{"id":4140,"date":"2019-06-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wheels2025dev.wpenginepowered.com\/resource\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T15:54:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T15:54:37","slug":"customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/resource\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Customer Driven: Why Authenticity Matters in Customer Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

How do you achieve the \u201choly grail\u201d of customer service? To help answer that question you can seek the advice written in the hundreds of thousands of books on the topic, attend seminars and conferences, conduct online research \u2013 your resources are endless. Googling the phrase \u201ccustomer service\u201d returns 786,000,000 search results! If you work in customer service and have the desire to fulfill your intellectual curiosity, you\u2019ve likely clicked into many of these results to investigate further in hopes of refining your skills.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve read the books, attended the seminars, sifted through the online search results in pursuit of that \u201choly grail.\u201d While I\u2019ve collected some valuable insights, I\u2019ve discovered something that is difficult to teach and to learn, but in my opinion, just might be the \u201choly grail\u201d of customer service that everyone is searching for\u2026authenticity.<\/p>\n

Authenticity Is The Key To Customer Relationships<\/h2>\n

Think about an interaction you\u2019ve had, business or personal, where the person knows a lot about the topic, can answer all of our questions but lacked energy. Maybe their gaze drifted away a few times, or you didn\u2019t hear the passion in their voice. Even if they knew all the answers, it likely left you unfulfilled.<\/p>\n

Now reflect upon a time in which you are working with someone that just \u201cgets you.\u201d\u00a0 What was it about that interaction that made you feel that way? Maybe they asked you questions instead of just providing answers. Maybe they worked harder to understand you, your motivation and how they could help.<\/p>\n

The people who lead these types of interactions are the ones you remember; the people who you form long-lasting relationships with. You trust them and believe they have your best interest in mind because they are authentic. They stay true to their own personality; they demonstrate spirit. They care about and believe in who and what they are representing. And in the world of customer service that translates into receiving the service that you expect and deserve.<\/p>\n

The reason why the topic came to the forefront for me this week was because we recently lost an authentic person in the Wheels\u2019 family, and the overall fleet industry.\u00a0 For those who had the pleasure of knowing and working with Mary Olson, you saw firsthand how being authentic, trustworthy, loyal and passionate resulted in a rewarding life for Mary, and for those she worked with and educated in the fleet industry.\u00a0 Mary will be missed by many, but she leaves behind a great path to follow.<\/p>\n

Where Can You Build Authenticity In Your Work?<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s take an authenticity lesson from Mary and rise to the challenge. At your next meeting, don\u2019t worry about your agenda, instead worry about your client\u2019s, co-worker\u2019s, supplier\u2019s agenda. \u00a0Ask about their issues, concerns, and motivation \u2013 put yourself in their shoes.\u00a0 Ask yourself what can you do to help them achieve, break through and improve?<\/p>\n

Join the conversation! Email me at\u00a0ljozwiak@wheels.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on\u00a0Fleet Management Weekly<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do you achieve the \u201choly grail\u201d of customer service? To help answer that question you can seek the advice written in the hundreds of thousands of books on the topic, attend seminars and conferences, conduct online research \u2013 your resources are endless. Googling the phrase \u201ccustomer service\u201d returns 786,000,000 search results! If you work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":22989075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"project_category":[17],"project_tag":[],"class_list":["post-4140","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project_category-blog","topics-customer-success"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCustomer Driven: Why Authenticity Matters in Customer Service<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Authenticity is the key to strengthening relationships with everyone - internal and external customers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Customer Driven: Why Authenticity Matters in Customer Service\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Authenticity is the key to strengthening relationships with everyone - internal and external customers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/resource\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wheels\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-28T15:54:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Wheels_SM_CHI_092425_Office_Environment_Branding_0761_optimized_300.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1238\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"826\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/resource\\\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/resource\\\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\\\/\",\"name\":\"Customer Driven: Why Authenticity Matters in Customer Service\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/resource\\\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/resource\\\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/Wheels_SM_CHI_092425_Office_Environment_Branding_0761_optimized_300.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-21T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-28T15:54:37+00:00\",\"description\":\"Authenticity is the key to strengthening relationships with everyone - internal and external customers.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/resource\\\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/resource\\\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/resource\\\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/Wheels_SM_CHI_092425_Office_Environment_Branding_0761_optimized_300.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/Wheels_SM_CHI_092425_Office_Environment_Branding_0761_optimized_300.jpeg\",\"width\":1238,\"height\":826,\"caption\":\"Two Wheels employees walking down hallway of Wheels office\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/resource\\\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Resources\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/resource\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Customer Driven: Why Authenticity Matters in Customer Service\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/\",\"name\":\"Wheels\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wheels.com\\\/public\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Customer Driven: Why Authenticity Matters in Customer Service","description":"Authenticity is the key to strengthening relationships with everyone - internal and external customers.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Customer Driven: Why Authenticity Matters in Customer Service","og_description":"Authenticity is the key to strengthening relationships with everyone - internal and external customers.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/resource\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\/","og_site_name":"Wheels","article_modified_time":"2026-05-28T15:54:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1238,"height":826,"url":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Wheels_SM_CHI_092425_Office_Environment_Branding_0761_optimized_300.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/resource\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\/","url":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/resource\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\/","name":"Customer Driven: Why Authenticity Matters in Customer Service","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/resource\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/resource\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Wheels_SM_CHI_092425_Office_Environment_Branding_0761_optimized_300.jpeg","datePublished":"2019-06-21T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-28T15:54:37+00:00","description":"Authenticity is the key to strengthening relationships with everyone - internal and external customers.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/resource\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/resource\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/resource\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Wheels_SM_CHI_092425_Office_Environment_Branding_0761_optimized_300.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Wheels_SM_CHI_092425_Office_Environment_Branding_0761_optimized_300.jpeg","width":1238,"height":826,"caption":"Two Wheels employees walking down hallway of Wheels office"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/resource\/customer-driven-why-authenticity-matters-in-customer-service\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Resources","item":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/resource\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Customer Driven: Why Authenticity Matters in Customer Service"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/","name":"Wheels","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/4140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/4140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22989075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_category?post=4140"},{"taxonomy":"project_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wheels.com\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_tag?post=4140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}