RESOURCE CENTRE

Published Articles

Jayne Kowal
Author

Jayne Kowal has published articles on customer service in a number of business newsletters. Here you will find recently published articles.

The Customer Report Card The success of your organization lies in the evaluation from its most important asset - the customer! The Customer Report Card explores two key assets to gaining an A+ related to Call Centre operations: employees and technology.

EMPOWER your team contains 7 critical elements of the EMPOWER model designed to increase employee job satisfaction.

Differentiation Based on Quality Service explores the difference between core and quality service in a Call Centre environment, types of training and tips for selecting a trainer.

Email Jayne : jayne@customerserviceworks.com

The "Customer Report Card"
The success of your organization lies in the evaluation from its most important asset - the customer!

Call Centres have become a key component to organizational success today. They provide a means to centralizing functions and information management leading to decreased expenses and a greater return on investment. But the greatest asset to organizational success still lies in the ability to create a loyal base of customers. Consider the concept of a "customer report card". At each contact point within your organization, the customer is subconsciously providing you with a rating - if they consistently rate you A+ congratulations - you are well on your way to loyalty! But what if they aren't? Time is the greatest resource we all seem to be lacking and the same is true of our customers. They are demanding exceptional levels of service and convenience, which includes the ability to get what they need, when and how they need it. Consider how two factors may be causing your customers to turn to your competition.

Employees
Next to your customers, your employees are your next most valuable assets. The Call Centre Representative today must be an ambassador for your organization, equipped with the following skills:

• Ability to assess and deal effectively with all types of clients (including the more difficult ones) within a fast-paced, high demand environment;
• Ability to keep on top of product and service knowledge;
• The talent to communicate effectively over the phone, via email or other written correspondence (which includes understanding the impact of tone, pitch, articulation, choice of words, non-verbals etc.);
• Ability to actively listen, come up with creative problem solving solutions and make on the spot decisions;
• Take initiative in identifying customer-related trends and needs;
• Build customer relationships, value sell (up-sell), use "wow" strategies; and,
• Maintain and transmit a positive attitude and approach to customers, co-workers and managers.

Wow - that isn't even an all-encompassing list! These are the folks your customers rate your organization on - are you getting an A+ or an F? Research indicates the way an organization treats its employees can be a mirror image of how employees will treat the customer. Take a look inside first and answer the following questions.

Do you:

• commit to training your employees and developing the necessary skills and knowledge?
• hire individuals with the required "soft skills" to be successful (i.e., time management, attitude/optimism, problem solving/decision making and customer orientation?
• empower your employees, or do they work under parameters that cause them to have to ask for permission first on customer related decisions?
• reward and recognize initiative and attempt and embrace the analogy of "FAIL" (from action I learn)?
• commit to daily coaching and mentoring?
• measure performance based on quantity of calls received or quality?
• encourage customer complaints as opportunities and train your employees to turn these into loyalty building possibilities?

How would your employees rate the organization?

Technology
Today key buzzwords include Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions, Integrated Voice Response (IVR) systems, Computer Telephone Integration (CTI) systems and the Automated Call Distributor (ACD), to name a few. While the ability to integrate information management is critical to an organization's ability to track usage, identify trends, provide targeted marketing or streamline customer contact options, consider how your use of technology could in fact be setting up barriers to service.

Answer the following questions:

• How long do your customers wait in the queue to reach a live representative? Do your most valuable customers have to wait in line with everyone else, or do you have a priority rating built into your systems?
• If your Call Centre Representatives are available to take a call, do your systems still force the customer to make their way through a number of self-selected options first?
• How many automated options are you providing your customers? You may believe options provide flexibility to customers. The truth is, you may be setting up a barrier that makes your customers wish they had the option of "push 1 to speak directly to our competitors".
• Do your information management systems provide your Call Centre Representatives with a complete profile of the customer when the call is taken, or do representatives have to ask customers for this information each time? For example: when I phone a Call Centre and am asked to provide some type of identifying information (such as my home phone number, last name or card number), I don't expect to be asked the very same question by the representative taking the call. If this information is not used as an identifier - don't ask for it up front! 
• How easy is it to reach a live person?
• How many times do your customers hear "your call is valuable to us, please remain on the line ..."

Technology has great advantages - without it we couldn't be running successful Call Centres at all. The lesson is to consider how you use technology to benefit the customer, not just the organization. "Try it!" Become your own customer. Try to contact your Call Centre in every way possible. Be honest with your evaluation - how "user welcoming" are your systems? Would you give your organization an A+?

The rating your organization will receive on its' customer report card is up to you. Think like your customer, make the necessary changes and then continually ask for their feedback - a dissatisfied customer will tell up to 10 people about it, a satisfied customer is just as apt to leave and go to your competitor, but a loyal customer is yours for life!

EMPOWER your team
Increase job satisfaction with the EMPOWER model.

The letters remind you to:

Encourage and support initiative, problem solving and flexible decisions.

Mentor. Continue to develop your team members. If you want them to perform, show them how.

Problem-solve. Coach your team members on techniques and strategies. Highlight great decisions and support good efforts that failed.

Open up communications. Create a climate of trust where information flows up, down and sideways.

Win. Strive for high performance by setting the bar high, then train, coach and motivate your staff to excel.

Engage. Talk to team members often and encourage them to talk to you about what they need to excel.

Recognize. Celebrate every effort, attempt or success. Example: "I appreciate the way you researched the answer to that question before coming to me. What do you think we should do?"

Differentiation Based on Quality Service
"The Customer is our Most Important Asset"

Published in Calgary HelpDesk Newsletter, November 2002

In its' recent study, Human Resource Development Canada estimates that there are approximately 14, 000 Call Centres in Canada presently (including those with agents of six or more). Further to that, 42% of Canadian Call Centres are expecting expansion within the next 5 years. Reasons stated for this growth include:

• a greater focus on the customer;
• delivering strategic advantage by delivering superior customer service;
• wider acceptance of phone and electronic channels for conducting business; and,
• wider availability of technologies for cost effective and efficient Call Centres.

In today's competitive market, organizations are required to look for alternatives to doing business which enable increased levels of customer service with decreased costs. Call Centres have enabled us to centralize operations and information, respond to customer demand across multiple channels and time zones, support and promote self-service and automated options and create efficiencies for customers in terms of access and convenience, to name just a few. What remains the most important aspect of business success today is the ability to differentiate based on service; to become an organization that embraces the philosophy of “the customer is our most important asset.”

In this article we will briefly explore the difference between core and quality service and focus on how investing in our human resources can enhance customer loyalty and therefore increase an organizations' profit margin. Tips for selecting a trainer as well as types of training will also be identified.

CORE VS QUALITY SERVICE
Core service can be defined as the procedural side of service , consisting of established systems and procedures to deliver your product or service. It is your “reason for being” and includes three elements: cost, delivery and quality. Customers choose to do business with you because they believe these elements will meet their expectations, however, each of these are easily replicated by a competitor – they are not easy to differentiate and therefore will never score high points in earning a customer's loyalty.

Quality service is defined as the personal side of service , including people and processes. It incorporates how your customer is treated in the interactions they have while conducting business. It is this personal side of business that enables an organization to differentiate themselves – to consistently meet and exceed the customer's expectations and provide them with a reason to want to return.

QUALITY SERVICE – BUILDING CUSTOMER AMBASSADORS
Customers are knowledgeable and have high expectations for service quality. As companies continue to differentiate themselves based on service that is A+ and consistently delivered, the service bar will continue to rise. Those companies not evolving to meet this demand will see a decrease in market share as once satisfied customers are becoming loyal to someone else. This reinforces the importance of the human assets within our organizations. Customers use your Call Centre because they need something…

• a question answered
• support for a product already purchased or support in making a product decision
• the desire to be heard or understood
• to place an order or find out when their order will be delivered….

Research shows that customers intuitively make 11 impressions about your organization in the first 7 seconds of contact. Having front-line representatives who recognize and value the importance of the customer and possess the right skills, attitudes and behaviours to provide consistently high quality experiences are essential to long-term organizational success!

Recent statistics estimate that if a company spends 2-5% of its annual payroll on employee training, it should realize a 10% increase in net profit. Furthermore, companies with superior customer service and a loyal customer base can charge up to 10% more than their competitors. So, if you train your employees to provide superior customer service, your net profit can increase by 20%.

TYPES OF TRAINING
Consider the following 10 reasons for poor service:

• Uncaring employees.
• Poor employee training.
• Negative attitudes of employees towards customers.
• Differences in perception between what businesses think customers want and what customers actually want.
• Differences in perception between the product or service business they provide and what customers think they will receive.
• Differences in perception between the way businesses think customers want to be treated and the way customers really want to be treated, or are actually treated.
• No customer service philosophy within the company.
• Poor handling and resolution of complaints.
• Employees are not empowered to provide excellent service, take responsibility and make decisions that will exceed the customers' expectations.
• Poor treatment of employees as customers.

Every Call Centre will have unique training needs because of the type of business and level of knowledge and skills of their employees. Training that can reduce or eliminate the reasons for poor service is the first place to start. Other types of training to consider include:

• Personalizing the service experience.
• Identifying and meeting customer needs and expectations in a way that maintains the integrity of the organization.
• Sales – how to value sell and cross-sell in the Call Centre.
• Understanding how to recognize and reduce processes that cause barriers to customers doing business.
• Becoming a self-directed team including skills on; consensus, dealing with team conflict, decision-making and problem solving, change compatibility, stress management, group work skills, a positive climate and shared leadership.
• Building customer loyalty – asking strategic questions and capitalizing on that information to strengthen the customers' relationship to the organization.

TIPS FOR SELECTING A TRAINER
The following are some questions to ask when looking for a trainer (or training company):

• Does the trainer demonstrate a complete understanding of my problem, situation or need?
• Has the trainer spent time, asked questions and researched to gain a full understanding of my organization's culture, people and customers?
• Has the trainer fully and accurately explained the approach that will solve my problem?
• Do I think that the proposed approach will be successful?
• Is the style of the trainer going to be a fit for our organization? Will the trainer customize the training to meet the different learning styles of the participants? What types of facilitation methods are used?
• Would I consider this trainer to be a customer service ambassador? Is he or she passionate and knowledgeable about customer service?
• Is the trainer experienced enough for my situation?
• Is the trainer trying to fit my problem into a pre-defined training workshop, or will there be customization?
• What differentiates this trainer from another one?
• Will there be pre and post training support?
• Is the cost of the product or service fair and will I receive value for my money?
• What type of performance measurements are in place to ensure there is a change in behaviour, skill and/or attitude of participants?
• Is this trainer able to support on-going training requirements or do they have a limited training focus?

Customers are your most important asset! To maintain and grow your customer base it is critical that all aspects of your business embrace this philosophy. Investing in your human resources up front will enable your organization to reap the benefits of a loyal customer base!