Appreciative Inquiry Case: Inconsistent Service

Kylie Bell gives a first example of Appreciative Inquiry's use in a situation with a retail client that was experiencing inconsistent customer service. By flipping the define stage to wanting high quality service, she and the client worked to discover what was already happening when they were delivering well. Dreaming big, they then designed a specific approach to ensure that every time customers came in, they received the best service. They were motivated by imagining positive customer reactions based on the improved experience. The client is now receiving excellent feedback more frequently.

In the case of a retail client, Appreciative Inquiry revealed:

• Define (inconsistent customer service - replace with high quality service
• Discover (best feedback, what and why)
• Dream (visualize best service)
• Design (every customer has best experience)
• Destiny (motivation to make dream a reality)