February 23, 2010
Check out my presentation that shows the power of “You” and how it can potentially ruin your communication message. “You” is one of the most powerful caustic weapons you can use when communicating. As a certified HDI instructor, I will share with you my expertise and empowering “You”.
http://www.slideshare.net/mitchbryant/the-destructive-power-of-you
February 15, 2010
The ultimate goal of service recovery is to identify issues, problems, or difficulties with your company’s service and then to address those issues to the customers’ satisfaction to promote retention.
How many people do you think your customer will tell about their bad experience? EVERYONE….. Through an effective customer service recovery intervention program problems turn into a wonderful, very positive, and unexpected “wow” experience!
Every mistake, every problem, every dissatisfied customer provides a great opportunity to you to intervene and make the issue right and standout above the rest, period. Service recovery doesn’t just happen; you have to work at it.
There is profit in service recovery; it costs much more to attract a new customer than it does to keep a current one. Each one of your customers has a large circle of influence over people or potential customers who could hear bad things about you!
You must empower every employee to immediately solve a problem and give something of value to a disgruntled customer. It is more cost-effective to regain the trust of a dissatisfied customer than to spend advertising dollars looking for new ones.
January 23, 2010
We can all remember the days of placing a call to customer service only to hear messages such as “Please call back between our regular business hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.” While this level of service was previously acceptable, over the recent years we’ve witnessed a shift in customer needs and demands, drastically changing the quality of service customers expect when calling organizations. The nature of service and support for a company as a “never closed, always available” demand necessitates a change in the way we respond to our customers. It’s almost a given nowadays to hear companies say to current and potential customers about how they are number one in service and support. We all wish it was that simple, just have a catchy phrase and it is done. That is far from the truth. Being number one takes a lot of very hard work and constant vigilance to ensure you stay at the top.
November 23, 2009
For lunch a few of us decided to go to Lowes near our work so one of us could arrange to have 25 gallons of paint tinted for a house he just bought. We got to the paint counter and started to tell the person what color and how many gallons we need of each item. We were very organized as we had paint chips in hand, quantities written down and pretty much done all the homework ahead of time. As we started to speak with the guy at the counter he just keeps looking away in the distance, never focusing on his one customer at the counter.
Every time we started to tell him what we needed his actions told us pretty loudly “I am not here and really am not going to give you my undivided attention”. Since it was the middle of a work day you generally do not have a crowd standing around interrupting so that could not be the excuse. Several times my friend stopped so he could refocus on our conversations.
We were taking bets on our way back to work that (1) he would mess up the paint color or (2) tint the wrong thing and Lowes would have to eat a costly mistake. Also, it has to be said that this young man ordering 25 gallons of paint had a lot more other work to be done on his house and he could certain take his business to the competition.
Not only did the Lowe’s store employee potentially push a good repeat customer away by his action to this one customer but he could have affected our decision next time we wanted to buy something for our home projects. Being a part of the conversation and actively listening can influence so many factors.
November 21, 2009
We recently went to SamsClub and stocked up with a ton of things for the holidays cooking season. Our last item on the shopping list was a book of stamps. We paid for them and things just kind of stalled out at that point. We were standing and waiting around and had no clue what was next and finally asked where our stamps were and she said I do not have any….. (dead air space) Finally she said she needed to get some and had to find her supervisor (nothing like not setting your customer’s expectations).
As that person came by us the cashier asked for a book of stamps and over her shoulder the supervisor yelled moving quickly away from us “okay – one minute I am busy right now”. Our cashier than divorced herself of our needs and we proceeded to wait, and wait, and yes wait even more not knowing anything… We finally asked again who was getting our stamps. She said “I told her you needed them I am not sure where she is with them” (again – dead air space). She seems to not even know who she spoke with or at least that was our impression. To us we were done checking out so she had no reason to help us – right?
Finally we asked again who did she speak with and how we could simply get our stamps. Another associate came by and our cashier got her attention and that person got on the walkie-talkie and called the supervisor and told her we needed our stamps. Some exchange happened and we were again just standing around waiting and wondering. The 3rd associate also left us hanging because she “had something to do” – must have been really important to do other that help a bad ending get better. Finally I told our cashier if we could not get some help from someone I would be happy to return our purchased of close to $200 dollars and leave who would I need to talk to about this. She did not take the warning sign that we were done with this issue and she should have alerted other management.
The supervisor finally showed up and I asked her when we would be able to get our stamps or should we simply return our items and leave? Yes, at this point I was frustrated I know but we had been waiting for nearly 15 minutes in the middle of everyone’s way to get 1 thing and we wanted to leave as we could simply not get our book of stamps we paid for. She said in a sarcastic tone “I am sorry but I am helping other people right now” and I said – you do not mean that and who can we see to get help if you are busy? She said again “I am sorry but I am very busy with other people” (Sarcastic tone completely thru the entire exchange).
She stopped after that and got our stamps and proceeded to tell me how busy she was and was sorry again (yes even more sarcasms in her tone than last time) and seemed determined to make me believe her versus simply trying to end our experience as best as she could. She appeared to have no concept of a sincere apology with empathy – I told her I did not believe she handled this well and told her “thank you for our stamps”. I was ready to write this event off as a busy day at SamsClub and simply get over it and she decided that was not going to happen so she began to follow me toward the door and started to argue with me.
Now no matter what had happened up to this point and the fact that things sometimes just do not go right and I was going to leave it alone but she wanted to come after me and argue her point to maybe convince me that her terrible attempts at an apology were truly serious. I finally turned around and told her the last thing you want to do with this issue and me is to follow me out and try to argue and convince me of your way – you are wrong and please do not follow us out – you need to stop trying and give up. Whatever she said after that I tuned out but she raised her voice even more and in front of a crowd of customers continued talking to my back. Two customer who at that point did not know what was going on actually made comments on how rude she was. (Now you have added even more trouble to your situation with more customers seeing you bad display of customer service).
A sincere apology with empathy is one of the core skills you must have if you are going to deal with customers and the situations that can create bad experiences. Even if the final process is not the best desired outcome “chasing” the customer down to prove your point will never ever become a win for you. When you raise your voice around others to “prove your point” you now elevate the issue to a new height and expose it to others and create more negative feelings and last impressions.
Accept responsibility for the situation and simply express an apology and most of them time this will go a long way to healing the problem. Decided to give it with a sarcastic tone and all your good will is gone and you cannot get it back. You have lost the battle, the war, and the small ground you could have saved at that point.
A sincere and complete apology needs to done quickly after the event and serves to minimize any suffering as well as hopefully salvage the relationship for the future. It does not excuse the problem simply allows you to be a part of the solution. Mending the relation and trying to move past it must be the priority. Remember – Empathy is what makes us able to connect with our customer.
October 20, 2009
The ultimate goal of service recovery is to identify issues, problems, or difficulties with your company’s service and then to address those issues to the customers’ satisfaction to promote retention.
How many people do you think your customer will tell about their bad experience? EVERYONE….. Through an effective customer service recovery intervention program problems turn into a wonderful, very positive, and unexpected “wow” experience!
Every mistake, every problem, every dissatisfied customer provides a great opportunity to you to intervene and make the issue right and standout above the rest, period. Service recovery doesn’t just happen; you have to work at it.
There is profit in service recovery; it costs much more to attract a new customer than it does to keep a current one. Each one of your customers has a large circle of influence over people or potential customers who could hear bad things about you!
Customers don’t expect you to be perfect.
They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.
DONALD PORTER
October 18, 2009
Have you ever felt like the folks behind the register had to follow a certain script or the entire order was going to cause a problem and maybe throw them completely off?
I generally know what I want when I go to a fast food place. I try to give them my order in a effective way as to save them some time and speed things up for all of us. I hate to be interrupted when I am halfway through my order with “Is that for here or to go?” Hello…. maybe getting my order right is the most important part because no matter what I bet generally the folks cooking it will not change their method if that is the last thing placed on the screen for them to see.
How does a “to go” item differ from a “eat here” item if you are still going to wrap them both it in a paper wrapper? To add to the whole ordeal when they rudely stop me they really are not fully hearing my order so we both get frustrated. Scripts are great for the initial training period but beyond that maybe it is the customer who can help guide the process along.
When the customer is talking it is polite to stop and listen than move in the direction you need the process to go. How you get to the end can make the experience a good one or a frustrating one for both customer and the agent. So does the whopper sandwich I am ordering really get fixed by the cook behind the grill any different if I order it to go or to eat in the place – the answer is no….
October 18, 2009
I know how shocking it is these days that a business would stand up and be above the norm and hold their customer service above the profit of one meal – BUT I have that example..
On my way to the second annual KSF IT Summit for the local HDI Chapter to help set things up I stopped by my local McD’s for a quick breakfast to go. I was 4th inline and the first customer swiped his credit card and things with technology went down hill from there. After 2 or 3 attempts with the system – I thought to myself “I am going to be here when they start serving lunch”. I had to get ready to make the decision to stay or go.. I was must admit I was leaning toward the door..
The rep at the register quickly ask his manager for help and she came over right away. She tried it one more time and with shock moved the rep to another register. Then she apologized that at the new register they could only take cash since the credit card system was down… We were able to move thru the orders and get our breakfast.
As they got the 1st customer’s meal he asked if he should try it again since he did not have cash and had not paid yet. The Manager said – “No sir, I am sorry but it looks like this might take a few more minutes to fix and we have already held your morning up“… I was shocked and wowed….
They have always been quick and efficient with my morning run in and dash out needs but this really stepped up their customer service. They really do understand they can put their customers first and make it right. The long term profits they will get from me far out weighs this one visit. They were successful in keeping all of us at the counter as customers and made us all happy that we had made the choice to stop there. That is Customer Service and long term success – really!
“Without great employees you can never have great customer service.” Richard F. Gerson
October 12, 2009
Most of us see a support call as just another transaction, no big deal. But how does your customer see their personal information and experiences being passed along? Every interaction should be treated with the sensitivity that they deserve. Even if you think their call is trivial in nature, it is important that you view it as a personal problem they are expressing and treat it as your own. Retaining your current customers is more cost effective that it should be the first line of offense against customer turnover.
The key to customer satisfaction and retention is to consistently deliver a level of customer service that anticipates and hopefully the customer’s expectations. Placing a value on that support directly affects the bottom line. Think not, do the math – take 5 percent of all calls away and apply that negative value to your bottom line.
October 10, 2009
The key to success in retaining your customer base over the long haul through the low and the high times is customer service. If you don’t give your customers some good reasons to stay, your competitors will give them a great reason to leave. Everyone can find alternative service or buy a widget from someone else but how about the support they need after sale? Will they get that from you or your competition?
As we introduce more technology into our lives service and support becomes even more important to the success of a business. We live in a world where technology is forcing our support to be notched up almost daily.
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