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.

Nonverbal Communication Quote – Peter F. Drucker

by Robert W. Lucas

Nonverbal Communication Quote – Peter F. Drucker

Various studies indicate that the majority of message meaning during an interaction between two people is often received through nonverbal means (e.g. facial expressions, gestures, and vocal qualities). Even as you speak to your customers, they are likely to be extracting additional messages from your physical presence, how you look and what you are doing. And when you throw cultural and other diversity factors (e.g. gender, abilities, or age) into the situational equation, there is a good opportunity for misinterpretation. This is because people often assign meaning to nonverbal cues based on their values, beliefs, and life experiences.

For all the reasons listed above, it is crucial that you and other employees become students of human behavior. You should also educate yourselves about values and beliefs from different groups so that you are aware of potential interpretations that might be made of gestures that you or your customer(s) might use.

A quote by management guru, Peter F. Drucker sums up the importance of recognizing and properly interpreting nonverbal cues.

For ideas and strategies on effectively communicating nonverbally with your customers, check out: Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures; Customer Service Skills for Success; and How to Be a Great Call Center Representative.

Here are a few more amazing Peter Drucker quotes to enjoy reading.

“Management by objective works – if you know the objectives. Ninety percent of the time you don’t.” – Peter Drucker
“Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed.”
“Accept the fact that we have to treat almost anybody as a volunteer.” – Peter Drucker
“Doing the right thing is more important than doing the thing right.”
“If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.”
“What gets measured gets improved.” – Peter Drucker
“Results are gained by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems.” – Peter Drucker
“Long-range planning does not deal with the future decisions, but with the future of present decisions.”
“Meetings are a symptom of bad organization. The fewer meetings the better.” – Peter Drucker
“Leadership is not magnetic personality–that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not making friends and influencing people –that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.”
“The better a man is the more mistakes he will make for the more things he will try.”
“One cannot buy, rent or hire more time. The supply of time is totally inelastic. No matter how high the demand, the supply will not go up. There is no price for it. Time is totally perishable and cannot be stored. Yesterday’s time is gone forever, and will never come back. Time is always in short supply. There is no substitute for time. Everything requires time. All work takes place in, and uses up time. Yet most people take for granted this unique, irreplaceable and necessary resource.”
“Time is the scarcest resource of the manager; If it is not managed, nothing else can be managed.”
“What you have to do and the way you have to do it is incredibly simple. Whether you are willing to do it, that’s another matter.” – Peter Drucker
“The three most charismatic leaders in this century inflicted more suffering on the human race than almost any trio in history: Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. What matters is not the leader’s charisma. What matters is the leader’s mission.”
“No one learns as much about a subject as one who is forced to teach it.”
“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.”
“The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say “I.” And that’s not because they have trained themselves not to say “I.” They don’t think “I.” They think “we”; they think “team.” They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don’t sidestep it, but “we” gets the credit. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.” – Peter Drucker
“Business has only two functions — marketing and innovation.”

About Robert C. Lucas – Blogger, Author, and a fan of Peter Drucker

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.

Customer Service Quote – Brian Tracy

by Robert W. Lucas

Customer Service Quote – Brian Tracy

Many customer service representatives and others in their organization fail to realize that the first impression a customer or potential customer gets when contacting an organization can impact the customer-provider relationship. It can also dictate the success that you and the organization will have and whether the customer will recommend your organization to others.

Once contact has been made, your job is to demonstrate that you welcome the customer and that you have the knowledge, skill and ability to provide information and deliver quality service and products to meet their needs, wants and expectations. Your goal should be not to simply deliver “excellent” customer service, but instead to deliver the best customer service possible in order to increase brand and customer loyalty.

A quote by Brian Tracy, author, and motivational speaker, highlights the ultimate impact that you have in the service cycle.

For ideas and strategies on how to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to help create a customer-centric organization, get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success.

About Robert C. Lucas

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.

Bob Lucas B.S., M.A., M.A, CPLP is the principal in Robert W. Lucas Enterprises, Inc and an internationally-known author; learning and performance professionals. He has written and contributed to numerous books on the subject of customer service skill training.

He regularly conducts workshops on creative training, train-the-trainer, customer service, interpersonal communication, and management,
and supervisory skills.

Learn more about Bob and his organization at www.robertwlucas.com and follow his blogs at www.robertwlucas.com/wordpress,
www.customerserviceskillsbook.com, and www.thecreativetrainer.com. Like Bob at www.facebook.com/robertwlucasenterprises

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.

Customer Service Quote – The Value of Dissatisfied Customers

by Robert W. Lucas

Customer Service Quote – The Value of Dissatisfied Customers

Customers who are unhappy or dissatisfied can be a real challenge for many customer service representatives. They require additional time and effort to appease, they can create a public display, and they can also affect organizational and service provider satisfaction ratings by sharing their story with others.

On the other hand, you might want to view your dissatisfied customers as an opportunity to learn what is not working in the organization or with your approach to customer service. Often, we get so tied up in the day-to-day process and procedural “stuff” which we have to do, that we forget that our primary purpose for being there in the first place is to provide the best possible customer service to those with whom we come into contact.

By stepping back to examine why our customer was dissatisfied in the first place, we can potentially identify policies, product defects, service breakdowns and other potential problem areas that could cause more problems in the future. We can then brainstorm with our supervisor and peers to find potential solutions to these issues. This provides the opportunity to go from poor customer service to excellent customer service.

Bill Gates of Microsoft summed up this concept:

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

For strategies and techniques on how to deliver positive, effective service to your customers, get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success.

Impact of the Eyes in Customer Service

by Robert W. Lucas

Impact of the Eyes in Customer Service

It has been said that the eyes are “the windows to the soul.” That is why some people and Westernized cultures place so much interest in making eye contact with others. This gives people a chance to potentially gauge meaning nonverbally from another person.

Consider the following related to eye contact with your customers and communicating nonverbally across cultures:

In most Western cultures, the typical period of time that is comfortable for holding eye contact is 5 to 10 seconds for many people; then an occasional glance away is normal and expected.

Looking away in some cultures can often send a message of disinterest, or dishonesty, or lack of confidence (e.g. the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

If either the length or the frequency of eye contact differs from the “norm,” many people might think that you are being rude or offensive. They might also interpret your behavior as an attempt to exert power or as flirting.

Looking down before answering questions, glancing away continually as your customer talks, blinking excessively and other furtive eye movements can potentially create a negative impression. In any case, your customer might become uncomfortable and may react in an undesirable manner. For example, they might become upset or end the conversation if you use eye contact in what they perceive as an inappropriate manner.

As with all other aspects of workplace interaction in a multicultural environment, do not forget that cultural values and practices often influence the way in which people communicate and interpret message signals.

For more information about how to effectively interact with and deliver service across cultures, and to people who are not like you, get a copy of Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures.

Two Elements of Effective Customer Communication

by Robert W. Lucas

Two Elements of Effective Customer Communication

Two key elements in making your interactions with customers successful are to recognize how you tend to communicate and understanding how the communication process works. It is up to each customer service representative, and other employees in any organization, to take responsibility for developing his or her communication skills and knowledge.

Start by assessing your current interpersonal communication skills level and then seek information and assistance to improve in deficit areas. The easiest way to find out how you communicate is to ask those who know you best. Unfortunately, many people are leery about requesting feedback because of what they might hear. Conversely, most people have difficulty giving useful feedback because they either never learned how to do it or are uncomfortable doing it. In any event, try it. Ask a variety of people for their feedback because each person will likely have a different perspective.

For strategies and techniques for improving interpersonal communication skills with customers get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success. For ideas on communicating more effectively with customers from diverse backgrounds, try Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures.

About Robert C. Lucas

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

The Role of Channel Partner Relationships on Customer Loyalty

by Robert W. Lucas

The Role of Channel Partner Relationships on Customer Loyalty

A key component of managing customer loyalty is for organizations to effectively establish and manage channel partner relationships. Such partners can help gain access to new business opportunities at lower costs, without having to merge or acquire more assets and employees. This means that retail and service pricing can be kept down. Such a strategy also provides a more competitive posture for your organization and potentially attracts and holds customers based on reduced pricing and enhanced product and service availability.

Through channel partner relationships organizations are able to build a larger and stronger competitive presence in the marketplace, which can help enhance customer trust and loyalty. This potentially occurs because customers view the organizations as a larger and stronger supplier or entity.

There are three types of typical channel partners with which your organization might build a relationship if you do not already have one in place. Transactional or indirect. This type of organization provides a distribution outlet or link for your company’s products and services. The challenge is that they maintain no specific loyalty and when the opportunity arises to obtain a newer product or service line, or one that is less expensive, they may move to other suppliers or vendors. Examples of transactional partners are online Web sites (e.g., Amazon.com and Overstock.com), retail stores, or service providers (e.g., plumber, laundry, pest control, masseuse/masseur, and car repair). Tactical. This category of partners include organizations that are intricately meshed with your company’s internal operations. Examples of such arrangements include mobile phone service providers that use retail outlets (e.g., Best Buy or mall kiosks). Strategic. The third type of channel partnership involves signing agreements through which one organization creates a long-term alliance with one another to brand, develop, or produce each other’s products or services. An example of this is the code sharing that takes place between airlines where two different airlines can sell seats on a single plane under their own individual flight numbers.

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.”

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.