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Customer Service Information |
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From Scowl to Smile: 5 Practical Steps to Instill Exceptional Customer Service
Whether in a restaurant, a retail establishment, or the local post office, we have all experienced a decline in customer service. Rarely do smiling, happy employees interact with us anymore. Instead, the person we are dealing with in face-to-face relationships does not even attempt to feign a smile, but rather greets us with a scowl, completely avoids eye contact with us, and grudgingly mutters responses to our requests and questions. When did customer service cease to exist? Why is it suddenly so difficult for employees to show customers some common courtesy along with a little friendliness? Have we ventured so far from the service standards of yesteryear and become so shortsighted that we refuse to treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves? Today, improving customer service is a top priority in organizations worldwide. As a result, company leaders spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually training their employees how to provide exceptional customer service. Unfortunately, the effort is not paying off. Even with such vast resources being spent on this simple and obvious problem, few companies achieve outstanding results. And as their customer service levels plummet, dissatisfied customers take their business elsewhere and company profits suffer. Is there any improvement in sight? The Importance of Customer Service Purchasing virtually any goods or services is a process whereby the customer moves from interest to desire to decision. During that process, one of the primary determinants as to whether the customer completes the purchase, as well as his or her level of satisfaction in the sales process, is the attitude of the sales employee. Interestingly, the customer's attitude frequently reflects that of the salesperson. Thus, an employee attempting to close the sale will generally find it much easier to do so if he or she gives the customer a positive attitude and friendly disposition to respond to. Equally important is the post-sale service experience, especially in today's environment filled with technically complex products and services. This trend is likely to continue as technological complexity increases and as our population continues to age. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by the year 2005 there will be 85 million Americans over age 50, and they will have cumulative purchasing power of $900 billion annually. The combination of technical complexity and the aging population will result in an increased proportion of sales transactions requiring post-sale customer service on a periodic or continuing basis. Given the customer service problems we face today, coupled with the growing demand for increased levels of pre- and post-sale customer service, we need to begin thinking much more seriously about how our organizations will rise to meet these growing market demands. Adding to this problem will be the demographic reality of a shrinking pool of available younger workers to fill these customer service openings, which frequently are entry-level positions. The following practical steps can help your company stay ahead of this trend so you can meet tomorrow's customer service needs today. 1. Hire happy people. In our haste to find a "warm body" to fill a vacant position, we frequently miss some of the most obvious indicators of a person's likely success or failure. People who are open, approachable, and generally happy are far more likely to respond in a positive manner to our customers' needs. Prospective employees who act guarded or excessively shy, or who show evidence of having a "cold fish" personality during the interview process, probably are not good hires at the outset. 2. Train your people thoroughly. When employees thoroughly understand the organization they represent, as well as its policies, products, and services, they are far more likely to interact positively with customers. Realize, though, that training of this sort is not a one-time-for-life event applicable only to new hires. Today's organizations, markets, products, and services are dynamic and changing constantly. Keep your employees up-to-date with all the latest trends by offering continual training opportunities. 3. Treat your people exceedingly well. Do you treat your employees the way you want them to treat customers? Most company leaders do not, yet they expect their personnel to excel when it comes to friendly customer service. The fact is that employees who are unhappy on the job are not likely to display a positive, helpful attitude to their customers. Instead, they will respond to customers with the same attitude and outlook they receive from managers and supervisors. To foster exceptional customer service skills, company leaders need to ensure that they treat their employees in the same manner they want their employees to treat customers. 4. Solicit customer feedback and act promptly upon it. The only way to get a true reading of your company's customer service is to actively solicit feedback from every customer, not just the ones who you know are satisfied. Equally important is to ask for feedback in a way that prompts more than superficial responses. Demonstrate your desire for honest opinions by asking proper questions. Superficial questions return superficial responses, while thoughtful, insightful questions result in honest, valuable answers. Carefully formulate open-ended question so the answers can reveal the true state of your company's service levels. 5. Ensure that your senior leadership is hearing unfiltered feedback from both your operating personnel and your first line managers. In almost every organization, the people on the front lines have a clear understanding of the true customer satisfaction levels. The problem lies in how accurately this information moves up the organizational hierarchy. Just as any military general in the field strives to get an accurate report of what is occurring on the battlefront, many executives yearn for a clear understanding of the customer service that occurs at their organization's front lines. If you want to know what is really happening in your organization, get out and talk with your employees and your customers. Then, establish clear and strong guidelines for information to travel up the ranks. The more accurate information you can obtain, the better understanding you'll have of what needs to change. Regardless of your industry, if you want your customers to regularly experience service with a warm, heartfelt smile rather than a scowl, you must set the example and live by it. Show your employees the vision to follow so you can instill customer service practices that will positively impact your bottom line. Copyright 2005 by John Di Frances John Di Frances is an internationallyrecognized organizationallegacy expert and keynotespeaker. www.difrances.com
MORE RESOURCES: Pricing, AI, DPA, Customer Service Tools; Bill Emerson Interview; Training This Week; STRATMOR CD Workshop Mortgage News Daily AI Chatbots Are Ready to Talk to Customers. Sort of. The Wall Street Journal Samsung Electronics Canada Customer Service Wins Bronze in ‘Best Use of Omni Channel' at International CX Awards 2024 Yahoo Finance Qme secures $3M funding to streamline customer service across Africa Techpoint Africa Building Competitive Advantage in Customer Care Through AI The Business of Fashion 311 Customer Service Center City and County of San Francisco FTC Finalizes Order with H&R Block Requiring Them to Pay $7 Million and Overhaul Advertising and Customer Service Practices for 2025 and 2026 Tax Seasons Federal Trade Commission News Samsung Electronics Canada Customer Service Wins Bronze in ‘Best Use of Omni Channel' at International CX Awards 2024 Business Wire JEA is inviting bids for 19-story downtown tower that used to be its headquarters The Florida Times-Union American Lamprecht Enhances Visibility for Air and Ocean Shipments Using Descartes Solution Supply Chain Dive Neterra Enhances Its Customer Service Monitoring System Total Telecom Women in Fintech: A Conversation About Loyalty Ecosystems in Financial Services with Becky Hill Finovate Gladly Named a Leader in Constellation ShortList™ for Digital Customer Service and Support PR Newswire QueueKiosk™: Saving Thousands of Active-Duty Man Hours & Improving Customer Service at the MPF Office Kiosk Marketplace Finally, hard data on a real-world AI business use case: It’s huge for customer service Sherwood News Liverpool reinvents customer service through digital platform ComputerWeekly.com Firm to expand customer service in Yorkshire with new service centre Golf Business News CSPI & Nutrition Action Customer Service CSPI Newsroom Textron Aviation to Open New Service Facility at Essendon Fields Airport, Expanding Capabilities in Australia Pittsburg Morning Sun Help Department of Taxation and Finance Six Game-Changing AI Customer Service and CX Strategies Hospitality Net Interviews: Talking 'to you, after 2000 years' with Matt, Owen, and Max of Customer Service Punknews.org Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) New York State Department of Health Cigna's customer-centric strategy could ripple across the sector Modern Healthcare Major AI Success Story: Giftify Achieves 40% Faster Customer Response Times with Enterprise AI StockTitan Community advocacy group accuses RG&E of shutting off service to record number of customers in 2024 Spectrum News Contact Us About Your Bill myclearwater.com Customer Service Center apps.tampagov.net Customer Support | Department of Corrections Governor Tom Wolf 311 - Birmingham’s Customer Service Center City of Birmingham (.gov) DESCO's meeting held to enhance customer service and power reliability The Business Standard 70% of customer service to rely on AI by 2028: Gartner Outsource Accelerator Customer Service & Support Hillsborough County (.gov) My experience as a Customer Service and Sales Intern Toby Shapiro's Experience at A.D. Sutton and Sons Chapman University Delta’s annual profit-sharing day spotlights ‘people first’ strategy The Atlanta Journal Constitution 3 Ways To Quickly Make $50 GOBankingRates Welcome to Riverside Public Utilities City of Riverside (.gov) Celebrate Customer Service Week City of Riverside (.gov) Which companies have the best customer service? Amazon, Shein, Costco among top-rated brands USA TODAY Con Edison Proposes Investments to Meet Growing Demand for Clean Energy, Enhance Customer Support T&D World Fulton County Recognized as a 2024 National Customer Service All Star Fulton County Government Contact Reverb Support Reverb America's Best Customer Service 2025 Newsweek 8 strategies for using AI for customer service in 2025 Sprout Social Attorney General Bonta Demands Better Customer Service for Californians California Department of Justice AI for Customer Service Market worth $47.82 Billion by 2030 - Exclusive Report by MarketsandMarkets™ PR Newswire Can artificial intelligence rescue customer service? The Economist Permits–customer services King County Lifeline Support for Affordable Communications Federal Communications Commission Department of Transportation Governor Tom Wolf 11 key elements of excellent customer service Business.com Shep Hyken, HPU Customer Service Expert, Mentors Students and Staff High Point University Summer EBT | Department of Human Services Governor Tom Wolf How Intercom Achieves 86% Resolution Rates with Claude AI: A Customer Service Revolution - Anthropic Office of Developmental Programs Governor Tom Wolf |
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