Telephone Etiquette Sends a Powerful Customer Service Message

There is no excuse for poor telephone etiquette or lack of professionalism when you answer the phone as a representative of your organization. Take the time to plan your approach BEFORE a customer calls so that when you receive a call, you are prepared to positively impress your callers. Remember that you represent yourself and your organization when you pick up a ringing phone.

Related to receiving calls, if you have ever received an incomplete or undecipherable telephone message that someone else took from a caller, you can appreciate the need for practice in this area.

If you are answering someone’s phone while he or she is away, let the caller know that fact right away. This can be done by using a statement such as, “Hello, (person’s name) line. This is (your name). How may I assist you?” In addition, be cautious of statements you make regarding the intended recipient’s availability. Sometimes, well-meant comments can send a negative message to customers. For example, you should not share information like “She:

“has not shown up yet this morning,”
“is not back from lunch yet.”
“had to take her son to school.”
“is on vacation.”
“had a doctor’s appointment.”

Instead, simply state that the person is not available at the moment but that you can either take a message and give it to him or her or assist the person yourself (if this is an option).

Many office supply stores sell pre-printed message pads to help guide message takers. At a minimum, when you take a message you should get the following information from a caller when you answer a phone for someone else.

Name (correctly spelled—ask the caller for spelling)
Company name
Phone number (with area code and country code, if appropriate)
Brief message
When call should be returned
Time and date of the call and your name (in case a question about the message arises)

Professional phone etiquette is part of everyone’s job. Make it a priority to practice good phone service yourself. If you are unsure of how to deliver quality customer service, consider reading some of the excellent resources on the market that provide guidance on using telephones and other technology to better serve your customers.

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.

Service Recovery Strategies: Rebuilding customer relationships after breakdowns

by Robert W. Lucas

Service Recovery Strategies: Rebuilding customer relationships after breakdowns

Managing conflict with customers involves more than just resolving the disagreement. If you fail to address the emotional and psychological needs of those involved, you may find the conflict returning, repercussions and/or severe damage to the customer-provider relationship may occur. Often poorly handled service recovery efforts result in such things as complaints to a service provider’s supervisor, complaints to consumer agencies, bad word-of-mouth publicity and lost customers.

Depending on the severity of the conflict and how you handle it at each step of the resolution process, it may be impossible to go back to the relationship as it was before the disagreement. The key to reducing this possibility is to identify and address conflicting issues as early as possible. The longer an issue remains unresolved, the more damage it can cause. Make the effort to help protect and salvage the relationship between you and your customers.

Often, customers are rational once they can get past their need for emotional ownership of the situation. If you can apply some basic emotion-reducing communication strategies (e.g. empathize, agree with the customer, lower your volume and monitor your voice tone) the situation may become more manageable. Just remember that your customers are human jut like you and human behavior is sometimes volatile. Allow them to vent and calm down, then focus on recovering and rebuilding the relationship. The following strategies can assist in your service recovery efforts:

Reaffirm the value of the relationship. You cannot assume that customers feel the same as you or understand your intent unless you communicate it. Apologize sincerely and tell them how much you value the relationship between them and the organization. Also, stress that your goal is to assist them in whatever manner possible.

Customers typically tell others about the bad experiences they have. The result is that damage can be done to your organization’s reputation. This is a strong reason for you to do whatever you can to resolve the issue and appease your customer

Demonstrate commitment. You must visualize and demonstrate your desire to continue or strengthen your relationship. The way to do this with customers is through sound interpersonal communication efforts (e.g. active listening, empathy, and positive verbal and non-verbal message). Once you have smoothed things over a bit emotionally with the customer, take definitive action to positively address the service or product breakdown. If that means involving a co-worker or supervisor, then do that.

Be realistic. Because of cultural, gender, generational and behavioral style differences, it is difficult for some people to “forgive and forget.” You have to systematically help restore their trust. It can take a while to accomplish this, but the effort is well worth it. Take the time to follow-up with your customer following a recovery initiative. Send a card, discount or gift certificate, or take some other proactive measure to show them that you are truly sorry for the breakdown in communication and that you are willing to work to regain their trust.

Remain flexible. A solid customer-provider relationship involves the ability to give and take. It is especially crucial that you and the other people involved making concessions following a conflict. Avoid any references to policy or organizational standard procedure. If you cannot meet a customer’s complete desires or demands, work toward a compromise and offer possible alternatives.

Keep communication open. One of the biggest causes of conflict and destroyed relationships is poor communication. Service breakdowns usually result in escalated emotions on both sides. Step back mentally and take a deep breath before saying anything
that you might regret or that could further frustrate or even anger your
customer. Be willing to compromise and let the customer take the lead in the
discussion, if that appears to help calm them and allows you time to work
towards an agreeable solution.

Gain commitment. You cannot do it all by yourself. Get a commitment to work toward reconciliation from your customer.

Also, once they have relaxed a bit and seem to be more receptive to listening to your suggestions, reaffirm that you have acted in a manner to resolve the issue to their satisfaction and let them know that your goal is to help them as best you can. Then ask that they let you know in the future if any service or product, that you and your organization provides, does not meet their needs or expectations so that you can immediately try to rectify the situation.

Monitor progress. Do not assume that, because the conflict or problem was resolved, it will remain that way. Deep-seated issues often resurface, especially when commitment was not obtained. Be sure to do follow-up with the customer shortly afterwards to ensure that a spark is not rekindled into a blazing fire in their mind. Statistically, a large percentage of customers who desert to a competitor do so without letting you know why.

About Robert C. Lucas – Customer Service Guru

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

Strengthening Customer Communication

by Robert W. Lucas

Strengthening Customer Communication

Customers who feel that they have an active role and control of a service-provider interaction often feel more important and valued. Improved interpersonal communication can lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction and retention and reduced stress for you and your co-workers.

Take advantage of the following strategies to build stronger relationships with your internal and external customers.

Gather Information

Ask for customer input whenever possible. By knowing more about their needs, wants and expectations, you will be better able to provide services and products that satisfy them. Use strategies you will find in this chapter to gather valuable information from people who you encounter on a daily basis.

Be Consistent

People tend to like what is familiar. If customers come to know that they can depend on you and your organization to regularly provide timely, factual information, they will likely be more loyal. Provide information and updates to customers on a regular basis, not just when it is convenient for you. This is especially true when you are working on a problem or service breakdown. Remember that they do now know what you know. For example, if you are gathering information or need more time than expected, come back to the customer with periodic updates to give them a status check.

Demonstrate Openness

Customers often want to see that service providers understand them on a personal level. The worst thing you can do as a service provider is to hide behind a policy or deflect responsibility when dealing with a customer issue or question. Think of how you likely react when a service provider says something like, “I can’t do that because our policy says…” You probably feel the hairs rise on the back of your neck and become agitated. Your customers are no different. When interacting with them, take the time to put yourself in their place before saying something or taking an action that might create an adversarial situation.

Be Personable

Service providers who tend to be “all business” or robotic in their service delivery often fail to get high marks from customers. Even if you are knowledgeable, efficient and follow all the rules in delivering service, you could end up with a customer who is dissatisfied if you do not demonstrate some degree of humanness. This means connecting on a personal level and showing compassion and concern for your customers and their emotional needs.

By communicating effectively and regularly with your customers, you show that you are more than a customer service representative; you are a person. For example, if someone tells you during an interaction that they are celebrating a special event take the time to ask explore the topic briefly or relate a personal example. If it’s their child’s birthday, you might wish the child an enthusiastic “Happy Birthday” and ask him or her how old they are or what they hope to get for their birthday. Depending on the type of business you are in, you might even offer a small present (e.g. a free dessert, a piece of candy, a toy, coupon for a discount on their next visit, or whatever might be appropriate). At the least, upon concluding the transaction, wish them well or congratulate them one more time.

Creating a Service Culture

by Robert W. Lucas

Creating a Service Culture

Most workers do not realize that everyone in the organization, from the CEO down, is in the service business and is responsible for helping create and maintain the service culture. This means that whether you world with external customers (people who contact you and pay for your products and services) or internal customers (people who work in other areas of the organization, and to whom you provide or get information and services to allow you to do your job) you are a service representative to others.

It does not matter whether your work for a large multi-national organization or a small business, the principle is the same; nor, does it matter if your title is Customer Service Representative or CEO. You are the “face” of the organization when interacting with others. By the way, this applies when you are standing in line in your uniform or with a company nametag on at a fast-food restaurant at lunchtime and someone asks a question or complains about a situation with your company. What you do and say next reflects on you as a person and as a representative of your organization. Depending on how you handle such situations, you can project a positive professional image or can come across as someone, or an organization, with whom the person does not want to patronize. If you forget this point, you potentially lose customers and revenue for your organization. That means fewer dollars for raises, benefits, training and upgraded equipment or supplies to do your job.

Exactly what is a service culture in an organization? The answer is that it is different for each organization. No two organizations operate in the same manner, have the same focus, or provide management that accomplishes the same results. Among other things, culture includes the values, beliefs, norms, rituals, and practices of a group or organization. Any policy, procedure, action, or inaction on the part of your organization contributes to the service culture. Other elements may be specific to your organization or industry.

As an employee, you may communicate the culture through your appearance, your interaction with customers, and your knowledge, skill, and attitude. The latter element is crucial in your success and that of your organization.

As a service provider, if you take a job just to have a paycheck without buying into the service culture and supporting the goals of the organization, both you and the organization will lose. Each person in an organization should strive to help build strong customer-provider relationships

For you to be successful in the service industry (or any other for that matter) you must take ownership of your roles and responsibilities and show commitment to doing the best you can every day that you go to work. Even further, you must project a positive attitude when you are not at work as well. All the time, your goal should not be to deliver the best customer service possible.

A big challenge to any organizational culture comes in the form of social media. Many people have become a victim to careless comments that they placed about their organization, supervisors or peers on Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media site. Think about the number of times you have heard friends “bad mouth” their boss, organization, products, and services. Did their attitude toward their job inspire you to want to patronize their workplace or apply for a job there? If you were to take the same approach in sharing information about your organization or the people in it, there can be a negative effect on you and the organization. What you do or say around others in any environment sends a powerful message about you, your level of professionalism and your organization. If you cannot support your employer; quit and find a job where you can. To do less is being unfair to yourself and your organization.

The bottom line is that contributing to the service culture of your organization is the responsibility and everyone else who works there.

For more ideas on how to provide excellent customer service and help create a positive customer service culture, get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success.

Avoiding Customer Service Breakdowns

by Robert W. Lucas

Avoiding Customer Service Breakdowns

There are a number of things that you might do as a customer service representative that can irritate customers or cause them to form a negative opinion of your or your organization. Remember that your goal should be to project a professional presence, help create a positive service culture and provide the best possible customer service.

The following is a partial listing of actions that you should avoid at all costs when customers are present or on the telephone.

-Do not forget that your co-workers and people from other departments in your organization are your internal customers. Treat them with the same courtesy, respect, and attention that you would an external customer.

-Talking to a co-worker about a non-work related topic;

-Engaging in lengthy personal conversations with a customer;

-Bringing up sensitive topics for discussion with a customer (e.g. politics, religion, abortion, civil or gun rights, or any other controversial subject);

-Performing administrative tasks (e.g. filing or working on the computer);

-Waiting until you run out of currency, coins or forms before getting more;

-Not having your computer booted up and software activated and ready to access before the start of business;

-Interrupting service for one customer to deal with another’s question;

-Discussing personal problems or complaining about ANYTHING to another customer or co-worker;

-Conveying a sense that you are overworked or do not have time to deal with the customer’s needs;

-Talking about or disrespecting a competitor.

For more information about providing positive customer service, how to avoid service breakdowns and strategies for service recovery when things do go wrong, get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success.

Customer Service Breakdowns Are Everywhere

by Robert W. Lucas

Customer Service Breakdowns Are Everywhere

It seems that there are no shortages of service breakdowns in today’s world. You would think that in the down economy where so many people are unemployed or hurting financially, that service providers would think before doing or saying something that could have a negative impact on them. But then you would be wrong in many instances based on my recent experiences. On two separate back-to-back business trips where I went to facilitate training workshops in several different geographic areas, I encountered at least a half dozen service providers in situations that I term “being stupid in a no-stupid zone.”

Customer Service Skills Blog By that I mean that had they just taken a second to think before acting (or failing to act) related to serving their customers, they would not have needed to try to provide a service recovery strategy that might salvage their mistake. What was happening in each of my encounters is really not as important as the fact that on any given day in virtually any type of organization, there is a service provider who is improperly trained, has a poor service attitude or is inhibited from providing good service because they do not have adequate supervisory or organizational support. The result is that customers are disappointed and go away and ultimately negative word-of-mouth publicity follows an organization suffers.

If you are a service provider, I suggest using the acronym “STAR” to remind yourself of a way to provide positive customer service so that you do not fall into the dreaded “stupid zone.” Simply stated, that means:

(1) Stop to listen to what your customer is saying or asking;

(2)Think about what your customer said they need or want and the best way to address their issue or request;

(3) Analyze options for providing stellar customer service in that particular situation rather than taking a cookie-cutter approach to providing the same treatment to all customers; and

(4) Reflect on how you handled the situation after the customer has left in order to determine if you did the best possible job or how you might handle it differently in the future if a similar situation arises.

Customer service is not difficult if you approach it with a positive mental outlook and a plan to handle the unexpected.

Welcome to the Robert W. Lucas Enterprises, Inc., Customer Service Blog

Please feel free to comment on entries and Like Me at www.facebook/robertwlucasenterprises. I hope you find value in my future articles, comments, and observations related to customer service. Visit my other blogs on Creative Training at http://www.thecreativetrainer.com and Non-Fiction Writing at http://www.robertwlucas.com/wordpress

Common Sense Customer Service Is Not So Common Anymore

by Robert W. Lucas

Common Sense Customer Service Is Not So Common Anymore

You may have experienced what my family and I did, related to one of those “dah” moments when we visited the Applebee’s restaurant in Maitland, Florida this weekend. We were celebrating my mother’s 96th birthday and she wanted to go there for their ribs. We ordered a spinach and avocado appetizer and found a hair in it. Our server said, “Wow, that’s not good. It’s a good thing you found it before eating any of it.” She quickly replaced the dish and things were going okay until we got our entrees. I ordered a baked potato and instead received mashed potatoes. When I pointed out the error, the order delivery person stated, “Oh, I saw that sitting there in the kitchen. I’ll go get it” ( I love this team approaches service where no one person assumes total responsibility for service and instead it is shared by half the staff!). Shortly thereafter, Steve (the manager) came by asking how things were going. When I said, that thus far things were a bit challenging in getting what we wanted and that I was disappointed because we were celebrating my mom’s birthday. When I shared with him about the hair and baked potato, he commented, “I heard about the hair, but they remade the appetizer, didn’t they? And, I see you got your baked potato. Please let me know if there is anything else that we need to correct.” He then left. Notice that nowhere in his comments did the words, “I am sorry” or “I apologize” come out of his mouth. No wonder that neither the server nor the food delivery person used those words either. Obviously, service recovery training is not something organizations want to waste time or money on these days.

Unfortunately, I see such scenarios often with service providers in different industries and organizations. What happened to basic service 101 where staff and management are trained to take ownership of service breakdowns, apologize, go out of their ways to resolve the issue and ensure that the customer is satisfied and/or compensated for their inconvenience before the service experience is over. Obviously, return business must not be an issue to many of these purported service professionals. I guess many of them have not suffered the ill effects of the current economy and do not worry about that issue.

There was one positive aspect of our dining experience. After I had received the check and paid for the meal, Steve came back with a $5.00 coupon and stated, I was going to buy your mother a dessert for her birthday but since you already paid, you can use this on future business. Of course, he is making an assumption that such an opportunity will occur in the future.

I’d be curious to hear if about similar service breakdowns and how they were handled.

Customer Services Skills Blog by Robert W. Lucas

Welcome to the Robert W. Lucas Enterprises, Inc., Customer Service Blog

Superior Customer Service at Fields Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram

by Robert W. Lucas

Superior Customer Service at Fields Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram

When was the last time you actually “enjoyed” a car buying experience? The answer for me is never in the past 40 years,,, until I recently visited the Fields Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram dealership in Sanford, Florida to purchase a car for my wife.

As a customer service consultant and author, I was blown away with the personalities, knowledge, and candor of our sales representative (Ryan Eiland), Ty Brown (Sales Rep) and New Car Manager, Brian Williams. In an industry with an often dubious reputation, these guys and everyone else we encountered at the dealership were a breath of fresh air and epitomize what I believe stellar global customer service should be. In fact, we were so impressed with their willingness to go the extra mile for a customer and take the time to provide that personal touch related to demonstrating that they really do care about whether the customer is satisfied, that we went back two days later and bought a second car for me!

I only wish that more organizations could “get it” like these folks obviously do when it comes to recognizing that the customer is the most important person they will meet on any given day in their workplace. By simply taking the time to make things right and help customers feel welcomed, appreciated and valued, they could raise their sales volume exponentially. Having a customer-centric approach to doing business, as Fields does, is what separated the successful from the non-successful organizations in a competitive automotive marketplace.

I’d be curious to hear from anyone else about similar organizations and service experiences.

For ideas and strategies on how you can deliver higher quality service check out these books: Customer Service Skills for Success, How to Be a Successful Call Center Representative and Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures.

Customer Service Skills for Success

by Robert W. Lucas

Customer Service Skills for Success – Tips for Delivering Excellent Customer Service

In one of my books, Customer Service: Skills for Success, I feature how-to strategies on topics for customer service representatives that can assist in moving from good customer service to excellent customer service delivery. By applying strategies found in the text, customer service professionals can enhance their knowledge and skills and make them more successful in delivering service to all types of customers.

In the chapters of Customer Service: Skills for Success I cover the concepts and skills needed for success in the service profession. Strategies provided to readers include listening techniques, verbal and nonverbal communication, using technology to deliver service, addressing the needs of internal and external customers in any business environment, how to build customer loyalty and what to do when service breaks down and they need to recover. I also share experience and tips on how to use positive global service strategies for dealing with diverse customers.

Here are three tips for ensuring better service delivery to your customers:

If you seek trust; communicate it through your words and nonverbal cues.
If your supervisor empowers you to make decisions, that means he/she trusts your ability to handle various issues. Do not take this trust lightly. Before taking action, stop, weigh alternatives, and then resolve the situation to the best of your ability in order to send a message of competency and professionalism.
Unhappy people are still either customers or potential internal or external customers when they contact you at work. Your goal should be to try to serve them effectively them so that they return for future products or services. If you fail at this goal, you and your organization or department will potentially suffer financial and prestige loss.

I am always interested in hearing what is working and what is not in organizations related to customer service. If you have ideas, suggestions, tips or cutting edge practices in the professional that you would like to share with others, please comment.

For ideas and information on how to improve your own customer service skills, get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success by Robert W. Lucas.

Telephone Etiquette Sends a Powerful Customer Service Message

Service Recovery Strategies: Rebuilding customer relationships after breakdowns

About Robert C. Lucas – Customer Service Guru

Strengthening Customer Communication

Creating a Service Culture

Avoiding Customer Service Breakdowns

Customer Service Breakdowns Are Everywhere

Common Sense Customer Service Is Not So Common Anymore

Superior Customer Service at Fields Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram

Customer Service Skills for Success – Tips for Delivering Excellent Customer Service

About Robert W. Lucas