Service: Critical Success Factor

SpeakerMin Swe Oo

January 25, 2009Myanmar Info TechConference Hall

Service - A Definition

Service is the ongoing relationship between:

BUYER (Customer)&

PROVIDER (You)

Service focuses on keeping the buyer happy with the provider during and after the sale

The Purpose of Business

To attract and maintain customers• Customers give us business

• Customers are only source of income• No customer = No business• No business = No revenue

• No revenue = No Job

• Customer service, like a brand, is what the customer perceives and remembers of the service they received.

• Customer service is about treating others as you would like to be treated yourself

• Customer service is the ability to provide a service or product in the way that it has been promised

• Customer service is an organization‘s ability to supply their customers' wants and needs, and to meet or exceed their expectations

What is Customer Service?

Customer Service Components

Treatment

Service

Product

Why do we lose customer?

% Reason

1 Customers Die

3 Move Away

13 Price Competitiveness

15 Dissatisfied with the products or service

68Dissatisfied with the treatment they receive

Being on par in terms of price, product quality and service only gets you into the game.

Treatment wins the game.

4 TYPES OF CUSTOMER

Praiser

Walker

Satisfied

Dissatisfied

Service Continuum

Levels of Customer Service

• The level of concern shown for the individual customer

• The level of friendliness shown towards the customer

• The level of civility shown towards the customer

Biggest question

Isn’t it really ‘customer helping’ rather than customer service?

Jeffrey Gitomer

Customer Expectations

• based on their perceptions of you, your company and your industry.

• formed through personal past experience, and the experience of others with whom they interact.

3 Special Benefits Every Customer Wants

1. Fast Results

2. Easy Procedures

3. Personal Attention

Secret of Simplicity

“Always give people more than they expect to get”.

Key Service Attributes• Care and Concern

• Spontaneity• Problem Solving

• Recovery

How do we attain key service attributes?

• Acknowledge; Recognize; Appreciate; Thank

• Anticipate; Take initiative; Plan in Advance

• Be flexible; Do more for the guest; Never say no

• Recover; Take ownership of the problem; Act accordingly

To err is human ---

Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go

wrong.

Donald Porter V.P., British Airways

What a customer remembersabout a service is not justdependent on the usual suspects offirst and last impressions. It isdependent on the "moments of truth“.

Jan Carlson Scandinavian Airlines

A moment of truth is when an interaction occurs between a customer and the service provider that can leave a lasting positive or negative impression on a customer.

The Top 7 Customer Service Sins

7. Not adequately training your staff

6. Trying to win an argument with a customer

5. Being impersonal

4. Spending too much time with chronic complainers

3. Taking criticism personally

2. Not acting like you care

1. Not delivering what you promise

If marketing is the fuel for your business then customer service is the octane..

• The higher the octane, the better the business will run.

• Customer service - part of the marketing process.

• Word of mouth marketing - one of the best, most reliable and

cost effective forms of marketing available.

• Excellent customer service helps to establish you as a brand.

• There really is nothing better than the testimonial or

endorsement of one customer to another.

Quality is the best kind of advertising in the world. For your company identity to be successful, the service provided must be of the highest quality possible. Focus on delivering world-class service first, then, and only then consider marketing it.

Milton Hershey

Economic Downturn

• Looking to increase value for money• Making hard earned cash go further • More critical when making buying decisions• With less disposable income, less forgiving of a

mediocre or poor service experience• When it comes to service, the vast majority, 90 to

96%, will not complain and simply go elsewhere• Looking to deal with organizations that appreciate

customers

The Retention of Existing Customers

• All the more important during difficult economic conditions• Existing customers are more profitable • Maintaining existing customers improve operating expenses

and result in bottom line • Five percent increase in customer loyalty can contribute from

25% to 125% directly to bottom line.• Customers always have the choice of buying from us or our

competition. • When times are tough, that choice becomes even more

important.

Points to Ponder

Your customers won’t love you if you give bad service,

your competitors will.

Kate Zabriskie

Customer Loyalty

• Leadership must show everyone customer service is a priority.

• Get management in direct contact with customers.

• Solicit feedback from the guest or customer.• Get employees involved in planning and

implementing customer Service standards.• Empower employees.• Take care of the “internal customer”

Who are our Customers?

Internal customers -

People within our organisations served by what we do

External customers -

People outside our organisation who are the end users of products or services

"I love mankind. It is people that I cannot stand."

Charles Schultz

Three Types of Customer

• Explorers • Vacationers• Prisoners

Either External or Internal

• Explorers - loyal ; rave about our business to everyone they meet.

• Vacationers - loyalty can be quickly switched to competition.

• Prisoners - no loyalty and will quickly share their displeasure with 6 to 10 other individuals.

WE WANT

• our people to treat our customers with warmth and respect.

• our people to constantly improve their work standards and output.

• our people to take the initiatives and constantly work toward improving their services

• our people to be friendly and have good attitudes lest the customers won’t come back.

WE TEND TO FORGET• Customer Care and Employee Care Go Hand in Hand• Delivering a level of service for true customer loyalty means caring for

employees• If customers are the foundation of a company, employees are its lifeblood• If employees’ needs are ignored, bottom lines and brand image will be

hurt• Employees are brand ambassadors to the outside world. • When internal customers (employees) dissatisfied, their interactions

become unauthentic• Negative energy flows through the organization and high performance will

never be achieved• Keep focusing on employees, especially when things are difficult.

Job Satisfaction Affects Customer Loyalty

• Why employees are unhappy especially front liners• Individual assessments that look beyond the "Hows" of behavior to the

"Whys" of behavior.• Developing employees based upon the results of assessments • Failing to take corrective actions result in unhappy employees

Unhappy Employees = Higher Customer TurnoverHigher Customer Turnover = Lower Profitability

Who Matter Most

Quality begins in the boardroom with the owners, leaders and managers who:

• make the rules and the procedures. • create the empowerment in the employee or tie their hands

and have them afraid to make a decision. • are the ones that decide how much should be spent on training

and what objectives are important. • are the ones that decide if they are going to share part of the

profits with the employee and make them feel like part of the company.

• are the ones that decide how they are going to treat the employees on their interactions.

You Are The Leader - Customer Excellence Begins With You

Your organization is like an engine - and you are the switch that can ignite excellence

The parts of the engine all have their function but without the spark, the engine will never run.

Donn Kirst

THANK YOU