Customer Service

Level IIAdvanced

What customers want

List a few points that you want as a customer.

The good news is that our customers don’t want anything besides what we want as a customer.

Hence:

Our prime focus should be at

“Customer Satisfaction”

Let’s review the 10 Commandments...

Customer is always right

Even if they are wrong… yes the are. However, we can’t just tell them that.

Need now is to “Educate” the customer on what's right and what's wrong.

Know who is boss

You are in business to service customer needs, and you can only do that if you know what it is your customers want. When you truly listen to your customers, they let you know what they want and how you can provide good service. Never forget that the customer pays our salary and makes your job possible.

Be a good listener

Take the time to identify customer needs by asking questions and concentrating on what the customer is really saying. Listen to their words, tone of voice, body language, and most importantly, how they feel. Beware of making assumptions - thinking you intuitively know what the customer wants. Effective listening and undivided attention are particularly important on the show floor where there is a great danger of preoccupation.

Identify and anticipate needs

Customers don't buy products or services. They buy good feelings and solutions to problems. Most customer needs are emotional rather than logical. The more you know your customers, the better you become at anticipating their needs. Communicate regularly so that you are aware of problems or upcoming needs.

Make customers feel important and appreciated

Treat them as individuals. Always use their name and find ways to compliment them, but be sincere. People value sincerity. It creates good feeling and trust. Think about ways to generate good feelings about doing business with you. Customers are very sensitive and know whether or not you really care about them. Thank them every time you get a chance on the show floor be sure that your body language conveys sincerity. Your words and actions should be congruent.

Help customers understand your systems

Your organization may have the world's best systems for getting things done, but if customers don't understand them, they can get confused, impatient and angry. Take time to explain how your systems work and how they simplify transactions. Be careful that your systems don't reduce the human element of your organization.

Appreciate the power of "Yes"

Always look for ways to help your customers. When they have a request (as long as it is reasonable) tell them that you can do it. Figure out how afterwards. Look for ways to make doing business with you easy. Always do what you say you are going to do.

Know how to apologize

When something goes wrong, apologize. It's easy and customers like it. The customer may not always be right, but the customer must always win. Deal with problems immediately and let customers know what you have done. Make it simple for customers to complain. Value their complaints. As much as we dislike it, it gives us an opportunity to improve. Even if customers are having a bad day, go out of your way to make them feel comfortable.

Give more than expected

Since the future of all companies lies in keeping customers happy, think of ways to elevate yourself above the competition. Consider the following:

• What can you give customers that they cannot get elsewhere?

• What can you do to follow-up and thank people even when they don't bother?

• What can you give a customer that is totally unexpected?

Get regular feedback

Encourage and welcome suggestions about how you could improve. There are several ways in which you can find out what customers think and feel about your services. Listen carefully to what they say.

Moment of truth (MOT)

Definition:

In customer service, instance of contact or interaction between a customer and a firm (through

a product, sales force, or visit) that gives the customer an opportunity to form (or change) an impression about the firm.

Stimulus

First MOT

Second

MOT

Infinite

MOT

Which MOT is important?

First

Second

Infinite

Not all customer interactions are important .

Some of them are more important than others.

These are the Moments of TRUTH

Creating Excellent MOT… always!!!

Excellent MOT

Customers point of view

Personal/ Procedural DimensionFocus and Empathy

Empathy

Understanding another person's feelings by remembering or imagining being in a similar situation.

Historically, empathy was known as "bedside manner," a quality considered innate and impossible to acquire – either you were born with it or you weren't.

More recently, greater emphasis has been placed on empathy as a communication tool of substantial importance, and many experts now agree that empathy and empathetic communication are teachable, learnable skills.

Practical Empathetic Communication

• Recognizing presence of strong feeling (ie, fear, anger, grief, disappointment)

• Pausing to imagine how the customer might be feeling

• Stating our perception of the customers feeling (ie, "I can imagine that must be ..." or "It sounds like you're upset about ...")

• Legitimizing that feeling • Respecting the customers effort to cope with

the predicament • Offering support and partnership (ie, "I'm committed to

work with you to ..." or "Let's see what we can do together to ...")

Let’s play a game…

• Come to my desk with pen and notepad

• Pick up a chit from my desk

• Write it in your notepad

• Now you have 5 seconds to come up with an empathetic response

Rapport building

Rapport is a state of harmonious understanding with another individual or group that enables greater and easier communication. In other words rapport is getting on well with another person, or group of people, by having things in common, this makes the communication process easier and usually more effective.

Rapport building - Break the Ice

When meeting somebody for the first time some simple tips will help you reduce the tension in the situation enabling both parties to feel more relaxed and thus communicate more effectively:

– Use non-threatening and ‘safe topics’ for initial small talk– Listen to what the other person is saying and look for

shared experiences or circumstances– Try to inject an element of humor– Positive body language– Empathy

A scenario…

You are on vacation and taking a leisurely lunch in a restaurant – you are quite obviously a tourist. You have placed your order and have been served drinks. You have been waiting for 15 minutes for your food to arrive but can see the restaurant is busy; you are in no particular hurry.

What happens next will change how you view your experience of the restaurant:

• Nothing much happens; the waitress comes by to say she’s sorry that the food is taking a long time and how they are short-staffed in the kitchen today. Eventually your food arrives and is good.

• You wait another 10 minutes before attracting the waitress’s attention to ask how much longer your lunch will be, she shrugs and goes to the kitchen to find out. Eventually your food is served but there is no apology for the wait.

• The waitress knows you’ve been waiting and comes over to explain that the restaurant is busier than expected and apologizes. She offers you another round of drinks on the house and reassures you that food will be served soon.

Dealing with Customer Dissatisfaction

• Negative personality traits of customers can bring down your level of service.

• Three approaches to dealing with dissatisfaction are: a. dealing with complaints and anger

b. involving customer in problem resolution

c. handling an unreasonable request

Dealing with Customer Complaints/ Anger

• Acknowledge the customer’s point of view.• Avoid placing blame on the customer.• Use magic words to defuse anger (“I understand,” “I

agree,” “I’m sorry.”)• Apologize for the problems created by you or your

company.• Take responsibility, act fast, and be thorough.• Tell the difficult customers how much you value

them.• Follow up on the problem resolution.• Do your best to make sure the problem does not

happen again.

Involving Customers in problem solving

It may be a good idea to involve customer in working out a problem

• Mistakes and problems in serving customers are inevitable.

• To minimize perception of poor service, customer must be involved in deciding what to do about the problem.

• Ideal condition is for customer service representative and dissatisfied customers to be partners in resolving the problem.

Handling an Unreasonable Request

• An unreasonable customer request is almost inevitable at some point.

• Customer who makes unreasonable request is usually aware of unreasonableness.

• Stand ground with dignity and reasonableness. For example, be firm by repeating facts of situation, but keep your temper under control.

Realistic Attitude

• Some unrealistic customers may not be worth keeping.

• Realistic goal is to retain as many profitable customers as possible.

• Set limits for unruly customers, and see if their behavior changes.

• Frequent problem makers, and high-maintenance customers might be dropped.

Bridging the GAP

1. Interest in the work itself, a feeling of self-esteem

2. Optimism and flexibility

3. A positive self-image

4. Positive expectations about the job

5. Ability to handle customer abuse

6. Create a welcoming attitude, including a smile

7. Provide exceptional service

8. Show care and concern

9. Build a personal relationship (know personal details about your customer)

10. Invite the customer back (Welcome!!!)

So let’s go out and make our customers

“HAPPY”