One of the most important aspects of True Service is to allow the employee to be human, and to be themselves. Even a topnotch customer service strategy can be harmed by forcing employees to fit a rigid mold. The key, then, is to provide specific benchmarks to guide employees while leaving room for personality.

I've never liked scripts for business communications. In fact, I hated them thirty years ago when I first worked with them as a telephone fund raiser. In fact, I hated them so much that I actively campaigned against their use, except as training tools. Back then I was a member of a team of four top fund raisers that demonstrated the dramatically increased performance when operators were allowed to state the major campaign points in their own words. We then assisted with creating a training program to teach all operators our system.

The company's fundraising improved by 18% in the first year alone, which also translated into greater profits for the company and higher compensation for the callers. All because we took the main bullet points, along with the best phrases and buzzwords, then put them into our own language so we could remove a barrier between ourselves and our donor base. We let everyone be themselves.

The world is filled with Corprobots. This is my new term for people who perform their jobs like disinterested machines, or worse, angry, sad or depressed machines. Corprobots have taken over at an alarming number of companies. Now, admit it: As a customer, you hate them as much as I do. We develop automatic negative emotions and responses to them. By allowing employees to be themselves, a company immediately sets itself apart from ZombieCorps in a very positive way.

Sometimes, however, even the best companies can allow a bit of BotSpeak to enter their domain. Let me offer an example. ATT is where Robert Greenleaf spent forty years refining his humanistic management concepts. Today they stand as an excellent example of service in a gigantic organization. Both internally and with customers, they work hard to provide great service.

Overall, ATT customer service reps do an outstanding job. They are friendly, professional and helpful. They are empowered to take strong actions to rectify issues, and have clear escalation paths when they need higher authority to resolve a problem. Unfortunately, their use of scripted responses often mars the experience because it's so obvious when they revert to script. For me, the worst example comes at the very end of the call, when you should be cementing the relationship and ending on a positive interpersonal note. After the rep has already asked me if there is anything else they can do for me and I've said, "no," the operator must then read:

ALERT ! ALERT! CORPROBOT ALERT! THE HUMAN ASSISTING YOU HAS TURNED INTO A CORPROBOT! RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

The glaring problem with this statement is not in what was said, but how. Most of the time, the representative reads it quickly (like those greetings you get from pizza shops - ThankyouforcallingJoe'sPizza.Wouldyouliketotryoursuperpepperonipie? - and uses their Corprobot Voice. They fall into that voice automatically because at this point in the call they have to read a script!

Here at the end of the call, when the rep should be at their most human, the person I was speaking with suddenly becomes just another cog in the machine. And, to be honest, it soils my impression of what is otherwise excellent service. It probably also soils the call for them, as well. Why not allow the representative to put it in their own words, so that it sounds more natural and congenial? Why not something like:

Those are two of the ways I might phrase that question. You would probably say it differently. But each of us would say it the way it came to us naturally. It would still elicit the same response, but it would grate against everything done during the call to create a relationship with the caller.

I have found the best way to keep Corprobotic Behavior out of an organization is to use scripts only as training tools for beginners. Scripts can be a useful part of a training program so long as they are used only as examples. It's far better to give people the major bullet points, and the correct sequence in which to use them.

When I was working with The Learning Dock, LLC on the sales and promotional materials for Teach Me Bass Guitar, we spent a lot of time cementing key phrases and major bullet points. Key phrases are important to capturing mindshare because it reinforces the receiver's memory. When we write, we always use the same set of key phrases. But when we talk, we allow ourselves the right to modify them slightly so we all sound like ourselves.

We all stay on message by using the same bullet points. Any one of us can rattle off the bullet points with little trouble. And we can discuss the course in-depth and in context with potential students, media, dealers and educators. Instead of raising internal alarms and creating barriers with Corprobotic Behavior, we let our own personalities shine with real passion. That difference made all the... well, difference... at the recent NAMM '10 trade show - the largest for the Music Merchandising Industry. In four days, we successfully engaged hundreds, if not thousands, of new contacts with passion that transferred to those we met.

True Service brings servant-leadership principles to the sales/service relationship. One of the cornerstones of the servant-leader philosophy is to create authentic, strong relationships. You can't do that by being a Corprobot. You can do it by being yourself, and allowing your staff to be themselves, too. When you are your True Self you can put your best foot forward and offer True Service to others.