Customer Service Cures

Customer Service is an often talked about phrase that has become very cliché in our society. For hundreds of years, people clamor for the concept of customer service. Patrons hunger for proper service and hospitality when serviced. Yet in our present society, there appear numerous concerns hindering on complaints related to proper service and support.

Your clients want to be serviced in a professional and righteous manner. In fact, they expect it and not much work is needed for effective and proper client service. Simply put, customer service is a humble, tactful, professional, friendly, and memorable approach that enables your clients wants and needs to be met.

Customer service provides a forum for clients to speak highly about you, offer referrals from your service, and an implied marketing tool. Human nature is driven by honesty and integrity. Customer service is aligned with these powerful words that human nature craves.

Preparation

The most important part of any customer service representative's job is to prepare for each and every call. The successful customer service representative will always know who he or she is calling, as well as why they are calling, and how they will sell the product or service.

Customer service representatives are much like a general on the battlefield, an athletic coach at a game, or a chess player at a tournament: they are always thinking ahead, strategizing to determine their next move. You might say customer service representatives are like a nurse in an elementary school before the fall and winter seasons hit. The nurse knows that students will get ill from the spread of germs, so she conveys information about how to avoid getting sick to the students prior to the start of flu and cold season. Salespeople do the same.

Successful representatives are always prepared. They understand the client, the industry, the company, and the specific pain the client is dealing with. Prepared customer service representatives also know how to get information should there be a question or something that stumps them. Put simply, customer service representatives are problem solvers, much like a physician trying to understand the reason for an illness. Customer service representatives know how to ask the correct and pointed questions to understand the issue and move immediately to problem identification and resolution. If a customer service representative gets stumped for an answer, they know where to go to get it. It should be a very rare occasion when a prepared customer service representative does not know where to turn to get an answer.

Planning

From answering a telephone,to making a call, to understanding the client and the issue, planning is the single most important part of service. If you do not know who you are speaking to and what you will say, then how can you have a conversation?

Before taking a call, the successful representative will read the contact information and understand the history. How many times have you called customer service only to wait while the representative familiarizes themselves with your account? The best representatives are ready from the second you connect.

The planned representative is also physically and emotionally ready to take on the next call. Admittedly, the profession is not an easy one however, Grand Slam Customer Service Representatives are able to break the emotional connection from call to call. They learn how to isolate issues and personal concerns so that their focus is on the client.

Passion

The secret to successful customer service representatives is that they absolutely, unequivocally love what they do.

Successful customer service representatives love challenges, are exceptional in overcoming adversity, and love the product or service that they represent. They are never shy or reserved, and you can sense their spirit and their passion when they speak. In fact, I heard a South African phrase the other day: Enbutu, meaning from the spirit. Successful customer service representatives have an aura of spirit, of love, of passion, of commitment in everything and anything that they do. The more you can create Enbutu in your sales presentations and your sales day, the more helpful you can be to your client.

Persistence

Lastly, successful customer service representatives are persistent. They love, need, and yearn for a challenge. Successful customer service representatives never say quit, they never stop answering questions, resolving issues, and making clients happy.

Customer service representatives never take "no" for an answer. Those with the power of adversity are not stubborn, but are capable of seeking the needle in a haystack with such dogged persistence that they stand head and shoulders above anyone else. The successful salesperson is someone who is still willing to go the distance even when fatigued or stumped, creating value, vision, and viability for the prospective client who is yearning for a resolution.

Don't Judge a Book

The first thing you notice about customer support is the impression that others make? Humans typically judge a book by its cover. What do you do to develop good customer service?

The Cover

The first step in customer service begins with something invaluable. It is something that we all have and costs very little to obtain and maintain. The first tool of your trade, or those that you employ, is a smile. Yes, a warm empathetic smile. Nothing cures the ills of a day or a situation than a smile. Smiles are like a warm bowl of soup on a cold winter's day. They are like your dog, cat, child, or significant other greeting you after a long absence. Smiling is a cure all.

The best two techniques for smiling and making a great first impression is to always do it! Yes, always smile. Smiling cures depression, anxiety, and hostility. Smiling creates enthusiastic client service. Try being meanspirited with a smile on your face - it's impossible.

The other step to assist you in smiling is to obtain a small pocket mirror or 5x7 mirror and place this in your work space. Ensure that you face the mirror and place it located close to the telephone where you take your client calls. When you converse with a client constantly look in the mirror. Review your facial expressions and your body language. Listen as you watch you body react to the sound of your voice. If you are not smiling, what you see is what you will hear in the phone. Statistics show that when engaged in direct conversation, we remember 38% of the words used, 43% of the body language, and 19% of the tone. Basically, we watch more than listen to words.

With telephone conversations, we recall 45% of the words and 55% of the tonality. If you do not believe your smile is "heard" on the telephone, think again.

From the Master

One of the best techniques to making a proper first impression stems from one of my favorite authors and mentors, Dale Carnegie. In his famous book "How to Win Friend and Influence People," he mentions four imperative principles to live by [for customer service] and they include:

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
3. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
4. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

Being Interested

For you to provide proper and efficient customer service you must be genuinely interested in helping others. Do not look at customer service as simply a job. I understand that some of you reading this might be in a Call Center and seek management opportunities and have career goals, yet you cannot assist clients in your current capacity if you do no desire to help them.

Client service is about humility and comfort. Your personal and professional goal is to ensure your clients trust you and you can build an honest relationship that assists in meeting a want or a need. Your lack of desire will clearly create angst and poor service ratings. For those of you reading this in management, it might cost you business!

The Sweetest Sound

How many times in your life has your first or last name been mispronounced? How much frustration has this caused? On the telephone, my first name is typically mispronounced as "Bruce". I get very frustrated each time it happens. Why? The sweetest sound we hear from the moment of birth is our name. In many cultures, names are for honor and respect. I found in many client service centers incorrect name use.

There are many ways to apply this rule. First, take notes when speaking to a client. Always have pen and paper handy to take notes to remind you of important items during the call. Second, repeat the first and last name of the client. Repetition creates memorization. The more often you repeat something the more you remember. Last, ask the person their name and then use it during your presentation. This creates not only a great impression but the beginning of a relationship.

Hush and Listen

Human nature has us speaking too much. We are prone to telling and speaking and not much listening. I encourage you to question your client. Questioning takes the focus off you and places it on the client. Questioning gets the client to speak and not you. Questioning enables you to acquire helpfulinformation used during your call.

I will provide examples and details of good questioning skills later in this book however, for now I want you to begin to use proper questions skills. These include closed questions that merely seek to obtain a yes or no reply. you can use this with open questions that begin with "Who, What, When, Where, Why" and seek to obtain more information other than a yes or no.

Gold Medal Service - Sincerity

One of the greatest gifts of mankind is the ability to be humble and sincere. Client service meets needs, but it also suggests a problem solver. The customer service area is the linchpin of the organization since good customers tell others about positive experiences. The cliché iscorrect; one good client tells another, one bad client tells 20. You mission is to provide empathy and hope that you will resolve issues when then come to you.

While Reading the Book - Check your Baggage

The road to customer service begins with only one thing in mind - the customer. If you have had several irritating calls, or if you are having a bad day, or if there are more calls today then have been in a while - get over it! When issues hit you leave your personal baggage and issues at the door. Your issues are just that - your issues. Your clients and peers are not concerned. The client when calling is concerned about one thing, getting their issue resolved in an efficient and effective manner.

If you need time to recover from a series of onerous calls, then do so. Give yourself a time-out. Make sure that when you pick up the telephone that that person on the other end is the single most important person you will speak to all day. Finally, think of each call as a shareholder in your company that pays the lights, the salary, water, computer usage, etc. The customer is your lifeline to maintaining and growing your current role! By controlling and remembering the above you will not only provide better customer service, you will provide better calls, and a pleasant atmosphere for yourself too!

Finding the Right Talent

A stereotype exists for customer service. It is doomed to fail. Many advertisements state a representative is required to have good computer skills, oral communication, and an ability to make 50 or more calls per shift. If this is the only criteria for hiring, I suggest you rethink this important process.

The field of customer service is very involved and sometimes onerous. One of the most disparaging issues is the amount of attrition. Turnover costs operations too much annual capital and it takes away profit margins. If you want to sustain margins - hire smart. There are three things to look for when hiring:

• Cognitive Skills
• Behavioral Skills
• Job Related Skills/Experience

Cognitive Skills

Cognitive assessments are helpful in several ways. First, they allow for immediate identification of the place where a person's reading skills breakdown relative to that of their peers. You will be able to look at a profile and identify whether the employee is weak in letter identification, word identification, sounding out of words, listening, or reading comprehension. These are vital with customer letters, client communication, and interoffice interaction. Examining the assessments gives one a quick sense of the nature of the problem a reader is experiencing.

Behavioral Skills

One of the ways that humans communicate is through their personality. Their behavioral characteristics become central to how we hear and speak to each other. Based on speech, body language, and vocal tone we do not always get along with others the first, and sometimes the second time we meet them. Understanding communication techniques within your organization helps to understand part of your organizational culture. Such comprehension can lead to how new hires fit into the organizational construct.

One of the most effective tools that I have clients use is a personality assessment known as DiSC™.

A DiSC assessment provides computer generated reports that give the sales professional a broad understanding of his/her natural sales style. With today's electronic media, a DiSC assessment is given via computer software. The software analyzes the personality of the sales professional and indicates their typically interactions with others. These include, but are not limited to, feelings, perceptions, body language, office setup, work style, and ethic and professional aspirations. Because all people are unique, no two reports are alike.

The understanding of DiSC helps managers and employees alike to understand their strengths and limitations in a service environment. Such comprehension can assist with tension on competitive situations, customer service, and problem calls. It can also assist with internal communications and service.

Another aspect of DiSC is that customers want caring service along with top quality products. They want compatible, honest relationships with their sales professionals, and they want personalized service and solutions to their short and long term problems. Typically in business, sales professionals concentrate on the "What's in it for me" attitude. By blending your personality to that of your client and visa versa, conversations become more collegial.

What is DiSC™?

According to Marston, a psychologist that studied personality types, his research found four primary emotional responses:

• Dominance - How people respond to problems or challenges
• Influence - How people sway others to their point of view
• Steadiness - How people respond to the pace of the environment
• Conscientiousness - How people respond to rules and procedures set by others

People are a combination of these four styles, although one or two styles usually predominate.

Many of us grew up with the idea that we are to treat others as we want to be treated. However, in business many people have only one primary standard: to get as much from each encounter as they can in order to better their own situation.

Understanding your prospective client's self-interest helps you build rapport and improve communication by focusing on their desires and finding ways to help them get what they want. When we focus complete attention on the client, communication becomes easier and barriers quickly disappear.

Behavioral research suggests that the most effective people are those who understand themselves and those around them. This understanding of personal strengths and possible limitations, along with the ability to identify and understand the strengths and weaknesses of others, allows one to develop strategies to meet the demands of the environment. In addition, understanding strengths and limitations closes communication gaps that can lead to dissatisfaction, complaints, and legal action.

Understanding your own and those of your colleagues, clients, peers, family members, etc., provides a basis for creating clear communications and understanding how each person responds to others.

Job Related

No interview can exist without prevalent questions that pertain to experience. The job related portion of the interview must focus on previous assignments and responsibilities. You must ensure that the person has foundational skills to coherently do the job.

While there is thought to hiring the "perfect person" one with a complete skill set, realize utopia doesn't exist. Find employees with foundational competence so that their previous experiences can help them with your present need.

Interviewing

Interviewing is a misused and abused tool. Typically, interviews are established to determine the proper fit and experience of the prospect. However, statistics indicate that many interviewers conduct very little research or adequately direct the conversation to determine cognition and expertise. Many needlessly look for a pleasant attitude or excitement.

An interview is meant to determine three things:

• Personality
• Experience
• Cultural adaptation to your existing environment

This is accomplished with:

• Resume review
• Qualitative Questioning Skills

Unfortunately, managers are too busy to allocate time to review the resume. This is vital. Filtering the information will enable hiring managers to save time while interviewing the proper talent. Secondly, there exists an inane habit of telling too much about the company, the industry, and the job. To obtain a proper interview environment, one must conduct the interview in remote area away from their office. An undisturbed location is best to avoid needless interruptions, such as telephone and busybodies curious to know who the new office employee might be. Moreover, the interview must enable interactive dialogue. Interviewers need to speak last! There is too much telling during interviews. In order to establish common ground, determine skill set and fit; use of open ended questions is vital. Listen to replies, make notes, and ultimately both parties determine the best fit.

Other methods to help determine the best fit include:

• Peer Interview
• Panel Interview

While these appear formal, these tools simply enable other involvement and opinions. Having alternative replies and parallel or differing opinions for candidates help make easier decisions. Ultimately, they can also help break a deadlock or simply confirm suspicions.

Summary

There are many other suggestions for helping customer service issues. The following are offered as base suggestions to begin improvement within your own rank and file or division. Please recall that none of this is legal advice. Individual results vary depending on the personnel and the issue. However, I am hopeful that you can use some of the ideas to assist you and your organization in achieving organizational effectiveness.