Invest in Customer Service
How much money and time do you invest in customer service training ( books, seminars, cd’s etc) to improve your skills ?
The average answer is “Nothing. I go to work and learn while I’m there”
Would you feel comfortable visiting a doctor who had that philosophy? or a dentist?
and knowing that a large majority of customer service and sales people have the above philosophy……..
are you surprised that most customer service is very poor ? or that many many sales people are not good at their craft?
Read a book, buy a cd.
Please improve, even if you’re very good……. there’s still so much more to learn !
15% from Seth Godin
Short, sweet, and to the point….. but a very powerful message in today’s blog by Seth Godin.
I recommend you subscribe to this daily blog. It takes only a minute or two to read and Seth has some great insights.
Enjoy !
Perfect Customer Service…….
Doesn’t exist.
Yes, I know, no surprise here.
But trying your best each time to make a customer’s experience as good as it can possibly be…….. That’s admirable, and a worthwhile goal.
Try, learn from your attempts, get better, and try again.
A great way to approach Customer Service……. and so many other aspects of life !
Customer Service and Thank You !
The two really do go together, don’t they?
I heard a very dynamic speech from a lady named Heidi Brown the other day.
She said that customer service is a rare thing ( true customer service). Heidi also stated that in her opinion, saying Thank You in the form of a gift is a very powerful tool to use when delivering great customer service.
“Every industry has a need to give a gift” – I couldn’t agree more.
Do you say ‘Thank You’ to customers ( both internal and external) by giving gifts to them?
If so I would love to know what you do?
If not I would encourage you to do so….. the cost is minimal compared to the price.
Decide…..
A very successful car salesman told me this;
The single toughest thing for a person to do…… is to decide. Take car shopping for example. They can easily go on the internet, read reports, compare models, narrow things down. Then they can go to a multitude of car lots, test drive cars, get detailed pricing, and move on to do the same exercise at the next car dealership.
But when it comes time to make a decision….. to actually pull the trigger and buy one car? Most people find this very difficult to do.
It’s not limited to cars, think about why most people do nothing. They can get close, but when it comes time to shut up and put up…… to decide….. they can’t won’t do it.
Everyone has this issue. Even very successful people. If you think about it, the successful people may have only made one or two real decisions in their lifetime…… but it is one or two more than almost everyone else.
Look at the potential rewards of deciding …. truly deciding.
Give it a try.
On ‘Getting It’ and Customer Service
At first this may not read as ‘Positive’, but bear with me.
Many people won’t see my message in this post,
but this is for the few who will………..
I walked into my local neighbourhood copy/mail/business service store and walked over to use the photocopying machine.
I lifted the lid to the copier, and before I could put my original sheet on the glass, I heard a terse voice to my right…..
“Do you know what you’re doing there ?” A harsh male voice demanded.
I looked calmly and there he was, the small business owner of the establishment. A man in his middle (late middle….) years, who had put all of his life savings into this venture. A man who came to work with his wife, early in the morning until late in the day, every day, because the business couldn’t afford to hire employees.
A frustrated man who had admitted to me, on a previous visit, that he was struggling . A man who blamed the economy, angry customers, and poor profit margins on his ever growing struggle just to stay afloat in this turbulent time.
And here he was, standing in an aggressive manner, speaking harshly to me as if I were some street thug threatening to rob him, not seeing me as a customer who might need help. His question, body language and tone of voice made it clear that he percieved me as a nuisance who threatened to destroy his property. Remember that he had confided in me on a previous visit? His eyes showed no recognition at this moment.
“Yes,” I replied, “I do know what I’m doing, thanks.”
“Why?” he said gruffly. “Have you used this machine before?”
“Umm, yes I have.” I ignored him and made my copy. Then looked back at him.
“Oh, ok then. Do you want anything else today or is that it?”
I told him that was it for the day, went to the cash register, paid him his money, and left.
This exact scenario repeats itself every single time a customer walks into his establishment.
Is it just him? Oh no ! His wife repeats the same type of accosting as well. It’s almost as if they attended a training session on ‘how to make people uncomfortable in as little as 3 seconds.’
Imagine if he ‘Got It’ . What if he said something more pleasant instead. What if he viewed his customers as capable people and was actually glad to see them come into his store. Yes, sometimes they might only spend 30 cents on a photocopy….. but it all adds up,….. and this is his business….. and they could choose to spend that money elsewhere, but he is glad they came here to spend it.
But he doesn’t ‘Get It’. He goes home at the end of the day and talks with his wife about all the morons that came into the store. They don’t stop to think of all the people that come in once…. get the treatment they give, and then never, ever come back. Instead he sits and laments that his business is failing…. through no fault of his own.
One small change ( a pleasant, non-combative greeting) could go a long way to transforming his business. But the thought won’t occur to him. He will eventually go out of business, because of bad customer service.
And no one will be upset about it. Nor should they be.
Extreme Choices
So you won’t try the advice from yesterday.
That’s ok, most people will agree with you.
They will say it’s too difficult to not look at either/or choices.
Try this instead then ( a different road to get to the same destination)
- Make your second choice painful
File my taxes today…… or else I will go to jail !
Work out today…….. or I will die a painful death tomorrow!
Get up now…….. or I will be fired from my job !
Now at first glance you might say I’m being over dramatic. But when do most people submit their taxes? that’s right….. when a penalty is imminent.
I admit the second choice you present yourself with has to be extreme, because it needs to force you into action.
The real trick isn’t coming up with the extreme choice, it’s fooling your mind into believing the story you tell it !
Given the Choice…….
Given a choice, most everyone chooses the easy path.
- Work out now or work out later ? most say later.
- Get up now or sleep for another 10 minutes? most sleep.
- File my taxes now or wait until tomorrow ? most wait.
The list goes on and on……. the results are the same.
So how does a person avoid this trap?
Here’s one solution; Don’t give yourself choices.
Stop the either/or cycle.
Do this.
Do it now.
There is no later.
Treat your actions as a first impression…… you only get one chance to do it right.
Stretching….not good for Customer Service.
The day begins and you sit down to your pile of planned work/activities.
How do you tackle your work?
1. You Stretch it out ….. making the pile last the day.
or
2. You get it done quickly and find other activities to do to complete the day.
It’s easy to tell the stretcher from the non stretcher (or ‘go getter’)
Here are some excuses you’ll hear from a stretcher;
“I’m too busy, tell them I’ll call back later.”
“Send them to my voice mail.”
“I’m swamped! Can you help them?”
“This pile just keeps getting bigger no matter how many days i spend on it.”
“There are way to many fires to put out….. I can’t get to anything new!”
etc, etc, etc,
Stretching is unproductive and bad for your customers.
Be unique from the pack……..
Don’t stretch.
Don’t Give Up
I met a gentleman yesterday. I had met him a week or two ago; but I got to know him a bit better yesterday. He came into my restaurant to sell us advertising space in a local coupon book. I began to ask him about his past …….I blinked, and an hour and a half had suddenly flown by.
This man was fascinating ! He’d done so much with his life, and his ability to retell these events held me captivated.
He also gave me hope, and recharged me.
It’s easy to get down, for all of us. Once you begin the downhill journey, it can be difficult to climb out of it. Most people get to a certain point and simply give up.
Imagine floating in the middle of the ocean with no hope of being rescued. Each person will tread water for a different length of time. Eventually every single person’s strength and determination will leave them, resulting in a slow sinking below the water surface.
What would happen if, at your darkest moment of despair, you saw another person floating slowly towards you? You would likely find a new reserve of strength and attempt to get close to the other survivor. Once the two of you got close enough, both of you would be re energized by each other.
You would survive a little longer.
This man who walked into my store the other day was a fellow survivor, wading through life and doing very well at it. I was getting tired of the wading…..
Thanks to Glenn, who will likely never read this blog.
To the rest of you…… don’t give up. Look on the horizon and find someone to help you.
No one can do it alone.
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