Even the best customer service strategies can be undermined if customer-facing employees aren’t effectively doing their jobs. When service suffers, it’s easy to write it off as apathy, laziness, or an unwillingness to comply with company goals and values. However, the challenge isn’t determining whether certain employees are valuable to the organization, it is figuring out why employees aren’t executing a well-thought-out customer service strategy. One of the most common culprits is a lack of employee empowerment. If workers don’t have the resources or authority to ensure a positive customer experience, it’s almost guaranteed they won’t be able to deliver stellar customer service. On the other hand, if an employee is autonomously able to meet a customer’s every need, service is improved and the company’s customer base can grow. So how do managers empower their employees? The first way is to give them authority. Employees must be given a degree of autonomy and latitude to work with a customer’s individual needs. Employees must also be well trained in order to troubleshoot problems that will inevitably arise.