Service Oriented Staff and Management

Who is to Blame for Poor Customer Service – Management or the Staff Themselves?

This was the question posed on a Customer Experience Management discussion forum board.  While on the surface I can see that this question can be answered both ways, it really comes down to one party’s responsibility – the management.

Management sets the tone for the customer service standards and expectations

I think it is first and foremost the responsibility of top level management. They set the tone for the customer service attitudes and exemplify the attitude of service that should be delivered to all customers, both internal and external. They are the leaders of the organizations and will set the examples by what they do and say.  Top level management needs to support mid-level managers and front line supervisors in the area of service.  They need to encourage all management levels to think in terms of service and how to best partner with the customer.  What can be done to get rid of the obstacles that are facing the customers?  What can be done to make the entire process easier, if not enjoyable, when doing business with the company itself.

Top Level Management Needs to Listen to the Mid-Level Managers and Front-Line Supervisors

Listening to the feedback and ideas presented by mid-level management and front lines supervisors provides incredible value.  These folks are the ones in your company that are working directly with the customer, or supporting someone who does.  They are hearing what the customers are asking for, they know what the customers like, what they don’t like. They know how the customers use the product or service and what could be changed or, if need be, improved.  When this information flows back up the organizational chart, the highest levels of management need to reinforce the attitude of service by encouraging feedback, actively listening to it, and responding appropriately.

The Right Hiring Decisions Need to be Made to Support Leadership Expectations

From there, the right hiring decisions need to be made. If you hire folks who are not service oriented in their mindset, it is a recipe for failure. By hiring the right people within your company, you are consistent with the culture and everyone works in the best interest of the customer.  You need to make sure that you are supporting and encouraging the service expectations.  Should sub-standard service be noticed, coaching needs to happen quickly to determine the cause.  The solution would be to set clear service expectations and counsel on how to achieve those, or, the less pleasant but essential step, to correct a poor hiring decision.

Customer service training is essential to the success of any organization – large or small.  Customer service is essentially connecting people to a process when delivering a product or service.  The key is to have the right people in place with the right customer service skills and training.  All efforts need to be focused around the needs of the customer. When working in the best interest of the customer, you are ultimately working in the best interest of your organization.

What Do You Think?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the balance of responsibility here.  How much do you feel is up to the staff and how much falls on the shoulders of management?  What specifically do you think management should do to improve the experience for the customer?

Schwalliers Apple Orchard

Small businesses have just as much to gain by superior customer service as large companies do.

I was out today with my three children finishing up some last minute school supply shopping (yes, I am that mom).  We took a route home that would take us by the Schwallier’s Apple Orchard where our family makes it a point to visit for our annual pumpkin hunt.  We didn’t know if the orchard was open yet, but as soon as we saw that it was, we veered over to make a quick stop.

As soon as we walked in, the very reason that we make a special trip to go out of our way happened again – the owner tossed a just-picked apple to me and each of my three kids.  I thanked the owner and told him how much I appreciate the apples and the we look forward to them every time we visit them.  He stated “Every person who walks through that door gets an apple.  I can’t expect them to buy anything from me if I don’t give them something first.”

Now, you could take issue with that statement that he is doing something to be nice only to get something, but he is in business for a reason – to make a profit.  But the neat thing about this orchard is that he really is a nice guy and wants to give people apples because he wants to be just that – a nice guy. He knows that people come to the orchard, as our family does, because the enjoy the friendly atmosphere. I don’t feel like I’m being nickled and dimed when I’m given an apple as soon as I walk in.  They offer assistance whenever they can about which apples to buy for which purpose – eating or baking.  They also have a great pumpkin patch, petting zoo, and barn full of new little kittens that kids can play with. No, I’m in no way affiliated with this place or receive any compensation. They don’t even know I’m writing this post. I jut like it that much.

During our conversation, I asked the owner when the Honey Crisp apples would be ready.  He said that they’d be ready next week, but that he had a few that he’d be happy to give me now.  They just might not be quite as ripe as I’d like.  I selected some different apples and some peaches, then asked about tomatoes.  He said that they had more in back and asked me how many I’d like.  I received the three that I asked for and he told me that those were my treat for the day on him. The clerk ringing up my items reminded me to come back when the Honey Crisps were ready and told me that she’d be sure that there would be some pumpkin spice donuts waiting for me.  I guess she caught me longing for the ones that had just come out of the oven.

So, as I paid for my peaches and apples, carried everything from the car, my son asked me why I was talking with the owner so much.  I told him that the owner engaged with me, helped me out with what we were looking for, gave me some tomatoes as a gift, and just made the last part of our shopping day a real treat.  Mind you, I had just spent 6 hours shopping for shoes and school supplies and lunch with my three kids.  They are the best kids in the world, but even they have their limits. This pleasant encounter addressed all of the main points of excellent customer service delivery –

• They welcomed me into their store with warm genuine positivity
• They asked questions about what I wanted and informed me according to what I needed to know
• They encouraged me to come back
• They knew that my business was based on their willingness to serve me with sincerity

Because of all that, this simple apple orchard has won a loyal customer for life.  And, not only am I returning, I encourage all of my friends and anyone reading this post that lives in the area to visit that orchard.

Customer service is connecting the person with the product.  It’s about making sure that clients know that we value their business, even if they have not yet had a business transaction with us.

Often I will have a conversation with a friend, a colleague, or a client and the name of a new prospective client comes up.  Then, occasionally, the person with whom I am speaking will say “Oh man, I forgot to follow up with them.  I should get right on that!”  Unfortunately, if the need was immediate in the potential customer’s mind, the damage has already been done.  They are already doing business with the competition.

Because they didn’t act with a sense of urgency on behalf of the potential client, they moved on to one of your competitors who did.  I can’t state that I’ve not done the very same thing myself.  I was once approached for a potential speaking engagement on Customer Service and I failed to understand that the client had already decided she was going to hire me to speak at her association and had the specific topic in mind.  Because I had planned to follow up with her within two weeks of meeting her and give her enough time to settle on her desired topic, I gave her the impression that her engagement was not important to me and she booked another speaker.

Two things happened here that you should learn from – while you may pride yourself on being very perceptive to people’s needs and requests (as I usually do), you may sometimes miss the mark and lose that sale.  You also should learn that it is very important to make a connection, however brief, with the potential client to let them know that you are glad to have met them and would like to serve as a solution provider for whatever their need is.

Customer Contact Follow Up

The initial follow up contact can take many forms depending on the situation involved – a phone call or email will establish the initial contact information and to let them know how you may fill their needs.  Mention the part of the initial meeting that made you think that you may be able to serve them.  Let them know how they’d benefit from your services and what it is about the way that you do business that is unique from the rest of your competitors.

Take a quick look right now in your stack of business cards that you have recently connected with.  If you think that you could be a resource to them in any way, make sure to follow up with them before your competitor does.  Whether it is by a personal phone call or an email, by all means – MAKE THAT INITIAL FOLLOW UP CONTACT TO YOUR POTENTIAL CLIENT. Let them determine the sense of urgency and set the pace for the rest of the process.  At least you have let them know that you value their potential business and will act expediently. Loyal customers will remember your diligence with service throughout the entire customer experience.

Using the phone for business is a necessity across all industries. Anyone who is in business has some percentage of their business coming through the phone, whether it is the initial phone contact to inquire about your products and services, or the entire sales process is conducted on the phone.

There has been a recent trend in call center outsourcing. As businesses are growing and finding the need to expand, it can be a daunting task to ask staff that is currently managing multiple tasks to take an increasing amount of phone traffic. When outsourcing, there are few things to consider in order to ensure that customer service and satisfaction are not compromised.

The phone contact point is often the most telling factor of the experience the customer will feel during the business transaction. This is the position into which much care and consideration needs to be placed on hiring and training. Should you choose to outsource this responsibility, it is important to be sure that you are able to manage and monitor what is being said to your customers and exactly how the information is being relayed.

Be sure that whoever you have handling the phone calls into your business possesses the right mindset for that. They need to be engaging, enthusiastic, and happy to educate customers about your products and services. If they are merely “manning” the phones and processing the calls, you will likely see customer satisfaction rates drop dramatically. People call businesses looking for help and information. Be sure to deliver the best service by hiring for politeness, friendliness, and enthusiasm for your brand.

I was at a business conference last weekend and found it interesting that so many business leaders and owners were a bit surprised to realize the financial impact that delivering excellent customer service can make in their business – either positively or negatively.

Train your staff well.  Ingrain it into the DNA of your culture that the customer is the most important person in your business.  They are the ones paying your salaries and covering your business costs.

I’d love to hear your comments…….

On a side note, which would you prefer to see on this blog….. video posts, written posts… combination of the two?

Steven Slater

Unless you’ve been living in a literal cave for the past few days, you’ve all heard about Steven Slater.  He’s the Jet Blue airline attendant who blew his stack when a passenger “allegedly” deliberately hit his head with her oversized bag as he was trying to help her get it into the overhead compartment.  When she refused to apologize, he lost his cool, grabbed the microphone, swore over the speaker system, said “I’m done! I won’t take this anymore!” He then grabbed two beers, deployed the emergency chute from the plane, slid down it and was promptly arrested.

The real story is the feelings on both sides

So that’s the nuts and bolts of the story.  The fascinating part to me is the ensuing furor from both sides.  Many are calling Steven Slater a hero for the working class.  He was sick of being treated poorly by customers and finally told the world, or at least that plane full of passengers, how he felt about it all and quit.  There have been hundreds of blog posts about it, news stories, Fan Pages on Facebook, and more coverage than I’m sure he ever imagined possible.  Many are lauding him for having the guts to speak his mind where most of us are timid in fear of losing our jobs, or being required to “suck it up” by management.

Some have also criticized Slater for his actions.  He is in a position that is known for taking a certain amount of abuse from passengers.  Passengers are more and more upset everyday by fees and restrictions by airlines, so he should know that some are going to be more ornery than they used to be.  You could also say that he is being paid to do a job, therefore, he must do it with professionalism and grace.  As long as he chooses to remain employed by Jet Blue, or any employer for that matter, he should perform the required responsibilities and if he is unhappy with that, go find a job somewhere else doing something else.

Customers are EVERYWHERE

So if he did leave, does that mean that the new customers he is serving in his new position would be nicer?  No.  Customers are the lifeline of any business and, unfortunately, one belligerent customer can sour your whole day.  No matter how positive your mindset is and how genuinely you truly try to best serve your customers, there are some folks that you wish you could send to another planet.  There will always be those customers that we love to serve, and those that we wish did business somewhere else.  Ideally, our level of customer service needs to be excellent, all the time, every time, with every customer, in spite of the customer’s actions.

Here’s my take….

I do believe that there is a certain level of responsibility on the part of the customer that determines the attitudes of staff.  Communication is a two way street.  If I irritate a staff member to the point of distraction, I can easily see how the level of service I receive would go down.  I’d hope that the person would be able to maintain themselves, but if I’m annoying or rude, or in this case actually hit someone with something and didn’t apologize, I’d expect poor treatment.  Maybe not to the degree of this incident, but poor treatment would be the appropriate consequence for my actions.

Yes, Steven Slater has a job to do. He is required to do it and ensure the safety of the passengers.  He is not required to be a baggage handler, but to assist passengers.  I haven’t seen any interviews with other passengers who can back up the statement that she really did hit him on purpose, but I do think that she should have apologized for him being hit, even by accident.  By being stubborn and rude, she helped him reach his breaking point.

Customers need to recognize that overall, staff are doing things adequately and generally are not “out to get us.” We need to recognize that every transaction is a two-way street.  There is responsibility on both the consumer and the provider to act appropriately for the situation and transaction in order to make it successful and positive. When one side falters, the other will as well.  Unfortunately, the few unruly customers are the ones that put service providers on edge and in the mindset that there could always be a potential problem.

I think Steven Slater was appropriate in how he felt, but should not have acted out in the manner in which he did.  My recommendation would be to have had someone else handle that passenger and get her settled. Had that not been successful, then she should have been escorted off the plane. He is responsible to provide excellent customer service. He should know that there is a certain level of abuse that will come with the nature of his job.  But I don’t believe that he should be treated rudely, injured – even accidentally, and then not be apologized to.

I know, there are thousands of stories where service providers have been rude and have deserved the rude treatment they got from the customer or deservedly lost the business, but what are your thoughts on THIS particular incident?  What role does the customer have in the transaction?

My husband, while amused by my memory of that marquee, has quite a different feeling about the same shop. He had met the owner of that oil & lube shop at a Christmas party in our neighborhood a few years ago. We were new to the area at the time and my husband said to the owner “Oh, you own that shop. I’ve got a Chrysler and am looking for someone local to do business with for minor repairs and oil changes.” The gentleman responded “Oh, Mopar parts. I don’t like working on those. They are always trouble to deal with.”

Guess where we’ve NEVER gone to get our oil changed, even though it’s less than 2 miles away from our house. Now, it has nothing do with the quality of their work, the timeliness in which they can change oil or their price. We’ve never even set foot in the store. It’s because of the negative feeling projected because of the car we owned. And it was in a social setting, not in any way related to business.

The one thing that I constantly blog and speak about is that buying decisions are based on emotion. If people don’t like the way they feel about you or around you, they won’t do business with you. Everything, tangible or not, will impact the customer experience. Even though this conversation had not taken place in the business setting, the experience fed into the feeling of confidence that customers need to have when doing business with us. The customer’s highest need is certainty, and this did nothing to help foster that.

Because the owner clearly told him he didn’t like working on Chrysler cars, my husband questioned the quality of work they would do. Really, it’s not too far of a stretch. If we don’t like doing something, we usually don’t tend to do our best at it.

Had this owner recognized the fact that he had a potential new customer in front of him, he may have used the following response “Welcome to the neighborhood! Make sure you come on by next time you need an oil change. We’d love to have you as a new customer.” Really, that is all it takes for most people to try a new place. An engaging feeling and a sense of value for the business customers bring to them. The words that we use make a big difference. The way we say things make a big difference. The way we communicate in any way with a customer makes a big difference. What we do and say consciously or not feeds into the feelings of the customer that make up the overall experience.

So when interacting with anyone at all, remember that in both professional and social settings, remember that everything counts.

Finance has historically been a bit removed from the overall focus on Customer Experience Management, improving customer service, and the customer retention rates. The bottom

Stocks Rise as Customer Service Improves

line and stock performance have been exact measurable benchmarks that they can report to the shareholders and management.

Lately, the financial world has taken a keen interest in those companies that are working hard to improve the customer service they deliver at all customer contact points – from beginning to end.

“There is a movement to watch companies that are doing it right,” Chris Cottle, vice president of marketing for Allegiance, told CRM Buyer. “Stock analysts and traders are tracking companies with good CEM and finding that their stock performs better than others do.” This is quoted from a recent article in CRM News.

This holds true in that the customer experience is more important now than ever before.  Saving money has become the new emphasis and brand loyalty has become a thing of the past.  Consumers are loyal to far fewer brands and will focus on doing business with those that provide them the best experience, while maintaining reasonable costs.

The message to retailers? Focus on each and every aspect of the customer experience.

The customer experience involves things considered frivolous before – parking preferences, coffee specifications, loading time of websites, amenities for pets, convenience items, loyalty programs.  All of these things factor into the customer experience and can win customers.

Again, the best way to impact the customer experience is through delivering excellent customer service.

Pay attention to your customers. Focus on them. Find out what they do and don’t like.  How do they do business with your company?  Make that process enjoyable and you will win their loyalty.

The level of engagement that you have with your customers will directly impact the financial success of your company.

“…CEM takes a broader view of what kind of engagement you want with people. It touches all five senses and certainly isn’t only an online phenomenon,” Aaron Keller, managing partner of Capsule pointed out. “Any brand can leverage it. All brands have a customer experience, but few actually thought about it until recently.”

CEM is about more than managing the customer’s experience in the now; it is also about managing the experience over each customer’s lifecycle.

The items that we thought were extras before are now almost considered essentials.  Customers feeling catered to will make higher purchase points over the store that treats them as merely a commodity.  Customers appreciate the care that is taken at every customer contact point.  From the initial entry point into your business, consider having a greeter who gets to know frequent customers by name.  A valet service for parking cars.  A specialty coffee station for customers.

Even larger corporations can cash in on the experience.  New security concerns require the wearing of name badges in many large companies.  Some now, when their security systems permit, have custom made badges for frequent visitors or vendors. Sure, it was done primarily for security reasons, but the feeling that results is that they are part of the company, or a vested partner.

This all brings it back to the point that consumers today have different goals than they used to. The focus now is on saving money. That being said, customers today also have the same need as before – the fact that they make their buying decision based on emotion and back it up with logic.  When you can tap into the emotional state of the customer through the experience that you deliver, the sustainability of that relationship is not only more profitable, but the life-time value of that relationship increases, as does your bottom line and stock values.

Hair Stylist

I ALWAYS leave with a smile on my face.  Yes, Mary always does a good job and her price is very reasonable, but it’s the fact that she always makes me feel good during our short time together.

Without consciously knowing so, she follows many of the strategies that successful companies follow….

She greets me warmly. I always get the big smile and the genuine questions about what I’ve been up to and how I’ve been. She also makes a point to tell me how glad she is to see me.

She makes a point to know my preferences and interests. Without making it obvious to me, she takes notes on what I’ve told her that I like in regards to my cut and style. But more importantly, she makes notes of things I’ve told her about my family and interests so that she can ask me about them at the next visit.  That shows me that she really wants to demonstrate to me that she is making an effort to engage me. I’m also tickled that she took the time and effort to ask.

She LISTENS to me. Whether it be concerns about how I’m trying to style my hair, or about an issue I’m sharing with her about life in general, she really listens before offering advice.  Often, as customers we get frustrated when the vendor tries to push their ideas or solutions on us before we feel that they truly understand what we are saying.  By listening, we can better understand our customers and sometimes discover an issue that they couldn’t vocalize easily.

She offers her suggestions with a few options. Once Mary understands what I’m trying to accomplish, she’ll tell me two ways that we can get my hair to do what I want.  That way, I make the decision between a cutting option or product.

She’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Mary is truly one of those people that you consider yourself lucky to know.  She is the perfect person for her trade and as a business owner.  It’s in her DNA to get to know people and serve them in their best interest.  More importantly, she’s engaging, funnier than most comedians, empathetic, and just outright friendly.

This is the tricky part for some  companies. It all starts with the hiring decisions that we make.  When we hire the right person, the rest is pretty basic. Hiring the right fit for your culture and customer service standards is 90% of the equation.

All of these factors put together are the reason why I refer so many of my friends to her.  I really don’t even focus on what a great job she does or her reasonable price, but start by saying how much they will love her because she is so nice and friendly.

If you’d like to get a better feel for what it takes to accomplish the same feelings with your customers, watch this free video series I just put together.  It briefly summarizes what your customers are looking for and exactly how to deliver it.  http://www.KristinaEvey.com/5-step-blueprint/

Hampton Inn

This week I’ve been traveling with my family across the midwest to the East Coast.  Along the way, we’ve been staying at Hampton Inn every evening because we like the price, the consistency of quality, friendliness of staff, and the great continental breakfasts.  Any hotel chain that can provide a breakfast spread that delights each of my three children deserves my business.

The point of this post is that we did have one issue this morning that dampened our experience, but the customer service in an unrelated incident more than made up for the original guffaw.

This morning, at 8:00 am, we were awakened by the housekeeping staff asking us if we were ready to have them clean our room.  They literally woke all five of us up.  In all of the years that we have stayed at Hampton Inns and especially on this trip, we have never even seen the cleaning crew until past 9:00 am.  When we told her we weren’t even close to being ready, she proceeded to knock on each of the rest of the doors on the floor asking the same question.

My husband, who is really a reasonable and accommodating person, was really riled up about this.  His feeling was that we were on a family vacation and this was one of the few days we had available to sleep in since we had planned to leave later in the day. He called the front desk to let them know of his irritation that we had been awakened by their cleaning crew.  The front desk staff advised him that we should have put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door.  While he was professional in his tone, my husband perceived it as a bit condescending.  It really got under his skin to the point that he wanted to complain to a higher level to let them know that if it is common practice to awaken everyone on the floor to clean so early, guests need to be advised when they check in to put the sign on the door.

Needless to say, we went down to enjoy the breakfast and then proceeded to enjoy a day of sightseeing.  Now, there is a heat wave in the Boston area with heat indexes over the 102 degree mark.  When the five of us dragged ourselves into the lobby and it was apparent to the new front desk clerk that it was more than just a bit humid and hot outside.  She immediately went into the back room and approached us with five bottles of refrigerated water and insisted that we start drinking it soon to avoid dehydrating.  She was so kind and sincere about it, we really felt like she was a friend looking out for us.

So, when we got into the car to proceed to the next Hampton Inn from which I am writing this post, my husband looked at me and said “Okay, I guess I won’t complain since she was completely unaware of the issue this morning and went out of her way to make sure we were comfortable. That’s why we stay here – because we like it, the breakfast is good, and she won me back with her service.”

Hmmmm…… maybe my husband has been listening to me after all