St. Peter, the King of Customer Service
St. Peter Teaches Us Customer Service in His Lesson About Charity (1 Peter 4:8)
"Above all, have constant charity among yourselves, for charity covers a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8)
After reading this in the Epistle yesterday, I immediately thought — wow, not only is Peter the first Pope, but he’s also a master of Customer Service.
Okay—I know—I probably shouldn’t be thinking about stuff like this during mass. But this happens a lot. I get many of these content ideas during mass. So it’s probably the Spirit speaking to me.
Let’s dig in.
The core point of this passage is to have charity when dealing with those around us. Charity is, of course, the greatest of all the virtues. When we think of charity, we often consider how we deal with our neighbors. But what’s stopping us from applying it to business?
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Whether you run a coffee shop or a software company, you deal with customers daily. Each interaction is a little game. You win or lose points. More points = a higher chance of future business. Stack up enough points, the customer may become a champion of your business, increasing your reach and giving you free marketing.
We all have establishments like this: a restaurant that notices the details. Coffee shops that remember our orders. It adds up and makes us feel good about it. So, we tell our friends about it. It’s natural to share our affinity for such establishments.
If we get this excited about human establishments, how are we not burning like an asteroid on re-entry about the Divine Establishment?
After all, this Divine Establishment is the reason we all exist. It’s the purpose behind our lives. It’s the sustaining force that helps us cope with life's challenges (especially when the tax bill comes due).
When we develop a deep sense of — and habit for the virtue of charity, we view every interaction with our neighbors differently. We see Jesus in them.
Now, let’s apply that to Customer Service.
Angry customer + Charity —> Customer feels heard and understood (and is likely not angry anymore)
New customer + Charity —> Potential repeat customer
Happy customer + Charity —> Happier customer who tells their friends about you
Customer having a challenge with our product + Charity —> New respect for your business because you owned the mistake and are making it right
When you add up all these interactions—if your response to everything is Charity, people will notice.
Aside from repeat business, people will start to realize “There is something different about that person. A certain peace of soul. And I want to know more about it.”
This, my friends, is where the money is. And by money, I mean conversion.
“Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.” St. Francis of Assisi (probably)
That quote captures the essence of what we are aiming to accomplish here. Our conduct is meant to shine the light of Christ. At some point, most people around us have a heart-opening moment, and light shines in.
We never know when that will be—we never know how much the light helps melt the walls—we just need to shine that light and let God do the rest.
Resolve! Going forward, make Charity the basis of your Customer Service strategy. It will benefit your business, and more importantly, it will spiritually benefit everyone you come into contact with.
Adopt a charity-first mentality.
Teach your team the meaning of this (if your CS team isn’t Catholic, this in itself is an evangelization opportunity).
Implement an aspiration (short prayer) before each customer interaction.
Role-play challenging situations so you’re used to dealing with them when they arise.
Lead by example as the founder.
Facilitating Personal Spiritual Growth
Once you understand this mentality, dealing with a customer is a way to unite yourself closer to God throughout the day as you work. Work doesn’t have to separate you from mental closeness to God.
In our last post, we referenced The Stages of The Spiritual Life. The highest of these (the level all saints reached) is unitive. In the unitive way, we are habitually aware of the presence of God in our lives—essentially making every moment of our lives a constant prayer.
We have practical considerations, like providing for our families. The best part is that these duties don’t need to be separate from unity with God. Each action can be done as well as possible as an offering to God.
What a beautiful situation!
We can elevate our work to the level of prayer. That, in turn, helps us practice closeness to God, benefiting us spiritually. This applies to every work (not just customer service). They always say practice makes perfect. Practicing charity towards our customers for ~8 hours a day helps us practice charity towards our families when we get home.
How blessed we are as entrepreneurs to have this opportunity to improve spiritually while we do work that fulfills us!
Recap
The practice of charity helps us in our dealings with friends and family and also with our customers.
When we practice charity towards everyone, including our customers, we evangelize by action.
Having a business is a blessing that allows us to practice and strengthen this virtue of charity countless times a day.
See ya next time!
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