Time to show off my age, Lets talk service, I can remember when you would pull into a "service station" young men in white uniforms would come to your car and ask "Fill ‘er up?" and the other would be looking under the hood checking oil and hoses, then he would check the tore pressure and look under the car,. While he was doing that the first one who was filling your tank was washing your windshield and checking the wiperblades. Gas cost $.35 a gallon and price wars put the price down to $.11 cents at times in a battle for your business and loyalty. Ahh, Those were the days.
When you went to the theater a person sold you the ticket, some one took the ticket, gave the stubs back and an Usher took you to your seat. And that seat cost you $.50 cents.
The Gas Company Fixed appliances and sold them too. The Television store would deliver 1 or 2 sets to your house and let you sample them in your home to see which you liked best.
Yes that was service, What happened in the 1970’s changed the way we did thisngs with Department stores turning into K-Mart or Wal-Mart. The face of service is different than it was 40 years ago and I think we should go back a few years and revisit how we do things.
we should always greet our customers with a friendly smile and in a very short time. If they wait for more that a minute they tend to get angry.
If we don’t have what they want (as far as an answer) we Better go find the resolution to their issue while they are on the phone. Or be able to give them a time frame as to when it can be.
Always end a call asking if there is anything else and Thank you.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
‘Tis the season
Well it is here, the only season slower that summer. We have accomplishe much in the past year and the time has come to take a hat off to all of you.
From support, to the second level and even those guys in the office. A year well done.
We managed to get through grades issues and how to make a call all the way to what is the website?
You have conducted yourselves in a very professional way and made an unbearable job entertaining,
The quotes on the wall say a lot about who we are and what we do. And we do, do it well.
I have worked for some choice companies in the field of technical support and no one ever told my team or me how much they are appreciated. Thank you.
We have broken performance records taking many more calls than ever, handling cases in numbers so high one weeks worth this year matched some months in the past.
We have Grown as a department and as a company going from 23 people (when I started) to 62 of the best and brightest staff one could imagine.
So if it is Christmas, Hanukiah, Kwanzaa or the Kings Birthday.
Happy Holiday
From support, to the second level and even those guys in the office. A year well done.
We managed to get through grades issues and how to make a call all the way to what is the website?
You have conducted yourselves in a very professional way and made an unbearable job entertaining,
The quotes on the wall say a lot about who we are and what we do. And we do, do it well.
I have worked for some choice companies in the field of technical support and no one ever told my team or me how much they are appreciated. Thank you.
We have broken performance records taking many more calls than ever, handling cases in numbers so high one weeks worth this year matched some months in the past.
We have Grown as a department and as a company going from 23 people (when I started) to 62 of the best and brightest staff one could imagine.
So if it is Christmas, Hanukiah, Kwanzaa or the Kings Birthday.
Happy Holiday
Friday, December 19, 2008
In Memorium
It is a sad day in all of Geekdom and SciFi land. Warp Speed! Mrs. Roddenberry
NEW YORK (AP) -- Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the widow of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, has died. She was 76. Roddenberry, an actress who appeared in numerous "Star Trek" TV shows and movies, died Thursday of leukemia at her home in Bel-Air, Calif., her representative said.
At Roddenberry's side were family friends and her only son, Eugene Roddenberry Jr. Gene Roddenberry died in 1991.
Her romance with Roddenberry earned her the title "The First Lady of Star Trek." A fixture in the "Star Trek" franchise, her roles included Nurse Christine Chapel in the original "Star Trek," Lwaxana Troi in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and the voice of the USS Enterprise computer in almost every spin-off of the 1966 cult series. She recently reprised the voice role in the upcoming "Star Trek" film directed by J.J. Abrams.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the widow of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, has died. She was 76. Roddenberry, an actress who appeared in numerous "Star Trek" TV shows and movies, died Thursday of leukemia at her home in Bel-Air, Calif., her representative said.
At Roddenberry's side were family friends and her only son, Eugene Roddenberry Jr. Gene Roddenberry died in 1991.
Her romance with Roddenberry earned her the title "The First Lady of Star Trek." A fixture in the "Star Trek" franchise, her roles included Nurse Christine Chapel in the original "Star Trek," Lwaxana Troi in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and the voice of the USS Enterprise computer in almost every spin-off of the 1966 cult series. She recently reprised the voice role in the upcoming "Star Trek" film directed by J.J. Abrams.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Instant Karma
Looked this up and what a Find!!!
Hot Heads and Karma - It All Works Out
Perspective and patience. It's a challenge especially in a lightning-fast business world filled with Type A's, cro-magnons, and Machiavellian punks (read The Prince for more detail on this last point). It's enough to make a sane person lose their mind (and in the case of the insane like myself, it means we have to attend therapy more frequently than we already do).Bad behavior happens every day. There's classic micro-management where your superior is giving detailed instructions on how you should adjust your desk chair. There's cro-magnonesque screaming and berating of subordinates who are doing nothing but their best yet market forces stall their efforts. There are the up-and-comers who behave like the fastest way to the top involves stepping on the backs, heads, and faces of those around them. And my favorite, the office politics and intrigue that would impress even the most conniving CIA and KGB veterans of the cold war. You confront these and other onerous acts daily. So what can you do?You have a few choices. You can play their game. You can get so bent out of shape over it you look like a bag of Rold Gold pretzels. You can focus on what matters and, like Jason Lee on "My Name is Earl," believe in Karma. Let's dissect these...Playing their game: Sure this approach offers instant gratification. They scream; you scream. They micro-manage, you micro-manage. They drag their knuckles and you do the same. Unfortunately this can be very satisfying in the near term. When you get screamed at, it's very fulfilling to go "kick the dog" (a euphemism for abusing your people). Why? It helps reestablish the power equation. When you're berated, you are effectively powerless in the face of the onslaught. As humans, we seek equilibrium and when we lose power in one situation we seek to regain it in another. This can manifest itself in the form of berating your team, taking it out on friends and family or in the most extreme form, kicking the dog (literally). If I need to elaborate on why this approach is dangerous, call me. You need help.You can also play the game of the up and comers. The problem is, they're better at it than you are because they've practiced it longer. Your team and colleagues will see right through it. Short term, it might get you ahead which is problematic because those rewards reinforce the belief that this is a winning strategy. Longer term, no one will work with you because no one trusts you. Once again, if I need to elaborate, seek help.Get Bent: Another strategy is to accept the behavior and adopt the "woe is me" victim approach. Do nothing but belly ache. You can internalize the behavior to the point that it affects your self-esteem and your health. It becomes the subject of water cooler griping and eventually poisons both you and the organization. Prescription medications even begin to enter the equation (or even worse - non-prescription "medications" to eliminate the stress). Once again, not really a viable strategy. This one tends to shorten your life span.Focus and Karma: This is the hardest approach of all because there is no near-term instant gratification payoff. It requires setting aside all the bad behavior and focusing on what you actually get paid for. You also have to become The Human Crapshield for your team and coworkers. If you're in a customer facing business, figure out how to serve them better (Hello airlines? Are you listening?). If you're a "support" function, go support your internal customer better than ever. Figure out how to have an impact and focus on those tasks maniacally despite the exogenous factors that are driving you up the wall. A funny thing happens when you spend more of your time focused on important stuff - you have less time and energy to focus on the stupidity and bad behaviors. You lower your risk of being hot headed and engaging in a career limiting move (and yes, there are occasions where I wish I personally had adopted this approach but instead "played their game" - it didn't work out so well...)."But Mike, what about the bad actors? When do they get theirs?" Patience grasshopper. That's all I can say. It all comes out in the wash at some point. They play their game so long that eventually people see them for what they are and teams depart or they end up "pursuing other opportunities." Bad things eventually happen. It's a leap of faith, I know. The thing is, do you really want to have that instant vengeance attached to your name? Is that how you want to be known professionally? If the answer is a resounding "no" and I hope it is, then you have no other choice but to continue doing the right things and letting the world sort out the rest. That's the great thing about a market economy - people eventually vote with their feet and the invisible hand of the market eventually reaches out and smacks the cro-mag across his bony protruding forehead.Be patient. Focus on the right outcomes. Protect your team. Only emulate the behaviors you want to be known for. It'll all work out in the end...- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC
Hot Heads and Karma - It All Works Out
Perspective and patience. It's a challenge especially in a lightning-fast business world filled with Type A's, cro-magnons, and Machiavellian punks (read The Prince for more detail on this last point). It's enough to make a sane person lose their mind (and in the case of the insane like myself, it means we have to attend therapy more frequently than we already do).Bad behavior happens every day. There's classic micro-management where your superior is giving detailed instructions on how you should adjust your desk chair. There's cro-magnonesque screaming and berating of subordinates who are doing nothing but their best yet market forces stall their efforts. There are the up-and-comers who behave like the fastest way to the top involves stepping on the backs, heads, and faces of those around them. And my favorite, the office politics and intrigue that would impress even the most conniving CIA and KGB veterans of the cold war. You confront these and other onerous acts daily. So what can you do?You have a few choices. You can play their game. You can get so bent out of shape over it you look like a bag of Rold Gold pretzels. You can focus on what matters and, like Jason Lee on "My Name is Earl," believe in Karma. Let's dissect these...Playing their game: Sure this approach offers instant gratification. They scream; you scream. They micro-manage, you micro-manage. They drag their knuckles and you do the same. Unfortunately this can be very satisfying in the near term. When you get screamed at, it's very fulfilling to go "kick the dog" (a euphemism for abusing your people). Why? It helps reestablish the power equation. When you're berated, you are effectively powerless in the face of the onslaught. As humans, we seek equilibrium and when we lose power in one situation we seek to regain it in another. This can manifest itself in the form of berating your team, taking it out on friends and family or in the most extreme form, kicking the dog (literally). If I need to elaborate on why this approach is dangerous, call me. You need help.You can also play the game of the up and comers. The problem is, they're better at it than you are because they've practiced it longer. Your team and colleagues will see right through it. Short term, it might get you ahead which is problematic because those rewards reinforce the belief that this is a winning strategy. Longer term, no one will work with you because no one trusts you. Once again, if I need to elaborate, seek help.Get Bent: Another strategy is to accept the behavior and adopt the "woe is me" victim approach. Do nothing but belly ache. You can internalize the behavior to the point that it affects your self-esteem and your health. It becomes the subject of water cooler griping and eventually poisons both you and the organization. Prescription medications even begin to enter the equation (or even worse - non-prescription "medications" to eliminate the stress). Once again, not really a viable strategy. This one tends to shorten your life span.Focus and Karma: This is the hardest approach of all because there is no near-term instant gratification payoff. It requires setting aside all the bad behavior and focusing on what you actually get paid for. You also have to become The Human Crapshield for your team and coworkers. If you're in a customer facing business, figure out how to serve them better (Hello airlines? Are you listening?). If you're a "support" function, go support your internal customer better than ever. Figure out how to have an impact and focus on those tasks maniacally despite the exogenous factors that are driving you up the wall. A funny thing happens when you spend more of your time focused on important stuff - you have less time and energy to focus on the stupidity and bad behaviors. You lower your risk of being hot headed and engaging in a career limiting move (and yes, there are occasions where I wish I personally had adopted this approach but instead "played their game" - it didn't work out so well...)."But Mike, what about the bad actors? When do they get theirs?" Patience grasshopper. That's all I can say. It all comes out in the wash at some point. They play their game so long that eventually people see them for what they are and teams depart or they end up "pursuing other opportunities." Bad things eventually happen. It's a leap of faith, I know. The thing is, do you really want to have that instant vengeance attached to your name? Is that how you want to be known professionally? If the answer is a resounding "no" and I hope it is, then you have no other choice but to continue doing the right things and letting the world sort out the rest. That's the great thing about a market economy - people eventually vote with their feet and the invisible hand of the market eventually reaches out and smacks the cro-mag across his bony protruding forehead.Be patient. Focus on the right outcomes. Protect your team. Only emulate the behaviors you want to be known for. It'll all work out in the end...- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Ya know it's funnier when it's true!
Abe said it…First I’ll say it again
A customer who doesn’t like you will not like you for a long time. Case in point once I had a customer who I was trying to appease and thought I knew best… well I didn’t I got called some very unsavory names and blood was spilled. That said; she wouldn’t speak to me again… or so she thinks.
I have a dynamite team here and that customer gives them kudos that too is great!
I on the other hand taught them. Hehehe. I like to hear when they do good and pleasing this one is no small task!
Irony is delicious when served with milk and cookies!
The supervisor I had when I first started has the same issue with the same person. You cannot please them all but when you do you are the greatest thing since oh well you know.
Now looking at things the way they are will let you know that once you earn this persons displeasure they too will be in the outs and that is oh soOKAY!!!
There will be more of these customers I am sure we all will get them, We all must remember folks, "you cannot please all of the people all of the time or some of the people some of the time" but once in a while… that’s alright in my book
Remembering the being, becoming or belonging to, is not as important doing your best even when it doesn’t please everyone you encounter. I tried to please and failed in this case and that is ok.
This experience has taught me that no matter what you do, well Lincoln said it First
A customer who doesn’t like you will not like you for a long time. Case in point once I had a customer who I was trying to appease and thought I knew best… well I didn’t I got called some very unsavory names and blood was spilled. That said; she wouldn’t speak to me again… or so she thinks.
I have a dynamite team here and that customer gives them kudos that too is great!
I on the other hand taught them. Hehehe. I like to hear when they do good and pleasing this one is no small task!
Irony is delicious when served with milk and cookies!
The supervisor I had when I first started has the same issue with the same person. You cannot please them all but when you do you are the greatest thing since oh well you know.
Now looking at things the way they are will let you know that once you earn this persons displeasure they too will be in the outs and that is oh soOKAY!!!
There will be more of these customers I am sure we all will get them, We all must remember folks, "you cannot please all of the people all of the time or some of the people some of the time" but once in a while… that’s alright in my book
Remembering the being, becoming or belonging to, is not as important doing your best even when it doesn’t please everyone you encounter. I tried to please and failed in this case and that is ok.
This experience has taught me that no matter what you do, well Lincoln said it First
Friday, December 5, 2008
From The Customer Service Reader
Hey, I have found another Favorite webpage!!
Customer Service and the Pursuit of Happiness
Does happiness at work matter? Most of your life is spent going to work, being at work, going from work, thinking about work, and talking about work after work. If you work in customer service, and are not happy with your job, you have the wrong job. You should find the calling that makes you happy. When you are happy at work, you’ll never have to work another day.
Most people don’t expect to find happiness, working a customer service job. But customer service, by its very nature, presents unique opportunities for the pursuit of happiness, not only for individuals, but for society as a whole.
Researchers in the field of Subjective Well-being (happiness) have found that there are certain characteristics that happy people have in common. Happy people:
Have self-control
Are grateful
Have good social relationships, supportive friends and family
Have an adequate income
Have respectable jobs, and
Have a philosophy that provides meaning to their lives.
Using this framework, can we, as providers, find happiness through customer service?
Self-control
The consistent practice of outstanding customer service behaviors requires an extraordinary amount of self-control. It starts with the realization that YOU are in control.
You choose your attitude
You choose your response
You choose to set aside your personal problems
You choose to give others a better day
When we take control, we refuse to be victims of circumstance, or of our own personal weaknesses. We take charge of our lives and of the situations that we face. This is a principal requirement of a life in service and, as it turns out, a principal requirement for a happy life.
Gratitude
"Thank you" is perhaps that the second most important customer service phrase. We use it (or ought to use it) dozens of times a day (thank you for calling, thank you for bringing that to my attention, thank-you-come-again). When we use these phrases authentically - i.e. when we mean what we say - we develop a habit of thankfulness. In Akumal III, Dr Bob Emmons reported research which showed that "people high in gratitude are more satisfied with life, have more vitality, more happiness, more optimism, hope, positive affect, lower psychological symptoms, more prosocial behaviors, and are higher on empathy".
Good social relationships
When you consistently practice customer service values and skills, such as kindness, listening, empathy, gratitude, responsibility, and persuasion, you develop habits that will stay with you for the rest of your life, and that can be applied to all other aspects of your life. You'll be able to make friends more easily, and will be better skilled at strengthening your relationships with your friends and family. They in turn will tend to reciprocate. People who are happy have strong relationships with friends and family. This is both a characteristic of happy people, and a consequence of their behavior.
Adequate income
There is a premium in the labor market for outstanding customer service providers. More important, we have the opportunity to constantly increase both our short-term and long-term income by applying our customer service skills. As Henry Ford once said, one who is “absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.”
Respectable jobs
This has two components. There’s the respect that you get for how you do your job, and there’s the respect you get for having that job. It’s not easy to provide outstanding customer service to every customer, on every transaction, every minute of the day. If you can do that, that’s something you can truly be proud of, and it’s certainly deserving of respect. Chances are you already stand out, and are duly rewarded.
The second component, respect for the job itself, depends less on the individual, and more on the team as a whole. When everyone in your organization or location provides outstanding service, people tend to talk about you, and you're likely to be known and respected for the service that you provide. It's a source of pride just to be part of such a team. The hard part is that it does depend on everyone. All it takes is one bad player to ruin the whole game.
A philosophy that provides meaning to their lives
The principles at the root of outstanding customer service are simple enough to say:
Our lives have more meaning when we serve others
Customer service is, first and foremost, a form of service
To serve each other and each customer is to serve humanity
As customer service providers, we touch millions of people each year. Each contact is an opportunity to make each life we touch a little better each day. And when we make people happy, they tend to pay it forward. Through the phenomenon psychologists call the “emotional contagion”, we can be carriers of an epidemic of kindness. We can be weapons of mass construction.
I'll end with some thoughts from some people who are a lot smarter than me:
Everyone can be great because everyone can serve. Martin Luther King Jr
Joy can be real only if people look on their life as a service. Leo Tolstoy
The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive. Only a life lived for others is a life worth living. Albert Einstein
Every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and will make, not only our own happiness, but that of the world at large. Mohandas K Gandhi
Source: http://customerservicereader.typepad.com/
Customer Service and the Pursuit of Happiness
Does happiness at work matter? Most of your life is spent going to work, being at work, going from work, thinking about work, and talking about work after work. If you work in customer service, and are not happy with your job, you have the wrong job. You should find the calling that makes you happy. When you are happy at work, you’ll never have to work another day.
Most people don’t expect to find happiness, working a customer service job. But customer service, by its very nature, presents unique opportunities for the pursuit of happiness, not only for individuals, but for society as a whole.
Researchers in the field of Subjective Well-being (happiness) have found that there are certain characteristics that happy people have in common. Happy people:
Have self-control
Are grateful
Have good social relationships, supportive friends and family
Have an adequate income
Have respectable jobs, and
Have a philosophy that provides meaning to their lives.
Using this framework, can we, as providers, find happiness through customer service?
Self-control
The consistent practice of outstanding customer service behaviors requires an extraordinary amount of self-control. It starts with the realization that YOU are in control.
You choose your attitude
You choose your response
You choose to set aside your personal problems
You choose to give others a better day
When we take control, we refuse to be victims of circumstance, or of our own personal weaknesses. We take charge of our lives and of the situations that we face. This is a principal requirement of a life in service and, as it turns out, a principal requirement for a happy life.
Gratitude
"Thank you" is perhaps that the second most important customer service phrase. We use it (or ought to use it) dozens of times a day (thank you for calling, thank you for bringing that to my attention, thank-you-come-again). When we use these phrases authentically - i.e. when we mean what we say - we develop a habit of thankfulness. In Akumal III, Dr Bob Emmons reported research which showed that "people high in gratitude are more satisfied with life, have more vitality, more happiness, more optimism, hope, positive affect, lower psychological symptoms, more prosocial behaviors, and are higher on empathy".
Good social relationships
When you consistently practice customer service values and skills, such as kindness, listening, empathy, gratitude, responsibility, and persuasion, you develop habits that will stay with you for the rest of your life, and that can be applied to all other aspects of your life. You'll be able to make friends more easily, and will be better skilled at strengthening your relationships with your friends and family. They in turn will tend to reciprocate. People who are happy have strong relationships with friends and family. This is both a characteristic of happy people, and a consequence of their behavior.
Adequate income
There is a premium in the labor market for outstanding customer service providers. More important, we have the opportunity to constantly increase both our short-term and long-term income by applying our customer service skills. As Henry Ford once said, one who is “absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.”
Respectable jobs
This has two components. There’s the respect that you get for how you do your job, and there’s the respect you get for having that job. It’s not easy to provide outstanding customer service to every customer, on every transaction, every minute of the day. If you can do that, that’s something you can truly be proud of, and it’s certainly deserving of respect. Chances are you already stand out, and are duly rewarded.
The second component, respect for the job itself, depends less on the individual, and more on the team as a whole. When everyone in your organization or location provides outstanding service, people tend to talk about you, and you're likely to be known and respected for the service that you provide. It's a source of pride just to be part of such a team. The hard part is that it does depend on everyone. All it takes is one bad player to ruin the whole game.
A philosophy that provides meaning to their lives
The principles at the root of outstanding customer service are simple enough to say:
Our lives have more meaning when we serve others
Customer service is, first and foremost, a form of service
To serve each other and each customer is to serve humanity
As customer service providers, we touch millions of people each year. Each contact is an opportunity to make each life we touch a little better each day. And when we make people happy, they tend to pay it forward. Through the phenomenon psychologists call the “emotional contagion”, we can be carriers of an epidemic of kindness. We can be weapons of mass construction.
I'll end with some thoughts from some people who are a lot smarter than me:
Everyone can be great because everyone can serve. Martin Luther King Jr
Joy can be real only if people look on their life as a service. Leo Tolstoy
The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive. Only a life lived for others is a life worth living. Albert Einstein
Every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and will make, not only our own happiness, but that of the world at large. Mohandas K Gandhi
Source: http://customerservicereader.typepad.com/
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Promises, Promises, Promises.....
Well I can have it for you maybe next week! But it needs to be done NOW!!
These are the dilemmas we face in the small tech world or a small auto shop.
Too much work of varied kinds, the delay in getting parts or the time to do little things are barriers to talking to customers and setting expectations.. Thank the tech gods for good planning and a system to get these and many more things done.
I worked at a dealership that had 3 technicians. We handled most of the Dodge sales for the Utah Valley for a long time. The shop hadn’t grown much since it opened in 1916. Three mechanics with 10 to 12 jobs to do on Monday morning is more than some can handle but we did! I had a very good crew one man for Transmissions and engines, one Great General mechanic and one who liked soak up all the Gravy Work (brake Jobs, Tune-up and New Car Prep) he could. I knew this would not suffice!
I started not having appointments to work on cars but an appointment to drop one off and get a ride home or to work.. Our Long time customers would get a loaner, Warrantee repairs a rental (at the factory expense) Most of the repairs happened within a day but the few that would take longer special arrangements had to be made. First I told them “the job will take about a week” I knew Doug could do the transmission in a day maybe 2 we had always ordered extra parts for the job so waiting on a parts shipment was no big deal. The customer would accept the wait as he was in a loaner and didn’t have to worry about anything.
Doug had already diagnosed the issue (pretty much al the same problem with the a-604) with the parts in stock he went to work. I would have the car detailed inside and out either during the job or right afterward. 2 days later we called the customer, to come and get the car.
Wait a minute! “You said it would be a week” Well yes I did. “We were fortunate enough to have an opening in the schedule” I would tell them. Then our lot man cleaned up for you because this is such a messy job. Now I have done it! I have delighted someone without even trying.
Setting expectations and delivering on them is one thing. Exceeding those expectations is something else entirely!
These are the dilemmas we face in the small tech world or a small auto shop.
Too much work of varied kinds, the delay in getting parts or the time to do little things are barriers to talking to customers and setting expectations.. Thank the tech gods for good planning and a system to get these and many more things done.
I worked at a dealership that had 3 technicians. We handled most of the Dodge sales for the Utah Valley for a long time. The shop hadn’t grown much since it opened in 1916. Three mechanics with 10 to 12 jobs to do on Monday morning is more than some can handle but we did! I had a very good crew one man for Transmissions and engines, one Great General mechanic and one who liked soak up all the Gravy Work (brake Jobs, Tune-up and New Car Prep) he could. I knew this would not suffice!
I started not having appointments to work on cars but an appointment to drop one off and get a ride home or to work.. Our Long time customers would get a loaner, Warrantee repairs a rental (at the factory expense) Most of the repairs happened within a day but the few that would take longer special arrangements had to be made. First I told them “the job will take about a week” I knew Doug could do the transmission in a day maybe 2 we had always ordered extra parts for the job so waiting on a parts shipment was no big deal. The customer would accept the wait as he was in a loaner and didn’t have to worry about anything.
Doug had already diagnosed the issue (pretty much al the same problem with the a-604) with the parts in stock he went to work. I would have the car detailed inside and out either during the job or right afterward. 2 days later we called the customer, to come and get the car.
Wait a minute! “You said it would be a week” Well yes I did. “We were fortunate enough to have an opening in the schedule” I would tell them. Then our lot man cleaned up for you because this is such a messy job. Now I have done it! I have delighted someone without even trying.
Setting expectations and delivering on them is one thing. Exceeding those expectations is something else entirely!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Hats and Haberdashers
There are many ways to cook up something take Customer service for instance ( I won’t beat around the bush here) we are cooks of a sort. We have the books we read about our craft, we have manuals that tell us what to look for and the Internet to explain what we do not know.
We collaborate with colleagues we ask questions. We get and give an answer that is what we do.
Is what we do what we are? We have a system that contains the following ingredients:
A easy to use (for most) product,
A sales staff to sell it
A development team that makes it better that it was (Believe me it is much better now!) and fixes quickly the things that go wrong.
A talented second level team that can look at something we missed or that is a flaw in the programming or make right the junk file we received.
Then there is us…. The front line. We let the customer know it will be all right and that if not we will make it so. We train, We take orders, and we are the complaint department and vent for the frustrated. We (front line folks) wear many hats. The others however do not.
My Hat is Trainer, Customer relations, and Client services liaison I sell to salesmen the needs of a client I watch our product with great diligence. In my quest to be better I now am reading 4 books at the same time.
I am learning new things all the time, as are you.
We are what we do we do the same thing every day, we bring these systems home with us, The house is not the same place it was before we started here. We become more tolerant of the frustrated child and their homework, The Brooding spouse, the house runs in a different order more efficient than before
We bring to this place the tools we used at other places of employment, refine them into the tools and systems we have today .
What we do for our customers affects what we do for our families and friends. We get to look at things in a different light and see things as they really are. We take all this stuff home with us and mix it with what we already know.
We build relationships with our customers to the point they are almost friends. The closest job to ours is that of Client services they do what we do but without the technical stuff. We service and support our company, product, customers and staff. But most importantly … by assisting all the above mentioned people.
We service ourselves.
Wear Hats.!Lots of Hats! Wear them at work take them home, give them away and you will get more hats in return. We are what we are and we are what we do!
We collaborate with colleagues we ask questions. We get and give an answer that is what we do.
Is what we do what we are? We have a system that contains the following ingredients:
A easy to use (for most) product,
A sales staff to sell it
A development team that makes it better that it was (Believe me it is much better now!) and fixes quickly the things that go wrong.
A talented second level team that can look at something we missed or that is a flaw in the programming or make right the junk file we received.
Then there is us…. The front line. We let the customer know it will be all right and that if not we will make it so. We train, We take orders, and we are the complaint department and vent for the frustrated. We (front line folks) wear many hats. The others however do not.
My Hat is Trainer, Customer relations, and Client services liaison I sell to salesmen the needs of a client I watch our product with great diligence. In my quest to be better I now am reading 4 books at the same time.
I am learning new things all the time, as are you.
We are what we do we do the same thing every day, we bring these systems home with us, The house is not the same place it was before we started here. We become more tolerant of the frustrated child and their homework, The Brooding spouse, the house runs in a different order more efficient than before
We bring to this place the tools we used at other places of employment, refine them into the tools and systems we have today .
What we do for our customers affects what we do for our families and friends. We get to look at things in a different light and see things as they really are. We take all this stuff home with us and mix it with what we already know.
We build relationships with our customers to the point they are almost friends. The closest job to ours is that of Client services they do what we do but without the technical stuff. We service and support our company, product, customers and staff. But most importantly … by assisting all the above mentioned people.
We service ourselves.
Wear Hats.!Lots of Hats! Wear them at work take them home, give them away and you will get more hats in return. We are what we are and we are what we do!
Friday, November 21, 2008
More Friday Humor
This was sent to me by a friend of mine...Time to let off some steam!
20 Ways to Maintain a Healthy Level Of Insanity
1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.
2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.
3. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.
4. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "In."
5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to Espresso.
6. In the memo field of all your cheques, write "For Smuggling Diamonds"
7. Finish all your sentences with "In Accordance With the Prophecy."
8. Don't use any punctuation
9. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.
10. Order a diet water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face
20 Ways to Maintain a Healthy Level Of Insanity (cont'd) Nov 18, 2008
11. Specify that your drive-through order is "To Go."
12. Sing along at the opera.
13. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.
14. Put mosquito netting around your work area and play tropical sounds all day.
15. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.
16. Have your colleagues address you by your wrestling name, Rock Bottom.
17. When the money comes out the ATM, scream "I Won!, I Won!"
18. When leaving the Zoo, start running towards the car park, yelling
"Run for Your Lives, They're Loose!!"
19. Tell your children over dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To
Have To Let One Of You Go."
20. And the final way to Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity.......try any 1 of this…LOL
20 Ways to Maintain a Healthy Level Of Insanity
1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.
2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.
3. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.
4. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "In."
5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to Espresso.
6. In the memo field of all your cheques, write "For Smuggling Diamonds"
7. Finish all your sentences with "In Accordance With the Prophecy."
8. Don't use any punctuation
9. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.
10. Order a diet water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face
20 Ways to Maintain a Healthy Level Of Insanity (cont'd) Nov 18, 2008
11. Specify that your drive-through order is "To Go."
12. Sing along at the opera.
13. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.
14. Put mosquito netting around your work area and play tropical sounds all day.
15. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.
16. Have your colleagues address you by your wrestling name, Rock Bottom.
17. When the money comes out the ATM, scream "I Won!, I Won!"
18. When leaving the Zoo, start running towards the car park, yelling
"Run for Your Lives, They're Loose!!"
19. Tell your children over dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To
Have To Let One Of You Go."
20. And the final way to Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity.......try any 1 of this…LOL
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
To be Committed or be Committed
Often I wonder about commitment and duty and why we do things as we do?
Me, I work all hours and from getting up in the morning to just before going to bed and that work place comes to mind. I dread (sometimes) getting up at 2:50 am. Waiting for the phone call "that" never comes until I decide it is safe to hit the snooze button. But I do it anyway.
I do it because the job demands it and it pays me well enough so only my wife would complain about the hours.
When I was in the auto industry I started down the” he needs to be committed” path, I would get to work at six to be open at seven, work until break time (about 10 or so) Then work through lunch because no one was there to answer the phone. My shop always had coffee, a clean desk someone to make appointments and take customers cars earlier than before. I would get a snack for lunch and back at it. I stayed late to detail cars or sound guard them (paid extra) and had time to work on my own car. Little wonder why I do hours no lunches and stay later than I should to this day.
I work with great people who aren’t old enough to remember desperate times. When they were in diapers I was washing cars in the cold and getting scared when they announced another lay-off at the local steel mill.
With the economy being what it is there are some lessons to be learned. Lessons I was taught a long time ago and have made me the raving lunatic you see before you today.
Lesson one. You have a job, better do it, or some other person will and then you don’t have one
Lesson two. You need to be good at what you do or you will learn lesson one.
Lesson three. Just because you have a job does not mean you won’t keep it. A better opportunity may arise, but don’t ever count on what you haven’t got .
Lesson four. If you are not a Doctor, Lawyer or Mortician you might get to learn lessons 1,2 and 3 as they are never out of work!
My Father always said ”Hard work was it’s own reward” I guess it paid off because he started his career digging ditches, he retired from his company selling the very ditches he dug so many years before.
Me I thought I started servicing cars I found out that I service people instead. I get up to work with some of the best people on the planet (no wait… I mean our customers) and to that extent the staff here as well.
We may have different views on work and life, how it is done and how it should be done. Don’t learn the lessons I learned the same way. I do things the hard way because that is how they should be done. I do things the long way as it gives me stability, step by step along the way the job gets done and when it is done right I feel good about what I have done.
Crazy? You bet! Committed? Yes! Should I be? YES!! I love what I do and as My Grandfather said “If you love what you do, Then you will never work a day in your life”.
Me, I work all hours and from getting up in the morning to just before going to bed and that work place comes to mind. I dread (sometimes) getting up at 2:50 am. Waiting for the phone call "that" never comes until I decide it is safe to hit the snooze button. But I do it anyway.
I do it because the job demands it and it pays me well enough so only my wife would complain about the hours.
When I was in the auto industry I started down the” he needs to be committed” path, I would get to work at six to be open at seven, work until break time (about 10 or so) Then work through lunch because no one was there to answer the phone. My shop always had coffee, a clean desk someone to make appointments and take customers cars earlier than before. I would get a snack for lunch and back at it. I stayed late to detail cars or sound guard them (paid extra) and had time to work on my own car. Little wonder why I do hours no lunches and stay later than I should to this day.
I work with great people who aren’t old enough to remember desperate times. When they were in diapers I was washing cars in the cold and getting scared when they announced another lay-off at the local steel mill.
With the economy being what it is there are some lessons to be learned. Lessons I was taught a long time ago and have made me the raving lunatic you see before you today.
Lesson one. You have a job, better do it, or some other person will and then you don’t have one
Lesson two. You need to be good at what you do or you will learn lesson one.
Lesson three. Just because you have a job does not mean you won’t keep it. A better opportunity may arise, but don’t ever count on what you haven’t got .
Lesson four. If you are not a Doctor, Lawyer or Mortician you might get to learn lessons 1,2 and 3 as they are never out of work!
My Father always said ”Hard work was it’s own reward” I guess it paid off because he started his career digging ditches, he retired from his company selling the very ditches he dug so many years before.
Me I thought I started servicing cars I found out that I service people instead. I get up to work with some of the best people on the planet (no wait… I mean our customers) and to that extent the staff here as well.
We may have different views on work and life, how it is done and how it should be done. Don’t learn the lessons I learned the same way. I do things the hard way because that is how they should be done. I do things the long way as it gives me stability, step by step along the way the job gets done and when it is done right I feel good about what I have done.
Crazy? You bet! Committed? Yes! Should I be? YES!! I love what I do and as My Grandfather said “If you love what you do, Then you will never work a day in your life”.
Friday, November 14, 2008
12 tips for all kinds of happy customers
This was found and caught my eye as we can do more. I want suggestions from all departments as to how one can help another as we grow we must remember we started small , we want to grow our business but keep the small company feeling when we deal directly with customers one on one. We shouldnt become bigger than ourselves or our customers.
12 tips for taking care of your customersBy Dana Dratch • Bankrate.com
Do you drop your old friends as soon as you acquire new ones? That's not a smart business move. Old customers, especially those who return often, are a business's best friend.
"It costs five times as much to attract a new customer as it does to keep an existing one," according to Norman Scarborough, assistant professor of economics and business administration at Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C.
It's also smart marketing to reach out to someone who has already been a customer in the past. "That's an easy sale," says Scarborough, a co-author of The Essentials of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. "They're already there."
- advertisement -
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document.write(sline);
//-->
window.google_render_ad();
Here are a dozen ways to keep customers coming back:
1. Get to know your customers. "And that takes data," says Scarborough. He cites Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which operates a nationwide network of casinos, as an expert at data mining. With one popular loyalty card program, Harrah's can track which games a customer played, as well as ancillary interests like restaurants and shows.
"They know each individual's hot buttons," says Scarborough. Based on customer preferences, the company sends special mailings with deals on games, shows or activities likely to appeal to patrons.
Don't have the technology or know-how for a customer card? Take a low-tech approach. Talk to your customers regularly about what they want and need from your business. For more details, ask them to complete a survey or feedback form -- in return for a generous discount on their next order. If you have a Web site, make it easy for them to send an e-mail rating the service.
"You have to develop a relationship where they know you value their opinion," says Kim T. Gordon, author of Bringing Home the Business.
2. Give customers something new. Last year, when organizers of the Indian River Festival of Fine Music wanted to stem declining attendance at the annual summer event, they started selling it a little differently, says Doug Hall, CEO of Eureka! Ranch, a Cincinnati-based business consulting firm. Rather than focus on the music, they added candles, flowers and oysters at intermission and touted the Prince Edward Island festival as a romantic experience, says Hall, an adviser to the festival board. The result: despite a 20 percent price increase, attendance went up 50 percent.
"Come up with ways that are exciting enough to bring new customers in to buy and chances are you will keep your old customers happy," says Hall, author of Jump Start Your Business Brain. "But if what you're offering today is the same thing you were offering six to nine months ago, you're dying and you don't even know it."
3. Respond immediately to problems. "It doesn't matter who's right, make the appropriate restitution," says Gordon. "And do something fast." Even though your business is your baby and the customer may be a little hot under the collar, step back and "set personal feelings aside," Gordon says. Your goal is to make the customer happy and keep that person coming back.
4. Stay in touch. Don't let customers go too long without thinking of your business. You can use a variety of methods to get your message across: direct mailer, e-mail, phone call or fax. Every four to six weeks is a good rule of thumb, says Gordon, who also recommends segmenting your database. Top customers might get communications more often, others less.
Elaine Biech, owner of ebb associates inc, an 18-year-old business consulting firm, has specially-designed cards that she sends to clients for special occasions or when they've met a business or personal goal. "A handwritten note only has to be three sentences," says Biech, author of The Consultant's Quick Start Guide.
And Biech says businesses can get even more bang for the buck with a clever promotion targeted to a smaller holiday, like Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day when no one else is spending anything. "[Customers] know you're thinking about them and they appreciate it," she says.
5. Set yourself apart. "Avoid being a 'me too' business," says Scarborough. "Differentiate yourself from the competition."
In 1994, Albert Straus was facing the loss of his dairy farm, which had been in the family for generations. So he took his Marshall, Calif., farm organic. Now, yearly sales at the Straus Family Creamery top $7.6 million, according to Dun & Bradstreet estimates.
Another plus: Give your customers something they can't get anywhere else, and you can command a higher price, Scarborough says.
6. Follow up with customers. Whether you're a plumber or an auto mechanic, contact your customers after the job and find out what they think of the work, says Jan Norman, author of What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business. That way, if they are happy, you can ask for referrals. If they're not, you're the first to know and have a chance to set things right.
Don't fall into believing that "if I ever make a mistake, I've lost a customer," says Norman. If you follow up with customers and correct problems to their satisfaction, they will probably be even more loyal because they know you care.
7. Entertain your customers. "You have to become almost a destination for your customers," says Scarborough. "Make it fun and interesting."
In the Boston area, the Jordan's Furniture chain attracts customers with fanciful re-creations of famous places, like a recent Bourbon Street scene that featured an automatronic Louis Armstrong. "They've done an amazing job," says Scarborough. "You think 'furniture store -- how exciting can that be?' But these guys have done a lot with it."
8. Give your customers superior service and convenience. "People are so busy that many customers are willing to pay for extra convenience," says Scarborough. Likewise, if they get great service at your store they'll be less likely to switch when a new one moves in down the street.
At Texas-based JoeAuto, customers can schedule their service appointments online. And while their car is in the shop, they can watch the mechanic at work via real-time cameras.
9. Emphasize value. If you're competing with a superstore, you may not have the cheapest price in town, but you can still offer the best value. In the long run, that's a much smarter strategy, says Norman. "You're not going to keep loyal customers based on price," she says. "The minute someone is a penny lower, you've lost them."
10. Find out what the customer wants and provide it. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? But too many small businesses overlook the obvious. Beartooth Mapping Inc., based in Red Lodge, Mont., started out offering topographical maps to government agencies. Campers, hunters and outdoor aficionados also liked their products, so the company now has a Web site where customers can order custom-made maps. "They make it very, very simple for the customer to get what they want," says Scarborough. "And they're using the Web as a marketing tool."
11. Give customers more than they expect. Whether it's spending a few extra (non-billable) minutes helping one client solve a problem, taking others to breakfast a few times a year, or becoming the expert they can call for solid research, give your customers more than they pay for, says Biech. Often, she will order books or reprints of magazine articles on timely topics and send them to clients with a short note.
"I have the reputation of being a resource center," she says. The approach has paid off. "I can track 75 percent of my clients back to my first client," she says. "There's a definite trail."
12. Reward your customers. "Ever had dinner at a restaurant and been surprised with a free dessert?" says Gordon. "It's a great idea. You've got the folks there, you've got the product. It costs very little. And there are lots of ways you can reward customers."
From promotional calendars to pens to writing tablets with your logo, there are all kinds of inexpensive, inventive ways to say "thanks." Gordon recalls a mail-order firm that used to send a gift with every order. It was always something small, inexpensive and very usable.
"Essentially it made it fun to order," says Gordon. "Things that are unexpected can help contribute to customer satisfaction."
Dana Dratch is a freelance writer based in Georgia.
source :
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/biz/Biz_ops/20020206a.asp
12 tips for taking care of your customersBy Dana Dratch • Bankrate.com
Do you drop your old friends as soon as you acquire new ones? That's not a smart business move. Old customers, especially those who return often, are a business's best friend.
"It costs five times as much to attract a new customer as it does to keep an existing one," according to Norman Scarborough, assistant professor of economics and business administration at Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C.
It's also smart marketing to reach out to someone who has already been a customer in the past. "That's an easy sale," says Scarborough, a co-author of The Essentials of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. "They're already there."
- advertisement -
";
document.write(sline);
//-->
window.google_render_ad();
Here are a dozen ways to keep customers coming back:
1. Get to know your customers. "And that takes data," says Scarborough. He cites Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which operates a nationwide network of casinos, as an expert at data mining. With one popular loyalty card program, Harrah's can track which games a customer played, as well as ancillary interests like restaurants and shows.
"They know each individual's hot buttons," says Scarborough. Based on customer preferences, the company sends special mailings with deals on games, shows or activities likely to appeal to patrons.
Don't have the technology or know-how for a customer card? Take a low-tech approach. Talk to your customers regularly about what they want and need from your business. For more details, ask them to complete a survey or feedback form -- in return for a generous discount on their next order. If you have a Web site, make it easy for them to send an e-mail rating the service.
"You have to develop a relationship where they know you value their opinion," says Kim T. Gordon, author of Bringing Home the Business.
2. Give customers something new. Last year, when organizers of the Indian River Festival of Fine Music wanted to stem declining attendance at the annual summer event, they started selling it a little differently, says Doug Hall, CEO of Eureka! Ranch, a Cincinnati-based business consulting firm. Rather than focus on the music, they added candles, flowers and oysters at intermission and touted the Prince Edward Island festival as a romantic experience, says Hall, an adviser to the festival board. The result: despite a 20 percent price increase, attendance went up 50 percent.
"Come up with ways that are exciting enough to bring new customers in to buy and chances are you will keep your old customers happy," says Hall, author of Jump Start Your Business Brain. "But if what you're offering today is the same thing you were offering six to nine months ago, you're dying and you don't even know it."
3. Respond immediately to problems. "It doesn't matter who's right, make the appropriate restitution," says Gordon. "And do something fast." Even though your business is your baby and the customer may be a little hot under the collar, step back and "set personal feelings aside," Gordon says. Your goal is to make the customer happy and keep that person coming back.
4. Stay in touch. Don't let customers go too long without thinking of your business. You can use a variety of methods to get your message across: direct mailer, e-mail, phone call or fax. Every four to six weeks is a good rule of thumb, says Gordon, who also recommends segmenting your database. Top customers might get communications more often, others less.
Elaine Biech, owner of ebb associates inc, an 18-year-old business consulting firm, has specially-designed cards that she sends to clients for special occasions or when they've met a business or personal goal. "A handwritten note only has to be three sentences," says Biech, author of The Consultant's Quick Start Guide.
And Biech says businesses can get even more bang for the buck with a clever promotion targeted to a smaller holiday, like Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day when no one else is spending anything. "[Customers] know you're thinking about them and they appreciate it," she says.
5. Set yourself apart. "Avoid being a 'me too' business," says Scarborough. "Differentiate yourself from the competition."
In 1994, Albert Straus was facing the loss of his dairy farm, which had been in the family for generations. So he took his Marshall, Calif., farm organic. Now, yearly sales at the Straus Family Creamery top $7.6 million, according to Dun & Bradstreet estimates.
Another plus: Give your customers something they can't get anywhere else, and you can command a higher price, Scarborough says.
6. Follow up with customers. Whether you're a plumber or an auto mechanic, contact your customers after the job and find out what they think of the work, says Jan Norman, author of What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business. That way, if they are happy, you can ask for referrals. If they're not, you're the first to know and have a chance to set things right.
Don't fall into believing that "if I ever make a mistake, I've lost a customer," says Norman. If you follow up with customers and correct problems to their satisfaction, they will probably be even more loyal because they know you care.
7. Entertain your customers. "You have to become almost a destination for your customers," says Scarborough. "Make it fun and interesting."
In the Boston area, the Jordan's Furniture chain attracts customers with fanciful re-creations of famous places, like a recent Bourbon Street scene that featured an automatronic Louis Armstrong. "They've done an amazing job," says Scarborough. "You think 'furniture store -- how exciting can that be?' But these guys have done a lot with it."
8. Give your customers superior service and convenience. "People are so busy that many customers are willing to pay for extra convenience," says Scarborough. Likewise, if they get great service at your store they'll be less likely to switch when a new one moves in down the street.
At Texas-based JoeAuto, customers can schedule their service appointments online. And while their car is in the shop, they can watch the mechanic at work via real-time cameras.
9. Emphasize value. If you're competing with a superstore, you may not have the cheapest price in town, but you can still offer the best value. In the long run, that's a much smarter strategy, says Norman. "You're not going to keep loyal customers based on price," she says. "The minute someone is a penny lower, you've lost them."
10. Find out what the customer wants and provide it. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? But too many small businesses overlook the obvious. Beartooth Mapping Inc., based in Red Lodge, Mont., started out offering topographical maps to government agencies. Campers, hunters and outdoor aficionados also liked their products, so the company now has a Web site where customers can order custom-made maps. "They make it very, very simple for the customer to get what they want," says Scarborough. "And they're using the Web as a marketing tool."
11. Give customers more than they expect. Whether it's spending a few extra (non-billable) minutes helping one client solve a problem, taking others to breakfast a few times a year, or becoming the expert they can call for solid research, give your customers more than they pay for, says Biech. Often, she will order books or reprints of magazine articles on timely topics and send them to clients with a short note.
"I have the reputation of being a resource center," she says. The approach has paid off. "I can track 75 percent of my clients back to my first client," she says. "There's a definite trail."
12. Reward your customers. "Ever had dinner at a restaurant and been surprised with a free dessert?" says Gordon. "It's a great idea. You've got the folks there, you've got the product. It costs very little. And there are lots of ways you can reward customers."
From promotional calendars to pens to writing tablets with your logo, there are all kinds of inexpensive, inventive ways to say "thanks." Gordon recalls a mail-order firm that used to send a gift with every order. It was always something small, inexpensive and very usable.
"Essentially it made it fun to order," says Gordon. "Things that are unexpected can help contribute to customer satisfaction."
Dana Dratch is a freelance writer based in Georgia.
source :
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/biz/Biz_ops/20020206a.asp
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Do you really know your customer?
Do you really know your customer? Their expectations? , Their needs? Most organizations think they do . . . but there are two sides to every story and you need to clearly define the people you deal with on a daily basis both internally and externally
Why are understanding and managing one s work expectations important? Expectations have a powerful impact on our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and play a key role in driving our attitudes, whether spoken or unspoken. Research shows that people who have clearly defined, well-communicated expectations find more satisfaction and success in their work than people whose expectations remain unspoken or unrealized.
We as technicians have expectations too. When a customer calls we expect they know what they are doing or have the capacity to follow simple instructions. However in all likelihood they do not! So we refer to the 10 commandments of Technical support and speak to them as if they were our grand parents, taking it slow and easy depending on the feeling we get from them after they describe the issue they are facing. We ask the Socratic questions in hopes they find their own answer, we lead them in the path we wish them to go, and we praise them like children.
We have power too we can either make the experience a good one or a bad one with just a few words or that utterance under our breath that gets overheard. I am a poor practitioner of both and have had my fair share of bad experiences.
One of those experiences has shown her face in the light of a new project. I attempted (unsuccessfully) to assist this person with little experience with the product I was supporting.. She in turn got upset and I attempted to calm her down by being nice she got more and more upset. To the point if I answered the phone with my name she would ask for someone else, because I was a "Condescending little Bastard!" if I didn’t use my name we got along famously. I had a call from an associate, he was working with her to move to the new product. I answered his questions to the best of my knowledge and sent him reference materials as well. I Gave him the advise be careful with this one. She will not tolerate incompetence in any way, you should be factual and use tact while dealing with her as she has higher expectations from us as she does with the product.
Moral to my story?. Be kind, truthful, be confident in your knowledge but I don’t know still is a valid answer. Be humble enough to ask for help. Use your customer skills as a regular customer to deal with one.
Learn from your customers. They are the key to the others in their area of the country. What plays in Peoria won’t play in Miami. We have so much to know about people, we have to know people we have to know ourselves.
Why are understanding and managing one s work expectations important? Expectations have a powerful impact on our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and play a key role in driving our attitudes, whether spoken or unspoken. Research shows that people who have clearly defined, well-communicated expectations find more satisfaction and success in their work than people whose expectations remain unspoken or unrealized.
We as technicians have expectations too. When a customer calls we expect they know what they are doing or have the capacity to follow simple instructions. However in all likelihood they do not! So we refer to the 10 commandments of Technical support and speak to them as if they were our grand parents, taking it slow and easy depending on the feeling we get from them after they describe the issue they are facing. We ask the Socratic questions in hopes they find their own answer, we lead them in the path we wish them to go, and we praise them like children.
We have power too we can either make the experience a good one or a bad one with just a few words or that utterance under our breath that gets overheard. I am a poor practitioner of both and have had my fair share of bad experiences.
One of those experiences has shown her face in the light of a new project. I attempted (unsuccessfully) to assist this person with little experience with the product I was supporting.. She in turn got upset and I attempted to calm her down by being nice she got more and more upset. To the point if I answered the phone with my name she would ask for someone else, because I was a "Condescending little Bastard!" if I didn’t use my name we got along famously. I had a call from an associate, he was working with her to move to the new product. I answered his questions to the best of my knowledge and sent him reference materials as well. I Gave him the advise be careful with this one. She will not tolerate incompetence in any way, you should be factual and use tact while dealing with her as she has higher expectations from us as she does with the product.
Moral to my story?. Be kind, truthful, be confident in your knowledge but I don’t know still is a valid answer. Be humble enough to ask for help. Use your customer skills as a regular customer to deal with one.
Learn from your customers. They are the key to the others in their area of the country. What plays in Peoria won’t play in Miami. We have so much to know about people, we have to know people we have to know ourselves.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Three tips for dealing with callers on the "Socratic Helpdesk" By Pat Vickers
I stumbled upon this article while researching communications.
Socrates died in 399 BC, of Hemlock poisoning. He drank it after being sentenced to death for the crime of corrupting the youth. Times have changed, and today he would be given his own radio show.
Before his trial, Socrates was most well known for asking questions. He questioned everyone on every topic, particularly his students. He was usually surrounded by a horde of young men who sought to learn from him. Whenever they asked him about any subject -- virtue, ethics, even geometry -- he insisted the inquirers already knew the answers and would proceed to ask question after question until they arrived at the truth. Many trainers today find this approach to be a very effective method of teaching. It's much easier for students to remember what they discover than what they are told.
You might be wondering, "What has all of this got to do with a helpdesk?" The truth is most callers to the helpdesk hold all the answers to their questions. They are the ones in front of the computers. They are the eyes ears and even hands of the helpdesk analyst. Any solutions you might offer will come from information you glean from the caller. In fact, when asked the right questions, callers often discover the solutions, seemingly, on their own. So good analysts don’t have the answers so much as they have the questions.
On the Socratic Helpdesk, before any attempt to give an answer is made, the analyst asks questions, even when the answer is obvious. Callers often don’t have the vocabulary to word their questions correctly. "The printer isn’t working." might actually mean "I have no network connectivity." Or "How do I change the default printer?" We’ve all spent a significant amount of time working with a caller only to learn we were trying to solve the wrong problem. Asking questions instead of offering answers will help prevent that.
You might think that being asked a lot of questions, instead of being offered answers would frustrate callers. Since customers are often very frustrated to begin with, a lot of analysts are reluctant to chance making things worse. That is a valid concern, but there are a few guidelines to keep caller frustration low and analyst credibility high.
Here are two tips that might make an analyst’s job much easier. First, start the conversation by acknowledging the issue, and, second, do so before asking for the caller’s name or employee ID. The conversation could go something like this.
Analyst: Helpdesk, this is Pat. How can I help you?
Caller: I can’t print and I really need to get this document out or I’m going to be in big trouble.
Analyst: OK, printer problems, I’m sure we can take care of that. But first, can I get your employee ID so I can prove I worked today?
Caller: PA211112
Analyst: Thanks, now back to printing. What error message are you getting on your computer when you try to print?
Caller: None.
Analyst: Hmmm, do you always use the same printer?
Caller: Usually but yesterday, oh wait, I see what you mean. Yesterday I was in the Atlanta office and added their printer. I think it is my default now. Yep, that’s it. Thanks! I can change the default.
Starting out by repeating the Caller’s statement accomplishes two things. First, it lets the caller know you have heard him or her and are willing to help. Second, it lets you confirm you heard the caller correctly. From there continue to ask questions until you and the caller discover the answer. Usually it’s not this quick but more often than not, those questions lead you and your customer to the solution.
One last tip for the Socratic help desk analyst: Never ask questions that have a yes or no answer. You’ll get the information you need much faster by asking callers questions that require them to think or even try something on their computer and report the results.
Many helpdesk analysts think their callers lie to them, and frequently they do. Callers often feel their problem could be solved much faster, if the analysts were just willing. So customers say whatever they think will move the call along. Therefore "yes" is the answer customers almost always will give, regardless of the truth.
You’ll get the information you need much more quickly by asking callers questions that require them to think or even try something on their computer and report the results.
You may be doing these things already, and just never thought of yourself as Socratic. If so, congratulations. You are most likely very good at your job. If not, give it a try. Socratic Helpdesk analysts aren’t much different than any other analysts. They just know that, on any given call, the answers lie within the caller. Like Socrates, they are wise in that they know--without the caller’s help--they know nothing.
Socrates died in 399 BC, of Hemlock poisoning. He drank it after being sentenced to death for the crime of corrupting the youth. Times have changed, and today he would be given his own radio show.
Before his trial, Socrates was most well known for asking questions. He questioned everyone on every topic, particularly his students. He was usually surrounded by a horde of young men who sought to learn from him. Whenever they asked him about any subject -- virtue, ethics, even geometry -- he insisted the inquirers already knew the answers and would proceed to ask question after question until they arrived at the truth. Many trainers today find this approach to be a very effective method of teaching. It's much easier for students to remember what they discover than what they are told.
You might be wondering, "What has all of this got to do with a helpdesk?" The truth is most callers to the helpdesk hold all the answers to their questions. They are the ones in front of the computers. They are the eyes ears and even hands of the helpdesk analyst. Any solutions you might offer will come from information you glean from the caller. In fact, when asked the right questions, callers often discover the solutions, seemingly, on their own. So good analysts don’t have the answers so much as they have the questions.
On the Socratic Helpdesk, before any attempt to give an answer is made, the analyst asks questions, even when the answer is obvious. Callers often don’t have the vocabulary to word their questions correctly. "The printer isn’t working." might actually mean "I have no network connectivity." Or "How do I change the default printer?" We’ve all spent a significant amount of time working with a caller only to learn we were trying to solve the wrong problem. Asking questions instead of offering answers will help prevent that.
You might think that being asked a lot of questions, instead of being offered answers would frustrate callers. Since customers are often very frustrated to begin with, a lot of analysts are reluctant to chance making things worse. That is a valid concern, but there are a few guidelines to keep caller frustration low and analyst credibility high.
Here are two tips that might make an analyst’s job much easier. First, start the conversation by acknowledging the issue, and, second, do so before asking for the caller’s name or employee ID. The conversation could go something like this.
Analyst: Helpdesk, this is Pat. How can I help you?
Caller: I can’t print and I really need to get this document out or I’m going to be in big trouble.
Analyst: OK, printer problems, I’m sure we can take care of that. But first, can I get your employee ID so I can prove I worked today?
Caller: PA211112
Analyst: Thanks, now back to printing. What error message are you getting on your computer when you try to print?
Caller: None.
Analyst: Hmmm, do you always use the same printer?
Caller: Usually but yesterday, oh wait, I see what you mean. Yesterday I was in the Atlanta office and added their printer. I think it is my default now. Yep, that’s it. Thanks! I can change the default.
Starting out by repeating the Caller’s statement accomplishes two things. First, it lets the caller know you have heard him or her and are willing to help. Second, it lets you confirm you heard the caller correctly. From there continue to ask questions until you and the caller discover the answer. Usually it’s not this quick but more often than not, those questions lead you and your customer to the solution.
One last tip for the Socratic help desk analyst: Never ask questions that have a yes or no answer. You’ll get the information you need much faster by asking callers questions that require them to think or even try something on their computer and report the results.
Many helpdesk analysts think their callers lie to them, and frequently they do. Callers often feel their problem could be solved much faster, if the analysts were just willing. So customers say whatever they think will move the call along. Therefore "yes" is the answer customers almost always will give, regardless of the truth.
You’ll get the information you need much more quickly by asking callers questions that require them to think or even try something on their computer and report the results.
You may be doing these things already, and just never thought of yourself as Socratic. If so, congratulations. You are most likely very good at your job. If not, give it a try. Socratic Helpdesk analysts aren’t much different than any other analysts. They just know that, on any given call, the answers lie within the caller. Like Socrates, they are wise in that they know--without the caller’s help--they know nothing.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Are you a Customer? Yes you are!
The question is how do you like to be treated? More over how do you treat your clients?
If you look at the question you may have the answer already, But indulge me for a moment as I have another view of the situation. I want you to concider this scenario. I am a Salesman who needs technical information related to a customers needs, the sales man goes to the support department for advise. The sales man is now a customer. The technician does not have all the information at hand so he goes to the second level technitions to ask for more information. The first tech is now a customer.If someone calls into the frontline technicians they are THE CUSTOMER, If we remember that no matter what you do within a company or walk of life you the expert may have to be a customer at one tome or another during the day.Remember that when they call to walk in their shoes for a little while. If you do this you will feel more comfortable, be more empathectic to their needs and be more confident with them making the whole calling experience better for them.
If you look at the question you may have the answer already, But indulge me for a moment as I have another view of the situation. I want you to concider this scenario. I am a Salesman who needs technical information related to a customers needs, the sales man goes to the support department for advise. The sales man is now a customer. The technician does not have all the information at hand so he goes to the second level technitions to ask for more information. The first tech is now a customer.If someone calls into the frontline technicians they are THE CUSTOMER, If we remember that no matter what you do within a company or walk of life you the expert may have to be a customer at one tome or another during the day.Remember that when they call to walk in their shoes for a little while. If you do this you will feel more comfortable, be more empathectic to their needs and be more confident with them making the whole calling experience better for them.
Friday, October 31, 2008
It's Friday! Time for a little Humor!
I looked up Terminology on the WIKI this is what I found :)
Terminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that are used in specific contexts.
Terminology denotes a more formal discipline which systematically studies the labelling or designating of concepts particular to one or more subject fields or domains of human activity, through research and analysis of terms in context, for the purpose of documenting and promoting correct usage. This study can be limited to one language or can cover more than one language at the same time (multilingual terminology, bilingual terminology, and so forth) or may focus on studies of terms across fields.
Terminology is not connected to information retrieval in any way but focused on the meaning and conveyance of concepts. "Terms" (i.e. index terms) used in an information retrieval context are not the same as "terms" used in the context of terminology, as they are not always technical terms of art.
Examples:MONITOR: Keeping an eye on the woodstove. LOG ON: Making a wood stove hotter.DOWNLOAD: Gettin the farwood off the truk MEGA HERTZ: When yer not keerful gettin the farwood FLOPPY DISC: Whatcha git from tryin to carry too much farwood RAM: That thar thing whut splits the farwood HARD DRIVE: Gettin home in the winter time PROMPT: Whut the mail ain't in the winter time WINDOWS: Whut to shut when it's cold outside SCREEN: Whut to shut when it's black fly season BYTE: Whut dem flys do CHIP: Munchies fer the TV MICRO CHIP: Whut's in the bottom of the munchie bag MODEM: Whacha did to the hay fields DOT MATRIX: Old Dan Matrix's wife LAP TOP: Whar the kitty sleeps KEYBOARD: Whar ya hang the truck keys SOFTWARE: Them dang plastic forks and knifs MOUSE: What eats the grain in the barn MAIN FRAME: Holds up the barn ruf PORT: Fancy Flatlander wine ENTER: Northerner talk fer, C'Mon in y'all RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY: When ya cain't 'member whut ya paid fer the rifle when yore wife asks MOUSE PAD: That's hippie talk fer the rat hole. Main Frame: What holds the barn up
Enter: City talk for - "come on in, eh"
Web: What a spider makes
Web Site: The barn or the attic
Cursor: Someone who swears
Search Engine: What you do when the car dies
Screen Saver: A repair kit for the torn window screen
Home Page: A map you keep in your back pocket just in case you getlost in the field
Be carefull of the terminology we use as we may tend to use terms the client won't understand and that will make for an un-happy customer.
Terminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that are used in specific contexts.
Terminology denotes a more formal discipline which systematically studies the labelling or designating of concepts particular to one or more subject fields or domains of human activity, through research and analysis of terms in context, for the purpose of documenting and promoting correct usage. This study can be limited to one language or can cover more than one language at the same time (multilingual terminology, bilingual terminology, and so forth) or may focus on studies of terms across fields.
Terminology is not connected to information retrieval in any way but focused on the meaning and conveyance of concepts. "Terms" (i.e. index terms) used in an information retrieval context are not the same as "terms" used in the context of terminology, as they are not always technical terms of art.
Examples:MONITOR: Keeping an eye on the woodstove. LOG ON: Making a wood stove hotter.DOWNLOAD: Gettin the farwood off the truk MEGA HERTZ: When yer not keerful gettin the farwood FLOPPY DISC: Whatcha git from tryin to carry too much farwood RAM: That thar thing whut splits the farwood HARD DRIVE: Gettin home in the winter time PROMPT: Whut the mail ain't in the winter time WINDOWS: Whut to shut when it's cold outside SCREEN: Whut to shut when it's black fly season BYTE: Whut dem flys do CHIP: Munchies fer the TV MICRO CHIP: Whut's in the bottom of the munchie bag MODEM: Whacha did to the hay fields DOT MATRIX: Old Dan Matrix's wife LAP TOP: Whar the kitty sleeps KEYBOARD: Whar ya hang the truck keys SOFTWARE: Them dang plastic forks and knifs MOUSE: What eats the grain in the barn MAIN FRAME: Holds up the barn ruf PORT: Fancy Flatlander wine ENTER: Northerner talk fer, C'Mon in y'all RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY: When ya cain't 'member whut ya paid fer the rifle when yore wife asks MOUSE PAD: That's hippie talk fer the rat hole. Main Frame: What holds the barn up
Enter: City talk for - "come on in, eh"
Web: What a spider makes
Web Site: The barn or the attic
Cursor: Someone who swears
Search Engine: What you do when the car dies
Screen Saver: A repair kit for the torn window screen
Home Page: A map you keep in your back pocket just in case you getlost in the field
Be carefull of the terminology we use as we may tend to use terms the client won't understand and that will make for an un-happy customer.
Monday, October 27, 2008
What is ment by going the extra yard?
When a client has an issue nobody wants to spend time with (not in the scope of what we do or there is not enough money in it for me to bother) is sometimes the answer you'll get. Try telling your customer that one!I had a client that had a noise in his car when he would make a wye turn. backing up and turning in one direction the car would "Pop". He complained about the noise when he was covered by the warrenty of his new van.His first visit about the noise was visited by the most experienced technician he "couldn't make the noise" and it Must be something the customer was doing. on the next visit for an oil change he complained about the noise again and had me drive him to work so he could demonstrate the noise so I could reproduce it for another mechenic. I took the best and brightest mechanic and he drove the car . He told me I'll look but I am not dedicating the day to it.His diagnossis reflected pretty much the same attitude, he did other repairs but the noise remained.Tyhe last of the techs to look took the car home when he went to lunch (he din't memtion any possible Ideas. Our demonstration served no good)After 5 visits the warrenty is over and he still has a noise and still is getting the run around from my guys. I took the car home overnight with me and had my wife drive the car in my parking lot while I sat under the hood. I located the general area of the noise but could not see anything until the next day. As I was removing parts Battery case, fanguards) I noticed the anti lock pump was loose. The braket was broken and needed to be replaced. I went to the parts department to order a new one. The parts manager told me you cannot get just that part without ordering the whole pump assembly. I looked up failure codes for the assembly and noisy was not part of the discription. Frustrated I called the zone office about the whole thing expaining the story and the reactions of the techs and my manager (He is out of warrenty and who cares.) I explained he was complaining about the issue from his first oil change and I was still holding his warrenty ticket (now 1 year old) open. He said give me the part number it will be there in 3 days. I called the customer and informed him the part is on the way, he can keep the rental car for the duration and I will fix the car myself. He came in to pick up his car and was delighted that someone actually took the time and effort to locate the issue when nobody else would. The part in question a pump retainer was lated found to be defective and a national repair campagine started 2 months after his repair was completed.
I don't care if it is not in the scope, makes you enough money, is bothersome ot not worth your damn time! If it is important to a customer, It could be bigger than you think in the long run. My shop exchanged 175 of those pump supports because they were noisy. despite the mechanics who said it wasn't worth their while!
I don't care if it is not in the scope, makes you enough money, is bothersome ot not worth your damn time! If it is important to a customer, It could be bigger than you think in the long run. My shop exchanged 175 of those pump supports because they were noisy. despite the mechanics who said it wasn't worth their while!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Making Angry Customers Happy Customers by Chris Campbell
Posted From Particletree
Part of doing business means dealing with customers. Your customers pay your bills, refer new customers, and provide you with valuable feedback. So, when a customer is disgruntled, it’s important to quickly find out what the problem is and work on a solution. Seth Godin recently listed some tips on dealing with angry customers, and here are some additional tactics that we use to turn a frown upside-down.
Admit the Mistake
According to Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, personally owning up to a mistake can help to calm someone down. The simple act of saying “I’m the one who did it, and for that I apologize†can work wonders. In one issue of Treehouse, I ran the wrong advertisement and the advertiser was rightfully pissed off. By immediately admitting that a mistake was made, I personally was at fault, and I’d be willing to do whatever it takes to make it right, the advertiser’s anger disappeared and we set thing straight.
Communicate Quickly
This might be more of an issue in the web world since if you’re a small business manager and an angry customer approaches you in a physical store, you can’t really walk away. We’ve found that quickly responding to customers that have complaints or feedback helps to gain trust and loyalty. We all have Gmail Notifier installed to help deal with bug reports and support requests promptly. If someone is upset, the last thing you want is their anger to fester.
Work Your Butt Off
Wufoo, like all software, sometimes has nasty bugs that make customers upset. Most customers realize that you’re human and that problems do happen. After acknowledging that there is a problem, fix it in a timely manner. Some of our most loyal customers today were once disgruntled, but changed their attitudes when they saw we’re willing to work nights and weekends to give them the product they deserve.
Part of doing business means dealing with customers. Your customers pay your bills, refer new customers, and provide you with valuable feedback. So, when a customer is disgruntled, it’s important to quickly find out what the problem is and work on a solution. Seth Godin recently listed some tips on dealing with angry customers, and here are some additional tactics that we use to turn a frown upside-down.
Admit the Mistake
According to Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, personally owning up to a mistake can help to calm someone down. The simple act of saying “I’m the one who did it, and for that I apologize†can work wonders. In one issue of Treehouse, I ran the wrong advertisement and the advertiser was rightfully pissed off. By immediately admitting that a mistake was made, I personally was at fault, and I’d be willing to do whatever it takes to make it right, the advertiser’s anger disappeared and we set thing straight.
Communicate Quickly
This might be more of an issue in the web world since if you’re a small business manager and an angry customer approaches you in a physical store, you can’t really walk away. We’ve found that quickly responding to customers that have complaints or feedback helps to gain trust and loyalty. We all have Gmail Notifier installed to help deal with bug reports and support requests promptly. If someone is upset, the last thing you want is their anger to fester.
Work Your Butt Off
Wufoo, like all software, sometimes has nasty bugs that make customers upset. Most customers realize that you’re human and that problems do happen. After acknowledging that there is a problem, fix it in a timely manner. Some of our most loyal customers today were once disgruntled, but changed their attitudes when they saw we’re willing to work nights and weekends to give them the product they deserve.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Customer Service Tips And Techniques
Customer Service Tips And Techniquesby Adrian Miller
When customers call on the phone, we are provided with a tremendous opportunity to reinforce and grow the relationship. It makes good (economic) sense to take the extra time and effort to make these calls as meaningful and service oriented as possible. Attention to customer service will go a long way in helping you to satisfy your customers and make them feel as if they are truly special.
1. Always tell your customer what you CAN do for them. Don't begin your conversation by telling them what you CAN'T do.
2. Allow irate customers to vent. Do not interrupt them or start to speak until they have finished having their say.
3. Diffuse anger by saying "I'm sorry or "I apologize."
4. Use your customer's name at different points in the call.5. Make certain that your "solution" to the customer's problem is acceptable to them. Get their approval and agreement.
6. Always conclude each call with a "Thank you" or a verbal message of appreciation for their business.
7. Make certain that your tone of voice is in sync with your words. Remember, your tone of voice can completely contradict your message.
8. Listen attentively! There is nothing worse than asking an irate or troubled customer to REPEAT what they have just said.
9. Go the extra step by following up on your solution. Re-contact the customer to make certain that everything has been handled in a satisfactory manner, and they are pleased with the outcome.
10. Remember to ask if there is anything else that you can do for your customer. Taking the time to ask the question often results in increased business and a more committed customer.
When customers call on the phone, we are provided with a tremendous opportunity to reinforce and grow the relationship. It makes good (economic) sense to take the extra time and effort to make these calls as meaningful and service oriented as possible. Attention to customer service will go a long way in helping you to satisfy your customers and make them feel as if they are truly special.
1. Always tell your customer what you CAN do for them. Don't begin your conversation by telling them what you CAN'T do.
2. Allow irate customers to vent. Do not interrupt them or start to speak until they have finished having their say.
3. Diffuse anger by saying "I'm sorry or "I apologize."
4. Use your customer's name at different points in the call.5. Make certain that your "solution" to the customer's problem is acceptable to them. Get their approval and agreement.
6. Always conclude each call with a "Thank you" or a verbal message of appreciation for their business.
7. Make certain that your tone of voice is in sync with your words. Remember, your tone of voice can completely contradict your message.
8. Listen attentively! There is nothing worse than asking an irate or troubled customer to REPEAT what they have just said.
9. Go the extra step by following up on your solution. Re-contact the customer to make certain that everything has been handled in a satisfactory manner, and they are pleased with the outcome.
10. Remember to ask if there is anything else that you can do for your customer. Taking the time to ask the question often results in increased business and a more committed customer.
10 Customer Service TipsCustomer Service That Will Keep Them Coming BackFrom Liz Tahir, for About.com
See More About:good customer servicebuilding customer loyaltyincreasing salesbeating competition
Liz TahirBusiness AdsCustomer ServiceCustomer Care PolicyVirtual Sales TeamCustomer ReviewsSales Trainer
The People aspect of business is really what it is all about. Rule #1: Think of customers as individuals. Once we think that way, we realize our business is our customer, not our product or services. Putting all the focus on the merchandise in our store, or the services our corporation offers, leaves out the most important component: each individual customer.
Keeping those individual customers in mind, here are some easy, down-home customer service tips to keep ’em coming back!
1. Remember there is no way that the quality of customer service can exceed the quality of the people who provide it. Think you can get by paying the lowest wage, giving the fewest of benefits, doing the least training for your employees? It will show.Companies don't help customers... people do.
2. Realize that your people will treat your customer the way they are treated. Employees take their cue from management. Do you greet your employees enthusiastically each day; are you polite in your dealings with them; do you try to accommodate their requests; do you listen to them when they speak? Consistent rude customer service is a reflection not as much on the employee as on management.
3. Do you know who your customers are? If a regular customer came in to your facility, would you recognize them? Could you call them by name? All of us like to feel important; calling someone by name is a simple way to do it and lets them know you value them as customers.
Recently I signed on with a new fitness center. I had been a member of another one for the past ten years, renewing my membership every six months when the notice arrived. I had been thinking about changing, joining the one nearer my home and with more state-of-the-art equipment. So when the renewal notice came, I didn’t renew. That was eight months ago. Was I contacted by the fitness center and asked why I did not renew? Did anyone telephone me to find out why an established customer was no longer a member or to tell me they missed me? No and No. My guess is they don’t even know they lost a long-time customer, and apparently wouldn’t care.
4. Do your customers know who you are? If they see you, would they recognize you? Could they call you by name? A visible management is an asset. At the Piccadilly Cafeteria chain, the pictures of the manager and the assistant manager are posted on a wall at the food selection line and it is a policy that the manager’s office is placed only a few feet from the cashier's stand at the end of that line, in full view of the customers, and with the door kept open. The manager is easily accessible and there is no doubt about "who's in charge here". You have only to beckon to get a manager at your table to talk with you.
5. For good customer service, go the extra mile. Include a thank-you note in a customer's package; send a birthday card; clip the article when you see their name or photo in print; write a congratulatory note when they get a promotion. There are all sorts of ways for you to keep in touch with your customers and bring them closer to you.
6. Are your customers greeted when they walk in the door or at least within 30-40 seconds upon entering? Is it possible they could come in, look around, and go out without ever having their presence acknowledged? It is ironic it took a discount merchant known for price, not service, to teach the retail world the importance of greeting customers at the door. Could it be that’s because Sam Walton knew this simple but important gesture is a matter of respect, of saying "we appreciate your coming in," having nothing to do with the price of merchandise?
7. Give customers the benefit of the doubt. Proving to him why he’s wrong and you’re right isn’t worth losing a customer over. You will never win an argument with a customer, and you should never, ever put a customer in that position.
8. If a customer makes a request for something special, do everything you can to say yes. The fact that a customer cared enough to ask is all you need to know in trying to accommodate her. It may be an exception from your customer service policy, but (if it isn’t illegal) try to do it. Remember you are just making one exception for one customer, not making new policy. Mr. Marshall Field was right-on in his famous statement: "Give the lady what she wants."
9. Are your customer service associates properly trained in how to handle a customer complaint or an irate person? Give them guidelines for what to say and do in every conceivable case. People on the frontline of a situation play the most critical role in your customer’s experience. Make sure they know what to do and say to make that customer’s experience a positive, pleasant one.
10. Want to know what your customers think of your company? Ask them! Compose a "How're We Doing?" card and leave it at the exit or register stand, or include it in their next statement. Keep it short and simple. Ask things like: what it is they like; what they don’t like; what they would change; what you could do better; about their latest experience there, etc. To ensure the customer sends it in, have it pre-stamped. And if the customer has given their name and address, be sure to acknowledge receipt of the card.
Remember that the big money isn’t as much in winning customers as in keeping customers. Each individual customer’s perception of your company will determine how well you do this and that perception will depend on the level of customer service you provide.
Credit: http://www.liztahir.com/
See More About:good customer servicebuilding customer loyaltyincreasing salesbeating competition
Liz TahirBusiness AdsCustomer ServiceCustomer Care PolicyVirtual Sales TeamCustomer ReviewsSales Trainer
The People aspect of business is really what it is all about. Rule #1: Think of customers as individuals. Once we think that way, we realize our business is our customer, not our product or services. Putting all the focus on the merchandise in our store, or the services our corporation offers, leaves out the most important component: each individual customer.
Keeping those individual customers in mind, here are some easy, down-home customer service tips to keep ’em coming back!
1. Remember there is no way that the quality of customer service can exceed the quality of the people who provide it. Think you can get by paying the lowest wage, giving the fewest of benefits, doing the least training for your employees? It will show.Companies don't help customers... people do.
2. Realize that your people will treat your customer the way they are treated. Employees take their cue from management. Do you greet your employees enthusiastically each day; are you polite in your dealings with them; do you try to accommodate their requests; do you listen to them when they speak? Consistent rude customer service is a reflection not as much on the employee as on management.
3. Do you know who your customers are? If a regular customer came in to your facility, would you recognize them? Could you call them by name? All of us like to feel important; calling someone by name is a simple way to do it and lets them know you value them as customers.
Recently I signed on with a new fitness center. I had been a member of another one for the past ten years, renewing my membership every six months when the notice arrived. I had been thinking about changing, joining the one nearer my home and with more state-of-the-art equipment. So when the renewal notice came, I didn’t renew. That was eight months ago. Was I contacted by the fitness center and asked why I did not renew? Did anyone telephone me to find out why an established customer was no longer a member or to tell me they missed me? No and No. My guess is they don’t even know they lost a long-time customer, and apparently wouldn’t care.
4. Do your customers know who you are? If they see you, would they recognize you? Could they call you by name? A visible management is an asset. At the Piccadilly Cafeteria chain, the pictures of the manager and the assistant manager are posted on a wall at the food selection line and it is a policy that the manager’s office is placed only a few feet from the cashier's stand at the end of that line, in full view of the customers, and with the door kept open. The manager is easily accessible and there is no doubt about "who's in charge here". You have only to beckon to get a manager at your table to talk with you.
5. For good customer service, go the extra mile. Include a thank-you note in a customer's package; send a birthday card; clip the article when you see their name or photo in print; write a congratulatory note when they get a promotion. There are all sorts of ways for you to keep in touch with your customers and bring them closer to you.
6. Are your customers greeted when they walk in the door or at least within 30-40 seconds upon entering? Is it possible they could come in, look around, and go out without ever having their presence acknowledged? It is ironic it took a discount merchant known for price, not service, to teach the retail world the importance of greeting customers at the door. Could it be that’s because Sam Walton knew this simple but important gesture is a matter of respect, of saying "we appreciate your coming in," having nothing to do with the price of merchandise?
7. Give customers the benefit of the doubt. Proving to him why he’s wrong and you’re right isn’t worth losing a customer over. You will never win an argument with a customer, and you should never, ever put a customer in that position.
8. If a customer makes a request for something special, do everything you can to say yes. The fact that a customer cared enough to ask is all you need to know in trying to accommodate her. It may be an exception from your customer service policy, but (if it isn’t illegal) try to do it. Remember you are just making one exception for one customer, not making new policy. Mr. Marshall Field was right-on in his famous statement: "Give the lady what she wants."
9. Are your customer service associates properly trained in how to handle a customer complaint or an irate person? Give them guidelines for what to say and do in every conceivable case. People on the frontline of a situation play the most critical role in your customer’s experience. Make sure they know what to do and say to make that customer’s experience a positive, pleasant one.
10. Want to know what your customers think of your company? Ask them! Compose a "How're We Doing?" card and leave it at the exit or register stand, or include it in their next statement. Keep it short and simple. Ask things like: what it is they like; what they don’t like; what they would change; what you could do better; about their latest experience there, etc. To ensure the customer sends it in, have it pre-stamped. And if the customer has given their name and address, be sure to acknowledge receipt of the card.
Remember that the big money isn’t as much in winning customers as in keeping customers. Each individual customer’s perception of your company will determine how well you do this and that perception will depend on the level of customer service you provide.
Credit: http://www.liztahir.com/
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Ten Commandments of Technical Support: I am copying this from http://seerialmom.homestead.com/I find its humer exactly what we need in this industry. I will be addeing to the foot notes with my own insight as we technicians no matter the company we work for or what we support we are kindered by the fact we work with people.
Thou shalt start thine shift content in the knowledge that ye knowest bushels more than thine customers!
This should be obvious considering they called you and not the other way around, we are at their disposal.
Thou shalt speak humbly to thine customers and forgive them for they knoweth not what they do!
Talk to the customer like it's one of your grandparents, unless of course, you're rude and condescending to them, too! Remember they may know a subject better than you and someday you might be calling them!
Thou shalt not take the name of Bill Gates in vain; for without Him, thou wouldst be flipping burgers!
Let's face it; without Windows, most of us would never have even touched a PC and UNIX users don't need no stinkin' "tech support". But user of our product do.
Thou shalt learn to appreciate the wealth of humor present in all thine calls!
Not sure about you, but I can't help but laugh at people who call saying they're losing "thousands of dollars" because their $14.95 Internet connection was cancelled for non-payment. Humer is a good tool if you are bright and cheerful (sometimes playfull) and relaxed they too will be relaxed, you suddenly appear more confidant.
Thou shalt not forget what it was like to be on the other side of the phone line!
Unless they taught computing skills in kindergarten, you probably had to learn just like everyone else. I'll be the first to admit I was a newbie in the not so distant past!
Thou shalt always leave thine ego at home; arrogance tis NOT a sign of intelligence!
Actually, it's a proven scientific fact that the size of a tech's p*nis is the exact opposite of his arrogance. The more arrogant, the less...well you get the picture, right? If you come accross as a know it all the person on the other end of the line will loose any respect they had for you and loose respect for you company. This will let you loose your job.
Thou shalt listen to thine customer as though he were a toddler and chuckle silently at his mistakes!
I realize that sometimes it's hard not to laugh out loud at some of the irrational things our customers do when it comes to computers. But it's our jobs to give encouragement and praise to the small successes (like when they press "Start"), and to ignore the foibles (like when they ask "is that a small zero or a large zero?")even if it is the fourth time you have spoken to them this week.
Thou shalt make every effort to see the computer through thine customer's eyes and walk them through accordingly!
You and I know what a cursor and an icon are but most new PC owners see nothing more than a flashing line and cute symbols on their screens. Heck, I psych most of my callers out by making them think I can really see their PC as I tell them what to click next. Most of all the best thing you can do while "walking through" a process is be discriptive.
Thou shalt not deface thine employers PC's with thine own software or utilities, unless ye are the employer or ye bury it deeply within many folders!
One of the things I noticed about all techs; they love to personalize and tweak the system they're assigned to. However, more often than not you're sharing the system with others and not everyone loves having to work with the Star Trek theme installed or no hard drive space left from you getting yet another hot game demo or new utility.
Thou shalt not look upon the payscales of other employers; they art nothing more than wolves in sheep's clothing!
Sure, company "B" might be paying $2 more an hour, but they might actually expect you to work, or worse, promise permanency after your probationary period only to let you go instead. I actually saw this happen about a year ago; one guy heard about this "neat" job, decided to go for it, told others who also went and now they're all unemployed. And if they could come back to the original employer, they'd have to start from scratch as a temp.
Amen, So Say We All!!!!
Thou shalt start thine shift content in the knowledge that ye knowest bushels more than thine customers!
This should be obvious considering they called you and not the other way around, we are at their disposal.
Thou shalt speak humbly to thine customers and forgive them for they knoweth not what they do!
Talk to the customer like it's one of your grandparents, unless of course, you're rude and condescending to them, too! Remember they may know a subject better than you and someday you might be calling them!
Thou shalt not take the name of Bill Gates in vain; for without Him, thou wouldst be flipping burgers!
Let's face it; without Windows, most of us would never have even touched a PC and UNIX users don't need no stinkin' "tech support". But user of our product do.
Thou shalt learn to appreciate the wealth of humor present in all thine calls!
Not sure about you, but I can't help but laugh at people who call saying they're losing "thousands of dollars" because their $14.95 Internet connection was cancelled for non-payment. Humer is a good tool if you are bright and cheerful (sometimes playfull) and relaxed they too will be relaxed, you suddenly appear more confidant.
Thou shalt not forget what it was like to be on the other side of the phone line!
Unless they taught computing skills in kindergarten, you probably had to learn just like everyone else. I'll be the first to admit I was a newbie in the not so distant past!
Thou shalt always leave thine ego at home; arrogance tis NOT a sign of intelligence!
Actually, it's a proven scientific fact that the size of a tech's p*nis is the exact opposite of his arrogance. The more arrogant, the less...well you get the picture, right? If you come accross as a know it all the person on the other end of the line will loose any respect they had for you and loose respect for you company. This will let you loose your job.
Thou shalt listen to thine customer as though he were a toddler and chuckle silently at his mistakes!
I realize that sometimes it's hard not to laugh out loud at some of the irrational things our customers do when it comes to computers. But it's our jobs to give encouragement and praise to the small successes (like when they press "Start"), and to ignore the foibles (like when they ask "is that a small zero or a large zero?")even if it is the fourth time you have spoken to them this week.
Thou shalt make every effort to see the computer through thine customer's eyes and walk them through accordingly!
You and I know what a cursor and an icon are but most new PC owners see nothing more than a flashing line and cute symbols on their screens. Heck, I psych most of my callers out by making them think I can really see their PC as I tell them what to click next. Most of all the best thing you can do while "walking through" a process is be discriptive.
Thou shalt not deface thine employers PC's with thine own software or utilities, unless ye are the employer or ye bury it deeply within many folders!
One of the things I noticed about all techs; they love to personalize and tweak the system they're assigned to. However, more often than not you're sharing the system with others and not everyone loves having to work with the Star Trek theme installed or no hard drive space left from you getting yet another hot game demo or new utility.
Thou shalt not look upon the payscales of other employers; they art nothing more than wolves in sheep's clothing!
Sure, company "B" might be paying $2 more an hour, but they might actually expect you to work, or worse, promise permanency after your probationary period only to let you go instead. I actually saw this happen about a year ago; one guy heard about this "neat" job, decided to go for it, told others who also went and now they're all unemployed. And if they could come back to the original employer, they'd have to start from scratch as a temp.
Amen, So Say We All!!!!
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