The 5 W’s of World Class Customer Service Training

Posted by admin in Customer Service on Dec 29th, 2009 | 0 comments

The preamble to the United States Constitution begins, ‘we, the people.’ I feel strongly that we, the people, are what make the difference in life, both personally and professionally.

The interaction anyone has at any level with your employees, including you, gives a customer– whether current, potential, internal or external–an opportunity to make a judgment about you, your company, all companies like yours. I’m not just talking about call centers here. All technical support or help desk personnel are included as well. As a matter of fact, anyone who is in the customer service business period.

With continued focus on customer satisfaction, customer retention, and lifetime value of the customer, it is no surprise that contact center operations continue to increase in importance as the primary hub of a customer’s experience. For the customer, the person on the other end of the phone is the company. The contact center is still the most common way that customers get in touch with businesses. In fact, Gartner reports 92% of all contact is through the center. And it’s been reported that 70% to 90% of what happens with customers is driven by human nature, having nothing to do with technology. State of the art technology is a necessity today, but it is meant to enable human endeavors, not to disable them.

I often talk about taking customer service and ‘kicking it up a notch.’ In the food industry, the word ‘lagniappe’ is often used. Its definition is “a small present given to a customer with a purchase. For example, when you go to the bakery and buy a dozen donuts or bagels, you oftentimes get a ‘free’ one or a baker’s dozen. That’s what customer service should be about–giving the customer more than they expected! Let’s bring lagniappe into the contact center industry.

If we’re going to speak about world class customer service, let’s have a working definition it so we’re all on the same page. Customer service is those activities provided by a company’s employees that enhance the ability of a customer to realize the full potential value of a product or service before and after the sale is made, thereby leading to satisfaction and repurchase.

Let’s look at the first W which is Why?

The state of customer service today is not good, be it over the phone or self service. Because 92% of people feel their call experience is important in shaping the image of a company, this reinforces the importance of centers in branding the image of their companies.

In a Mobius Management Systems Survey, here’s what happened because of poor customer service:

60% cancelled accounts with banks

36% changed insurance providers

40% changed telephone companies

35% changed credit card providers

375 changed Internet service providers

Are you one of these statistics? I certainly am.

In a study done by Purdue University and BenchmarkPortal.com, in answer to (1) how did agents satisfy your needs and handle the call, and (2) based on any negative experience, would you stop using this company in the future? the findings reveal a strong correlation between the participant’s age and the tendency to stop using the company after a bad experience.

What does this mean? Younger participants were less tolerant and more likely to move to the competition. People over 65 were found to be more demanding than those in middle age.

What can you do? Give younger callers a ‘wow’ experience–maintain their loyalty. People over 36 probably have more of an ‘emotional bank account’ with the company they are dealing with–maybe had some good experience and therefore are more willing to ‘forgive.’

In a recent study (CRM Magazine/PeopleSoft Web Seminar on How Usability Helps to Drive a Profitable Contact Center), the number of applications required for agents to access customer inquiries were:

3.7% just 1

81.5% 2 – 5

7.4% 5 – 10

7.4% more than 10

As you can see, the majority of applications are 2 – 5. The goal, of course, is to link every point of contact to one central location for a customer-centric, synchronized approach satisfying customer experiences with every interaction.

Strategies for success for world class service should include:

Respond promptly

Handle requests through the customers’ choice of medium

Be brief and clear

Reduce back and forth communications (especially in writing, i.e., email, kick it up to a phone call if it goes beyond two)

Personalized service

Delight the customer

What do we mean by delighting the customer?

Inform and educate them

Establish your expertise and professionalism

Offer options

Diffuse upset, anger, when and if necessary

Escalate, if required

Take Ownership of the call

Remember we’re still on the first W – the Why. Today’s pressures on agents are different than in the past. They are asked to handle more customer, more volume, more complex and/or complicated calls. After all if we could handle our issues with self service, we probably would not call. But if we tried self service and it didn’t work, now we’re upset and it’s an escalated call from the get go.

They’re asked to provide more information, do it faster and be available and accessible. But they are to lower costs, generate revenue, incorporate new technologies, ensure closure and commitment, deliver ‘great’ service and when? Yesterday, of course.

As a matter of fact the CDC (Center for Disease Control) has said that the causes of death for people under 65 are:

21% – environment – war, accidents, crimes

9% – health care system – doctors, hospitals, medications

17% – human biology – not because of lifestyle

53% – because of the way people choose to live their lives!!!

This is the good news and the bad news. It’s bad news because it’s more than half. However, the good news is that this is something we can do something about, it’s about choice.

The #2 W is Who should be trained?

We suggest front line agents/representatives, supervisors, team lads, managers, assistant managers, internal customers and other departments – anyone who is a touch point so that they can learn to speak the same language, and more importantly, not be in an adversarial position, but rather, together they are serving the external customer or end user.

The #3 W is Where should the training take place? Offsite vs onsite, and there are advantages and disadvantages for both.

Certainly it is most cost effective to have training on site. However, distractions are rampant as is the participant’s availability to a person or problem.

Offsite is more costly. However, there are no distractions and the participants are unavailable to other departments, their managers, or any issues. I believe there is psychic value in taking people away from their work stations and off site to acknowledge the touch jobs they have.

The #4 W is What should be included in any training? We believe the following modules provide a robust, powerful, and succinct training curriculum:

* Quality Customer Service

* Rapport Building

Evaluating Various Home Business Ideas

Posted by admin in Business Ideas on Dec 27th, 2009 | 0 comments

Starting a business anytime is challenging and fraught with missteps, however starting a home business gives you several advantages when you start your business out of your home. Evaluating home business ideas properly is still mandatory, utilizing a financial plan along with cash flow analysis to ensure success.

There are many ideas for beginning a home business from your home. Each one will have various advantages and disadvantages. This article focuses on the advantages of beginning your company out of your home vs. renting space in a business park. The main advantage and the one most obvious is that you do not need to pay rent for your office space when you use space in your home. For those people testing ideas or those who are not sure if they want to really invest a lot of time and money this is probably the best approach to use.

Rent for the office space is zero cost, utilities and communications costs can be shared with your normal household expenses and any direct expenses can be picked up by the company. If you require a separate telephone line, fax line, computers and high speed connections, these can all be charged directly to your start up business idea.

There are a number of other factors that should be considered when evaluating various businesses that you want to operate out of your home. Depending on what these ideas are, these items may apply to or not.

For example if you are planning to run a small manufacturing, woodworking or some other related type of business you will need to have the space to operate your business. For some home owners this can be a problem if space is limited. Internet related businesses require less space as a rule, however you will still need to have space for several computers, printers, scanners, etc., as well as a high speed connection with a local area network to connect your computers.

While this is not an exhaustive list of items to consider, readers will understand that each home business idea must be evaluated for ease of operation from your home. Some are better suited than others and you will have to consider the advantages and disadvantages carefully. In addition, all of these business propositions must be considered from the perspective of skill set match, expansion, market, cash flow, profitability and income earning potential. Failure to treat each idea this way can result in a great deal of lost time, money and stranded investment which you may not be able to recover.

Amazing At Home Business Ideas

Posted by admin in Business Ideas on Dec 25th, 2009 | 0 comments

Are you tired of being broke? Do you want more out of life than just a measly little paycheck? If you want more and are ready to put in some effort then the sky is the limit. With so many at home business ideas out there floating around how do you know which one to choose. Well only you can answer that question but, I have put together a super plan that will help you and show you a dead simple and free home business. If you are ready then lets get to it.

Most people that want to start an online business usually have little or no money to invest. It is OK if your budget is small you really don’t need a big budget to work from home. I am living proof of that since I started out with just $50.00. I will show you how I did it with my at home business ideas and you can take it from there.

The best at home business ideas for you is Affiliate Marketing coupled with Article Marketing both are free and easy to do.

In a nutshell affiliate marketing is just selling other people’s products and getting a commission for what you sell. Most merchants pay between 50-75% of the sale. You can become an affiliate marketer for free at Clickbank.com or Paydotcom.com. Once signed up you select which product you want to promote and get a special affiliate link and advertise the product and once it sells you get paid. It is pretty simple and not hard to do. But, there is a learning curve just so you know.

The best way to promote your affiliate business is to use Article Marketing. It is easy and free and one of the best at home business ideas. You just put together a 300-500 word article and put your product link at the bottom in your resource box and submit it to several free article directories. Article marketing is a learned skill that anyone can learn and once you learn the basics the rest as they say is history.

This is the exact plan that I used to start making money online and it has worked great. You just have to keep a positive attitude, focus on a doable system, and never give up. Your best work at home ideas are usually the easy and simple ones to follow.

Put these at home business ideas into action and watch your income start to pile up. But, you have to take action for this to work just sitting there doing nothing isn’t going to make you any money. So go ahead and get started today!

Learn From the Best Online Businesses

Posted by admin in online business on Dec 23rd, 2009 | 0 comments

Starting a business online is becoming more and more popular, especially in the current financial climate. The best online businesses have owners who are highly motivated and have both short term and long term goals.

Some of the best online businesses are run by people with degrees in business. They may have gone to school knowing they wanted to pursue business or they might have had another career field in mind that required a business background. However, many internet businesses have been started by people with no business background at all, which gives the general public a good chance of starting their own successful business online.

You can learn many lessons from the creators of these online businesses. By studying how they started their business and the steps they took to increase traffic to their websites we all can benefit, and use the knowledge to grow our own online businesses.

Some examples of successful businesses include Google, Myspace, and Youtube. Each of these websites was made with the idea of servicing people. Google gives millions of internet users all over the world a way to search the internet for their any term they are looking for. Google has grown with the times since it started as well and has increased its user experience by constantly updating the agorithm of search and finding new sites. Additionally they have offered users other options for their internet needs such as Gmail, Google Docs, Gtalk, and Google News.

By watching Google grow they show a perfect example of constantly expanding to increase the happiness of their audience, with this of course comes more people who love to use Google and become loyal to it, this shows us why it is the biggest search engine available, with the best sense of growth.

Myspace was started by one person who wanted to network with friends and family and share their life online with them. By that one person sharing their idea and website with people his own idea he has been able to inspire millions to share their lives online as well. Everyone seems to be connected in their extended network, and people can share as much or as little of themselves with their friends and family online. From pictures to videos to their favorite songs, Myspace gives people individuality in the online world.

Another one of the best online businesses is Youtube. The founders of YouTube created this site to provide the ability for visitors from all around the world to easily share their favorite videos. People could easily make a video and upload it to share with millions. You could show some of your individuality, you could teach others, or even promote your website. Many people all around the world loved the idea of being able to make and share their own vides. You can find entertaining videos, music videos, news videos and documentaries created by users on YouTube.

Everyone of these sites had a long term plan and invested time and money into their business to become successful. By studying their business styles and the time and money they invested we can all learn a bit more about starting our own business online.

How To Deliver Good Customer Service

Posted by admin in Customer Service on Dec 23rd, 2009 | 0 comments

Having worked in the customer service industry before, I know firsthand that this is not an easy job to do. Jobs that focus specifically on customer care and providing the highest quality service to each person require staff to undergo regular customer service training. This is to ensure that staffs are up-to-date when communicating with customers and continue work in keeping your existing customers.

Part of the customer service training is to experience customer interaction when at work. When thrown into the deep end of the service industry, you very quickly learn that people are approaching you for information or looking to buy a specific product. At which point you should be looking to deliver a good service and acting quickly upon their request. There are ways of going wrong in this simple exercise and below are a few pointers to customer service.

One of the key elements of customer service training is making good eye contact with the customer. Imagine if you were to walk into a shop with the intention of buying a product that does not appear to be on the shelves, the first thing you would do is approach a shop assistant for help in locating the item. Once you have approached the shop assistant you notice they immediately look away, even when you have asked them for help. At which point you feel that they are not listening to you.

This would anger me if I felt at any point I was seen to be a bother to someone who is quite clearly there to serve me as part of his or her job. How you portray yourself to a customer is important and works on the same principal as the saying ‘first impressions count’. The first impression you give to the customer must be welcoming, helpful, friendly and above all with eye contact. Making eye contact will ensure the customer that you are listening to them and acknowledging what they say.

Always greet the customer or make yourself approachable in a professional manner. Obviously, try not to overwhelm them and scare them away, but a warming smile and a decent response to their queries is a good starting point. During your customer service training, you will learn that communication, body language and tone of your voice are essential to good customer service. Bad customer service will mean the customer will not return and they in turn will tell others not to use your services.

The other most important thing to remember with good customer service is to maintain the customer’s attention and keep them informed of your actions. Think of your own experiences whereby you may have ordered something from the shop, taken the time to travel into the shop to collect the item and have found that it has not yet arrived. When you enquire about the item, you are told that it will arrive next week; when next week arrives, the item has still not turned up and again you are told the same thing.

The whole scenario leaves you feeling frustrated and confused. You should always inform the customer of exactly what is happening from the moment they have made their inquiry about their item; otherwise, you could potentially lose their custom. If at any point, a customer feels neglected or misinformed, they will cancel any procedures or transactions they have with you and move to a rival business. Always be apologetic, explaining why they have not received what they have been waiting for and if needed, offer an incentive or discount.

Part of the customer service training is to learn how to keep the customer satisfied, even in situations that is beyond your control. The worst thing you could do is to blame someone else or ‘pass the buck’ as then that will portray a lack in customer care. Trying to rush and resolve through the issue will only make the customer lose confidence in your service.

It is always a good idea to maintain a professional manner at all times and keep in mind the saying (no matter how much you disagree with this statement) ‘the customer is always right’. They are after all, keeping your business running and paying your wages. However, if the customer is getting abusive and you feel threatened by them, only then are you able to take the matter into the management’s hands or ask them to leave the premise.

With customer service training, you will learn the techniques of approaching a customer for potential sales, maintaining their interest and the right way of thanking them for their service with a view for them to return soon. Another key point to good customer service is to retain the number of customers and attract new customers. Once you have gained a reputation of being a business that provides good customer service, your existing customers will recommend your business to others.

By continuing, the training and maintaining the reputation will then become an easier effort for your team.