The experts teach customer care

Educators, health care workers and many from both the public and private sectors feel they don’t need customer service training, because they don’t serve “customers.” Customer service is

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Preface

Preface

Introduction to “The Experts Teach: Customer Care”

In each of “The Experts Teach” series, we’ve gathered together some of the world’s best thinkers to share their ideas with you Their ideas offer new, refreshing, and insightful ways to look at old themes, allowing you to discover new perspectives, develop your understanding, and change the way you think

Profile of Editor Eric Garner

Eric Garner is an experienced management trainer with a knack for bringing the best out of individuals and teams Eric founded ManageTrainLearn in 1995 as a corporate training company in the UK specialising in the 20 skills that people need for professional and personal success today Since 2002,

as part of KSA Training Ltd, ManageTrainLearn has been a major player in the e-learning market Eric has a simple mission: to turn ManageTrainLearn into the best company in the world for producing and delivering quality online management products

Profile of ManageTrainLearn

ManageTrainLearn is one of the top companies on the Internet for management training products, materials, and resources Products range from training course plans to online courses, manuals to teambuilder exercises, mobile management apps to one-page skill summaries and a whole lot more Whether you’re a manager, trainer, or learner, you’ll find just what you need at ManageTrainLearn to skyrocket your professional and personal success

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Acknowledgements

The authors of each article in this book have given permission for us to re-publish their work and bring them to a wider audience Unless it states to the contrary, the copyright of the article belongs to each author Each article concludes with a bio of the author and links to their website, if available We also publish their written reprint/republication permission with a link to the relevant web page, if available All such permissions are valid at time of publication If these permissions have been amended or changed without our knowledge, please email us at eric@managetrainlearn.com so that we can take appropriate corrective action

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What Makes a Customer? by Nelson Scott

1 What Makes a Customer?

by Nelson Scott

Many of those who attend my seminars are resistant to the concept of customer service Educators, health care workers and many from both the public and private sectors feel they don’t need customer service training, because they don’t serve “customers.” Customer service is something they associate with retail businesses As customers themselves, they wish that those who work in these businesses were better trained to serve customers But, they don’t see the need for it in their own organization

To address this resistance, I created a formula that defines what a customer is It demonstrates that no matter what business we are in, we are in the business of serving customers

C = P + N (e + p)

The customer (C) is a person (P) with a need (N) to be fulfilled By defining customer this way, the formula clarifies the relationship that exists between the person who requires a product or service and those who supply that service

Based on this understanding, teachers have parents and students as their customers Nurses, dentists and doctors have patients Therapists, consultants and lawyers have clients Performers and athletes have fans Civil servants have citizens or taxpayers Hotels have guests, and transportation companies have passengers

Some people only have contact with others who work for their organization For these people, co-workers are their customers They serve internal customers

Most customers have two sets of needs (N) One is for a product or service (p) which is relatively easy

to deliver, be it an item such as new furniture, a meal or the latest novel; or service such as learning to read, a few stitches after an accident or a business trip

The second need (N) is more difficult to meet Most purchasing decisions have an emotional (e) component People need to feel good about their decision, whether it is the school in which they enroll their children or a new plasma TV This is where customer service comes into play Customers feel better about doing business with people who are polite, patient and respectful They want to feel valued and heard

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What Makes a Customer? by Nelson Scott

About the author

A professional trainer, speaker, and consultant since 1995, Nelson Scott works with organizations that are committed to making the right hiring decisions, developing and retaining productive staff, and strengthening relationships with customers Learn more by visiting www.seaconsultingonline.com or e-mailing nmscott@telus.net

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Top 10 Worst Things to Say to Angry Customers by Jeff Mowatt

2 Top 10 Worst Things to Say to

Angry Customers by Jeff Mowatt

You may have great products but you can still have customer service problems caused by bad weather, equipment failures, or human error While you can’t control external events, you can control what you say to upset customers Certain phrases will serve to either diffuse or enflame After over 20 years of speaking at conferences and training teams on customer service, here are my top ten worst things to say

to unhappy customers (from least offensive to worst), along with tips for regaining trust

10 “Want the good news or bad?”

When customers hear bad news they tend to catastrophize They become so focused on the obstacles that they don’t see the bigger picture So when you have both good news and bad to deliver, begin with the good That way they begin with the proper perspective

9 “Bear with us.”

To customers, that phrase comes across as an order It also implies that your service is something

to be tolerated When problems occur, it’s better to express appreciation than give orders Instead, say: “We appreciate your patience.”

8 “We can’t…”

Customers don’t want to hear what you can’t do You need to move quickly to, “Here’s what

we can do…”

7 “It won’t be here until…”

Similar to phrase #8, the wording here is negative Instead, word your message positively with,

“It will be here as soon as…”

6 “Yes, but…”

The word ‘but’ negates whatever precedes it Responding to a customer with, “Yes, but…” means you’ve started an argument Instead, replace but with and as in, “Yes, and…”

5 “Looks like shipping messed-up.”

Blaming other employees, departments, or suppliers looks like deflecting responsibility You represent your company so take ownership on behalf of your entire team with words like,

“Looks like we messed up.” Better yet state, “Your problem just became my problem I’m going

to pursue this until it’s resolved and you tell me you’re satisfied.”

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3 “Our policy is…”

When foul-ups occur customers don’t want to hear your standard procedures After all, mistakes should be a rare occurrence right? Instead, explain why the policy is there If the policy doesn’t make sense, then obviously it should be changed When training your team, make sure everyone understands which procedures are meant to be guidelines; not policies

2 “What do you want us to do?”

The customer’s response to this question may be physically uncomfortable, “I’ll tell you what you can do with this product!” Instead ask, “What will work best for you?” Another option is

to state, “We want to do the right thing What do you think would be fair?” Then, on top of fixing the problem add a slight extra that helps compensate customers for the hassle That way you convert an upset customer into an advocate

1 “You jerk!”(or other colorful names when a customer swears at you)

I believe employees are paid to take the heat; not the abuse When dealing with a customer who

is swearing at you over the phone, state, “Mr X, I want to help you But I can’t help you when you’re using that language So, let’s resolve this without using that language.” If they continue swearing, then say, “Mr X, as I said, I want to help you but I can’t help you when you’re using that language So, I’m going to hang up now Please call back when you’re ready to talk about this without using that language Good bye.” Then, immediately brief your supervisor so they’ll

be forewarned when the caller phones asking to speak with the manager

Bottom line – It’s human nature for employees to want to avoid dealing with angry customers But in the real world of delays and occasional mistakes, avoiding confrontation is impossible Now and then, things will go wrong In too many organizations the default becomes, “You’ll need to speak with my manager.” Of course, this worsens customer aggravation because it forces them to repeat themselves And

it makes employees feel like doormats You’ll have happier customers and a more engaged workforce by equipping your team with simple communication tools to use when things go wrong

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Top 10 Worst Things to Say to Angry Customers by Jeff Mowatt

About the author

Customer service strategist and professional speaker, Jeff Mowatt is an authority on The Art of Client Service…Influence with Ease® For Jeff’s other tips, self-study resources, and training services on establishing rapport, click http://www.jeffmowatt.com/individual/greetingcustomers.html

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Customer Service – The Disney Way by Martin Haworth

3 Customer Service – The Disney

Way by Martin Haworth

The customer service at Walt Disney World in Florida had always been exemplary Yet on this occasion,

as the new millennium began, there was something wrong…

We had been there a number of times Ever since our first trip there in 1980 – quite an adventure at that time when travelling from the UK On that very first visit, my wife was pregnant with our first child, yet this visit in the year 2000, seemed to show us how things had changed

Back in 1980, we bought ‘Disney Dollars’ a gift voucher featuring all the stars of the shows There were three denominations and we brought them home and had them framed, back and front

In 2000, we wanted to add to our collection with the souvenir millennium ones, yet left it to our very last night to make our purchase

Imagine our disappointment when we went to Guest Services at the bottom of Main Street to hear that the $10 voucher was being only sold in EPCOT, as a ‘trial’ Not being one to give up on this, I wished

to register my complaint and asked for a senior manager, only to be told that there was no-one about

So I then asked for the name of the manager at the most senior level in Disney World, but again, I was told just to write to Customer Services and I was given an address in Florida

That wasn’t good enough for me, so I suggested that I would write to Michael Eisner in Burbank, California, where Disney’s corporate head office is I was told by the guest services representative that,

‘I’d never hear back from him’!

When I got home, that is exactly what I did And about three weeks after I sent off the letter, I had a phone call – in fact, I had two phone calls, because I was out when the first one was fielded by my wife

In the second 20-minute call (not, I hasten to add, from Micheal Eisner, but from a nice lady ‘in his office’), she profusely apologised, questioned me a lot on the issue that I’d raised and pointed me in the direction of where I could buy these vouchers by post It was a detailed enquiry, so that ‘we can learn from your experience and put it right’

I was impressed

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Customer Service – The Disney Way by Martin Haworth

But not so impressed as I was four months later when I received a two-page letter from another department, explaining what they had done to rectify the experience I’d had, in detail, as well as sending

me a full set of the vouchers I’d wanted in the first place, free of charge

The Disney experience is one which is well known – in fact the way their customer service process works has been described at length in a great little book called “Be Our Guest” as part of their Disney Institute offer

Both these are worth checking out if you want to understand better how exemplary customer service works, from an organisation who truly know how to do it

About the author:

by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com

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Service With a Smile! by Bob Selden

4 Service With a Smile!

by Bob Selden

There have been a couple of interesting service stories in the press over the last week Getting front line staff to provide excellent, even good customer service seems to be the perennial management challenge This appears even more challenging when times are tough and businesses are scrambling for that extra sale

What are the latest attempts at meeting this challenge?

The first is an old one that has been tried before and is now being trotted out once again In the US, Delta Airlines has revived its “Red Coats” customer support service (dropped in 2005 when Delta was

in Chapter 11) For those in the US old enough to remember, “Red Coats” was probably named after the US railway’s “Red Caps” – the porters who provided excellent service to rail passengers (they’re still around in some places, but who travels by rail anymore?)

www.job.oticon.dk

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The idea behind the Red Coats service is that these people will be out with the customers answering questions and helping out, rather than behind the counter And they will be able to issue boarding passes from hand-held machines Like their counter colleagues, they will not however have access to the airline’s computer data to check on customer details, flyer-frequency etc They won’t have any more responsibility than their counter staff colleagues, but, they will be paid more!

Along similar lines, American Airlines are to give bonuses of $100 to $200 to customer service representatives who meet certain service satisfaction goals (perhaps this is tipping by another name?)

A different approach is being tried in Japan Tokyo railway workers at Keihin Express Railway Co have the option of checking the degree of their smile on a “smile meter” Using a digital camera on top of their PCs, customer service staff are able to get a reading on how well they are smiling before they start their service shift The smiling rating goes from “0? (grim faced) to “100? (a very broad smile) Company managers (who can also test their smiles) believe that “a smile goes a long way” to providing excellent service (anyone who has traveled on the Tokyo subway can attest to the service challenges these staff face)

By now you can no doubt spot the different management philosophies at play in these two approaches The first is once again, bribing people to perform And they are not being given any more responsibility than others who are not being bribed The second, which is optional, leaves it to the individual to take direct responsibility for his or her performance

Which will be more successful?

Well, if history can be any gauge, US airlines have been notoriously poor performers in the area of customer service For instance, in the most recent airline surveys (Skytrax), there are 34 airlines rated higher than Delta or American – both of whom, only get a 3-star ranking By comparison the six 5-star service airlines are all Asian as are 12 of the 29 4-star airlines

What underpins these differing results? As any well-read student of customer service will tell you, service starts with management If managers treat their staff the way they want their staff to treat the customer, then they will get good service results Are Delta and American managers to be rewarded for treating their staff better?

Now, you could say that there are cultural issues that impact the differing results here And you’d be right But there is also a very important management principle that seems to have been overlooked by the US airlines – what really motivates people to perform at their best?

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You might think that I am being rather hard on the US airlines Well, those Asian airlines who have tried the “bribery” approach have also failed One such attempt was tried by Garuda with fatal (yes, cost of human life) results Garuda, by the way still only rate as a 3-star airline

Until the US airline managers and others with similar mindsets can work out what motivates people, their latest efforts at improving customer service will have no greater impact than what has been tried before There’s no substitute for good management and leadership

About the author

Bob Selden is the author of the best-selling “What To Do When You Become The Boss” – a self-help book for new managers – see details at http://www.whenyoubecometheboss.com/ He’s also coached at one of the world’s premier business schools, the Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland and regularly advises managers around the globe on their current challenges

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The View from the Front Line by Jim Clemmer

5 The View from the Front

Line by Jim Clemmer

Employees who deal directly with the public are valuable players in building a customer-focused organization Their potential, however, is often overlooked Only a tiny fraction of customer complaints and suggestions ever reaches top management’s attention

To tap this motherlode of suggestions and ideas, companies must set up processes to make internal communication easier – and they must invite frontline employees to pass along what they hear

That’s been the goal of Blue Mountain Resorts, a ski resort about two hours north of Toronto President Gordon Canning and his vice-presidents regularly run meetings with frontline employees to ask: “What are our customers telling you?”

The feedback is recorded and posted on bulletin boards for all to see Issues and opportunities that arise from these meetings are put on management meeting agendas and relentlessly tracked until they’ve been acted upon or proved unworkable

Input can come from many sources: from busboys noticing uneaten food (they’re expected to ask the customer why); or from bar servers receiving repeated requests for a particular snack that’s unavailable

These steps have improved customer satisfaction dramatically – to the extent that Mr Canning got a standing ovation from the resort’s members at the annual meeting

Vancouver-based Finning Ltd., is another company that has taken the opportunity to involve frontline people in eliciting customer feedback Finning, the world’s largest Caterpillar dealer, has implemented

a complaint management system that makes employees the eyes and ears of the organization

“We’re located in a number of small communities across Western Canada,” explains Ron Clark, general manager of branch operations “Many of our customers are friends with our employees They play ball and drink beer together

“In the past, when customers mentioned a service or equipment problem, most employees couldn’t do much more than show some empathy or apologize for it Now we’ve given them a process to bring those problems forward and have them dealt with.”

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The View from the Front Line by Jim Clemmer

Once a particular complaint is voiced, it is recorded and added to a data base that pinpoints deeper problems in processes or systems that need attention

In any company, frontline employees are not just important sources of customer feedback – they play direct roles in raising satisfaction Research consistently shows that customer and employee satisfaction are intertwined You seldom find happy customers being served by unhappy employees It doesn’t take

an organization psychologist to figure that out

Customer service, especially service that delights and astounds, is voluntary Employees decide whether

to follow strict company policy, or make a little exception for a customer’s unique circumstances They can decide whether to call customers by name, or treat them as more files to be managed, more calls to

be handled, more mouths to be fed

Going the extra step to take care of an unusual request is often optional The degree to which employees make those decisions in favor of the customer, depends upon the environment they are working in

About the author

Jim Clemmer has been writing and speaking about leadership, change, team, and organization effectiveness for over 30 years His extensive research, broad experience with hundreds of organizations and thousands of people, and deep understanding of these topics makes him an internationally recognized leader in the field Beyond his seven books, he’s written hundreds of columns and articles for newspapers and magazines

Reprint Information

In this video, Jim Clemmer confirms that you are welcome to reproduce his articles in magazines, ezines, and publications as long as the attribution is included Here is the video:

http://www.clemmergroup.com/free-articles-videos.php

Jim also says that, if you’d like to send these articles to colleagues, we encourage you to pass along, share,

or reprint any material you find in this section

http://www.clemmergroup.com/leadership-articles.php

Original resource:

http://www.clemmergroup.com/the-view-from-the-front-line.php

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From Ichiban to Kaizen by Erica Rowntree

6 From Ichiban to Kaizen

It all starts at Boot Camp It’s 48 hours

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Turning a challenge into a learning curve.

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3 Everyone a Front-Liner

Rosabeth Moss Kanter said that, “No matter what strategy leaders inside the organisation devise, what customers see is at the front line.” This was brought home very forcibly in a UK

TV programme a few years ago when top executives swapped jobs with their front-line staff

In nearly every case, they were astonished at the difference between the customer strategy they thought was working and the one that actually was If you want to stay in touch with what your customers experience, you have to be a front-liner all the time, either by exercises such

as “in-touch” days, or by systems that allow you to constantly know what the customer thinks

5 Mobilizing Your Workforce

Japan is a country of few natural resources Compared to other parts of the world, such as Africa, she is a poor country However, unlike other countries, Japan is super-rich in the one resource that matters: her people Through lifelong attention to this resource, from school through university and throughout their working lives, Japanese business has no choice but to mobilize every ounce of intelligence from their workers That’s why, when it comes to quality and customer service, Japan is streets ahead of every other country in the world

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a garden You aim for perfection You fail and try again You need to become an expert You only learn by trying and learning

The result of these 7 Japanese-inspired strategies was the demise of many industries in the West Fortunately, the lessons were, and are still being, learnt And that is, that to ensure your survival as a business, you must turn everything you do into a customer-focused enterprise

About the author

Erica Rowntree is an article contributor at ManageTrainLearn, the site that will change the way you learn forever Download free samples of the biggest range of management and personal development materials anywhere and experience learning like you always dreamed possible; http://www.managetrainlearn.com

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Good Sticky vs Bad Sticky by Thomas Cox

7 Good Sticky vs Bad Sticky

or primary spoken languages – for most of us, these would be very tough or impossible Sticky

Sticky, however, comes in these two flavors, good and bad When it comes to my kids, I’m glad I couldn’t conceive of swapping them out for new kids That’s because we have a special relationship, and no new kids could take their places When you’re glad to have the relationship, that’s good-sticky

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Good Sticky vs Bad Sticky by Thomas Cox

We all have business relationships that are good-sticky too – an excellent accountant, for example, who

is always helping save us money A great dentist who makes you comfortable and does great work fast You could change – you just don’t want to

And finally there’s the bad-sticky business relationships The ones you’d like to change, yet you feel you can’t The payroll service that you think will be too difficult to change The accountant who confuses you The old computer system that’s not compatible with anything else Run away from these

And when it comes to being in a business relationship, you want your customers to feel that good stickiness – they could change to someone else, they just don’t want to

About the author

Tom Cox is CEO at B-Studio Business Videos, Managing Consultant at Cox Business Consulting, Inc., and CEO at GrowthMaps

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More is Said than Done about Improving Customer Service by Jim Clemmer

8 More is Said than Done

about Improving Customer

Service by Jim Clemmer

“Customer demands are getting harder and harder to meet That’s great because it’s getting tougher for our competition to survive.” – Comment from the CEO of a very successful company

Effective teams, organizations, and leaders exist to serve others And those who provide the highest levels

of service/quality enjoy the richest rewards That’s not just some platitude or warm and fuzzy theory; it’s become a well-proven fact In Firing on All Cylinders I reviewed much of this evidence I showed that those organizations with the highest service/quality levels have the highest levels of growth in revenue, customer satisfaction and retention, market share, productivity, safety, and employee morale while also reducing costs So it’s not surprising that the best service/quality leaders are also profitable leaders

Since writing Firing on All Cylinders, the research continues to pour in My files are bulging with study after study showing that outstanding service/quality performance is one of the key contributors to outstanding financial performance

It’s nothing new Peter Drucker has been reminding us for decades now that the only reason for the existence of any business is to get and keep customers Winston Churchill once said, “If you aim to profit, learn to please.” A century ago, Russell Conwell would conclude his famous “Acres of Diamonds” speeches

by urging his listeners to start their search for riches by “first knowing the demand.” He continued, “You must first know what people need, and then invest yourself where you are most needed.”

Understanding and managing to current customer expectations means having both the will and the way We must first agree that our customers’ expectations and perceptions of the value they receive from

us is a key driver of our business Then we need to systematically turn soft customer expectations and perceptions into hard, manageable data That calls for the discipline of a rigorous management system and process

A service/quality improvement system can be boiled down to three major steps: (1) Identify Current Customers/Partners; (2) Prioritize Expectations; and (3) Gap Analysis These steps are part of the rigorous goals, measurements, and standards we need to continually improve our current products and services

to our existing customers

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More is Said than Done about Improving Customer Service by Jim Clemmer

But these management steps need to be counterbalanced with the leadership actions of exploring, searching, and creating tomorrow’s markets and customers, innovation, and organizational learning

Lots of Customer Talk, Little Action

“Ninety-five percent of managers today say the right thing Five percent actually do it.” – James O’Toole, leadership professor, quoted in the Fortune article “The New Post-Heroic Leadership”

We have spoken to, or worked with, hundreds of management teams interested in becoming more

“customer-driven.” Many aspire, some understand, but only a few truly do Despite all the proclamations, catchy advertising slogans, and customer service publicity, service levels have improved only marginally

in the last few years As Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter puts it: “Despite the recent media coronation of King Customer, many customers will remain commoners…most businesses today say that they serve customers In reality, they serve themselves.”

About the author

Jim Clemmer has been writing and speaking about leadership, change, team, and organization effectiveness for over 30 years His extensive research, broad experience with hundreds of organizations and thousands of people, and deep understanding of these topics makes him an internationally recognized leader in the field Beyond his seven books, he’s written hundreds of columns and articles for newspapers and magazines

Reprint Information

In this video, Jim Clemmer confirms that you are welcome to reproduce his articles in magazines, ezines, and publications as long as the attribution is included Here is the video:

http://www.clemmergroup.com/free-articles-videos.php

Jim also says that, if you’d like to send these articles to colleagues, we encourage you to pass along, share,

or reprint any material you find in this section

http://www.clemmergroup.com/leadership-articles.php

Original resource:

http://www.clemmergroup.com/more-is-said-than-done-about-improving-customer-service.php

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How Powerful are Your Customers? by Bob Selden

9 How Powerful are Your

Customers? by Bob Selden

Three recent news stories in the Australian media, at first seemingly unrelated, have caught my attention

in recent days

“Norris’ pay cut after rate hike fury”

Commonwealth Bank of Australia customers have exercised their customer power over the chief executive Ralph Norris’s decision last November to push through a super-sized interest rate rise on mortgages

“Airline decides Singapore Girl ads still fly”

Singapore Girl makes her return to advertising after a five-year absence in a spot that harks back to an age when she was filmed in exotic locations delivering her trademark customer service

“Joyce has no choice but to push into Asia”

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Almost three years after he took the reins, the chief executive of Qantas, Alan Joyce, has taken the biggest gamble of his career It is also one of – if not the – biggest bets in Qantas’s 90-year history Joyce’s decision

to shift the Flying Kangaroo’s centre of gravity towards a lower cost base in Asia threatens to test the goodwill it has gained from the Australian public which could unleash it’s customer power

But there’s a common theme in all three stories: customer power

At last it seems as if customers, who have for so long taken a back seat to investors, are now coming into their own This is customer power in action

In the case of CEO Norris, his pay has been cut from $16.1 million last year to $8.6 million at June end this year And why?

After making a very unpopular decision late last year to raise interest rates above the level recommended by the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s customer satisfaction ranking dived

Much of Norris’ pay cut was due to a program, which tied long-term incentives for CBA executives to improvements in customer satisfaction After steadily climbing up the ranks under Norris, CBA was closing in on the top ranked ANZ Bank in terms of customer satisfaction until his decision saw the customer satisfaction ranking slip to number four amongst the big banks

The second story shows how Singapore Airlines have fared by placing a priority on customer satisfaction Established in 1972, Singapore Airlines has been ranked in the top three airlines in the world for their entire history They are also the second largest airline in the world (by market share)

Co-incidentally (or is it?) they have also consistently been one of the most profitable While many airlines have struggled financially over recent times, SIA made a profit of S$1.1 billion this financial year

Some analysts have suggested that SIA’s success (service and financial) is due to the lower wages paid in Asia I disagree Profit follows service, not service follows profit The service culture prevalent within SIA was highlighted recently when a flight attendant, asked why SIA provided such great service responded,

“We don’t aim to be the best; we just aim to do our best”

And so to the final story, Qantas, the “Flying Kangaroo” who for a number of years has had as its advertising theme “I still call Australia home”, using the iconic music and lyrics by the late Peter Allen

I’ve written previously about Qantas and its problematic future It seems as though CEO Joyce is now making a strategic decision to change the airline’s home base from Australia to Asia (rumoured, although not confirmed, to be Singapore)

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The logic is simple Cheaper costs, greater profits Ultimately, the changes are about significantly lowering Qantas’s cost base Joyce would not put a dollar figure on the costs to be stripped out of the international premium business, other than to say that it was “20 per cent more costly to run than competitors such

as Singapore Airlines.”

And this move is likely to reduce staff numbers by up to 1,000 These staff reductions are not in end functions or at the executive level, but rather pilots, cabin crew and ground staff – the front-end customer service people

back-The most lucrative business for airlines is in the premium business-class service Are current class customers going to be any better served with the changes announced by Joyce? (Qantas dropped to number eight most popular airline in the recent aviation satisfaction surveys) Will this move be likely

premium-to attract new cuspremium-tomers?

Ultimately it will be the customers and their customer power who make the decision on how successful this new Qantas strategy will be

As managers and leaders, my question is “What can we learn from these stories about customer power?”

In response, readers may point to the need to have a more balanced approach to stakeholder management, a.k.a the balanced scorecard And you’d be right – at least in theory In practice, how many organizations have such a balanced approach to stakeholder management? Which organizations recognize and harness customer power?

Four questions to consider as a leader/manager:

What went well or not so well in these three stories?

What can I learn as a leader/manager from these to harness customer power?

What would I (or my organization, my team) do differently in similar circumstances?

Is there something I now need to plan for as a result of this learning regarding customer power? If so, what?

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About the author

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The ABC of Superior Customer Service by Eric Garner

10 The ABC of Superior Customer

Service by Eric Garner

If you want your front-line staff to remember the essentials of customer care, there’s no better way to teach them than with the ABC of Superior Customer Service

A is for Attention to Detail Because when customers know you care passionately about the little things, they’ll know you care a great deal more about the big things

B is for Benefits which is all your customer wants you to tell them

C is for Complaints, your free marketing service

D is for Dedicated staff, because when the team is fully engaged, customer loyalty goes up by two-thirds

E is for Empowerment which means trusting and training your staff to do whatever it takes to thrill the customer

F is for Feelings As the Scottish Life advert says: “Make each customer feel like you’ve held the door open whilst laying your jacket across a puddle and then rescued their kitten from a tree.”

G is for Going Out Of Your Way, just like the engineer who took a 50-mile detour on his way home from work just to deliver a phone to a customer who had been waiting all day for it

H is for Hi-Tech, Hi-Touch, because when things get complicated, that’s when people want the personal touch

I is for Ichiban, the Japanese word for “wanting to be the best”

J is for the customer Journey, which you must know every inch of

K is for Kaizen, another Japanese word which means “continuous improvement”

L is for Loyalty, which you buy by engaging their minds and piercing their hearts

M is for Moments of Truth, those hundreds of opportunities every day to turn their heads

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The ABC of Superior Customer Service by Eric Garner

N is for Now For Something Extra, that ends every customer interaction on a high

O is for Observing your customers’ needs before they know them themselves

P is for the Pride that staff feel when they know they’re in a valued profession

Q is for Quality: of product, of service, of manners, of courteousness

R is for the golden Rule: the customer is always right, even when they’re wrong

S is for Sincere Smiles, that aren’t false but melt the coldest hearts

T is for Tact, the one thing your customers will notice but you must pretend not to

U is for Underpromise and Overdeliver, the simplest way to make someone’s day

V is for adding Value because there’s nothing so precious as your time, your care and your attention

W is for the Wow Factor, when you stop them in their tracks

X is for Xtraordinary service that is out of this world

Y is for Your Mum Was Right, because it’s all about respect

Z is for a good night’s Zzzzz’s after a great day’s work

Practise these attitudes and skills, and you’ll love your job and your customers will love you

About the author

Eric Garner runs ManageTrainLearn, the site with the biggest and most original range of management training materials on the Internet

http://www.managetrainlearn.com

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11 Customer Service v’s Customer

Satisfaction – What’s the

Difference? by Bob Selden

Providing good customer service does not always ensure customer satisfaction

I recently travelled on a regional train in Australia When booking my ticket I asked “What’s the difference between first and second class?” The booking clerk’s response was “Oh, there’s a bit more leg room in first class”

This experience reminded me of a presentation I once attended that was given by the General Manager

of a major five star hotel He often asks his new employees, “What’s the difference between our $300 dollar a night rooms and a $100 per night room at another local hotel?” He knew he was in trouble if the employee responded “$200?”

How to retain your

top staff

FIND OUT NOW FOR FREE Get your free trial

Because happy staff get more done

What your staff really want?

The top issues troubling them?

How to make staff assessments work for you & them, painlessly?

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW:

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The difference between customer service and customer satisfaction is not “more leg room” Nor is it

“$200?” The difference is the feeling of customer satisfaction one experiences as a result of the service provided “Leg room” and “$200?” may well be accurate facts about the service, but they are not how the client feels about the service

As a service provider, how does one start developing this feeling of customer “satisfaction”?

By developing a personal relationship

There are at least three elements that lead to the development of a personal relationship between client and service provider and therefore achieving customer satisfaction:

the effective use of personal space

making a personal connection and

making the service experience memorable for the client

Take three experiences that exemplify this approach to achieving customer satisfaction

1 The effective use of personal space

In the first I was fortunate enough to stay at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin recently After taking our details at the Check In, the clerk came around from behind the counter, introduced herself by name and explained and directed us to all the things we would be likely to need during our stay By joining us in “our space” on our side of the counter, she was giving us a welcome that would be similar to what we would get when visiting the home of a friend And, without being pushy or effusive

Using personal space effectively is the first key to building a relationship by providing a positive first impression However keep in mind, it does require tact and sensitivity If you master it, you are well on your way to achieving customer satisfaction

2 Making a personal connection

Closely related to “personal space” is the ability to make a personal connection The easiest way to do this is by using a client’s name How easy is it to do this? Well, if one has the client’s name printed anywhere on the documentation, there is no excuse for not doing it

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at every opportunity For example whether you fly first, business or economy class, when presenting your boarding pass at the gate the attendant will often say “Have a good flight Mr Selden” Similarly when showing your boarding pass to the flight crew as you board, they will say “Welcome aboard Mr Selden” Additionally, on occasions the Chief Steward has personally introduced themselves to me, shaken my hand and asked if I need anything, I should just ask.

We all love to hear our own name It indicates that we are actually a person with feelings, wants and needs and not something to be processed Using names is a great way to build a personal connection Of the three elements of building personal relationships, it’s probably the easiest

to learn and apply

3 Making the service experience memorable for the client

Of the three elements, this is the one that most requires the ability to “get into the client’s world”

Some time ago, my wife employed a new manager who to take up the job, had to move herself and husband from Melbourne to Sydney During their first week in Sydney, we took them out to dinner at one of our favourite restaurants The meal went well, but the crowning glory came when the desserts arrived Piped in chocolate around the edge of our guest’s plates were the words “Welcome to Sydney” Had we arranged this with the restaurant? No The waitress, through her brief discussion with us at the start of the meal had ascertained these details and passed them on to the chef I know that many years later, this couple still talk about the great welcome they got during their first week in Sydney This is achieving customer satisfaction

Developing a feeling of customer satisfaction is not rocket science It is very simple to train service providers in how to do this However, the real key to building personal customer relationships is the relationships managers develop with their people All the great training

in the world will only be successful in developing internal customer satisfaction when top managers, middle managers and front line managers also:

effectively use personal space

make a personal connection and

make each management experience memorable for the employee

Managers who model personal relationships are the key to ensure service providers do likewise

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About the author

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There Must Be 50 Ways to Leave Your Customer by George Torok

12 There Must Be 50 Ways to Leave

Your Customer by George Torok

Do you love your customers? Do they know it? And more importantly do they love you? If you love your business than you’d better love your customers They are the ones who allow you to do what you love Without them it is just a money-losing hobby

You don’t need to love all your customers Some you like and others you just tolerate Be sure to love your best customers And make sure that all your customers believe you love them

When you love someone how do they know – unless you show them?

A Jewish proverb reads, “To open a shop you must learn to smile.”

Smile The one universal gesture understood by people from all cultures and even some animals is the smile It makes you feel good by releasing endorphins to your brain You will be in a better mood You will act friendly and express confidence and warmth Your customer will feel good because you look friendly They are more likely to like you, believe you and do business with you They will feel welcomed and happy to see you – and want to see you again

Even Al Capone said, “You get more with a smile and a gun then with a gun alone.”

Frown at your lover That’s one way to leave them

Listen Cavet Robert, founder of the National Speakers Association said, “People don’t care about you until they believe that you care about them.” By listening to your customers they will begin to believe that you care about them and their needs Instead of trying to shove your product down their throats – listen to what they want and need

Listening is a skill It takes study, concentration and practice Asking questions is a key element of listening Questioning is the way to uncover your customers’ needs and wants In his book, “Stop, Ask, and Listen”, author and sales trainer, Kelley Robertson suggests that asking the right questions and listening will help you to dissipate customer objections completely

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They may or may not state what they need but you need to listen to their words and between the lines for what they really want People buy what they want – not what they need Sometimes they overlap Don’t believe me? Then consider who ‘needs’ to join fitness clubs – unfit people Yet visit any fitness club and the vast majority is fit They want to be fit What teenager needs a cell phone – but they get one because they want it Who needs an SUV? Understanding and satisfying wants are more important than needs

I found it curious that while shopping for a new car no one asked why I had bought my current vehicle

or what I liked and disliked about it They just wanted to sell their car I bought from none of them While shopping for computer accessories I was annoyed at the salesperson that was intent on selling me the upgraded warranty program instead of listening to my questions I bought elsewhere

Not listening, not asking good questions, not appearing interested and not satisfying wants are a few more ways to leave your lover

Show respect Do you respect your customers, their concerns and their decisions? When I carefully place

my groceries on the checkout belt I watch over my purchases with protective ownership I had carefully checked those eggs, selected that bunch of formerly unbruised bananas, and gently squeezed the fresh bread When the cashier shoves my food down the belt like a pile of coal I am offended and angered The voice inside me yells, “This is my food that you are damaging.”

Show no respect – bye bye love

Be honest Peter Urs Bender my co-author on Secrets of Power Marketing preaches, “Under promise and over deliver.” When you don’t deliver what you promised you are deemed to be a liar Intending to

or hoping to just doesn’t cut it Be realistic then reduce your estimates of delivery The secret of keeping customers happy is exceeding customer expectations This line is so important that you should read

it again

A well-known transmission repair shop made a new promise each day to me and broke it the following day I will never use them again and if you ask me about the story I will tell you

Make and break promises – a sure way to lose a lover

Admit mistakes and make amends I tried a new printer He smiled at me when I picked up my stuff

He even presented me with some good-looking copies When I opened the boxes after returning to my office I discovered substandard work I called immediately to complain His first comment was about how difficult the job was because he did not have the right machine He seemed to imply that it was my fault and he made no attempt to apologize for hiding the defective work Instead he attempted to convince

me to accept his work because he had his cost to recover I will never work with this printer again

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Hide and deny your imperfections and mistakes – kiss goodbye

There must be more than 50 ways to leave your lover – and to lose your customers On the other hand your best marketers are happy customers The easiest way to keep your customers happy is to think like them Discover what is important to them Ask them and listen Be a customer of your business Physically or mentally run through the process of doing business with you What would annoy you? Instead of explaining the annoyances – find ways to change them Fall in love all over again – with your business and your customers

About the author

© George Torok offers training programs in Presentation skills, Creative Problem Solving and Personal Marketing He delivers high-energy keynotes and practical seminars You can reach him at 905-335-1995

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