DO YOU READ FACES??? what is the face of the customer after she/ he experiences your product or service

THE RED LITMUS TEST
 OF YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE
 SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES!
(mere good intentions
 don't make happy customers)

CONVERTING GOOD INTENTIONS
 TO CLEAR RESULT ORIENTED ACTIONS

Before a company can embark on improving its customer service capability, its leader(s) must believe that such improvement will enhance the company's competitive advantage and, as a result, its bottom-line. A company must instinctively feel that the best way to be successful is to invest time and resources not only in (external) sales and marketing efforts, but also in (internal) equipment/technology, work environment, employees and operating systems. Without this fundamental belief, no organization leader will spend the necessary time, energy and money to assess and develop their organization's capabilities over the long run to achieve excellent service. 

Setting A Clear Customer Experience Strategy

 

Often organisations confuse defining a customer experience strategy with creating a "slogan". How many companies create a slogan without any supporting initiatives, thereby disillusioning employees and creating a "flavour of the month?"

To establish a good strategy certain key practices are required:

§  Understand the overall organisational vision and mission

§  Define the organisation's customer service direction, slogan and values

§  Ensure customer service is defined as a key responsibility for the business/department

§  Share the customer experience strategy via a comprehensive communications program

§  Ensure that this strategy does not conflict with other business strategies. As consultants, it is amazing how often we hear organisations say, "Improving Customer Service is a priority, and we are also introducing stringent cost-cutting measures." This can present a tough dichotomy.

 

 

Establishing Effective Service Delivery Processes

Effective processes and procedures provide the foundation for smoothing or inhibiting the material service element of the customer interaction. Efficient service delivery systems appear transparent to the customer. Poor systems create those 'speed bumps' that necessitate personal intervention in order to satisfy the customer requirements.

The critical elements in ensuring a positive material customer experience are:

§  Mapping the service delivery processes

§  Evaluating critical success points in the process

§  Defining service standards and objectives for these essential points

§  Establishing service delivery procedures to optimise material service

§  Creating service level agreements to smooth internal service delivery

Building In Continuous Improvement

No matter how effective the service delivery processes, or well-trained the service deliverers, things go wrong. Products have faults. Customers get frustrated. Things slip through the cracks. The organisations that are built around managing the customer experience are able to resolve these issues effectively. This process known as "recovery" is an important differentiator in building customer loyalty.

In order to recover effectively, it is necessary to:

§  Actively seek customer feedback and complaints: you cannot improve if you don't know what went wrong in the first place.

§  Train staff how to handle customer complaints effectively using the correct mix of empathising, apologising and resolution.

§  Make sure that the real problem is solved, not just the symptoms.

§  Focus on proactive (prevention) as well as reactive (cure) problem solving.

SUMMARY

Improving your company's customer service is a two-pronged approach. Externally, a company needs to decide which customers it needs to initially and subsequently focus on. The business needs to examine what it is doing to generate new customers and what it needs to do to maintain, or effectively prune, existing customers.Internally, a company needs to figure out what's working and what needs improvement with respect to its key internal supports. Committed leadership is required to keep efforts going despite inevitable pain and adversity, especially in a highly competitive business. Initial efforts need to be targeted, starting small and building momentum. Employees and suppliers need to be involved in analyses and actions in order to generate uniform commitment and ensure that improvements stick. Employee competence and confidence needs to be built to sustain your company's advantage over the long haul.Performing all these external and internal efforts proactively and intelligently will generate and ensure long-term success for your business.

with best compliments

Dr Wilfred Monteiro

how do you rate and rank yourself
 on these top ten attributes
of a CUSTOMER SERVICE PROFESSIONAL??

Customer service is growing ( more than product innovation) in importance as a competitive business differentiator in the future. Every customer you keep, is one less that you need to find.

21  Select  Quotes

 to fire motivation & inspiration

in your Customer Service Professionals

DON’T WORRY IF YOU CANNOT
 TAKE CARE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS...
YOUR COMPETITORS
WILL DO THAT FOR YOU  ... 
DR WILFRED MONTEIRO

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
Bill Gates

Your customer doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Damon Richards

Your best customers leave quite an impression. Do the same, and they won’t leave at all.
SAP Ad

You’ve got to look for a gap, where competitors in a market have grown lazy and lost contact with the readers or the viewers.
Rupert Murdoch

You’ll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can’t be copied.
Jerry Fritz

You are serving a customer, not a life sentence. Learn how to enjoy your work.
Laurie McIntosh

Whether you are big or small, you cannot give good customer service if your employees don’t feel good about coming to work.
Martin Oliver, MD Kwik-Fit Financial Services

When the customer comes first, the customer will last.
Robert Half

There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.
Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart

There is a spiritual aspect to our lives – when we give we receive – when a business does something good for somebody, that somebody feels good about them!
Ben Cohen, Ben & Jerry’s

There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.
Roger Staubach

The customer’s perception is your reality.
Kate Zabriskie, Author of: Customer Service Excellence: How to Deliver Value to Today’s Busy Customer

The customer experience is the next competitive battleground.
Jerry Gregoire, CIO, Dell Computers

Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.
Zig Ziglar

Spend a lot of time talking to customers face to face. You’d be amazed how many companies don’t listen to their customers.
Ross Perot

Know what your customers want most and what your company does best. Focus on where those two meet.
Kevin Stirtz

Right or wrong, the customer is always right.

Marshall Field

Revolve your world around the customer and more customers will revolve around you.
Heather Williams

Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.
Peter Drucker

Profit in business comes from repeat customers; customers that boast about your product and service, and that bring friends with them.
W. Edwards Deming

CUSTOMER SERVICE IS NOT A DEPARTMENT, IT’S EVERYONE’S JOB.

DR WILFRED MONTEIRO
  

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT : SUCCESS DOES NOT COME WITH SLOGANS OR GOOD INTENTIONS; YOU CANNOT BE A SUCCESS WITH SPORADIC AND NON-CONCERTED ACTIONS

A  STRATEGIC  APPROACH TO 

 CUSTOMER   EXPERIENCE  MANAGEMENT

In particular, companies are progressively realizing that managing customer satisfaction is key to succeeding in this effort.  Unsurprisingly, studies have  shown that  as a customer’s satisfaction increases, so do his or her loyalty and willingness to recommend the  service to others . On top of this, satisfied customers are more receptive to cross-selling actions and have proven  to be less  costly  in terms of customer care. 

Despite the evidence, service companies rarely consider building loyalty, capturing cross-selling opportunities and managing customer satisfaction as part of one and the same process. Satisfaction is typically measured in period- if customer surveys that are used to compare the position of the company relative to that of its competitors.

 Yet these results are seldom translated into the individualized commercial actions launched by marketing & sales to retain and increase revenue per customer. In the  process, valuable  resources are lost when attempting to cross-sell to unsatisfied customers who  will probably  never  agree to increase their spending with the  company, and trying to retain  satisfied customers who  would  have  stayed with the company anyway.

HERE ARE 7 STEPS TO A GOOD CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

 

SETTING A CLEAR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE STRATEGY

Often organisations confuse defining a customer experience strategy with creating a "slogan". How many companies create a slogan without any supporting initiatives, thereby disillusioning employees and creating a "flavour of the month?"

To establish a good strategy certain key practices are required:

§  Understand the overall organisational vision and mission

§  Define the organisation's customer service direction, slogan and values

§  Ensure customer service is defined as a key responsibility for the business/department

§  Share the customer experience strategy via a comprehensive communications program

§  Ensure that this strategy does not conflict with other business strategies. As consultants, it is amazing how often we hear organisations say, "Improving Customer Service is a priority, and we are also introducing stringent cost-cutting measures." This can present a tough dichotomy.

 

HAVE THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON THE WAGON

When recruiting employees to provide customer service, the process often tends to concentrate more on functional expertise, technical competence and knowledge rather than interpersonal skills. However, lack of the right attitude can drastically impact client satisfaction levels. Research has in fact shown that attitude is the most important requirement: skills and functional expertise can be taught.

Therefore in selecting the right people:

§  Define the critical job requirements

§  Develop scenario-based interviews/assessment centres to screen and select candidates

§  Involve multiple team members in the hiring process

§  Ensure evaluation is based on objective, not the subjective "Be Like Me" criteria

.

PEOPLE COME FIRST -THEN CUSTOMER IS FOREMOST

Even though you have hired the right people, there is still a need to orient them into the organisation's customer relationship culture and define key communication skills. In Call Centers and Technical Support departments, there is a tendency to rely on technical/functional skills and neglect interpersonal skills development. This can result in providing acceptable material service, the more tangible aspect, yet unacceptable personal service, the competitive differentiator.

Therefore to build a customer relationship culture, it is important to:

§  Provide training in key areas required to deliver exceptional personal service

§  Reinforce these skills using ongoing coaching and feedback

§  Measure current performance levels

§  Reward performance using a combination of monetary awards and non-monetary recognition

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT SERVICE DELIVERY PROCESSES

Effective processes and procedures provide the foundation for smoothing or inhibiting the material service element of the customer interaction. Efficient service delivery systems appear transparent to the customer. Poor systems create those 'speed bumps' that necessitate personal intervention in order to satisfy the customer requirements.

The critical elements in ensuring a positive material customer experience are:

§  Mapping the service delivery processes

§  Evaluating critical success points in the process

§  Defining service standards and objectives for these essential points

§  Establishing service delivery procedures to optimise material service

§  Creating service level agreements to smooth internal service delivery

USE DEMING’S WHEEL : PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT (PDCA)

No matter how effective the service delivery processes, or well-trained the service deliverers, things go wrong. Products have faults. Customers get frustrated. Things slip through the cracks. The organisations that are built around managing the customer experience are able to resolve these issues effectively. This process known as "recovery" is an important differentiator in building customer loyalty.

In order to recover effectively, it is necessary to:

§  Actively seek customer feedback and complaints: you cannot improve if you don't know what went wrong in the first place.

§  Train staff how to handle customer complaints effectively using the correct mix of empathising, apologising and resolution.

§  Make sure that the real problem is solved, not just the symptoms.

§  Focus on proactive (prevention) as well as reactive (cure) problem solving.

SET CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARDS AT EACH TOUCH POINT

We are used to such phrases as ‘100% reliable’ and ‘works everytime‘ as they relate to products. These product quality standards have developed over time, as consumers have become more demanding of manufacturers.But a tangible product is only one aspect of the supplier/customer relationship. The other aspect is service; indeed, in many businesses, there is no physical product. The only relationship is service.Service standards are important for customers, potential customers, employees and management of a business. They help to define what a customer can expect and to remind management and employees of the challenge and obligations that they face.

This guidance note addresses these questions: in what terms should service standards be defined? How do you go about creating service standards? How many standards should a business have? How are service standards used?

SET NORMS FOR CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS HANDLING FOR ORGANISATIONS

·       Have a clear, flexible welcoming and open policy on complaints. A complaint is a gift when a customer gives up their time to help you improve your organisation.

·       Train your staff and management in complaints handling

Give them confidence to tackle the difficult customers and support in their actions. Excellent complaint handling isn't easy and can sometimes be stressful and feel unrewarding. Confirm its importance in providing great customer service.

·       Give complaining enough priority and authority

Staff should be aware that complaints are a top priority item for your operation, and anyone who deals with them must have sufficient authority to resolve them completely.

·       Ensure that you can process complaints from all sources

There are 4 main ways to complain – in person, by telephone, by mail, by email/internet. Your organisation must be able to handle all of these efficiently.

·       Set up processes to log and analyse all complaints and share with everyone

You can learn a lot about problems with internal processes, training, specific employees/managers, and product forfree.

 CONCLUSION

CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE IS NOT A DEPARTMENT – BUT THE WHOLE COMPANY

We observe often; that senior management  has the vision, intention and commitment to introduce a comprehensive customer relationship management system. The "make or break" element is in involving middle management in the change process, and empowering them to be the key change-agents.

To do this, it is important to:

§  Engage the management team early and often in the process

§  Involve management members in articulating the customer experience strategy

§  Teach managers coaching skills so that they are able to articulate and reinforce the key personal service skills

§  Use managers as facilitators when rolling out interpersonal skills training

§  Reward managers on establishing, monitoring and updating service delivery processes

§  Ensure managers are able to act as an example to their teams.

  

As you can see, in order to deliver outstanding service, it is essential to build a customer relationship focused culture. This can take up to two years and can involve changing the way the company operates in all aspects of service delivery. The time investment can be high, but the pay-off can be enormous building long-term customer loyalty and helping to ensure business profitability.

Sometimes companies forget that, over time, their existing customers become more knowledgeable about competitors' offerings. Thus, buyers need to be continually resold on the company and the products and services it offers.

STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR COMPANY'S

 CUSTOMER SERVICE CAPABILITY

Companies are continuously striving to find new  ways to maximize the  value of their customer base. “Value”  is understood as the  discounted margin  from the  revenues of all customers during their lifetime  with the  company. It can be increased by acquiring  new  customers and/or expanding the  worth  of existing  ones. As markets become more  mature, gaining new  customers at reasonable acquisition costs becomes increasingly  difficult.

 Therefore companies concentrate their efforts on establishing stable and long-lasting  relationships with existing  customers. Sometimes companies forget that, over time, their existing customers become more knowledgeable about competitors' offerings. Thus, buyers need to be continually resold on the company and the products and services it offers

1.    Decide which types of customers (and which product/market areas) to focus on initially. Do not take on more areas than your organization can realistically handle at once.

2.    Assess and analyze your organization's current internal capabilities with regard to the six supports. Start meeting with executives/managers, then appropriately involve customers, suppliers, and employees in assessing what's working and what needs improvement within your organization.

3.    Get the right high-leverage people in the room to come to a reasonable consensus on analyses and plans. This works to build employee commitment to your improvement efforts. Keep minutes of all meetings to log and keep track of efforts and commitments (stuff written on paper gets more attention than stuff said into the air).

4.    Fully understand what currently makes your company's customer service strong. Reinforcing and building on these positive capabilities generates positive motivation.

5.    Prioritize areas for improvement, i.e., where the greatest needs are for improved customer service. If appropriate, simply take an executive or manager vote on necessary short-term and long-term initiatives.

6.    Solicit improvement ideas from all appropriate staff. They can be a wealth of ideas.

7.    Implement easiest improvements first. Focus on areas where smallest time, money and energy investment will achieve the greatest customer and company returns. Don't bite off more than your company can chew at once. Build your muscles for the more strenuous efforts.

8.    Eventually involve all staff in improvement efforts, and teach them skills in data gathering/analysis, problem solving and solution implementation. Educate and help your employees to help your organization.

9.    Measure the results of the changes being instituted in terms of internal productivity/efficiency, and external quality/service to customers. Tracking results help you learn about your business, and lets you know if your efforts are making a difference.

10.Shift focus as priorities change. Keeping your focus on what are the next things to do keeps the      long customer service improvement voyage more manageable and endurable.

11.If you need help, get it. Look to business colleagues, advisors, books or competent consultants to help you along the way.

11.Don’t Make Promises Unless You Intend to Keep Them

Reliability is crucial to any good relationship and good customer service is no exception. Think before you make promises – because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one.

12. Deal with Complaints

No one likes hearing complaints, so it’s little wonder why many hate when folks complain. Deal with customer complaints maturely and you will reap the benefits of good customer service.

13. Be Helpful – Even if There’s No Immediate Profit

Be open to being helpful at all times. Do not be nice only when there’s a reward in it for you. Helping your clients, even when they least expect it, will impress them and build their trust in you.

14.Take the Extra Step

If you want to provide good customer service, go beyond what your clients want. Going the extra mile surely adds a sense of satisfaction.

15. Stay Loyal

Loyalty is key to attracting new customers. When your existing customers know that you are loyal, they hold nothing back when it comes to introducing new customers to you and your business. This is marketing that is done passively for you.

16. Introduce Promotions

In a bid to get your customers glued to your brand, introducing mouth watering promotions can act like magic. Promotions that provide true savings and value causes current customers to introduce others to you and your business in an effort to pass those savings along.

17. Throw a Party

Here’s a thought. Why not throw parties for your customers? It’s an opportunity for customers to meet, for you to cultivate relationships with them, for you to gain an understanding of what they want and why they purchased from you, and it builds a sense of community – they might even bring a friend. Lexus, the luxury vehicle division of Toyota Motor Corporation, has programs such as this in place.

  

18. Keep Them Up to Speed

If the need for you to raise prices occurs, inform your customers in advance. Their feedback will serve as a good measure to know if they welcome the change or not and it also provides them the opportunity to make purchases prior to the price hike.

19. Be Appreciative

Say thank you at all times for your clients’ patronage. Never feel above being thankful.  After all, you are in business because of them.

20. Build Trust

There are various ways in which you can build trust and providing consistent value is one of them. Decide which works best for you and carve a niche around it.

21. Stay in Contact

Encourage customers by staying in touch with them through a blog, newsletter, or some other means that affords ongoing communication. Just ensure that you keep the conversation going

.

THE WAY AHEAD:

Improving your company's customer service is a two-pronged approach. Externally, a company needs to decide which customers it needs to initially and subsequently focus on. The business needs to examine what it is doing to generate new customers and what it needs to do to maintain, or effectively prune, existing customers.

Internally, a company needs to figure out what's working and what needs improvement with respect to its key internal supports. Committed leadership is required to keep efforts going despite inevitable pain and adversity, especially in a highly competitive business. Initial efforts need to be targeted, starting small and building momentum. 

Employees and suppliers need to be involved in analyses and actions in order to generate uniform commitment and ensure that improvements stick. Employee competence and confidence needs to be built to sustain your company's advantage over the long haul.Performing all these external and internal efforts proactively and intelligently will generate and ensure long-term success for your business.
Master these items above and before long, you’ll be amazed at how loyal your customers become to your brand.  Never forget that more customers, equals more profit. Therefore you have all the opportunity in the world to increase your customer base by putting in place top notch customer service.