good customer service

Customer Attitudes Are Affecting Service Delivery

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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.

Customer Attitudes Are Affecting Service Delivery

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:

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

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.

Recovering from Customer Service Breakdowns

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Recovering from Customer Service Breakdowns

Customers are better educated and have access to a more competitive product and service information that at any time in history. The result is that when they contact a customer service representative, they have specific wants, needs, and expectations. When their preconceived ideas are not met, service breakdowns are likely to occur.

The following are three common situations that can lead to customer dissatisfaction and potentially cause defection to a competitor when customer service representatives fail to create positive customer experiences. Strategies for preventing customer service breakdowns are also provided.

Recovering from Customer Service Breakdowns

Service breakdowns often occur when customer service representatives:

Are preoccupied when customers call or are present. If you have ever called or visited an organization only to have them put you on extended hold, disconnected you, or failed to acknowledge your presence and serve you right away while they performed some task, you know how your customers might feel under similar circumstances.

If you are a service provider and must put someone on hold while on the phone, do so only if you are currently serving another customer or you have no other option. If you must put them on hold, ensure that you explain why they are being asked to wait and how long it will take to get to them. Remember that effective telephone etiquette is crucial for service success.

When providing face-to-face service and a customer arrives while you are performing an administrative function, such as filing, calculating, writing, stocking, completing a task, or other such function, quickly get to a point where you can pause and serve the customer. In the meantime, take a moment to make eye contact, smile and either tell them or non-verbally (by holding up a single index finger) that you will be with them as soon as possible. Effective nonverbal communication such as this is especially important when dealing with someone from a culture in which relationships are an important aspect of business (e.g. the Middle East, Hispanic cultures, and Asia). Your efforts may not satisfy everyone, but they work with most customers who understand that many service providers are doing more with fewer human assets these days.

Project an uncaring attitude. You may experience instances when customer service or communication is strained when dealing with a customer. This can occur if they perceive that the products or services they received did not meet their needs or expectations or were not delivered as promised. An uncaring perception can also be projected if you are not focused on delivering quality global customer service and through your actions, words or non-verbal cues send messages that the customer is not a priority.

To avoid the potential perception that you are uncaring, strive to make sure that you are always prepared for customers. Put other tasks aside, clear your head of previous issues or events and focus on your current customer and their needs or issues. Also, listen to and show interest in what your customers have to say.

Fail to assume responsibility. A big complaint that many customers have, especially when dealing with web-based businesses, is that they cannot find a “real person” to talk to when they have a question or a problem arises.

Many organizations intentionally make finding their contact information (if they even list it on their website) difficult to locate because they do not want people calling their representatives.  They do this under the guise of making service delivery more efficient for customers through the technology they offer. When customers do finally locate the contact information, they often encounter an automated attendant system that requires numerous choice selections and often ends with a message saying something like, “You are important to use. All of our agents are currently helping other customers; your estimated wait time is ___.”

To prevent being part of problem situations, continually look for ways to make yourself accessible to your customers. Also, make recommendations to your supervisor for improvement to your system whenever you identify a glitch. Whether you are interacting with customers in person or via technology and a service breakdown occurs make sure that you apologize, when appropriate, assume responsibility for delays or service breakdowns and offer to assist professionally.

Possible strategies for preventing service breakdowns include avoiding fault deference to technology, your organizational system or other people. For example, avoid using statements like:

“I am unable to do (whatever the customer is requesting); they/our policy won’t let us…” or “Our system is down right now; can you call back later?”

Instead, work toward positive and immediate service recovery by telling your customer what you can do; not what you cannot. For example, “I apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced with _______ Mr./Ms. _____. While we cannot do _____, what I can do in this instance is to ____.” or “My sincere apologies for the inconvenience Mr./Ms/ _____, however, I cannot get that information at the moment because our computer system is down. Can I take your phone number or email address and get that information for you as soon as it comes back up?”

Ultimately, be a problem solver and resource by taking responsibility and working to assist your customers; not an obstacle to good service and satisfaction.

In order to prevent service breakdowns from occurring, take time to review your current policies, procedures and service environment to ensure that they are ready address the needs and expectations of your customers.

For additional ideas on strategies for preventing and addressing service breakdowns, check our two books by Robert W. Lucas – Customer Service: Skills for Success and Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures.

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.

Effective Listening Tips for Customer Service Representatives

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Effective Listening Tips for Customer Service Representatives

Active listening is a skill that has to be learned and developed over time. As a customer service representative, you must continually practice your listening skills in order to deliver good customer service. Many people believe they are doing so, when in fact, they are only hearing the words (which is a passive physiological process in the body). To deliver excellent customer service, you must actively listen to get what customers are actually saying verbally and nonverbally.

Effective Listening Tips for Customer Service Representatives

Here are four tips for actively listening to your customers that can enhance the quality of service that you deliver.

  1. Stop doing other tasks and focus on what your customers are saying in order to increase your listening efficiency. Ask clarifying questions where appropriate to ensure that you ensure that you received the message they intended.
  2. Take time to slow down and actively listen to customers in order to make them feel important and allow you to better identify and meet their needs. This is important because many people spend time thinking about what they will say next rather than listening to what is being said. If you do this, your customer-provider relationship could suffer.
  3. Do your best to listen well so that you can get at the customer’s meaning or need. Don’t rush a customer who seems to be processing information and forming opinions or making a decision. This is especially important after you have presented product information and have asked for a buying decision. Answer questions, provide additional information requested but don’t push. Doing so could frustrate, anger, and ultimately alienate the customer. You could end up with a complaint or lost customer.
  4. In dealings with customers, try to avoid subjective opinions or judgments. If you have a preconceived idea about customers, their concerns or questions, the environment, or anything related to the customers, you could mishandle the situation. Listen openly and avoid making assumptions. Allow customers to describe their needs, wants, or concerns in their own words, and then analyze them fairly before taking appropriate action.

For additional suggestions and strategies for delivering exceptions customer service, get a copy of the book Customer Service: Skills for Success.

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.

Three Tips for Developing Customer and Brand Loyalty

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Three Tips for Developing Customer and Brand Loyalty

Companies and customer service representatives are always looking for ways to develop a service culture that can increase customer and brand loyalty in today’s global competitive business environment. By exhibiting basic customer service skills and delivering excellent customer service with each customer-provider encounter, the chances that a customer will return and stay loyal are increased significantly.

Three Tips for Developing Customer and Brand Loyalty

Here are three simple strategies that can contribute to higher customer and brand loyalty in your organization.

  1. Always act in the best interest of your customers. Listen to them, ask questions, anticipate their needs, deliver what you promise and exhibit high levels of professionalism in everything that you do whether your customers are present or not.
  2. Take the time to personalize your customer interactions and to make each customer feel special. Use a customer’s name often during an interaction, listen, smile, ask questions to show interest and strive to project a positive image. This can all lead to enhanced trust and helps ensure that the customer returns.
  3. Treat all customers as if they are crucial to the organization—they are! Do whatever is possible and reasonable to maintain a strong customer-provider relationship and keep the customer returning and recommending that others should do likewise. Whether someone is a new or existing customer should make no difference.

For additional ideas on developing customer and brand loyalty and on how to deliver effective customer service to your customers, get a copy of Customer Service: Skills for Success and Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures by Robert W. Lucas.

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

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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:

Service Recovery Strategies: Rebuilding customer relationships after breakdowns

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

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.

Strengthening Customer Communication

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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.Strengthening Customer Communication

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

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Creating a Service Culture

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.

Customer Service Strategies That Aid Customer Satisfaction and Retention

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Customer Service Strategies That Aid Customer Satisfaction and Retention

Customer Service Strategies That Aid Customer Satisfaction and Retention

It seems like many organizations are spending a lot of time, effort and money try to impress or “wow” customers, rather than focusing on solid strategies for simply giving them what they want and expect. Unfortunately, a lot of people I know tell me that they are not impressed with all the razzle-dazzle of the latest technology and scripted responses used by customer service representatives. Instead, they just want service providers who are knowledgeable, empowered to act, can communicate effectively and make appropriate decisions in a service situation, especially if service has already broken down.

The following strategies can help accomplish customer satisfaction and potentially lead to more loyal customers.

Create an effective communication environment. One trend that seems to be gaining ground with a lot of companies is that they are actively trying to improve the systems that collect information from customers and communicate with them. Not only must service representatives communicate; they must also actively listen to what the customer is saying and address concerns, needs, and expectations promptly and professionally. Part of this communication is the integration of online and mobile technology processes that give customers a variety of options to access information and service twenty-four hours a day, all year long (24/7/365). All of this is in response to the recognition that there has to be a better response to life balance issues of customers who are demanding that someone be “on-call” to address their needs when they want service.

Provide enhanced service training. Concerned organizations are also working harder to train their employees to really listen to customers and effectively analyze what they are saying. Whether customers communicate in person, over the telephone or via one of the numerous technology channels, successful organizations are striving to better understand and address customer needs in a timely and professional manner.

Using technology that makes sense. In past decades, the use of computers has been integrated into nearly every aspect of business and service delivery. More recently, mobile technology and person data delivery systems have created a more tech-savvy customer base which assumes that service mechanisms, to which they have access and use daily, will be integrated into the service solution equation. Intuitive approaches, apps, and other technology-based mechanisms are being designed and used by many of the top-rated organizations in the 21st Century.

The key to effectively creating and supporting a truly service-oriented customer-centric environment in today’s world is to step back and analyze what the actual needs of customers are and then set out to find ways to address them. This gets back to the first point…actively listening to your customers.

For additional information, ideas, strategies on how to build stronger relationships with customers in order to help achieve customer satisfaction and build customer relationships, get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success.

 

Customer Service Skills for Success

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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.

Customer Service: Skills for Success - Tips for Delivering Excellent Customer Service

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:

  1. If you seek trust; communicate it through your words and nonverbal cues.
  2. 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,Customer Service: Skills for Success weigh alternatives, and then resolve the situation to the best of your ability in order to send a message of competency and professionalism.
  3. 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.

About Robert W. 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.

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