When I walked in the doors of LockNet for the first time, I was anxious and overwhelmed, as most people are when they interview for a new job.

On top of that was the fact that a couple hours later, I was loading up my car and taking my kid to Disney World and I don’t think I had packed a thing yet.

(Typical Whitney.)

I remember waiting for my interview and noticing that on almost everyone’s phone was a piece of paper taped to the bottom with these words:

LockNet Guiding Principles

1) Safety comes first

2) I am honest and respectful

3) I listen and serve others before myself

4) I am purposeful, constructive and proactive

5) I focus on efficiency and continuous improvement

 6) I embrace problems with a positive attitude

I understand most companies have a mission statement, but I don’t recall ever seeing it displayed so prominently around the office.

That was my first clue about how important customer service was to LockNet.

The LockNet Customer Service Style

I started at LockNet two weeks later and I’ll let you guess what the first thing they handed me.

I got my very own small piece of paper with the Guiding Principles typed on them to tape to my phone. Katie Willie, our marketing director r, told me they keep them in visual range so they’re always top of mind when speaking to customers and to one another.

For the most part, my position stays behind the scenes, but all of the employees in the call center are asked to keep those principles in mind when they answer the phone. This allows them to excel at customer service.

LockNet University

Going by those principles alone isn’t enough to send someone out onto the floor here at LockNet; we arm them with industry information as well.

I’ve mentioned approximately 1,000 times before, there’s a lot of information to delve into when it comes to the door and lock industry. Thankfully, in my position, I had quite a bit of leeway while I learned the ins and outs.

Because I work behind the scenes and I get the luxury of editors who can tell me, “Hey, Whitney… That’s definitely not what {insert random lock term} means.”

The LockNet Nationwide Repair and Support Department is directly on the front lines, though. They answer the questions from worried customers and work with them to find a solution to whatever issue they might experience.

This isn’t necessarily a job where you can wing it.

That’s where LockNet University comes in. LockNet realized very early on they would need a way to educate new employees in a thorough but efficient manner to give our customers the best experience possible.

New employees can enroll and “graduate” from LockNet University and get a leg up on the competition when it comes to both their customer service skills, and their door and lock knowledge.

In the courses, there is information about products and troubleshooting techniques. Many of the courses are taught by our very own Ian Greene and, occasionally, we’ve had technicians come in and give training examples, as well.

The way this is done, Technical Services Representatives (TSRs) have a product at their desk as they watch a video while completing the troubleshooting steps on the actual product in front of them. We also offer general product training on things such as closers, finishes, cams/tailpieces, and more.

All of this is an effort to make life a little easier on both the customer and the TSR.

Do you have any go-to customer service techniques? Is customer service at the top of the list in your company? We want to know!