Technology Is Rapidly Changing the Face of Customer Service

Customer service is changing rapidly as technology encroaches on the traditional world of retail marketing and sales. Customer and brand loyalty are quickly becoming a thing of the past as many customers search for the finest quality at the cheapest price through technology. As all this occurs, new knowledge and skills related to the capabilities and operation of various forms of computer, Internet, cloud and mobile technology are being required of customer service representatives and others in their organizations.

To give an insight into this phenomenon, think about the fact that virtually every aspect of our lives is now impacted by some form of technology. People around the world are now part of a 24/7/365 society, meaning that many have to technology 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and can communicate at any time and in virtually from any place.

Ecommerce now dominates the retail industry. According to the website Internet World Stats, there are over 7 billion people worldwide in 233 countries and regions in 2012. Of that number almost two and one-half billion now use the Internet. Further, the International Telecommunication Union reported that in February 2013 there were 6.8 billion mobile phone subscribers around the globe (over 96% of the worldwide population). Mobithinking (www.mobithinking.com) reports that at the end of 2012, there were over 321 million mobile subscribers in the United States alone.

Through all this technology, consumers spend billions of dollars each year. For example, eMarketer reported in January 2013 that consumers spent nearly 25 billion dollars on orders placed through mobile technology (e.g. phones and tablets) alone. This does not include travel services and tickets purchased. Technology sales are catching up with retail sales.

According to Adobe Digital Marketing Blog, the digital sales on Black Friday in 2012 reached approximately 1.3 billion dollars. Some sources estimate that $1 in every $4 dollars spent on merchandise is now through technology. These numbers do not take into consideration the sales of online retailers from other countries.

To find out about products and services, many people turn to the Internet to do their research. In many cases, they are now using bookstores and other retail sources to browse potential products, and then order via technology. And why wouldn’t they when giants like Amazon and Wal-Mart are deeply discounting and in many instances offering free shipping.

Entire industries are changing as a result of this worldwide trend. An example is the publishing industry, which has virtually reinvented itself to stay competitive and meet the rapidly changing needs, wants and expectations of a global customer base. One of the biggest factors causing this change is the evolution of eBooks and electronic readers. Book prices are spiraling downwards as more people read on a technology-based device. Amazon now sells more eBooks than they do print versions.

As a service provider, if you are not staying abreast of these changes, gearing up with training and education to develop and maintain knowledge and skills, you may soon find yourself outsourced.

About Robert C. Lucas

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.

The key to successfully making money as an author and/or self-publisher is to brand yourself and your company and to make yourself and your book(s) a household name. Part of this is face-to-face interaction with people at trade shows, library events, book readings, book store signings, blogging or guest blogging on a topic related to their book(s). Another strategy involves writing articles and other materials that show up online and are found when people search for a given topic related to a topic about which the author has written.

If you need help building an author platform, branding yourself and your book(s) or generating recognition for what you do, Make Money Writing Books will help. Bob’s popular book addresses a multitude of ideas and strategies that you can use to help sell more books and create residual and passive income streams. The tips outlined in the book are focused to help authors but apply to virtually any professional trying to increase personal and product recognition and visibility.

Differing Time Management Perspectives in a Global Customer Service World

by Robert W. Lucas

Differing Time Management Perspectives in a Global Customer Service World

As a service provider, you may encounter someone whose view of time differs significantly from yours. You should learn to adapt. Many cultures view the past, present and future differently and may place more or less importance on them than others outside their culture do. This may put a strain on the customer-provider relationship if you are not aware of their perspective or are not willing to make concessions for the differences.

Implications of time perspective differences vary greatly throughout the world. In countries like China, if you are late for a business meeting you might lose face or somehow make them feel disrespected. In other countries, you might be expected to wait for your customers, even when you have a set appointment time. For example, if you are in sales and travel to other parts of the world, you might arrive expecting a meeting at a certain time and date, only to find out that the person you are supposed to meet is out of the office or on vacation even though you called the week before to verify the appointment. Even so, always verify meetings multiple times and in writing before proceeding to them, especially if your customer is from outside your culture. Keeping subordinates and foreign businesspeople waiting for an extended period of time even when there is a scheduled appointment is not uncommon in some countries (e.g. Middle Eastern), especially when a higher-level executive is involved. Expect this and be prepared to wait patiently.

When dealing with customers who frequent your organization, if you are serving someone from another culture, you may find that they show up late for appointments. To compensate, you have to decide whether to build in some flexibility to your schedule or to turn a customer away when they arrive late. Obviously, the latter could mean a breakdown in the customer-provider relationship or a lost customer.

The bottom line on dealing with cultural perspectives on time is to recognize that there are differences. As a result, you may have to change your own mindset if you plan to do business with people from other countries ad cultures. Making such adjustments can lead to opportunities for providing customer service excellence and building a reputation as a service professional who is keenly aware of global diversity.

For more guidance on dealing with cultural differences when delivering service in a diverse world, read Customer Service Skills for Success and Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures.

Robert C. Lucas

About Robert C. Lucas

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.

Impact of Values and Beliefs on Customer Service

by Robert W. Lucas

Impact of Values and Beliefs on Customer Service

Values are based on the deeply held beliefs of a culture or subculture. These beliefs might be founded in religion, politics, or group mores. They drive thinking and actions and are so powerful that they have served as the basis for arguments, conflicts, and wars for hundreds of years.

To be effective in dealing with others, service providers should not ignore the power of values and beliefs, nor should they think that their value system is better than that of someone else’s. The key to service success is to be open-minded and accept that someone else has a different belief system that determines his or her needs. With this in mind you, as a service provider, should strive to use all the positive communication and needs identification you have read about thus far in order to satisfy the customer.

Cultural values can be openly expressed or subtly demonstrated through behavior. They can affect your interactions with your customers in a variety of ways. As you encounter people from cultures other than yours, consider the connection of values with behavior. Also, think of ways that you might adjust your approach to customer service in order to ensure a satisfactory experience for diverse customers. Keep in mind that the degree to which customers have been acculturated to prominent cultural standards will determine how they act.

Your goal is to provide excellent service to the customer. In order to achieve success in accomplishing this goal, you must be sensitive to, tolerant of, and empathetic toward customers. You do not need to adopt the beliefs of others, but you should adapt to them to the extent that you provide the best service possible to all of your customers.

For useful ideas and strategies on better understanding and interacting with people from diverse backgrounds, get a copy of Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures.

Impact of the Economy on Customer Service Representatives

by Robert W. Lucas

Impact of the Economy on Customer Service Representatives

On an individual level, customer service representatives should be researching and upgrading their knowledge and skills related to dealing with people from around the world. This means, reading more articles and books on various cultures, customer service, and human behavior, attending training programs, taking educational courses, attending more conferences focused on customer service and generally becoming attuned to the world around them. This enhanced perspective and environmental knowledge will provide tools necessary to provide the best customer service possible.

Not since the 1980s have economic indicators (e.g., stock trades, home sales, purchases, international transactions, and construction) been in such turmoil worldwide. Many people have lost jobs, personal savings are dwindling, people are losing their homes, and spending is down greatly around the world. As the economy took a downward spiral in the latter part of the first decade in the twenty-first century, consumer confidence shifted, many organizations struggled to provide quality service levels with reduced staff, and budgets and revenue from products and services slipped for most organizations as consumers held onto precious cash.

In addition to government policy and economic changes, new legislation impacting healthcare and taxes, job elimination in the government sector, and shifts in consumer spending have significantly impacted many organizations, forcing downsizings and in many cases closures. This is especially true in small businesses where a Gallop Poll of small business owners found that “30 percent of owners say they are not hiring because they are worried they may no longer be in business in 12 months.” Further, 66 percent of those interviewed said they were worried about the current state of the economy and its impact on business. Obviously, this has long-term implications for hiring in the service industry and for consumers who have been curtailing their buying habits since the start of the recession out of the same fears that business owners are experiencing.

According to an interview comment by Phil Rist, executive vice president of BIGinsight, a consumer-centric information portal, “Events that have transpired over the past four years have forever changed consumers, and this is evidenced in what they deem expendable and untouchable purchases. The financial meltdown, natural disasters, and the threat of terrorism have sent shock waves through consumers and impacted their priorities. The added layer of advancing technology has changed how they research and make purchases . . . the retail landscape will likely never be the same.”

Overall, consumers do business as never before. Large numbers of customers search and do their homework for products and services online and often use retail outlets as a showroom to physically examine things they are interested in potentially purchasing. The result is that sales in brick-and-mortar stores are down for many retailers and suppliers. Best Buy instituted a price-matching strategy in March 2013 to combat this shop-around practice. They decided to match prices for all product categories against all local retail competitors and major online operations such as Apple.com, Dell.com, hhgregg.com, homedepot.com, Lowes.com, and other highly recognized retailers.

Another important factor related to the changes in the economic environment that have occurred in recent years is that many companies have made dramatic shifts in the way they do business and attempt to attract and hold customers. They are reevaluating their pricing and presentation of products and services, as well as, their policies and procedures for providing service. People and technology are being harnessed in different ways to allow them to compete in a global society. The approach to customer service in many instances is no longer “business as usual.” Instead of viewing it as something that should be done well, most organizations now see it as something that must be done. Managers have realized that they can no longer maintain the status quo and do things like they always have if they plan to stay in business and generate profits.

Because of the financial meltdown that occurred during the high point of the recession, many organizations that have been household names for decades and had international presence have cut back severely on the size of their workforce and sold off, merged, or closed operations. They have also have taken dramatic steps to attract and keep customers. Companies like Chrysler, General Motors (GM), Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and American Express received funds through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 from the U.S. federal government to remain financially solvent. In addition, companies struggled (and still do in many instances) to find a balance between profitability and providing quality service. For example, companies like Sears, J.C. Penney, Best Buy, Dell, Borders Books, Hollywood Studios, Blockbuster, and other notable companies have continually juggled their retail and service policies since 2010 in an effort to remain competitive and stay in business. Some succeeded while others did not. All of this turmoil and change has had an adverse impact on the economy, the service industry, and ultimately employees and potential employees.

For more information on how the customer service profession is changing and the skills, customer service representatives need to succeed in providing quality customer service, get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success.

About Robert C. Lucas

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.

The Cost of Dissatisfied Customers

by Robert W. Lucas

The Cost of Dissatisfied Customers

Numerous research studies have been conducted to try to determine the cost of a dissatisfied customer who defects. Too often, service providers look at the loss of a sale as a single event when a customer is dissatisfied. However, one dissatisfied customer can cost your organization a lot if they defect to a competitor and share their negative experience with friends and relatives.

To get an idea of what one negative customer experience can cost your organization over a 10-year period, consider the following example:

Ms. Ling comes in to return a product that she paid $22 for over a month ago. She explains that the product did not fit her needs and that she had been meaning to return it since the date she purchased it, but kept forgetting. She also explains that she comes in at least once a week to make purchases. Your company has a three-day return policy, your manager is out to lunch and you do not have the authority to override the policy. Ms. Ling is in a hurry and is upset by your inability to resolve the issue. She leaves after saying, “You just lost a good customer!”

Let’s assume that Ms. Ling spends at least $22 a week in your store and calculate the potential loss to your organization.

$22 x 52 (number of weeks in a year) = $1,144
10 (number of years as a customer) x $1,144 = $11,440
16 (number of people statistically told of her negative experience) x $11,440 = $183,040

These numbers are bad news. The good news is that you and every other employee in your organization can reduce a large percentage of customer defections by providing the best possible quality service. If you and everyone in your organization focus on strengthening customer relationships, reducing customer defections and building brand and customer loyalty through the use of sound customer service skills, both your customers and your organization benefit.

About Robert C. Lucas

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.

Impact of Time on Customer Service

by Robert W. Lucas

Impact of Time on Customer Service

The concept and value of time differ between individuals. Your personal perception of time may differ from that of others. For example, if you are looking forward to a vacation or other special event time often seems to drag on. If you are in a hurry or are late for an event, it often seems to fly by putting even more pressure or stress on you. Others may not have the same reaction to events.

Some individuals grew up in a household or cultural environment where one or both of their parents or other caregivers had a lackadaisical attitude toward time and were often late. If this was the case in your home environment, the chances are that you may not be as punctual as someone who learned early on that being on time for meeting commitments was an important personal value. Depending on the situation and other people involved, this may or may not be an issue.

In some cultures being late by as much as an hour is acceptable. The higher a person’s status, the longer you might have to wait for them. In the United States and other monochronic societies, five to ten minutes is an acceptable wait time if someone is late, unless they are high ranking in an organization, government or military. The logic in such cases is that because of the demands on their time and the level of decisions in which they are typically involved, senior-level people are more likely to be detained or called into unscheduled meetings or telephone calls which might cause tardiness. Keep this in mind when you are providing service to different customers. Sometimes, patience is rewarded with a big order or contract.

As a customer service representative or someone who deals with internal customers, it is good to remind yourself that everyone is not like you. That does not mean they are wrong or bad; just different. Personal and cultural values differ. To succeed in business and to be able to deliver the best customer service possible, you should strive to educate yourself on diversity and the values and beliefs of people from around the world. This broadened global perspective will serve you well when interacting with customers and others in your life.

Extracted from: Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures.

Three Simple Strategies To Encourage Customer and Brand Loyalty

by Robert W. Lucas

Three Simple Strategies To Encourage Customer and Brand Loyalty

Customer service representatives and all other employees in the organization should have one goal in mind when interacting with other…building stronger customer-service provider relationships.

The global economy of today is dominated by technology. That puts your competitors from around the world only one mouse click away from your customers if they decide that you are not delivering as the expect or you promised. No one in your organization can be complacent when it comes to addressing the needs, wants and expectations of your customers. Customer relations should be a high-priority effort for all employees.

Whenever and wherever a touchpoint (contact with a current or potential customer) occurs, it is a unique opportunity to show that you and your organization provide not only good or excellent customer service but that you provide the BEST customer service! Throughout any interaction, you should make it your goal to project a positive service image and that you add value to the customer relationship.

The following are three simple strategies that employees and organizations can use to help build the brand and organizational loyalty.

1. Recognize the customer. Whenever a customer enters, calls or contacts you electronically, stop what you are doing and make them the focal point of your attention. If you know their name, smile and use it immediately. If not, ask for the name and then use it occasionally throughout the interaction. This demonstrates that you are concerned about them on an interpersonal level and value them as an individual.

2. Show appreciation. Thank your customers at the end of a transaction and wait for them to leave, disconnect or close the communication before you do. Often customers will think of one more thing they want to say or ask at the end of a conversation. If you abruptly end the contract, they might feel cut off and lose the opportunity to get the needed information. In such instances, any positive good will earned for excellent service to that point could be lost.

3. Seek opportunities to demonstrate value. Never assume that customers recognize the value you provide. They have too many things going on in life on a given day to stop and reflect on what you provide for them. You need to continually do things to encourage brand loyalty.

Many organizations remind customers that they saved money, time, effort and other valuable elements whenever possible. To get an idea of how this works, look at your sales receipt the next time you make a retail purchase. Does it thank you and demonstrate value? For instance, at the bottom of an Office Depot receipt, you will see a catalog list price or what the product would have cost at the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, Office Depot’s low everyday price, how much you saved, and a note thanking you for saving at Office Depot. Minor reminders such as this are a quick and easy way to encourage people to return for additional needs.

No matter what system you implement, make sure that you show that you are sincere in your appreciation for your customers.

About Robert C. Lucas

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.

In my book Customer Service Skills for Success, I define customer service as “the ability of knowledgeable, capable, and enthusiastic employees to deliver products and services to their internal and external customers in a manner that satisfies identified and unidentified needs and ultimately results in positive word-of-mouth publicity and return business.”

Customer Attitudes Are Affecting Service Delivery

by Robert W. Lucas

Customer Attitudes Are Affecting Service Delivery

Companies today are struggling with not just providing a good or excellent customer service. They now are searching for ways to provide the best customer service possible in order to stay competitive in a globally competitive marketplace.

One of the biggest challenges for many organizations is that customer behavior continues to evolve as society has become more mobile, technology-driven and frugal following the recent recession. Add to the mix a more diverse consumer base that, in many instances displays needs, wants and expectations that differ from the past and you have a situation in which customer service representatives or service providers in all industries are rethinking the way that they deliver customer service.

Here are some recent study findings that indicate a changing consumer environment:

“Channel usage rates are also quickly changing: we’ve seen a 12% rise in web self-service usage, a 24% rise in chat usage, and a 25% increase in community usage for customer service in the past three years.” Leggett, K., Forrester’s Top 15 Trends For Customer Service In 2013, January 14, 2013.

“…speed of service more important now, regardless of whether they are on the phone, web, or at the service location:

66% of people said valuing their time was the most important thing a company can do for good online customer service.
42% of customers find repeating information to be their biggest frustration with call centers followed by waiting on hold at 17%.” http://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/top-10-customer-service-trends-for-2013-0371272#xkCHPtrz0mZ3Lq1u.99.

In essence, people are more likely to use technology to obtain products and services and less likely to tolerate substandard or slow levels of service in today’s fast-paced world of many choices. When your competitor is literally a mouse click or touchpad away, you cannot afford to be complacent or view the customer at the same level you might have in the past.

About Robert C. Lucas

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.

Impact of the Recession on Customer Loyalty

by Robert W. Lucas

Impact of the Recession on Customer Loyalty

Many business owners and managers will tell you that they are struggling to maintain market share and service levels to guarantee customer loyalty. This has been a trend for a number of years and particularly became difficult once the recent economic downturn kicked into full swing. To off-set the trend, companies are striving to provide excellent customer service, create moments of truth that make the customer feel special and encouraging customer service representatives and employees at all levels to exceed customer expectations.

A big challenge is that companies realized that in addition to losing customers, they were also losing profits as many middle class and some higher-income customers retrenched on spending. To offset their reduced disposable capital, consumers have changed their spending habits, stopped eating out and traveling as much, limited their entertainment budget, shopped less for non-essential items, and cut services that they considered a luxury (e.g. grass, pool, and pest control services) and started handling those functions personally. They also started doing more comparative shopping, spent more time bargain hunting, attended yard sales and consignment shops, clipped more coupons, and in many instances traded down to less expensive store items or those that were not in the “status symbol” or name brand categories.

The result of all these cultural and societal changes has been that now that customers are accustomed to the “new economic normal.” They realize that they can actually live well and be comfortable at a lower spending level and using lower quality products. They even realize that in many instances they actually happy with their new lifestyle and spending habits. As a result, even though the economy has started a slow upward movement, consumers are now remembering the economic pain they suffered and are stashing away as much as they can in the event the recession comes back.

What all this means for retail businesses, service providers and product manufacturers are that they must retool their marketing and production mentality. They are reducing on-hand inventories, minimizing staff hiring and using part-time employees or outsourcing services and re-examining the way they deliver customer service in a changing world. In particular, they are changing the manner in which they show added value to their customers in an effort to gain and retain new ones.

The changing business environment has resulted in a winning proposition for many consumers who now feel that they are in a power position related to making purchases. This is especially true in instances of major buying decisions (e.g. cars, houses, property, recreational vehicles, and other higher-end items). Many realtors and dealers have experienced a large inventory surplus due to a slowdown in purchases and tightened lending policies from financial institutions. This has created a buyers market.

By doing adequate research and coming to the sales environment with knowledge of manufacturing costs, competitive pricing, and product and service details, the consumer is now often in a position to negotiate strongly and get pricing that is not only fair but also better than they could have gotten in the past. Retailers in nearly every type of product line and business are willing to negotiate and offer discounted prices when pressured by the customer to do so. They do this because they realize that their competitors will discount if they do not and the customer is likely to walk away, if not satisfied with an offer they receive. In addition, with a global economy and access to products from around the world only a mouse click away, companies realize that they must deal or die.

From a customer service perspective, it is imperative that managers develop a customer-centric mindset and that customer service representatives and everyone else in the organization adopt a can-do/must-do attitude when it comes to communicating effectively and working with customers. They must provide the best customer service possible in any instance where there is a of customer-provider interaction. Only through such initiatives will organizations be able to show customers that they offer the best value, care about their wants, needs, and expectations, and are willing to put forth the effort to help achieve customer and brand loyalty.

About Robert W. Lucas

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.

Impact of Demographics on Consumer Spending

by Robert W. Lucas

Impact of Demographics on Consumer Spending

The world is shrinking as millions of consumers from various cultures and demographic backgrounds come together. In an age of lightning-fast technology and the ability to get onto a plane in the morning and be in another country within twenty-four hours, the likelihood that a customer service representative will deal with someone from a different background who looks, sounds and thinks differently from them is almost a given. With these encounters comes huge revenue generation opportunities, but also big challenges in how to effectively provide service to individuals from various backgrounds.

Like many parts of the developed world, consumer behavior and the overall buying power of various ethnic groups in the United States has grown. According to one study done by The University of Georgia’s Selig Center shows that “…Over the 19-year period (1990-2008), the percentage gains in minority buying power vary considerably by race, from a gain of 337 percent for Asians to 213 percent for American Indians to 187 percent for blacks. All of these target markets will grow much faster than the white market, where buying power will increase by 139 percent.”

Other sources contend that women are also a force to be reckoned with in the retail environment. Female consumers account for a majority of buying decisions on consumer products and services in many areas, including everything from automobiles to healthcare. Many of the increases described are due to more representation of these groups in the workplace and at higher levels (e.g. management), higher education levels and better access to workplace opportunities for minorities (e.g. training, promotions, and transfers).

Various diverse groups are also having a major impact on global markets, especially in the United States where a report on http://www.marketingresearch.com “…estimated the buying power of gays and lesbians exceed $835 billion and projected the gay and lesbian population to exceed 16.3 million people by 2011.” In addition, people with disabilities spend billions of dollars on goods and services. Some estimates for online spending by this group alone top $10 billion dollars a year.

Add to the numbers you just read the demographic of the newest generation of shoppers – Generation Y (also known as Millennials, teens, Tweeners, and Twenty-Somethings) born between 1978 and 2000 with nearly eighty-four million members in the United States alone. According to Kit Yarrow and Jayne O’Donnell in their eye-opening book Gen Buy: How Tweens, Teens, and Twenty-Somethings Are Revolutionizing Retail, this demographic group spends over $200 billion dollars a year and it is estimated that in their lifetime, their consumption will top $10 trillion dollars.

Obviously the recession slowed the number of sales being made worldwide. Even so, with the types of economic power being wielded by various ethnic, age and other diverse groups, service providers should plan accordingly and be prepared to meet the needs of each group of customers.

What this means is that by gaining knowledge about values, beliefs, motivators, history and other factors that can influence someone’s behavior and perceptions, especially related to those of different diverse categories, you can better prepare to serve them. For example, there is a potential for distrust when some people of different cultures or groups with a history of negative relations (e.g. Caucasian and African-American or North American Indian, Chinese and Japanese, Israeli and Palestinian, Christian and Muslim) come together. As a service provider, if you are aware of potential negative perceptions, you might modify your approach to providing service in a given situation.

For more information and suggested strategies for serving a global customer base, get a copy of Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures.

Who is Robert C. Lucas?

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.