The recipient of a prank, joke, awesome play in many sports and a number of other moments one would wish to forget, are followed up with the one delivering said insult, “You got served.” When did getting served come to represent an insult or a thing of shame? One of the oldest books and arguably the bestselling book, the Bible, states that the greatest servant of these is the greatest of these. Being served is great, but serving is even greater. When it comes to customer service, we should always strive to be greater.

The failure with customer service takes place when we forget to be of service and neglect to view it as an honor. Success is entwined with service. There does not need to be some five or ten step process to customer service. Whether you are fortunate enough to provide service for someone’s special wedding day, night out on the town or heartbreaking process of picking out a casket, small, medium, or large, to be of service is an honor.

Someone, somewhere is inviting you into his or her life, even if for a moment in time. You have to seize that moment and make sure that even if you are simply selling cookies, your customers will only want cookies from you. Maybe not only for the taste, but for the feeling. One of the greatest humanitarians, Dr. Maya Angelou said, “I’ve learned people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” The customer service you provide should be favorably unforgettable. Unforgettable is unbeatable.

In this life there are many things that can be altered. However, there is one thing you cannot alter and that is a first impression. When providing customer service, it is critical that your first impression is extraordinary. You cannot change it and you never get a second chance at it.

Take back the true intention and meaning of being served. In honor, be of service. As the extraordinary orator and Civil Rights Activist, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” Be honorable. Be great. Be of service!

Veronica Lipsey