalised, branded customer experience is interesting and engaging, and relevant, because it delivers on the promise that each your brand has made itsyour customers. And surprise, surprise – promises vary, just like brands should vary. Because people’s motivations, expectations and priorities are different.