Top 4 Customer Service Skills For the Workplace
July 24, 2010 by Gail
Filed under Best Practices, Call Center Outsourcing, Customer Care
Top 4 Customer Service Skills For the Workplace
By Dave Vower
Having top notch customer service skills is the hallmark of a successful organization. Here are some of my favorite methods for improving customer service skills in your business or workplace.
1. Honesty. The most important issue thing to many customers when they deal with the people in your workplace is honesty. Can they trust you and your staff? If it’s found that the customer is unable to trust the people representing your company you’ll have all sorts of trouble dealing with them when trying to achieve any outcome.
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Want Top Customer Service? Relearn the ‘basics’
July 6, 2010 by Gail
Filed under Customer Care, Employee Coaching and Development
Want Top Customer Service? Relearn the ‘basics’
By John Borillo
We cannot ignore the basics. The basics serve as the foundation of everything, and they have brought us to where we are today. We may have become industry trailblazers earning the accolades of our peers left and right but at the end of the day, it is about knowing the very heart of what we do and excelling in it every day.
The boom of the call center industry says a lot about that excellence. Its core focus has always been managing the expectations of the customers. Any small business wanting to see real bottom-line results should be powered by customer service, whether it is set as in-house or from a customer call center.
Customer service can definitely build – or break – any enterprise. We should learn and relearn the basics of customer service, and apply them until they become a habit that never goes away.
First Call Resolution Defined
July 1, 2010 by Gail
Filed under Customer Care, call center
First Call Resolution Defined By Navdeep Chandel
If you have spent any time at all in the call center industry you will know that resolve a customer’s problem on the first try (first call resolution) is not always at the forefront of your mind. Instead, the focus is on making the customer happy with your service, but what better way is there to make a customer happy than to fix their problem on the first try?
First call resolution from a managerial standpoint is defined is a percentage calculated by dividing the number of customers whose call was resolved on the first try by the total number of customers that called in.
Create a Vision For Your Customer Service Training
June 28, 2010 by Gail
Filed under Call Center Training, Customer Care
Create a Vision For Your Customer Service Training
By Ron Kaufman
During a cold winter season, smart organizations get busy preparing for spring. One way to prepare is to create (or confirm) a clear and motivating vision of what you want to become. Back this vision up with customer service training and other measures and you can transform your business for the better. Your engaging service vision is one of the “12 Building Blocks for a Superior Service Culture” we teach at UP Your Service! College. This vision can serve as a guiding light for customer service training and to focus your efforts now and in the future.
Corporate Training – This is Customer Service Success
April 30, 2010 by Gail
Filed under Call Center Training, Customer Care
The question we have to ask ourselves is what great customer service? Well, I have a two pronged definition to define effective customer service. Here it is.
My two pronged definition of Customer Service:
1. Finding a need and filling it.
2. Doing for the customer what you know they want done for them.
Let’s break this down a bit.
First, finding a need and filling it.
What does this really mean? Have you ever heard the saying that the customer is always right? Of course you have. Your customers keep preaching that to you. But let me let you in on a little secret. It’s not true. That quote has been taken out of context for years. In fact, it is only half the original quote. The challenge is that you have probably only heard it that way and even more challenging is that your customers have only heard it that way too.
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Customer Service Skills – The 5 Key Characters
March 25, 2010 by Gail
Filed under Call Center Training, Customer Care
I cannot count the amount of times I have been asked on a customer service training course “how am I going to make a difference? I am just doing my job, management do not even notice”. Well the fact is that yes, this may be a means to an end for you until you finish writing your book or saving for a house but the truth is you are also here because you care.
I know that it can be difficult to keep upbeat and energised throughout your month, week or day but as customer service training courses will tell you, even though you do not know the customer, excellent customer service will make a difference in their lives for that day, week or month
Oscar Worthy Customer Service – How Hollywood’s Model Can Make Your Company A Service Star
February 22, 2010 by Gail
Filed under Call Center Manager, Customer Care, Employee Coaching and Development
While Rosemary Rein wrote this article in 2009, her message on creating award winning customer service is right up to date.
The Oscar of Customer Service in 2008 Goes to USAA!
This year the national business award for outstanding customer service, considered the OSCAR of Customer Service went for a second year in a row to USAA, the Financial and Insurance Provider to the U.S, Military. (Reported in the March 2008 Edition of Business Week)
The news was not surprising since last year alone the Customer Service Team at USAA attended over 240,000 hours of “Additional Training” beyond their “Basic Training”.
As you listen to your service rep phone calls, (you do don’t you? through call monitoring?); hear and see employees in the hallways, who frankly look and sound more like street thugs than valued and motivated employees; as you read painful customer complaints, customer surveys and oh no, see that customers have told the world how bad your service is by blogging you; Do you think maybe, those responsible for taking care of your valued customers might need a little more training and recognition themselves? Well, perhaps you need to say Hello and Hooray for Hollywood!
Rate Your Hollywood Star Power:
The first question for every CEO and Training Manager is how many hours of field training do you give your front-line staff each year to up-level their skills to achieve Oscar Worthy Customer Service Performances? The second question is how effective is that training? The third question is what, inspiring, recognition programs do you have in place to honor outstanding service achievements?
As a Former Director of Customer Service Training, I followed the Hollywood OSCAR Model for Service Training and Employee Motivation, using the format symbolized by Hollywood’s Golden Man. It produced results. It inspired and motivated the team and much like the Oscars, was talked about, read about and even ignited friendly competition to be the best. What else could you want from your a Customer Service Training and Recognition Program? Here’s how to execute a similar Hollywood Style training model and Roll Out the Red-Carpet to your Service Team
Develop & Deliver Red Carpet Training & Recognition:
1. Define Award Categories for all the Areas of your Company that Impact Customer Service Performance, including those back office functions like technical direction, script writing, and outstanding achievement in special effects (service improvements).
2. Develop a Nomination Process and rules for and selection criteria for “Your Service Academy” that represents a cross section of your organization or departmental areas. This is a critical step requiring analysis of all contributing factors to the total customer experience for award integrity.
3. Acting Class for Customer Service Employees? You bet! Why do actors say the right thing and project emotion? They have scripts and use theatrical/communication techniques! Great Hollywood Actors also understand the principles of directing the Big Picture! Do your employees know what the big picture is for your company and your customers? We use an engaging Hollywood theme in our customer service training. Note/ Themes Build Team.
I usually held these spirited 1 days training sessions in the Spring, after the Oscars to reinforce key service principles, introduce award winning customer scripts and even run screen tests with video-tape feedback by a customer service producer. A fun “improv workshop” helps employees improve body language, voice tone and most of all learn to laugh again and connect with the heart of the Customer/Audience. It’s all part of the work it takes to climb to the top of the service charts.
4. Finally, start planning your Big Red Carpet Oscar Night. Make It Big! Make It Memorable! Make it the Event of the Year that Everyone Talks About! Make Winning a Service Oscar, the aspiration of every bright star on your team, who has worked hard the past year, to deliver consistent and a heart-stopping customer service performances.
Rosemary Rein, Ph.D is an award winning Author and Speaker on Customer Service and is writing the chapter on Best Practices in Customer Service, in a new upcoming book “Blueprint for Success” with Dr. Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard.
Bring Rosemary’s Customer Service Academy Awards Program to your Organization. For a free training proposal and Oscar template, write Rosemary@gowildgogreat.com or visit her web-site at http://www.gowildgogreat.com
Phone Tree – Do they work?
March 11, 2009 by Admin
Filed under Customer Care
Is Your Phone Tree Killing Your Business?
By Diana Liffick
Your phone tree might seem as insignificant as post-it notes or staples, but it plays an important role in the performance and profitability of your company. A poor telephone answering system can create dissatisfied customers and disgruntled employees — that’s definitely “bad for business”.
If customers are not routed properly and efficiently through your answering system, you might irritate customers who weren’t irritated when they initially called. This in turn frustrates customer support personnel, who usually have to deal with plenty of upset, demanding people already. To make matters worse, if your phone system is turning customers away from reaching your services, their issues and complaints may remain unknown to you.
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Putting the “Service” Back in “Customer Service”
March 11, 2009 by Admin
Filed under Customer Care
by: pianopl123
The future of customer service is here. Technology has made seeking out support faster and easier than ever. But, has your digital age company sacrificed true service in the name of automation?
Today, finding customer support is as simple as writing an e-mail or picking up the phone. But, even though you’re not face-to-face with your customers, you still leave a lasting impression. Do you come across as caring and competent, or menacing and mechanical?
Offering stand-out service on the Internet isn’t as hard as it is rare. Take these simple steps towards old-style service in the digital age:
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Customer Service: 3 Typical Employee Mistakes And How To Handle Them
March 11, 2009 by Admin
Filed under Customer Care
Beth Banning & Neill Gibson
Do you want to increase profits dramatically? One of the best ways to do this is to focus your attention on your current customer satisfaction and good customer service skills. Profitable businesses don’t just rely on attracting new customers, they work at encouraging existing customers to buy again and to provide positive word-of-mouth advertising to their friends.
This can only happen when employees learn leading edge customer relationship management skills. Read on to discover the three most common customer service mistakes as well as how to handle them before they occur.
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