David Beckham scored 114 goals over the course of his 20-year football career. More than half of those goals were a result of what’s known as a ‘set piece’. A ‘set piece’ is a carefully orchestrated and practised move in a team game that returns the ball to play. Beckham became an outstanding player because of his dedication to rehearsing exactly what he would do when a particular situation arose in the game.

Having a ‘set piece’ plan can help us to excel in many areas of both business and life, but we rarely take advantage of it. Every day you experience average customer service that could be transformed with a ‘set piece’ plan. On Saturday when I was out to breakfast with my family we asked for a side of honey with our toast. The waiter said he would bring it right away. There was still no sign of the honey long after the toast was demolished. Of course, in the scheme of things the forgotten honey is a tiny thing, but those little things add up. They become the stuff of your brand story—the things customers remember (and share) about your business and the experience they had. The good news is it’s easy to create and implement a plan that fixes the problem so your service can be as consistent as David Beckham’s free kicks.

How To Create A Simple Set Piece Plan

1. Make a list of the most common customer service requests or interactions you’d like to improve.

2. Pinpoint the source of the disappointment.

3. Create a simple ‘if-then’ plan that details the ideal way to handle the situation.

• If a customer complains, first we do x, then we follow up with yz.
• If a customer knocks on the door five minutes before we open, then we…
• If we make a mistake with an order, then…

4. Assess how effective your ‘set piece’ plan is by measuring how empowered your team feels and also by monitoring customer satisfaction.

The brands that delight us anticipate and plan for what’s about to happen next long before it does.

Image by Ronnie MacDonald.