Shep Hyken's Blog, page 232
January 3, 2014
Guest Blog: The Danger in Leading with Cost Plus Fear
This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post, my colleague Jeff Shore writes about the costs and fears that prevent a customer from doing business with you. I like how he talks about serving the customer which can lead to an Amazing customer experience. – Shep Hyken
Years ago I created a formula by which people make purchase decisions.
People buy when:
Current Dissatisfaction x Future Promise > Cost + Fear
There is a lot to unpack in that little formula but I would like to address the right side of the equation, those costs and fears that prevent a customer from doing business with you.
Customer service means many things but one thing it does not mean is instilling fear into buyers. While that might sound so obvious as to be ridiculous, fear is often what both salespeople and companies inadvertently lead with.
If you make a point to notice how often cost and fear are the stepping off points for customers, you won’t have to look far. Go to almost any retail store or look at stores online and note how often salespeople, signage, and the overall purchasing vibe begins with an attempt to lower cost and insert fear into customers. Salespeople have been conditioned to launch into the “Deal of the Day” discussion as soon as a customer walks through their literal or digital door. This is not “service,” this is stress!
Think about this cost plus fear approach for a moment. The message to the customer is this: “I can hit you up front with a price that is so low you will have to pay attention to my deal, even if you don’t like or need the product, and I’m going to have you fearful and stressed out about missing a good deal!” While worry-inducing approaches such as this may result in single sales, stressing people out does not make for loyal customers. Customers will feel served if they are in fact served, not threatened.
When customers are “served” via price claims and fear, they tend to ask themselves questions such as, What’s wrong with this item?…Why doesn’t anyone else want it?…Should I pay more for better quality?…Will this go on an even bigger sale tomorrow? If customer service is all about listening to people and providing solutions for their problems, inspiring a string of stressful questions like these is the exact opposite of what you want to provide for your customers.
More importantly, when customer service takes the form of a frantic “buy now or else” fear-filled price pitch, customers are reduced to bank accounts and knee-jerk reactions. Just like you, customers are people. If you resist the trend to lead with price and fear and aim to truly serve individuals, you will create satisfied and loyal customers.
About the Author:
Jeff Shore is a highly sought-after sales expert, speaker, author and executive coach. His latest book, Be Bold and Win the Sale: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone and Boost Your Performance, (published by McGraw-Hill in January 2014) illustrates Jeff’s innovative BE BOLD methodology and teaches you how to change your mindset and change your world. Learn more at jeffshore.com or follow Jeff on Twitter.
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January 1, 2014
14 Customer Service Questions to Ask for 2014
I love a good list of customer service ideas, and since it’s the New Year, I thought it would be appropriate to share a list. These customer service questions are for you to ask yourself and others in your company. These are conversation starters you can use to have discussions about delivering amazing customer service.
What three things do you do best that differentiates you from your competition? Really look at how you are different. What is it that your competitors can’t say about themselves that you can say about yourself?
You can’t be the best at everything, so what is it you are not good at doing? Don’t try to change what you are not good at. Focus on what you are good at and improve upon where you excel.
What does your competition do that you can learn from? By the way, don’t copy the competition. Learn from them and improve on what you learn.
What do you do to make people want to be around you at work? The focus of this question is on your internal customers. Do they enjoy working around you? If so, why?
What, if anything, do you do to come up with creative and innovative ideas? Does your company have some type of employee suggestion program?
How does your company train employees in customer service and relationship building skills? Many times companies spend a lot of money and time on training technical skills. The best companies also train soft skills, like customer service.
What policies or processes stand in the way of delivering amazing customer service, and can they be removed? In other words, how easy is it to do business with you?
What does your company do to actively seek out complaints and problems? A complaint is an opportunity to show how good you are. Seek them out.
How do you or your company debrief negative experiences, turning them into teaching opportunities? Use a negative experience or bad review as a learning opportunity to get better.
How do you celebrate success with your employees? When you have success, let everyone know they are appreciated.
Have you mapped out the typical customer experience and examined the impact from all touch-points at the front line? The customer journey map is a powerful tool for spotting opportunities to improve existing customer service.
Have you identified how everyone behind-the-scenes impacts the front-line customer experience? Everyone has a customer – and sometimes it’s an internal customer. Jan Carlzon, former chairman of Scandinavian Airlines says that if you aren’t actually supporting the customer, you are probably dealing with someone who is.
What do you “give back” to your community? Community can be defined as local, global, causes you are involved in, etc.
Does everyone understand that customer service is not a department, but a philosophy? It’s also an attitude!
What questions would you add to this list? Let me know.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact (314)692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to http://www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken
(Copyright ©MMXIII, Shep Hyken)
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December 30, 2013
5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of December 30, 2013
Each week I read a number of customer service articles from various online resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too.
The Secret to Delighting Customers by Dilip Bhattacharjee, Bruce Jones and Francisco C. Ortega
(Harvard Business Review) There’s only one way to create emotional connections with customers: by ensuring every interaction is geared to delighting them. That takes more than great products and services — it takes motivated, empowered frontline employees. Creating great customer experience comes down to having great people and treating them well. They will feel more engaged with the company and more committed to its goals. The best companies make four activities habitual.
My Comment: When Harvard Business Review offers the “secret” to anything, I pay attention. Here are some straight forward insights to delivering customer service. The article poses the question, “Why is customer experience so difficult to get right?” The answer is “The main hurdle is translating boardroom vision into action at the front line.” I’d change the last four words. It’s translating the vision into action… for the entire company. HBR, thanks for sharing the secret!
5 Phrases That Should Never Be Used in the Customer Service Business by Steve DiGioia
(Hotel News Resource) Customer Service’ is a term that too frequently is used as a catch-all for the experience received or given in today’s business world. But what customer service is to me may be different from what it is to you and what you expect, or tolerate.
My Comment: There is a lot that any business can learn from the hospitality industry. I’m a big fan of lists and this one is excellent. These five phrases are “loyalty killers” and erode the customer service experience.
4 inspirational customer experience quotes and how to leverage them in your business 2014 #cx by Sven-Olof Husmark
(CustomerThink) Today, customers are in power and business success is based on how well companies can meet their demands and expectations. Customers have many choices and it is critical to make their experiences as simple, consistent, and relevant as possible as they make their customer journey. I have selected 4 great customer experience quotes and used them to deliver some practical advice for the new year 2014.
My Comment: Here are four very powerful customer service quotes and commentary about them. I’m going to use them at my next four team meetings to stimulate some great discussions around customer service.
Making Our List… Checking It Twice… The Ultimate List of Customer Service Skills by Joanna Jones
(Impact) Our ultimate list of customer service skills includes some of the top skills used by some of the most renowned customer service companies. If you can help your company achieve all of the items on this list, you will indeed have wonderful customer experience awaiting your customers – during the holidays, and beyond.
My Comment: The theme of articles and blogs being posted this time of year include lots of lists. This is a list worth paying attention to. When it comes to delivering amazing customer service, read this list, check it twice – and then repeat as often as necessary until everyone gets it!
Why Stellar Customer Service Is Key to Building Your Online Brand by Scott Levy
(Entrepreneur) In his book Tweet Naked, online marketing expert Scott Levy provides the critical information entrepreneurs need to craft a social media strategy that will boost their brand and their business. In this edited excerpt, the author explains why the most important factor to succeeding on social media is exceptional customer service.
My Comment: Some say that a company’s brand is what the customer perceives the company to be. A big part of that perception comes from customer service. The best companies, like Zappos mentioned in the article, get it and embrace it. The brand promise complements the customer service promise. By the way, this works for both online and offline companies.
Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact (314)692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to http://www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken
(Copyright ©MMXIII, Shep Hyken)
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December 27, 2013
Guest Blog: Customer Service, Don’t Make Things Right, Make Them Better
This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post, my colleague Kelly Gregorio talks about elevating the customer experience. When mistakes happen it is important to handle them correctly and turn them into opportunities for amazing service. – Shep Hyken
To most people, customer service seems like common sense. There is a client that needs to be catered to, in some cases a mistake that needs to be dealt with and almost always, the desire to leave them wanting to come back for more. Yet, despite the simple explanation, some people just don’t “get it.”
When it comes to exceptional customer service, arguably the most important thing is how we handle our mistakes. There is a common misconception that, being in the customer service industry, our job is to make things right; when in reality, our goal should be to make them exceptional.
Even Things Out
When dealing with a client related issue the first thing you have to do is hear a person out. Understand what has gone wrong and where they are coming from. Gauge what they would like (and you reasonably can do) to even the situation out.
The steps are as follows: reiterate their issue for confirmation, apologize for it, and fix it as quick and efficiently as humanly possible. Afterwards be sure to follow up with a final apology and the assurance that things are better now. But, wait! It does not stop there…
Turn Mistakes Into a Surprise
Just because you’ve evened things out does not mean you’ve won your customers over in any sort of way. Chances are the issues they encountered were an inconvenience that- in a perfect world, would have never happened at all. You’ve made things right, now its your chance to make them better than expected.
The accommodation here will vary from industry to industry. An online merchant might offer free shipping, a marketing agency might throw in the perk of free promotional items, a photographer might take it upon himself to frame the best photo from a set….
It’s all about going the extra mile, pushing the mistake and your sales aside for the sake of your future with this client. Your goal is to get them to forget about the former issue and instead marvel at your additional step.
Paint Their Picture, Know Your Boundaries
In the case of exceptional customer service you are the artist. With a brush in your hand you do have the power to paint an ugly misstep into a beautiful picture. Advice like this is that much more important when considering the power of word-of-mouth via social media. People are going to talk about their experience regardless; when your business is mentioned do you want the results to be unfavorable to unforgettable?
In the same breath it is important to understand your limits. Unfortunately we cannot make everyone happy; stubborn thorns will try to stick in your side, but don’t let them. The point is that you make the effort and try; not just to even things out but to make them exceptionally better. After all your reputation is at stake with every interaction that you make.
What tips do you have for elevating a customer experience?
About the author: Kelly Gregorio writes about small business trends and tips while working at Advantage Capital Funds, a company that provides businesses working capital. You can connect with her through the comments section of her daily business blog here.
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December 25, 2013
A “Holiday” Wish for You: Every Customer Receives Amazing Customer Service
Top Ten ListAs usual, this customer service article is being published on Wednesday. However this particular Wednesday is Christmas day. So, in the spirit of the holiday season, I thought it would be nice to share my holiday wish for you and your company.
In addition to health, happiness and peace on earth, my wish for you this holiday season is that your company delivers amazing customer service to every customer every time.
That is a simple wish, and most likely you will agree, a good wish. I checked with Santa, and he said that I should be more realistic with my wishes. I really did ask Santa. Okay, it was at a company Christmas party, and though the guy looked like Santa, and he dressed like Santa, his real name is Bob and he is the VP of Customer Service for the company.
Is customer service hard?
Most people would say, “NO.” Then why don’t more companies, if not all companies, deliver better customer service?
The answer is that customer service is hard. It is the concept of customer service that is easy.
Everyone knows what they are supposed to do. I have said it before “Customer service is common sense that unfortunately is not always so common.” As simple as some of the strategies and tactics that go in to creating a customer centric culture, it takes effort to execute. That said, here is a Top Ten list of the common sense things that might go into fulfilling my holiday wish that every company deliver amazing customer service.
Everybody is nice.
The company hires the right people, with the right attitude and the right personality.
Everybody knows that their internal customers are as important as the outside customers.
The company’s leadership act as role models for what customer service should be.
Everybody treats their fellow employees like they are customers, maybe even better.
Employees are engaged.
Employees are empowered to think “outside of the box” to come up with ways to better serve the customer.
Employees are fulfilled.
Employees are knowledgeable and trained – both in technical and soft skills, like customer service.
Employees are enthusiastic about their jobs, what the company does and about their customers.
And, if Santa would only grant me one wish, it would be that every company Amaze Every Customer Every Time!
Happy Holidays, and may 2014 be your most amazing year yet!
What would you add to my list of how to deliver amazing customer service?
Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact (314)692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to http://www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken
(Copyright ©MMXIII, Shep Hyken)
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December 23, 2013
5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of December 23, 2013
Each week I read a number of customer service articles from various online resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too.
Customer service: which brands really get it? by Ben Davis
(Econsultancy) Aside from the web giants making a virtue of customer experience, which brands have made recent commitments to customer service?
Let’s take a look at a few of them. Thanks here to Steven Van Belleghem, as I found these examples from this slideshare of his.
My Comment: One of the things I like about this article is that the companies used as role models for the concepts listed here aren’t your typical customer service rock stars. The other thing I like about this article is the lessons we can learn from these companies.
Can You Recognize a Customer Service Culture? Do You Have One? by Flavio Martins
(WinTheCustomer!) Employees and customers experience your customer service culture in different ways and it’s that complex nature of culture actually drives its power in transforming and inspiring people.
My Comment: This article made me think of culture in a different way: the culture and the brand promise are connected. Most would agree that leadership tries to define the culture, and if they are successful, it is what helps drive a company’s long term success. We want a good culture that makes our company a good place to work. Ultimately that is felt on the outside by the customer. But, maybe culture is a little like a brand. Leadership may try and create it, but the employees and customers define it. It’s the employees’ and customers’ perceptions that count. The best companies have a culture that is congruent with their brand promise.
A Look Back: 5 Customer Experience Trends from 2013 by Noreen Seebacher
(CMSWire) In retrospect, 2013 may go down as the year marketers shifted their focus from broad, amorphous groups of customers to targeted, personalized, omnichannel, shared experiences for each one. It was, in many ways, a seismic shift in attitude, powered by five key customer experience trends.
My Comment: All five of these customer experience trends (together) may not apply to every business, but I bet there isn’t a business out there that isn’t impacted by at least one of the them. One that I think that most businesses can latch on to is the concept of “personalization.” Customers want to feel appreciated, respected and recognized for their business, and one powerful way to get there, that will also create customer loyalty, is personalization.
Customer Service can Make or Break a Company [Infographic] by Brian Wallace
(Business2Community) Offering quality service can be a competitive advantage that translates into increased sales and greater customer loyalty.
My Comment: This would be a good infographic to print out and hang up for every employee to see. It makes the case for customer service. However, making the case doesn’t mean the employees will deliver. That still takes training and more. And understanding the importance and power of customer service is great place to start.
Richard Branson on Finding Talented People Who Can Grow Your Business by Richard Branson
(Entrepreneur) The long process of building up your company’s bench strength starts with the daily practice of letting employees take on challenging responsibilities beyond their current roles. All you have to do is listen to their ideas and give them the power to make the best ones a reality. Building their skills is essential to your company’s long-term success.
My Comment: I think the point of this article is clear. If people have talent in a particular area of business, and it is combined with a passion for it, that is a winning combination. Nurture that to grow and watch the people succeed. This is what creates fulfilled and engaged employees, which is good for the company and its customers.
Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact (314)692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to http://www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken
(Copyright ©MMXIII, Shep Hyken)
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December 20, 2013
Guest Blog: Never Reward Employees for Outstanding Survey Scores
This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post, my colleague Jeff Toister writes about employee motivation. Taking care of your employees is key to success. As I always say, what’s happening on the inside of an organization is being felt by the customer on the outside! – Shep Hyken
The Westin Portland is one of my favorite hotels. Their warm and attentive associates always make me feel welcome and you can’t beat their location in the heart of downtown Portland, Oregon. I’ve stayed their many times over the years and have come to feel like the hotel is my home away from home.
When I started writing my customer service book in 2011, I interviewed then General Manager Chris Lorino to learn some of the hotel’s service secrets. One of Lorino’s strongest beliefs was that you should never reward employees for achieving outstanding survey scores. He felt it was important to build a team of people who naturally wanted to serve guests at the highest level. In Lorino’s opinion, a reward system would inevitably get in the way.
Both leading research on employee motivation and Lorino’s own success as a General Manager suggest that he is absolutely correct.
Rewards vs. Recognition
It’s important to differentiate between rewards and recognition. The purpose of this post is to demonstrate that employees shouldn’t be rewarded for outstanding service, but go ahead and recognize them all you want.
Rewards are if-then propositions. The prize and the criteria for earning the prize are spelled out ahead of time. For example, if you average a certain score on your customer service survey, then you will get a gift card.
Recognition is unexpected reinforcement of results that have already been achieved. An example would be giving an employee a gift card out of the blue to thank them for achieving a high average score on their customer service survey.
Eyes on the Prize
The biggest problem with rewarding employees for good customer service is it takes their attention away from providing outstanding service and re-focuses them on winning the prize.
We’ve probably all seen examples of the behavior changes this can cause:
Directly asking customers to provide the top score on a survey
Selectively encouraging only highly satisfied customers to complete a survey
Submitting phony surveys to bolster scores (yes, this happens)
The Goal is not the Goal
What’s the purpose of conducting a customer service survey?
When employees are rewarded for achieving a certain score they may act as though achieving that score is the ultimate goal. However, most customer service professionals will tell you that the survey is really a tool that can be used for continuous improvement.
Here are a few ways that focusing solely on a survey goal might prevent continuous improvement:
Employees may care less about service failures if the average looks good.
It lessens the need for analysis to identify customer pain points.
Employees may stop trying if they feel there’s nothing left to prove.
Let’s imagine a survey of 100 customers where 90 are satisfied and 10 are unhappy. If my employees are focused on achieving a specific target, they may feel great about a 90% customer satisfaction level. However, they’ll be much more eager to find out how to win over the other 10% if their true focus is continuous improvement.
So, how do I motivate the team?
If you want to learn more about the science behind rewards and employee motivation, check out Daniel Pink’s fascinating book, Drive. Pink’s biggest point is that the true motivating factors are purpose, autonomy, and mastery. Let’s look at each one in a customer service context:
Purpose
The very best organizations have a clear and compelling customer service vision that describes the type of service they’re hoping to provide. It’s amazing what happens when the whole team is unified around a common objective.
Autonomy
Nobody wants to be micromanaged. Give people the resources, training, and authority to get the job done right and then get out of their way and you’ll see people taking responsibility for the results they achieve.
Mastery
We all want to be good at what we do. Help bring out the best in employees through coaching, training, and continuous feedback and you’ll find that people will step up to the challenge of becoming the very best they can be.
Jeff Toister is the author of Service Failure: The Real Reasons Employees Struggle with Customer Service and What You Can Do About It, a book that reveals hidden obstacles to outstanding service. His company, Toister Performance Solutions Inc. helps clients identify these obstacles so they can improve customer service.
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December 18, 2013
An Amazing Customer Service Idea: The Five Dollar Lifeboat
Celebrate the SuccessTom Glenn, a second generation owner of a chain of Ace Hardware stores, tells a wonderful story about his father, Elder Glenn.
One day an agitated customer came in the store and walked up to Elder and stated, “I have a problem.” It turns out the customer bought two items that each had a $5.00 rebate. The customer claimed he did exactly what he was supposed to do to get his rebates, which was to mail the receipt and the code on the package to the manufacturer. The rebates never showed up, and the customer was upset.
Now, it wasn’t Elder’s fault. It may have been lost in the mail, or perhaps the customer did make an error. However, it became Elder’s problem – a problem he planned to solve. And, he did so quickly, easily and with no hassle to his customer. Elder simply went over to the cashier and asked her to take two five dollar bills out of the cash register. He handed them over to a surprised customer, who had obviously expected a confrontation.
From that point on Elder had a customer – and a friend – for life. Every time the customer came in the store he would seek out Elder to just say, “Hello.”
Elder would go on to use this example in one of his team meetings. He shared this story and referred to it as the “Five Dollar Lifeboat.” The lesson to his associates was that for just five dollars he turned an unhappy customer who might never come back that might be worth hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars into a loyal fan of the store. He gave permission to his employees to use the Five Dollar Lifeboat whenever necessary to take care of a customer.
There are plenty of companies who have similar Five Dollar Lifeboat procedures. The Ritz-Carlton comes to mind with their Two Thousand Dollar Lifeboat. Okay, they don’t call it a lifeboat, but similar to Elder Glenn’s concept, an employee of the Ritz-Carlton has the ability to spend up to two thousand dollars to take care of a guest who has been wronged.
Both Ace Hardware associates and the Ritz-Carlton employees have been trained to understand how and when to put this tool into action. In order for this, and just about any other customer focused concept to be effective you must:
Properly train employees.
Empower, which means trust, the employees to do it right.
When they do it right, celebrate the success. If they do it wrong, make it a teachable moment that doesn’t erode their confidence and trust in the system.
Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact (314)692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to http://www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken
(Copyright ©MMXIII, Shep Hyken)
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December 16, 2013
5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of December 16, 2013
Each week I read a number of customer service articles from various online resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too.
4 Brilliant Ways to Maintain Customer Loyalty by Comm100
(Business2Community) According to a report from Flowtown, it is 6 to 7 times more costly to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing customer. Therefore, it’s equally important, if not more, to cultivate and maintain loyal customers while attracting new customers. Here are some tips for your reference.
My Comment: If customer loyalty is important to you (and I know it is), then you can’t go wrong by paying close attention to the four points brought up in this article. Great information!
What Makes Amazon Customer Service So Satisfying? by Tricia Morris
(Parature) So what makes Amazon’s customer experience so satisfying? With more than 225 million customers, what does the big brand deliver (by drone or the old-fashioned way) that others don’t? Here are five items that create the total package for Amazon.
My Comment: There is so much to learn from Amazon, and this great article form Parature teaches us a few of the tactics and strategies that Amazon uses to create customer evangelists. While I agree that the five things listed here are important, and may be exactly what Amazon does to be so successful, a sixth strategy could have been added regarding a focus on employees. That’s a big part of driving a positive customer experience. That said, this article is a must read for anyone interested in creating an amazing customer experience that turns satisfied customers into customer evangelists.
7 Employee Engagement Mistakes to Avoid in Uncertain Times by Vicki Hess
(Becker’s Hospital Review) Here are seven engagement-crushing mistakes to avoid from healthcare leaders across the country. Focus on employee engagement today so that your organization is still prospering in the future.
My Comment: Just seven mistakes? There are many mistakes that managers and leaders make when it comes to employee engagement – actually non-engagement. The best companies know how important it is to engage and motivate employees. The benefits are that employees are happier, work harder and do a better job of taking care of customers. How many of these mistakes are we guilty of? I love it when a perfect score is ZERO.
The 9 Dreaded Words Of Any Customer Service Director by Jeremy Watkin
(Communicate Better Bog) The 9 dreaded words of any customer service director are “Let me speak with the head of customer service.” A while back I wrote a post titled The 6 Dreaded Words Of Any Contact Center Agent: “Let Me Speak With Your Supervisor.” Little did I know I would have a second part to that post one day.
My Comment: The customers are getting smarter. They no longer want to speak to a supervisor. They want to talk to an executive. This article maps out a conversation that should never take place. However the reason it might in any organization is because the employees haven’t been empowered to deliver customer focused solutions. They have to get approval, or in some cases, have to say “no” to the customer. One solution is to have a culture that is about “One person to say YES. Two to say NO.” That means that the front line is empowered to come up with solutions. The reason to see a supervisor (or VP of customer service – or even the CEO), is because they have to say “NO” to the customer. It takes good training to show an employee the range of opportunity they have to take care of a customer. This strategy could eliminate those dreaded words.
How to Deal with Unhappy Customers by Nunzia Falco Simeone
(Zopim Blog) Having unhappy customers might be a second chance in disguise. Here are some tips to help you deal with unhappy costumers.
My Comment: Here is a refreshing and simple reminder about what to do when you have an unhappy customer. I file this one under common sense that isn’t always so common.
Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact (314)692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to http://www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken
(Copyright ©MMXIII, Shep Hyken)
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December 13, 2013
Guest Blog: How a Poor Manager can Sabotage a Strong Employee’s Ability to Provide Great Service
This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post, my friend and colleague Eric Chester shares an experience that illustrates how important it is for management to support the front lines. The three considerations he shares at the end of the article are important for a successful customer service experience. – Shep Hyken
Kyle (age 21) handles the scheduling, appointments, estimates, and all payment transactions for the auto service center near my office. On a weekday morning at 8:16, I call to inquire about getting my vehicle in for shocks and an alignment. Kyle politely tells me that if I can bring it in within the next 30 minutes, he’ll have it out by 11:45, in time for me to make my lunch appointment.
I agree and head out immediately.
I arrive at 8:37 and notice that there are already three customers in the waiting area in front of me. Kyle is working fast and furious to make certain each gets their questions answered, receives an accurate estimate, and signs the required paperwork to begin the job. With so much to do, Kyle is multitasking like a one-armed paperhanger in a stiff breeze, and he’s trying to make everyone feel like they are important and will attend to them shortly.
Kyle’s friendly, knowledgeable, and he seems to be very competent at keeping so many plates spinning at once. However, as I observe him more carefully, I can detect a subtle level of frustration brewing under the surface.
He’s working solo throughout this rush and it’s got to be incredibly stressful to take such good care of the four customers in the showroom while, at the same time, being constantly interrupted with questions from his service techs, while, at the same time, handling an endless stream of phone calls from prospective customers.
Eventually, it’s my turn and Kyle begins by apologizing to me for the delay while looking over my shoulder to acknowledge the two additional customers that just walked in.
“I don’t know too many people that are working harder than you are today, Kyle.” I said to him.
Something about my statement must have made me appear like a therapist, as Kyle took a deep breath, shook his head, and began to offload his stress.
“I’ve been here for over a year and it’s like this every day. Every day, man! They tell me to give friendly personal service to every customer and to suggest other things we can do for their car, but when they don’t staff anyone else to help you, and they don’t provide a voice mail system to help handle the barrage of calls that come in from the ads they place, you wind up playing the incompetent fool. Ultimately, no one gets the service they expect or deserve…I say I’m sorry a thousand times a day…and I can’t wait for my shift to end.”
I’m no therapist, but it doesn’t take Dr. Phil to realize that Kyle is not going to be working here in six months. (Heck, I’d be surprised if he made it six more days.) And when he finally quits, this national big box retailer will attempt to find another Kyle to plug into that position.
It’s a crying shame, too. Because if Kyle had just a little support from upper management, he’d be a safe bet for long-term employment. Imagine how much better he’d be with five more years’ experience!
If management in this operation would observe what I did, they’d be the ones listening to Kyle, and they’d most certainly provide him with the resources (another counter person, etc.) and the tools (voice mail, etc.) he needs to succeed.
By supporting Kyle, their customers would get a much improved service experience; the kind they’d tell their friends about. And those referrals from delighted customers would have a substantial impact on revenues, decreasing their reliance on expensive couponing and marketing gimmicks to get new customers into the store. Not to mention the repeat business from their existing customers.
Unfortunately, this story isn’t going to end like that. But yours can.
Here are 3 essential considerations you must act on to ensure that your front line associates are able to provide the customer service experience you desire:
ARM YOUR TROOPS WITH THE 3 T’s – A respected General would never send his troops into battle without the weapons they need to win. Make certain your foot soldiers have the resources they require (tools, technology, & training) to provide the kind of service your customers deserve.
WHEN IN DOUBT, OVERSTAFF – While you certainly want to keep an eye on your labor costs, don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish by scheduling one front liner to do the work of three. This is a sure-fire way to disengage your service providers.
LISTEN TO YOUR PEOPLE – You survey your customers, but are you taking the same measures with your front line associates? How are you able to determine if you have frustrated Kyles that are itching to leave, or who have given up trying to delight your customers? Your managers should be asking for feedback from their staff on a weekly basis—and more importantly—acting on that feedback.
POST NOTE: Kyle apologized again when he called at 2:18pm to tell me that service to my car was finally completed. He said one of his techs went home sick and that he had to install the shocks himself.
Eric Chester is an award-winning keynote speaker and the author of Reviving Work Ethic; A Leader’s Guide to Ending Entitlement and Restoring Pride in the Emerging Workforce. This is the only book available on the topic of developing work ethic in young employees. Eric can be reached at 303-239-9999 or www.EricChester.com. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_chester or at Facebook.com/RevivingWorkEthic.
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