Fostering Good Customer Relations on the front line

Customer loyalty is built on customer relations. The front desk clerk, the counter clerk or even the security guards can make or break your business based on the impression they leave with customers. Whether you are in a service-oriented business, manufacturing, education or the health care field, your goal is to make that first impression lasting and gain loyalty from customers.

No matter what type of business you are in, the following are standard guidelines in handling customer relations:
1.Make the customer feel like royalty when attending to them. Pamper your customers. You must have well-oriented and well-trained customer relations personnel to assist them. Everyone in the selling area or in the place where customers are expected to move around must know their job. Keep your customer relations personnel updated on how to handle customers. This has proven to be an effective way of keep customers and get them to return. Make customers feel like they are part of the company, or a member of your corporate family. Value them.
2.Handle complaints properly. Each one of us has been customers of various establishments. We know that a customer is always right , and as companies we should stand by that principle. The basic steps in handling customer complaints are to listen, validate the complaint and act on it promptly. The key to handling customer complaint is to act quickly. It is said that one dissatisfied customer equates to hundreds of thousands of lost sales, since word of mouth travels. Protect the company from losing more because of one complaint.

The performance of the customer relations department plays an integral part in helping the company sell whatever product or service they are offering. Needless to say, customer relations should be a paramount concern, especially for your front line workers.
Source:
http://blog.allegiance.com
This tid bit comes with permission from
Chris Cottle
VP Marketing
Allegiance

It is Time for Exorcise! Phone Skills

This is from The “Customer Service Advantage”


A survet shows one in three customers are happy after hanging up.


It might be time to brush up on your phone skills.
Reason: Only 32% of customers had a positive experience when calling Customer Service recently, a Huffington Post survey found.

Build rapport, give the right answer:

Customers complained they either didn’t get the right answer or the person they talked to wasn’t friendly.
Both issues can be resolved with a little training.
For product or service training, ask the people who develop them to visit your area. Have the service pros make a list of questions they hear the most and ask the experts how they’d respond.

For soft skill training, ask your people to share their best rapport building statement. Compile a list and post it near everyone desk.

Source: Relationship Marketing Insights.

Post note we have funny quotes on the wall that we have made or heard, but how about adding the positive quotes we get and give to our clients. Does sales have any key lines of conversation that help build rapport and trust? How about Client services, They deal with upset people on a regular basis They could help with what works with smoothing feather after the disaster strikes!

Build a relation ship…Tips

From the “ Customer Service Advantage”

Four ways to Build relationships and loyalty in short spans of time:

In our business we are the first face of our services so we are responsible for maintaining the relationships the Client Service Managers have established.

Use your time well

Be a wizard at alternative solutions.
Use these four tips to build relationships and customer loyalty during short interactions:
Being creative often means you save customers time and/or money- they will stick around for that.
Brainstorm with co-workers in your department and outside for alternatives to situations that arise.

Listen then repeat

Customers are under pressure to cut costs, save money, do more, etc., in their lives and work.
They want/need a sounding board when they complain or explain their issue.
If you act as one and prove you heard them by repeating their story, they will take your advice and come back for more.

Deliver small acts of kindness
You don’t have to give away the store, but you can build goodwill by giving something useful from time to time. For instance we have a new feature that may help them down the road. If you briefly explain the new feature they will become interested in it and want to know more. Guide them to the customer portal for more information.

Give your best customers a voice

This is the time to make your best customers feel more even more valuable.
Ask them to post on the forum page to let others know how the system works for them and how they get the most out of the service. This feedback will be very valuable to improve customer service and help maintain a healthy relationship with the clients.

Source: “Soothing the Savaged Soul: Customer Love When Times are Tough” by Jeanne Bliss, The Customer Service Institute of America’s Customer Service Excellence, 02/09.

Do not grieve, it is logical - Spock

The man that inspired my quest for enlightenment has passed away.
When asked “What was your inspiration for the Character Kwai Chang Caine?” he replied with little emotion and lots of logic. "Spock" was his answer with his half smile.
This Brief biography is from the WIKIPEDIA

Born John Arthur Carradine
December 8, 1936
Hollywood, California
Died June 3, 2009 (aged 72)
Bangkok, Thailand
Occupation actor, producer, director
Years active 1963 - 2009

Early life

Carradine was born in Hollywood, California, the son of Ardanelle Abigail (née McCool) and noted American actor John Carradine.[4] He was the brother of Bruce Carradine and half-brother of Keith and Robert Carradine, as well as the uncle of Ever Carradine and Martha Plimpton. Carradine had Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, German, Spanish, Italian, Ukrainian and Cherokee ancestry.[5] Carradine studied drama at San Francisco State University before working as an actor on stage as well as in television and cinema. He changed his given name to David after starting his career.


Career

Carradine was known for his roles as Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s television series Kung Fu (as well as the sequels in the 1980s and 1990s), as well as 'Big' Bill Shelly in Martin Scorsese's Boxcar Bertha (1972), folksinger Woody Guthrie in Bound for Glory (1976), Abel Rosenberg in Ingmar Bergman's The Serpent's Egg (1977), and as Bill in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vols. 1 & 2 (2003, 2004, respectively).

Other notable roles included the lead in Shane (the 1966 television series based upon the 1949 novel of the same name) and a gunslinger in Taggart, a 1964 western film based on a novel by Louis L'Amour. He also starred in the Broadway version of the play The Royal Hunt of the Sun in 1965. More recently, he portrayed Tempus, a powerful demon with the ability to manipulate time, on the hit television series Charmed, as well as Conrad in the television series Alias. Carradine twice played a supernatural being with the power to control time: "Tempus" on Charmed and "Clockwork" on Danny Phantom.

Carradine appeared in an episode of Lizzie McGuire, and also provided his voice for the King of the Hill episode, Returning Japanese, in which he voiced the character of Hank's Japanese half-brother. He provided the voice for Lo Pei, the ancient warrior who was responsible for Shendu's petrification in the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures.

Carradine was also known for producing and starring in several exercise videos teaching the martial arts of Tai chi and Qi Gong. Carradine actually had no knowledge of martial arts prior to starring in the series Kung Fu, but developed an interest in it after this experience and became an avid practitioner.

Carradine appeared as the host of Wild West Tech on the History Channel, taking over the duties from his brother Keith. He narrated the PBS anthropology series "Faces of Culture". In 2006, he became the spokesman for Yellowbook, a publisher of independent telephone directories in the United States. He was also the TV spokesperson for Lipton[6] ("This ain't no sippin' tea"), in a memorable commercial where he paid homage not only to Kung Fu, but also to the Three Stooges.

Carradine also appeared in the music video for "Minus You" by the southern California band Chapel of Thieves, which was co-directed by the YouTube personality Boh3m3. He also worked with the Jonas Brothers in their video Burnin' Up, playing a Kung Fu Master, and planned to work with Miley Cyrus. In 2009, he played a 100 year-old Chinese gangster in Crank: High Voltage.

Carradine signing autographs in Malmö, 2005

[edit]
Personal life

Carradine was married five times and had two daughters, Calista Miranda and Kansas.[1] On December 26, 2004, he married his wife Annie,[1] at the seaside Malibu home of his friend, Michael Madsen. His attorney and his wife’s longtime friend, Vicki Roberts, performed the ceremony.
Rest in Peace Kwai Chang Caine