10 Fun and Creative Ways to Celebrate National Customer Service Week

 You know I'm all in for National Customer Service Week! Here are ten ways you can celebrate your team!

One. Have Your CEO come to your contact center and take phone calls!

When I managed a contact center, I invited our CEO to spend 15 minutes on the phone, surrounded by our representatives, and take phone calls. Watching our top dog struggle to answer customer questions was hella fun. Customers were astounded to learn they were talking to the CEO. The best part was the time my employees spent with the CEO. We laughed and had an unforgettable experience! The CEO took only two or three calls, which was perfect. 

Two. Food, food, food! 

Food is always a hit, but I want you to think out of the box. Bring in dishes from a different culture each National Customer Service Week day! Imagine the palates when you draw on influences from Ethiopia, India, the Caribbean, The Bronx, and more!

Three. Have theme days.

Give people a reason to dress up, and have fun! Here are some examples.

Team Spirit Day

One day during National Customer Service Week, invite everyone to wear a short or jesey supporting their favorite team. This favorite can be their kids' school team, professional ball club, or a local pickleball group! 

70s or 80s Day

People can go to thrift stores, costume shops, Amazon, or even make costumes for a fun throwback day!

Twin Day

The staff at my church did this, and it's so cool! Encourage people to find a partner, and both dress up as twins. People will scurry to find matching outfits, pull together similar hairstyles, and grab the same shoes. This theme helps people establish fun connections with another person on the team!

Barbie (or Marvel) Day

Dress up as a Barbie or Marvel superhero of your choice. Barbie's likely to be a big hit for Halloween costumes, so people can find attire easily. 

Monochrome Day

This is super easy to pull off and fun! People wear all one color from head to toe!

Four. Guess the baby

Gather baby pictures of your employees, print and hang them, then have people guess the baby!

Five. DIY plant bar! 

Partner with a succulent shop to set up a plant bar (or find someone with a green thumb on your team). Your employees will pick a plant, choose a pot, grab a spot, and plant arrangement to display on their desks or take home! 

Six. Do a Soul-Train Line

Have your team create a short playlist, and form two lines with a space in the middle for dancers to strut down and dance in consecutive order! Warning: the music might get explicit, so place restrictions if you like. You can't do this within earshot of the phones. ;) 

Seven. Start, Stop, Continue.

If you've attended any of my workshops, you know I end each program by having participants set goals for one thing they'll start doing, one thing they'll stop doing, and one thing they'll continue to do. Flip this activity for National Customer Service Week. Ask your team what you, the company/leadership, should start, stop, and continue to do. It's best to make the responses anonymous. You'll get powerful insights from this query, and you'll validate your team's voice!

Eight. Show and tell.

Everyone brings something of significance to your younger self. This can be anything - a photo, CD, drawing, favorite toy, or book. You'll learn so much about each other with this activity!

Nine. Getting to know you

Have everyone take the same personality test, then gather and share what you've learned!

Ten. Gift card day

This is a fun take on the White Elephant gift exchange. Everyone brings exactly a $10 gift card (this can be an e-gift card as long as people print out the card). Like the White Elephone gift exchange, the first person pulls a concealed gift card, and the turn ends. On subsequent turns, each person can either unwrap a new card t or steal another's. When a person's gift is stolen, that person can either choose another wrapped gift to open or steal from another player.

Get creative and have fun with National Customer Service Week!