Customer Service Information |
|
Attitude of Service
When conducting a training session about customer service, I always spend a fair amount of time talking about attitudes. After all, to be of service, you must develop an attitude of service. It has recently come to mind that the attitude of service is not something you put on and take off when at work. It is something you carry with you throughout each day. Someone who truly has the attitude of service will always serve other people, no matter what the circumstances. Let's take a look at a few of the more obvious ways of observing an attitude of service. Have you ever had the occasion to approach a door at the same time another person is advancing toward it? I am frequently amazed that when the other person gets there, they barge through without any thought to me. I don't expect someone to wait five minutes for me to get there, but certainly, if we are reaching the door within seconds of one another, holding the door open would be a courteous gesture. The reaction I get when I'm the first one to the door and I wait and hold the door open for the other person, is one of surprise. It is so rarely done, that they are more than delighted to have this consideration extended to them. I love the reaction I get. I notice it puts the other person in a better mood and they almost always smile at the gesture. Many times, if it is a double door, they will return the favor by holding the door open for me. Other opportunities to practice an attitude of service is when driving on the road and someone is trying to pull out of a driveway. Stopping the car so the driver can safely navigate onto the road is almost always responded to with a honk and a wave. They always accompany it with a big smile. Little things like always saying please and thank you show your respect for the other person. If you aren't saying this in everyday interactions, how will you remember to always do so with the customer? When someone asks you a question, do you give them your full attention. When you see someone struggling with their purchases, do you offer to help? I was taking care of my two grandchildren earlier this year. One of them was 3 months old, the other was 17 months old. When I had to go shopping for necessities, it became a juggling act to get two babies into the store, into one carriage, and also place items in and around them. The generosity of one woman while I was in line waiting to be checked out, was incredible. She offered to place my items on the conveyor belt for me. Then she spent a good deal of time distracting the older of the babies so I could pay for my purchase. Her kindness and thoughtfulness was so appreciated by me. I couldn't believe that someone who had nothing to gain was being so kind to a stranger. It made me wonder what would happen if, those people whose job it is to do thoughtful things for customers did the same thing. Imagine how much more business would be attracted to that store. Are you practicing your customer service skills, even when you aren't waiting on a customer? If not, you might want to begin. It will make it easier when you are face to face with the customer. Margo Chevers, author of the book STOP the BS (bad service), has been providing sales and customer service seminars to a diverse cross-section of industries for the past 19 years. To receive her free 10 top tips for exceptional customer service, call (800) 858-0797 or email Margo@MargoChevers.com.
MORE RESOURCES: NBAA Unveils Customer Service Training Certification Program Aviation International News Hassan and Marshall legislation to improve government customer service signed into law Nashua Telegraph AT&T Unveils Industry-First Service Guarantee with Automatic Bill Credits for Network Outages StockTitan How ACI Worldwide is deploying AI Payments Dive Infographic: How Simon Roofing Improved Its Customer Service with Microsoft Dynamics 365 MSDynamicsWorld CSPI & Nutrition Action Customer Service CSPI Newsroom What Keeps Healthcare CIOs Up at Night: Balancing Technology Investments with Consumer Expectations MedCity News SIGNED INTO LAW: Senators Hassan and Marshall’s Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Government Customer Service Maggie Hassan Oracle and NVIDIA Join Forces to Drive AI Innovation in Bank FinTech Magazine AT&T Unveils First & Only Customer-First Promise Across Both Wireless & Fiber Networks; Plus, Customer Care & Deals Canada NewsWire Valvoline Ranked Among Best in Customer Service AftermarketNews.com (AMN) What’s the future for customer service and hospitality in coffee? Perfect Daily Grind Cents Launches Cents Assist, the First AI-Powered Call Center Built for Laundry Businesses PR Newswire Arrest of AT&T rep highlights why it's important to always double-check what you agree to Android Authority SailPoint Recognized as a 2024 Gartner Peer Insights™ Customers’ Choice for Identity Governance and Administration Business Wire Banglalink launches AI-based customer service chatbot Telecompaper EN NorthStar Moving Ranked #1 Moving Company for Customer Service in Newsweek's 2025 List The Manila Times Vontier’s Driivz extends its offering to provide Call Center and Network Operation Center (NOC) Services GlobeNewswire Is a hybrid AI-human model the key to superior customer service? Interesting Engineering As the cost of living bites, good customer service becomes priceless Region Illawarra My experience as a Customer Service and Sales Intern Toby Shapiro's Experience at A.D. Sutton and Sons Chapman University Customer Service & Support Hillsborough County (.gov) Sprout Social launches 2025 index Marketing Beat My Utilities Account City of Santa Clara America's Best Customer Service 2025 Newsweek Celebrate Customer Service Week City of Riverside, California (.gov) Fulton County Recognized as a 2024 National Customer Service All Star Fulton County Government Charter Names Robyn Tolva Senior Vice President, Customer Service Reliability | Charter Charter Communications Welcome to Riverside Public Utilities City of Riverside, California (.gov) Customer Assistance Programs DC Water Attorney General Bonta Demands Better Customer Service for Californians California Department of Justice 8 strategies for using AI for customer service in 2024 Sprout Social President Biden Announces New Customer Service Actions, Targets Subscriptions and ‘Doom Loops’ CX Today Sysdig earns top accolade in Gartner customer choice 2024 SecurityBrief Australia Shep Hyken, HPU Customer Service Expert, Mentors Students and Staff High Point University 11 key elements of excellent customer service Business.com Department of Transportation | Department of Transportation Governor Tom Wolf Can artificial intelligence rescue customer service? The Economist Video Quick Take: Intercom’s Brian Donahue on How AI Agents Can Be Your First Tier of Customer Service Support HBR.org Daily I CARE VA.gov Home | Veterans Affairs SUN Bucks: Pennsylvania’s Summer EBT program Governor Tom Wolf Updated Customer Service Hours - Several Departments Downtown Riley County Official Website What Your Business Can Learn From Southwest Airlines Business.com Conway Corp employees win MACTA Customer Service awards Log Cabin Democrat Office of Developmental Programs Governor Tom Wolf One Stop PGH Pittsburgh PA.gov Contact Us - Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service) National Park Service BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE Forbes bizfile California Secretary of State IRS Should Ensure Customer Service Enhancements Are Accessible for Taxpayers with Disabilities National Taxpayer Advocate 4 examples of how Cigna Healthcare’s customer service team goes above and beyond to help members Cigna Newsroom |
RELATED ARTICLES
We Sell For Less and Our Stores Are a Mess! What kind of image do you present when marketing your products? Are you professional and well organized or does your store/site/whatever scream, "sloppy!," to those who matter the most: your customers? Let's see how one leading retailer is winning the sales war, but losing an important battle: store organization.WalMart is dominant in so many categories with the various products that they sell. Customer Satisfaction and the Service Business The relationship between customer satisfaction and success of a service business is a direct one. Customer satisfaction measurement, however, is a much more complex matter. Raising The Bar For Online Magazine Subscription Services And Customer Service After years of flying below the radar in the magazine subscription service arena online, MagMall.com is gaining traction real fast. CRM - Its Relevance In today's demanding economy, the first line of any business during economic uncertainty is to get closer to the customer. Customers often want information along with a quote or invoice on the spot. Dissatisfied or Rude Customers Can Be Satisfied Customers On a recent airline flight I was an upset customer. I was arriving on a late inbound flight and connecting with the last flight out on the same airline, but the connecting flight left without me! At first, I was furious when told to wait in a line of 300 people to resolve my problem. How Do You Create Customer Loyalty? Another sad fact of life is that these days, very few customers are loyal. Most of their loyalties lie with their bank accounts, and you can't blame people for watching their shrinking dollars. Your Actions Tell Your Clients How You Expect To Be Treated There is a widely accepted principle of human behavior that goes something like this. "Your actions tell the world how you expect to be treated. Treating the Customer Dissatisfaction Epidemic: How to Go Beyond Simply Masking the Symptoms Corporations in every sector are spending more than ever before in an attempt to improve their customer service levels. Every year they pour hundreds of millions of dollars into new systems and training programs that promise them the ability to win customer loyalty. From Disgruntled to Champion - How to Turn an Unhappy Client Into Your Best Customer It's a salesperson's worst nightmare- the phone call that comes in from a disgruntled customer. Not only does it create extra work for you, but it cuts into your valuable selling time. Customer Service and Call Center Outsourcing, Whats The Buzz? The buzz is all about customer service and call center outsourcing, also known as BPO (Business Process Outsourcing). According to Gartner, the outsourcing market in Europe has grown with over 6%, BPO with 10%. Top 10 customer service tips 1. Hire people who have a service attitude. Wholesale Buyers Versus Retail Customers Are wholesale buyers and retail customers really different? Frankly, there are two answers to this question: yes and no. Yes, because they are different from the buyers and those selling to buyers' point of view and no, because the principles that apply are the same for both types of buying. Losing Angry Customers This article offers five ways to help you deal with angry customers. While the goal of all businesses is to have only happy customers, we also have to be realistic and realize sometimes we are going to anger a customer. What Every Employee Should Know About How to See Customers Problems from Their Creative Side Customer Service is a blessing and a curse; a blessing to the customer and a curse to you, the employee. At least so it seems. Listening: The Foundation of Communication Listening is the #1 communication skill for leadership, selling, customer service, and even romance! The problem is, most of us don't listen very well. We're not trained to listen and we don't even realize that listening is a skill. Revealed - A Simple Formula For Success! Exceeding Expectations Delight = Customer Expectation plus 1. This was the simple formula for delighting your customers that Ken Blanchard informed us of in his book "Raving Fans" For me this is a great formula, but in itself it also raises a number of questions. Five Ways To Wow Your Client Running a business is about providing goods and services to human beings. Their experience with you can make the difference between a good day, a terrible day, a nothing-special day, and a "WOW" day for them! Wouldn't you like to be the reason a client's day changes from boring to "WOW?"The benefits of this approach are good for everyone involved. Are You Satisfying Your Customers? The latest report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (Michigan School of Business) reports the following:Customer dissatisfaction with the quality goods and services offered in the marketplace is more than a nuisance. The US economy is heavily dependent on increases in consumer spending. What Exactly is Customer Relationship Management? The defintion of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) that I favor is "CRM is the business strategy that aims to understand, anticipate, manage and personalize the needs of an organization's current and potential customers"From this we can learn that CRM is more than just a piece of software; CRM is a business strategy, one that puts the customer at the heart of the business."That's nothing new" I hear you say, and you would be right. Your Career Plan--Think Like A CEO You've been going 6-to-late; exhausted by running the supersonic treadmill of life and wish you had a different job. But you can't because you have no time and you're left spent at the end of every day. |
home | site map |
© 2006 |