Foreword

As a successful education and training organization, The Art of Service has been involved with the customer service industry since 1998.

Our primary goal is to provide the quality education and support materials needed to enable the understanding and application of Customer Service in a wide range of contexts.

This comprehensive book is designed to complement the eLearn Customer Service Foundation program provided by The Art of Service. This interactive and engaging eLearning course uses a combination of narrated presentations and exercises, to enhance your knowledge and understanding during the learning experience.

We hope you find this book to be a useful tool in your educational library and wish you well in your Customer Service career!

The Art of Service

© The Art of Service Pty Ltd

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Table of Contents

Foreword.. 1

Table of Contents. 6

1       How does this Certification Kit work?. 9

1.1         eLearn Component. 10

1.2         The Customer Service Foundation Assessment. 10

2       Introduction.. 12

2.1         Definition of Service. 12

2.2         Four Components of Customer Service. 15

2.3         Who are your Customers?. 16

3       Telephone Techniques. 17

3.1         Answering the telephone. 18

3.2         Putting customers on hold. 19

3.3         Transferring customers on the telephone. 19

3.4         Making a problem call. 20

3.5         Enhancing your communication. 21

3.5.1      Exercise. 23

4       Face-to-face and one-to-one contact. 24

4.1         First Impressions. 25

4.1.1      To the customer you are the company. 25

4.1.2      Presenting Yourself 26

4.2         Does Listening Mean Hearing?. 27

4.2.1      What is Active Listening?. 27

4.2.2      How do I become a better listener?. 28

4.2.3      It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it 29

4.2.4      Key Considerations for listening. 30

4.3         Body Language. 31

4.4         Communications. 32

4.4.1      Communication Barriers. 35

5       Representations and Expectations. 36

5.1         Job Satisfaction. 36

5.1.1      Exercise. 37

5.2         Teamwork basics. 38

5.2.1      Exercise. 38

5.3         Working Effectively in Your Organization and resolving conflicts. 41

5.3.1      Exercises. 41

6       Employer Responsibility. 42

6.1         Meeting Expectations. 42

6.1.1      Exercise. 43

6.2         Responsive Service. 44

6.3         Reliable Service. 46

7       Handling Complaints. 49

7.1         The Customer is always right. 51

7.2         Dealing with Difficult Customers. 51

7.2.1      How to respond to a complaining customer 52

7.2.2      Taking Responsibility. 56

7.2.3      Exercise. 57

7.3         Problem Solving. 58

7.4         Bad customer service. 63

7.4.1      Exercise. 64

7.5         Improving things for your customer. 65

7.5.1      Exercise. 65

8       Customer Rights. 66

8.1.1      Exercise. 67

8.2         Guidelines and Policies. 68

8.2.1      Customer Rights Quiz. 70

9       Targets and Goal Setting.. 71

9.1         Setting SMART Goals. 71

9.2         Standards. 72

9.3         Consistency. 75

9.3.1      Exercise. 77

9.4         Communicating Improvements back to the customer. 78

9.4.1      Exercise. 79

9.5         Improving your own Customer Service. 80

9.6         Learning and Improving your performance. 81

9.6.1      Working as part of a team Quiz. 83

9.7         Presenting your ideas for improvement. 84

9.7.1      20 strategies for reducing stage fright 86

9.7.2      What support do I need?. 87

10     The Final Quiz. 88

11     Glossary. 91

12     Answer Guide. 109

12.1       Customer Rights Quiz. 109

12.2       Working as part of a team Quiz. 111

12.3       Final Quiz. 114

13     Certification.. 117

13.1       Customer Service Certification Pathway. 117

13.2       How does the Certification Pathway work?. 118

13.3       How do I achieve my Expert level?. 119

14     References. 120

15     Index. 121

1    How does the Certification Kit work?

Welcome to the Customer Service Foundation Complete Certification Kit. This book is the first in the series of books around customer service and managing the services that are involved in, or utilize, customer service.

The certification kits are in line with the Customer Service Certification Pathway.

After you’ve read this book, studied the eLearning materials and successfully completed the eLearn course, you can continue with your qualifications through the Intermediate programs and work toward your Customer Service Expert Certification.

In addition to the certification kits, The Art of Service has also developed a series of books on the subject of Customer Service. All books are available as ebook, PDF download, and paperback.

1.1    eLearn Component

This certification kit comes with FREE access to the eLearning program. The following page explains how to access the program materials online.

1.2    The Customer Service Foundation Assessment

The Customer Service Foundation program does not have a final exam; instead it has many case studies and exercises to complete throughout the book.

How to access the associated Customer Service Foundation eLearning Program:

• Details in book

If you are experiencing difficulties with the Flash Presentations within the eLearning Programs please make sure that:

1) You have the latest version of Flash Player installed, by visiting

http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash

2) You check that your security settings in your web browser don’t prevent these flash modules playing. There is support for these issues at the following page:

http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=tn_19166&sliceId=2#no_content

2    Introduction

Customer Service is always talked about since we deal with the service industry in one form or another every day. However, these two words involve so much more than simply serving customers. It is solving problems, reassuring the uncertain, calming the infuriated, finding the lost and fixing the broken. The customer service professional is required to be jack-of-all trades to satisfy the expectations of the customer and promises of the company.

Organizations are finding that their customer service staff are the frontline for their business. Sales positions are no longer filled with the unmotivated, the unfriendly, the unhelpful and the untrained personnel from yesteryear. They are the point of make-or-break sales and there is now a greater emphasis and importance on maintaining and improving high quality customer service and staff.

Research has shown highly successful service organizations have lower marketing costs, fewer upset customers and more repeat business – customers are “voting with their feet” which is key when customer loyalty has become obsolete. An added bonus to good service is morale and job satisfaction is higher and employee absenteeism and turnover are lower.

This Customer Service Foundation Certification Kit will address the basics of Customer Service in a clear and convenient way, enabling you or your company to build the foundation for a strong business and happy customers.

2.1    Definition of Service

Excellent customer service can only be provided if you are good at working with people. This is a skill which can be developed. The objective of this book and eLearning program is to take you through the basics of delivering good customer service, so that you will have the confidence to work in a thriving customer service environment.

It sounds daunting, doesn’t it? But a moment’s reflection will remind us that we’ve been experiencing customer service from a very early age, and that we all have direct experience of what good or bad customer service is like.

Take a few moments to think about these questions, and then answer them using your own experiences:

Do you remember the first time you went into a store by yourself and a sales assistant:

• Looked after you well and took the trouble to help you find what you wanted?
• Ignored you, or otherwise made it clear it was a nuisance to have to serve you?

Now think about the effect on you of having received good or bad customer service:

• Did you return to that store again and seek out the friendly and helpful assistant?
• OR, if you’d been ignored and made to feel that you didn’t matter, did you bother to go back into that store again? Or did you decide to spend your money elsewhere?

In customer service it is really that simple!

Providers exist to sell things to people. The provider who hasn’t got any customers quickly finds itself in financial difficulty, or goes out of business. So the satisfied customer, who’s been greeted with a smile, and is treated as someone who is valued by the organization, will always be pleased to return to that store, and part with their money again and again. In turn, the business prospers. When that happens, the organization can invest in better premises, widen its product range, and employ more people. So, the benefits are enormous all round. But, it all starts with how well you treat your customers when they come into the store.

Let’s look at some of the terminology and general concepts found within customer service. Starting with a ‘Service’:

“Service is a philosophy—not a department, a program or a policy.” All members of a company should believe in service, and it’s not up to one department to do it all. Nor can they just refer to their policies and stop there. They will all have to work together to go the extra mile.  

“Service means exceeding customer expectations.” Your definition of customer service should mean exceeding your customer’s expectations. However, you must also strive to understand who your customers are and what their needs are in order to meet this objective.

“Service is not natural, automatic, or coincidental.” We are not always naturally nice and caring about others. We have to work hard and practice good customer service skills. Service is not natural. We do not instinctively want to serve others. This doesn’t come automatically to most of us. You know this if you have ever tried to find a seat on a full bus when you have your arms full of books or groceries, or if you’ve ever waited for a break in traffic to get from your street to the main motorway. Nor is service coincidental. It doesn’t happen coincidentally when you buy a new car or a new coat or pay your power bill. Nor does it happen by chance. We have to be aware of the need for service, and then have a way or a process by which it happens.

Customer service varies by product, industry and customer, but it is always a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction.

There are many different definitions and philosophies which attempt to encapsulate the meaning behind service, but there are many different facets to consider before following just one definition.

2.2    Four Components of Customer Service

There are 4 major components of customer service. These are: telephone, appearance of facilities, and appearance of self and face-to-face contact.

Quality customer service considers what customers might expect from each of these components and ensures their service meets those expectations.

Consider the expectations of customers for each of the four components:

Telephone

Customers expect:

• To have their call answered quickly
• To speak to someone that is friendly and helpful
• To have their inquiry/comment/issue resolved.

Appearance of Facilities

Customers expect:

• To be welcomed upon entry
• A clean and tidy environment
• Display of products/services.

Appearance of Self

Customers expect:

• Professional and personable demeanor
• Knowledge about the products or services
• Willingness to help.

Face to Face Contact

Customers expect:

• Tidy and well-groomed appearance
• Undivided attention
• We will look at some of these in more detail in the following chapters.

2.3    Who are your Customers?

Identifying customers isn’t always easy, especially for agencies with more than one mission. To identify your specific customers, ask yourself the following questions.

Who does business with you? Who receives benefit, information, or has an interest in how your company conducts its business? Once you have answered these questions, you have identified your customers. In your daily job performance you will have two different types of customers – external and internal.

A customer is anyone who makes use of your products or services provided by an individual or an organization. Customers can be classified into two main groups, external customers or internal customers.

• External customers are the individuals, businesses, suppliers and competitors that are the end users of your organization’s products or services.
• Internal customers work in the same organization, perhaps in a different department or branch. They are the people that you speak to or work with during the day.

Many people adopt the attitude to treat internal customers differently to external customers. This behavior should be discouraged and internal customers are to be treated with the same level of service as that given to external customers.

3    Telephone Techniques

The telephone, by design, limits and distorts communication between people. In the absence of body language, misinterpretations can be common and frustrating to both employee and customer. If not properly trained in telephone customer service, employees can become easily intimidated, which can result in bad telephone service or even ignoring the telephone altogether. This behavior will result in customers not getting the service they expect, and in return you will not get the customers’ business.

The goal of a very famous and often quoted (and misquoted) study by Alfred Mehrabian was to figure out how much of what we say contributes to whether the listener likes the speaker. Although the study has been hotly debated, the findings were indisputable. For the people that participated in the study, the words themselves contributed only about 7% to whether the listener connected to the speaker. Listeners got much more information (38%) when they could also see facial expressions; when they were also able to read body language, the results were even better, at 55%.

This is often generalized to mean that in all communications:

• 7% comes through the spoken word
• 38% is realized through voice tone
• 55% is the result of body language.

If we look at those numbers quickly, we might think that it cannot be true. An e-mail is written and is not limited to 7% worth of understanding. Similarly, we cannot watch a person speaking in a foreign language and understand 93% of what they say. However, there are important implications for working in a contact centre and providing customer service over the phone. Since you are limited to speaking over the phone, you know that you have about a 7% potential to be heard. You also have complete control over your vocal tone, which is another 38% of your message. And, did you know that your body language, although your listener cannot see it, could be used to your advantage in a small way too?

As we deal with customers over the telephone, we need to remember that it is a substitute for face-to-face conversations. Therefore we need to work at finding ways to compensate for what we are missing out on:

• We cannot see facial expressions, manners, reactions
• We cannot see what the other person is doing
• We cannot lip-read what the other person is saying
• We cannot use illustrations to help them understand.

3.1    Answering the telephone

The rules for answering a telephone are simple but they need to be continually reviewed and practiced. Following are the most basic ones, which should always be employed.

Use the four answering courtesies:

• Greet the caller
• State your organization (or department)
• Introduce yourself
• Offer your help.

“Good afternoon, Accounts, Andrew Smith speaking. How may I help?”

Show enthusiasm when you answer the phone to help make the caller feel welcome. A tired voice lacking in enthusiasm is very unappealing and reflects on the professionalism of your organization.

Use friendly phrases as part of your greeting.

“Thank you for calling” and “May I help you?”

Remember to smile as you pick up the receiver. It may help if you have a mirror on your desk, this way you will be able to see how you sound on the telephone. Also, as a reminder, tape the word ‘Smile’ on your phone.

When you finish your telephone conversation there are some appropriate and courteous statements that should always be made. You should:

• Thank the caller
• Let the caller know you appreciate his/her business
• Provide assurance that any promises will be fulfilled
• Leave the caller with a positive feeling
• Let the caller hang up first.

3.2    Putting customers on hold

What to do when you have to put customers on hold:

• Ask them if you can put them on hold
• Tell them how long they will be on hold
• Assure them that you will be working for them while they are on hold (tell them what you will be doing away from the phone)
• Wait for their response
• When you get back to them, thank them for holding.

3.3    Transferring customers on the telephone

Tell customers what you can do for them. Avoid saying, “I can’t help you”, “That is not my responsibility” or “This department does not handle that”. By giving the name of the correct person or department, you are helping the customer, so state your sentence positively. For example, “Mrs. Jones in our service area can help you with that.”

Own the contact (or complaint!). Give the customer your name, department and phone number. This is especially necessary for telephone transfers. In case the customer gets cut off or transferred to the wrong area, he/she will have the necessary information to contact the appropriate person. Also, to save yourself from repeating information, ask if he/she has a pencil ready to copy down the information.

Inform the next employee. Fill him/her in on the details of your conversations with this customer. Also tell the next employee what the customer said as well as what his/her attitudes and feelings were.

3.4    Making a problem call

Anytime you have to make a difficult call there are important steps to follow. Even though you may not be calling to sell a product, the basic steps of a successful telemarketing call still apply.

• Before you make your call, develop an action plan
• Greet the customer in a friendly way
• Introduce yourself and your company
• State the purpose of the call
• Deliver your message in friendly, clear and business like way, leaving room for questions
• State customer benefits/options/alternatives, if appropriate
• Ask for agreement.

Here’s an example:

3.5    Enhancing your communication

If you work in a contact centre environment and perhaps feel like you are at a disadvantage because of the lack of face to face interaction, there are several things that you can do to enhance your communication. For example, if we meet people in person and feel that they are not telling the truth, we often check out the alignment between what they say, how they say it, and their body language.

Here are some things to keep in mind about using body language to your advantage over the phone:

• Eyes, eyebrows, and mouth send out signals that can make a world of difference.
• People who smile are happier than those who don’t. Smiling releases a chemical in your brain that makes you feel good. It’s a great way to establish a rapport with listeners.
• Hang a small mirror at your face level or keep it in a drawer of your desk. Each time you are about to answer a call, smile into the mirror. The benefit will be a small chemical release for you and your voice will carry the “sound” of your smile. This is a very effective technique.
• Sit up straight, and position your script and computer screen to be at the correct level in order to help you convey your message effectively. If you are staring off into space or distracted by sights and sounds in your office, your voice will give your distraction away.
• If you were doing sales in person, we would recommend that you learn to speak with your hands. In the contact centre, however, it is important to keep your hands still. If you are gesturing while on the phone, you can pull your head away from the microphone and create noise, or move too far away from the microphone for your voice to be easily heard. Keep your hands close to your body; hovering over a keyboard and typing or taking notes is as much movement as you will need during a call.
• Work on appearing sincere and comfortable. This means that you need to speak in a voice that is sincere, and that you know your script and potential responses. You should also get accustomed to your headset.
• If you are inputting responses on a keyboard while on the phone, make sure that you type quietly and that your keyboard does not have noisy rattles that your caller can overhear. When the caller notices a lot of noise, including people talking in the background or you tapping your pen on your desk, they will think that you are not paying attention to their needs.

So, learn to watch for these signs and adjust your approach. Sometimes simply taking one step back, or ceasing to talk, getting the other person to talk to you instead, will be all it takes to ease the tension.

3.5.1    Exercise

Study the script below, and then answer the questions at the end of the script.

The following is an imaginary transcript of a telephone call, which a customer makes to a store called Highcrofts. In the following exchange, the sales assistant clearly fails to handle the call very well and fails to follow correct procedures. Try to spot the mistakes the sales assistant makes.

4    Face-to-face and one-to-one contact

As more and more communication in the workplace, at all levels, is done electronically, face-to-face discussion can easily fall by the wayside.

While the speed and volume of communication increases with e-mail, voicemail and instant messaging, some of the dialogue, relationship building and the personal touch can start to disappear.

Personal discussion is the foundation of communication. Once this foundation is established, it enables all of the other forms of communication. Having a personal connection builds trust and minimizes misinterpretation and misunderstanding.

While the majority of business leaders say their organization would be more productive with more personal discussion, many people fall back on technology to do the communicating.

Using e-mail rather than personal discussion can also delay decision-making. Many people find that executives avoid conversation because they may be forced to make a decision or express an opinion.

If they can keep communications within e-mail, they can continually pass the buck around or back without having to commit. Management by failure to act may be the new favored process. This in turn will evolve into a vicious cycle of bad customer service.

4.1    First Impressions

First impressions determine whether or not a customer will trust you to meet their needs. Often, you will have less than a minute to make that impression.

If you are able to demonstrate that you are both interested and capable of looking after them, you have succeeded in giving a good first impression. However, if you give your customer any reason to doubt, you can guarantee they won’t be sticking around.

In our personal lives, we often realize that our first impressions about someone may be quite wrong. However, in customer service, we don’t always have the luxury of improving or revising a first impression. If a customer does not get what they expect, they won’t waste their time waiting for you to prove them wrong.

4.1.1    To the customer you are the company

Customers don’t distinguish between you and the organization you work for, nor should they. To your customer’s way of thinking, you are the company. Customers don’t know how things get done behind doors marked “employees only.” They don’t know your areas of responsibility, your job description, or what you personally can and cannot do for them. And they don’t care. To customers, those things are your business, not theirs.

Their attitude and focus is clear and straightforward: “Help me with this purchase, please.” “Serve me my meal.” “Solve my problem.” “Process my order now.” Whether customers’ feelings about the company are good or bad often relates directly to their experience with you and the way you help meet their needs.

Each interaction between a customer and a service professional is one moment in the chain of the customer’s experience. If you’re a service person, and you get it wrong at your link in the chain, you are very likely erasing from the customer’s mind all the memories of good treatment he or she may have had up to that moment. But if you get it right, you have a chance to undo all the wrongs that may have happened before the customer got to you.

4.1.2    Presenting Yourself

It is still important to present yourself correctly in the workplace even after you have got the job. First impressions are created in seconds and once formed, are hard to change. It is important to demonstrate you are both capable and interested in looking after the customer to succeed in giving a good first impression.

Different businesses have different dress codes. Some may have uniforms specific to their business while others may be required to wear suits. Depending on the company you work for, you are required to wear clothing that is appropriate for your workplace. If you are working for a property company, your dress code will be quite different to working in a spare parts shop.

Be mindful of where you work and how the work impacts upon your dress code. We like to think we do not get judged by what we wear, but the truth is we do. There are some basic rules to follow when unsure of what to wear.

Women should wear conservative, fitting clothing that does not show any undergarment. Clothing should be clean, pressed and of appropriate size and length. Darker colors appeal to the more conservative employer and customer.

In terms of makeup, the workplace it is best to use natural colors and kept to a minimum.

Men are also required to put effort into their appearance. It’s important to be either clean shaven, or for those men with a beard or moustache, it is important to keep it clean and well groomed.

Cologne, aftershave and perfume should always be subtle in smell and application.

Presenting yourself in the right manner is not just about dressing right. Having the appropriate clothing and being well groomed is important, but it is also the slight subtlety’s of your body language and mannerisms which also purvey messages.

So how can you make a good impression? Think about your answers to some of the following:

4.2    Does Listening Mean Hearing?

Listening and hearing is not the same thing. Listening does not mean simply looking at a person while they talk, or adding the occasional nod or “yes” Listening means actively seeking to understand another person.

When a customer approaches you, are you really hearing what they are saying? A simple example of listening vs. hearing could be when you are watching a television program. You may be watching and listening; if your mind has wandered you will no longer be truly hearing what is being said. If someone was to ask you, ‘what just happened?’ you may not be able to tell them.

Quality customer service will always address the following:

• Listening for names
• Listening with interest
• Losing assumptions
• Listening for what isn’t said.

4.2.1    What is Active Listening?

Active listening is a structured way of listening and responding to other people. During a conversation, it is easy to become distracted or to plan what you will be saying next rather than concentrating on what the other person is saying. Subtle ways of poor listening which are visible to customers are shifting eye contact away from the person talking and folded arms.

There are 3 major ways to demonstrate active listening, which are:

Non-verbal communication

When you are talking to and listening to someone, you are probably speaking with your body just as much, if not more so, than your mouth. Your gestures, movements and behaviors clearly show your engagement with the conversation.

Responding to Cues

Throughout a conversation, we respond to verbal and non-verbal cues. When you are listening, there are times you may nod, say ‘mmm’ or show facial expressions that demonstrate an active response to the person speaking.

Paraphrasing, Clarifying and Summarizing

An active listener will ensure they understand the other person. They do this by recapping on what was said, asking questions or summarizing the speaker’s point. This demonstrates to the speaker that you were listening, were interested, and were concentrating on what they were saying.

4.2.2    How do I become a better listener?

There are many easy ways to become better listener. Repeating back to the speaker either single words or phrases which they have said provides an economical way of encouraging the speaker. However, if this method is overused it can sound stilted and contrived.

One of the most effective ways to ensure you hear the message being sent to you is simply paraphrase (use your own words) in ‘parroting’ back the message to the sender.

When doing this, strive to:

• Repeat the facts
• Share the thoughts and beliefs you heard
• Convey any underlying feelings and emotions you believe are involved.
• Take the time to communicate the message sender’s wants, needs and expectations.

The most successful listener responds to the words they hear as well as the feelings and intent. By doing this you ensure you receive the entire message every time.

Summarizing is essentially longer paraphrases. Using them enables the listener to offer an organized overview of what the speaker has said, by bringing together important ideas or groups of concerns. It is a useful way to make clear information and feelings.

An example of paraphrasing would be when a speaker has presented a complicated issue and the listener might say: “I’d like to check that I understand you,” then summarizes what the speaker has said and ask “is that how it seems?” This gives the speaker an opportunity either to correct any misunderstandings, or to add to, or reconsider what they have said.

4.2.3    It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it

Almost the entire message you project to your customer over the phone is communicated through your tone of voice. Your tone reveals what you think and feel. More than that, your tone lets a caller know how you feel. Also, pay attention to your vocal quality, consisting of rate, pitch, volume, clarity, and tone. Is your voice rate too fast or too slow? Fast talkers come across as untrustworthy or too busy to talk. Callers may think of slow talkers as inexperienced or disinterested.

Pitch is the highness or lowness of your voice. High-pitched talkers tend to grate on people’s nerves, while low-pitched talkers sound mechanical, almost robotic. Volume is how loud or soft you talk. Loud people are perceived as brash, overbearing; soft speakers are seen as shy, wimpy.

Clarity takes in how your words are understood. Do you articulate your words, or do you slur them together? Avoid dropping end consonants (”droppin’” for “dropping”) or mispronouncing words (”git” for “get”). Lastly, tone is the expressiveness in your voice. It makes up 38 percent of the communication message, so make it count. Be expressive.

To project good phone manners, when the phone rings, be ready. Be prepared to talk. Give your attention to the caller – the customer. Set aside whatever you are doing and focus on what the caller is saying. Listen to what they are asking. Paraphrase their comments so you understand what the caller means. Interact and verbally encourage the caller. Summarize the conversation to clear up any areas of misunderstanding. Although the caller can’t see them, use body gestures. Gestures allow you to be more expressive, more animated in your conversation. Ask clarifying questions.

4.2.4    Key Considerations for listening

When listening to speakers, it is important to remember the following:

• Fight the urge to identify with everything the speaker says to you. If you take everything and relate it to your own thoughts or experiences, you aren’t allowing yourself to understand the speaker’s message.
• Even if you feel certain you have the solution to the problem being conveyed to you, take the time to hear everything the sender is conveying before conveying this. Don’t spend all the time you should be listening working to come up with answers – you miss what is most important.
• While listening don’t disagree or debate with the speaker (if necessary that can come later). ‘Parrot’ the message then engage in empathetic and constructive dialogue, but after you have listened and heard all the speaker is conveying.
• Be supportive but don’t placate. Being liked or popular is not the goal here. Hearing the message and acting accordingly is.
• If you find yourself rushing to get something done and your mind is drifting to other events, you must attempt to let the speaker know that this is not the best time. Explain that you want to give them your undivided attention and arrange to meet at your earliest convenience.

4.3    Body Language

There are times that “Our actions can speak louder than our words.” Your ability to project positive body language to your customers will help make positive impressions. Although body language is not an exact science there are rules that apply.

• Make eye contact. When you are dealing with a customer, be sure to make eye contact with them, but do not stare at your customer. This will make them feel that you are paying attention to them and also will make sure they hear what you have to say. It’s difficult to hear someone if they are not looking at you when they speak.
• Appear friendly! Even if you are having a bad day, there is no need to take it out on your customer. Smile and try to help in a friendly way.
• Pay attention to the customer. Be sure to give the customer your full attention when you are assisting them. Do not ever talk on the phone when helping someone else.
• Your facial expressions will let everyone know what type of mood you are in. Be courteous. Smile, even if it hurts. Always be polite and courteous to your customers.
• To let a customer know that you are listening and concerned with what they are telling you, you should nod to allow the customer to know you are listening. Also, face the customers with your entire body to show them they have your undivided attention.
• Another part of body language is neatness. How we look has a big impact on how people perceive us. Our customers expect us to look professional on the job.
• The neatness of our work area is important if your customers see it. If your desk is piled high with papers, files, messages and clutter, customers will assume you’re slow and will inefficiently deal with their problem. If storage space is an issue, meet with customers in another area. Telling Customers About Your Agency.

4.4    Communications

Good customer service relies on effective communication as a means of gathering necessary details, providing information, and responding to customers concerns. This means that the service interaction must be built on clear, concise, and accurate communication skills.

The service provider and the customer must listen to one another and must speak in a way the other party can understand. This means the service representative must facilitate the interaction in ways that help customers give and receive information more effectively.

It is suggested that 70% of communication is done without speaking a word. This non-verbal communication is made up of our body language – how we act, react and what we show to others when we are with them.

There are nine basic components of non verbal communication which should be observed when interacting with customers to co-workers.

Sometimes the nonverbal messages we send are more powerful, more persuasive, and more revealing than the words we speak. When our non-verbal signals send a different message than our words, our customers can become confused; disorientated; or skeptical of our motives, actions, and interest in serving their needs.

A significant part of your success as a service professional will come from how you manage your face-to-face, non-verbal communications.

The flip side of non-verbal communication is knowing how to read the non-verbal cues of your customers. Almost everyone can look at other people and read their obvious body language. We know when others are happy, sad, calm, or upset.

4.4.1    Communication Barriers

No matter how good the communication system is, unfortunately barriers can and do often occur. This may be caused by a number of factors which can usually be summarized as being due to physical barriers, system design or additional barriers.

These barriers should not be used as an excuse for poor customer service. Each of these can be seen as a challenge, and working through those challenges can be incredibly rewarding. If you feel that you cannot communicate well with your customer, it is possible that you are taking the wrong approach.

Of course, there are some things that may make it more difficult to make a good impression for example:

• Noise
• Language
• Culture
• Disinterest
• Experience
• Education
• Emotion
• Vocabulary
• Mood.

5    Representations and Expectations

This chapter is about working effectively with customers and other people in your organization.

Where you are working as part of a team, it relates to how best to help your team to fulfill its purpose. You need to understand your team’s purpose and structure, your responsibilities within the team and the standards of work required of you and your team.

You need to show that you can find out what is required of you, and that you will let someone know if you are not able to meet those requirements.

You are also expected to take responsibility for many aspects of your own learning and for helping others in your team learn the skills and tasks that are required to work to standard.

The key desired outcomes from this section are that you will be able to:

• Work well as part of a team
• Work to the standards expected in your organization
• Maintain your own learning and improvement.

5.1    Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction refers to how happy you are with your job. Your mood and your emotions are the raw materials for any measure of job satisfaction. How you value yourself and what value you give to the business have a strong bearing on how you feel about your job.

There are many things that can influence your job satisfaction including:

• Rate of pay
• Responsibilities
• Variety of work
• Relationship with co-workers.

5.1.1    Exercise

This exercise is designed to:

• Get you thinking about your past experience and what you can learn from it
• Introduce you to the contents in this section
• Develop your desire to do it!

There is no right or wrong answers to this exercise. Treat this as an opportunity to think about your past experience and what you can learn from it.

You may think that you don’t have much experience to draw upon, but all of us have been to school, may be in sports teams and so on. You may find that your experience at school, in clubs or elsewhere is just as valuable when it comes to working effectively in your own organization.

5.2    Teamwork basics

Some good fundamentals for making a good team is to make sure you set clear objectives for the team and each team member. This ensures each member understands what their role is and how they contribute as an individual and team member.

Individuals and those working in teams need clear roles and responsibilities to guarantee tasks and procedures are completed correctly and efficiently.

Good teamwork is important when:

• The job is too big or complex
• If team members are sick, going on a holiday, study leave, etc.
• Teams usually do a better job than one person alone.

5.2.1    Exercise

Question 1 Table

When working as part of a team, there are certain things that are required of you. The following list identifies different facets required to work well in a team environment.

• Showing willingness and interest in helping the team perform well.
• Helping others in the team learn the skills and tasks that are needed so that the team can perform to the expected standards
• If you cannot do what colleagues are asking you to do, explaining the reasons clearly and politely
• Helpfully sorting out misunderstandings with your colleagues if they happen
• Being friendly, helpful and respectful in the contact you have with colleagues
• Promptly and sensitively reporting any difficulties in working with colleagues you can’t resolve yourself to the appropriate person

5.3    Working Effectively in Your Organization and resolving conflicts

5.3.1    Exercises

6    Employer Responsibility

While it is your responsibility to provide quality customer service, the company you work for has a responsibility to provide you with a working environment that you will be happy with.

When employees feel stressed, the results may be:

• Employee burn-out and absenteeism
• High turnover of staff
• Increased difficultly in attracting new employees
• Cost and inconvenience of training new staff
• Lower sense of pride in the organization
• Negative public view of the organization
• Increased stress-related illness

6.1    Meeting Expectations

If you are a service provider, customer expectations can pose a major challenge. This is because customers can be an unknown quantity and are wondrous creatures that can: grow, shrink, change shape, and change direction. They shift constantly, and they shift easily. How satisfied and dissatisfied your customers are, is determined by how well their expectations are initially set and your performance in meeting them.

Of course, customer satisfaction is influenced by a complex interplay of factors; it’s hardly as simple as plugging numbers into a formula and calculating the result.

Nevertheless, it is important to remember that your customers’ level of satisfaction can be affected by changes in their expectations or your performance. This means you have to pay attention to both. This is where things get tricky, because how you perceive your performance may differ from how your customers perceive it. So even if you are working yourself to the proverbial bone, if customers view you as unresponsive, then you are unresponsive – in their eyes.

The reverse is also true. If you really are unresponsive, but customers perceive that you deliver superior service, then you do (in their eyes). If your customers’ satisfaction level is changing, it’s important find out and analyze if something has happened; either at your end or theirs, to affect their expectations or perceptions. If satisfaction is rising, find out what you’re doing right, so you can keep doing it; if satisfaction is decreasing, figure out how to reverse the situation before it falls off the chart.

Make sure you don’t get so wrapped up in delivering service that you lose sight of your customers’ expectations and how well they think you are meeting them. Be conscientious in observing what is going on in your customers’ environment and your own that could affect their satisfaction level.

6.1.1    Exercise

Although this chapter has been mostly about how to meet customers’ expectations once they have made contact with the service provider, we’ve also looked at how providers try to attract customers through advertising and the promise of other services.

6.2    Responsive Service

Timeliness has always been important. Today, doing things in a timely manner is even more crucial. Just look at the number of companies that have been created to get things done quickly, like FedEx and Google.

A growing number of manufacturing companies are practicing just-in-time inventory management, ordering things to arrive just in time. Companies that cater to time-conscious customers are everywhere you look. Their success affects your customers’ expectations of your willingness and ability to do the same.

It is no wonder that your customers may be demanding tighter deadlines and faster service than ever before. When they see others promising fast, fast, fast, they expect the same from you. Companies that provide responsive service will affect your customers’ expectations of your willingness and ability to do the same.

Service standards are expectations-managing statements used to minimize uncertainty about when some specified event will occur. The “when” may be a specific date or time, or more often, a time frame within which the event will take place.

Consider these sample service standards:

Your own time frames may differ. The issue is not the specific time frames, but whether you have established service standards and communicated them. When customers complain about poor service, it’s often because of an absence of service standards that let them know what they can reasonably expect.

The preceding three standards, like most service standards, are intended to handle routine or recurring situations. But what about situations in which you don’t know what the time frame will be? For example, think about the last time (1) a malfunction occurred that had business impact, (2) you didn’t know what caused the problem, yet (3) customers immediately began demanding to know when service would be restored. In such a situation, what’s a non-psychic to do?

Unlike service standards for routine service, it may be wise to keep this kind of standard in reserve till it’s needed, so as not to worry customers about events that may never happen. Still, it pays to be ready. That’s one of the nice things about service standards: the situation they’re intended to address may be plagued by uncertainty, but there’s no uncertainty about what to tell customers.

Is a status announcement every 15 minutes better than departing on time? Not at all. And would it have been acceptable if every 15 minutes for the next six hours, we were told, “Sit tight. We still don’t have a clue”? Of course not. Clearly, this type of service standard has a practical limit. But when uncertainty-creating situations occur, most customers would rather have a little information than none at all.

6.3    Reliable Service

Reliability means keeping the service promise – doing what you say you will do for the customer. To the customer, the service promise has three distinct parts: organizational commitments, common expectations and personal promises.

Organizational commitments

Organizations make direct promises to customers through advertising and marketing materials, in company correspondence and contracts, and in service guarantees and policies published for everyone to see. In addition to these, customers will hold the company to indirect commitments – promises that the customers believe are implied in the way the company talks about itself, its products, and its services. Or customers may hold organizations to commitments that they believe are “standard” for the industry.

Common Expectations

Your customers bring additional expectations with them to every service transaction. Based on their past experiences with you and with other service providers, customers make assumptions about what you can and can’t do for them. Failing to meet a customer expectation, whether you knew about it or not – even whether you helped shape it or not – has the same impact as breaking any other promise.

Personal Promises

The majority of customer service promises come from you. These are the promises you make when you tell a customer, “I’ll get right back to you with that information” or “You should expect to receive that package in two weeks,” or “I understand the problem you are having with your computer, and this software support download will solve it.” You are underwriting those promises, and customers will hold you accountable to keep them.

Tangibles

Service is hard to describe in tangible, physical terms. It is the quality of what is accomplished, not the quantity of the time involved. One of the major complications in providing service comes from the fact that so much of it is intangible. Yet in every service encounter, there are tangibles before, during, and after the fact that affect the way customers judge the quality of the service you are providing. For example, if you work in a hotel and a customer asks you for directions to an off-property restaurant and you point the way, that’s intangible. Drawing a map is a way to make the service tangible.

Above and Beyond

Delivering service above and beyond what is required and expected can only deliver good results. When customers feel their needs are being satisfied beyond their expectations you will find they will be more inclined to tell others about your good service and return to you in the future to get the same service they experienced in the past.

Representation

If you are contacted by a customer, you are being entrusted to meet the service expectations of the customer, but also to meet the business expectations of the company.

When you work in the customer services environment, you are the ‘face’ of the company you work for. Whether it is over the phone, face-to-face, or via email, it is your responsibility to demonstrate the quality of that company.

Even though customers may have only met or spoken to one person, their opinion of the company is often derived from that one encounter. If you look back on your own experiences as a customer, and how that experience, positive or negative, has affected your decision to return to that particular company.

As a company representative, it is important to maintain a positive attitude to ensure your customer feels welcome. This can mean a world of difference between a friendly customer and an ill-tempered, dissatisfied customer.

What does the business expect?

Depending on what sort of company you work for, and what position you are in, the customer service expectations can be very different. Think of four things your company would expect from you with regards to customer service.

7    Handling Complaints

Complaints offer businesses an opportunity to correct immediate problems. In addition, they frequently provide constructive ideas for improving products, adapting marketing practices, upgrading services, or modifying promotional material and product information.

While occasional problems with service of merchandise are, to some extent, inevitable, dissatisfied customers are not. Companies can learn to recover from mistakes. A good recovery can turn angry, frustrated customers into loyal ones.

Recognizing the importance of responding fairly and efficiently to buyer disappointment in the marketplace, many businesses have established effective and innovative systems for resolving consumer complaints. Within any industry, those companies with a positive philosophy and a reputation for fair complaint-management have a competitive edge.

When a customer complains, try the following:

• Be understanding with the customer
• Apologize and acknowledge the problem
• Accept responsibility.

Be understanding with the customer. This is different from sympathy, where you take on someone else’s problem. Try to understand how the person is feeling.

Apologize and acknowledge the problem. You don’t have to agree with the customer, but express regret that there is a problem. People want to be heard, and no one’s complaint is trivial. Each deserves prompt handling; so do not deal with it in a trivial manner.

Accept responsibility. Make sure something is done. Take it upon yourself to do something. Many times, that’s all people want: the reassurance that something will be done.

People want to be helped. They want to know that you care. Use these phrases to get that sentiment across: “How can I help you?”, “What can I do for you?” or “I’ll make sure this message/information gets to the right person.”

The acceptance of responsibility may be as simple as forwarding the call to the appropriate individual or sending the caller more information. If you do forward the caller to someone else on your staff, follow up with that person to make sure the customer was taken care of.

When dealing with complaining customers refer to this checklist to ensure your customer walks away happy and satisfied.

7.1    The Customer is always right

“The customer is always right.” These words are probably familiar. They are also wrong. Each and every employee knows the real truth behind this slogan: Customers are not always right, but they are always our customers.

Studies conducted by Arlington, Virginia-based TARP, a premier service research firm even prove it scientifically. TARP finds that customers cause about a third of the service and product problems they complain about. Blindly believing or acting as if you believe the customer is always right, can be detrimental to you and your customer.

Caution: ‘Customers-are-always-right’ thinking can put a stop to problem solving and customer education. You can’t correct a problem or a customer’s misconception if you can’t admit that it exists.

Many times when customers cause problems – or believe untrue things – it’s because we haven’t taught them any differently. We are so familiar with the products we sell and the services we supply that we forget how much there is to know, how much we have to help our customers learn.

Knowing that the customer is always the customer, not the problem, the enemy, or the bane of your existence, helps focus your effort where it belongs – on keeping the customer.

The goal of every service transaction is, and must be, to satisfy and delight customers in ways that will keep them coming back for more.

7.2    Dealing with Difficult Customers

There can be times when you would prefer particular customers to leave your business. For example, a customer might repeatedly harass your staff or tamper with merchandise or displays.

Take care when dealing with difficult customers. If you want them to leave, make sure it is because of their behavior, not because of a personal characteristic, or you could be unlawfully discriminating.

The staff need to understand your policies, how to communicate well and what steps to take if a problem escalates. Here are some tips for dealing with problem customers.

• If a customer is aggressive or angry, listen to the problem and acknowledge it before trying to fix it. For example, say: “You seem upset about this, let’s see what we can do about it.”
• Don’t take it personally. Be calm and sincere. Maintain an open and attentive body posture.
• If the customer is making a complaint, follow your complaint handling policy.
• Know who to consult if a problem escalates – for example, refer it upward to a manager.
• Trust your instincts. If a person is behaving aggressively or strangely, do not put yourself at risk.
• Politely ask the person to calm down. If they do not calm down, ask them to leave. Do not try to touch them or shepherd them off the premises.
• If the person continues to behave aggressively, stay in public view and call a manager or the police if necessary.

7.2.1    How to respond to a complaining customer

Listen with understanding. Identify with the customer and “own” the complaint. This defuses anger and demonstrates your concern. Tell the customer something such as, “I am sorry you have been inconvenienced. Tell me what happened so that I can help you.” It is vital to show a sincere interest and willingness to help. The customer’s first impression of you is all important in gaining co-operation.

No matter what caused the problem, do not blame others or make excuses. Instead, take the responsibility and initiative to do whatever you can to solve the problem as quickly as possible.

Paraphrase and record what the customer tells you. Whenever you hear an important point, say, “Let me make sure I understand: you were promised delivery on the 15th and you did not receive the product until the first of the following month. Is that correct?”

Find out what the customer wants. Does he or she want a refund, credit, discount or replacement? The customer is complaining because he or she has a problem and wants it solved as quickly as possible.

You are more likely to experience problem customers at busy times of the year. Make sure that you have adequate staffing and that they all know how to handle difficult situations if they arise, including short-term casual workers.

Of course, not everyone will be happy, no matter what you do. Some people will just like being grumpy. Usually, these are the people who want to talk to the person “above you.” If that is what it takes to lessen their anger, then do so. By the time they have been transferred to a supervisor, they have often become calmer and less demanding. It seems that they just needed to vent their anger at someone: you. Just remember that most people are not that way and keep a firm grip on your positive attitude.

There is one small group of irate callers that has to be addressed here: the swearers. You may not get swearers very often, but when you do, how do you handle them?

First, call attention to the swearer’s vulgar language by saying, “Sir/madam, I can handle your problem, but I am not able to handle the swearing. I respectfully ask that you stop.”

In most instances, making callers aware of what they are saying will halt the swearing. However, if it does not stop, tell the caller that you do not need to listen to swearing. Let them know that you are transferring their call to a supervisor. If your supervisor is not available, tell the caller that you are going to hang up and let them know that you are willing to help them when they are calmer.

No one should have to listen to verbal abuse.

Telephone Scenario

There are three ways to make customers right, these are:

• Assume Innocence. “Guilty to proven innocent” doesn’t play well with customers. Just because what they are saying sounds wrong to you, don’t assume that it is. It may be that they are simply explaining what they need or want poorly, or that the directions they should have received were missing or misleading. Choose your words carefully. “I see what happened. This disc is a CD-R, not a CD-RW. Information can only be saved to it once, not over and over. Here’s what I can do…”
• Look for teaching opportunities. What information could your customers have used before the misunderstanding occurred? Make sure they get it now. “I’m glad you brought this to my attention. The information you needed was here in your packet, but I can see how it would be easy to miss, buried under so many other papers. Let’s review your packet to see if I can head off any other surprises.”
• Believe you customer. Sometimes, the customer you initially think is 100% wrong will turn out to be right – or at least partly right- after all. The customer might, for instance, just be explaining the problem or complaint to you poorly. If you’ve ridden roughshod over the request or complaint, you’re going to find yourself wolfing down a heaping of humble pie. The point of knock your socks off service is to keep customer relationships intact. When in doubt, give your customer the benefit of the doubt. “Let’s check the advertising flyer to verify that the price you saw for this model. Sure enough, there it is. Thanks for pointing that out to me. I’ll make sure we get the shelf tags corrected so everyone knows which model is on sale.”

7.2.2    Taking Responsibility

Taking Responsibility for the Customer complaint – it doesn’t mean it is your fault!

Taking responsibility and accounting for your actions is a matter of integrity, for both the employee and employer.

Below is a checklist to help you take responsibility for customer complaints and improve customer service relations in the long term.

7.2.3    Exercise

The regional director of a furniture provider received the following letter from a customer. Read this letter carefully, and then consider the questions posed at the end of this exercise.

7.3    Problem Solving

The service provider needs to find ways to give the customer the sense of security that comes from working with a knowledgeable professional, without undermining or threatening the customer’s decisional prerogatives and leaving intact the customer’s sense of control of the situation.

Things don’t always work out right. It is simply the law of averages. No matter how hard you try for perfection, sometimes you make a mistake. Sometimes your customer is wrong and sometimes you just find yourself dealing with a difficult individual – someone who is never satisfied and tests your patience as well as your skills.

Being able to solve problems – to rescue the situation when it appears bleakest – is a key element in providing great service. It makes your job easier. It makes the company’s business run smoother and it’s also a tremendous way to mend relationships with your customers and make them even more loyal.

The service provider needs to find ways to give the customer the sense of security that comes from working with a knowledgeable professional, without undermining or threatening the customer’s decisional prerogatives and leaving intact the customer’s sense of control of the situation.

Although complaints make a company look bad, they help detect flaws and improve the quality of products and services; but even more important than that, they constitute an excellent opportunity to show customers how valuable they are, to surprise them with an outstanding solution process and to significantly strengthen their loyalty.

All companies fail every once in a while; that’s inevitable. The difference between service leaders and the rest is how they respond when they make a mistake that causes dissatisfaction in a customer. Legendary organizations such as Ritz-Carlton hotels, the Home Depot store chain or Cathay Pacific airline, from Hong Kong, understand very well the value of complaints and have clearly outlined the steps that need to be followed to efficiently address them.

Certainly, the best way to solve a problem is to do things right the first time so that it never happens, but when things do go awry it’s important that the staff is ready to respond accordingly.

The key relies in giving employees three things:

• The responsibility of effectively handling customer complaints
• Enough empowerment to make decisions they consider necessary to reach that goal (within certain boundaries)
• A frame of action or procedure that guides them throughout the process so as to achieve complaint management consistency across the organization.

It is precisely for this last point that we now present a guideline with the basic steps any employee must follow to transform a negative customer experience into a memorable one.

7.4    Bad customer service

The true essence of outstanding customer service is respect. The consumer is an educated buyer – they are not there to become your new best friend, so don’t treat them like one. Respect their position because effectively, they are your boss. Without your customers you won’t generate any income and therefore, will not have a business. To provide customer service guaranteed to bring them back think of how you like to be treated when you’re the customer.

Here are 10 things guaranteed to leave a bad impression:

• Making a customer wait while you are having a personal conversation with someone, either on the phone or in person
• Not acknowledging the customer when they first enter the store
• Not being able to answer a customer’s questions about your products/services
• Giving the customer the impression that you are too busy to spend time helping them
• Not smiling – not even once
• Being too friendly, e.g. patting the customer on the back, or putting a hand on their shoulder, invading their personal space
• Being too enthusiastic
• Trying to over-sell
• Having poor personal hygiene or dress standards
• Not saying ‘thank you’ when the customer leaves.

There are many different things that annoy different customers. The ones listed above are just a few. However, when in doubt, always remember that the consumer writes your pay check so treat them like a boss – with respect, courtesy, tact and diplomacy.

7.4.1    Exercise

Read the following examples and list the bad customer service used and how to correct it.

7.5    Improving things for your customer

When improving customer service in your workplace, it is important to know why customers conduct their business with you. It may be as simple as it being close to their place of business or that you have attractive displays and catalogs. Whatever the reason a customer chooses to do business with you, there is only one reason why they won’t, because their needs weren’t satisfied.  

To improve your customer service it is important to always be innovative. Whatever sets you apart from the crowd will always attract a customer’s attention. It can be as simple as having a catchy jingle on the radio or a logo that is recognized by thousands, even millions of people.

7.5.1    Exercise

8    Customer Rights

On March 15, 1962 former US President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech which declared the four basic consumer rights:

• The right to safety
• The right to be informed
• The right to choose
• The right to be heard.

In recent years, through the consumer movement there has been an addition of four more rights:

• The right to satisfaction
• The right to redress
• The right to education
• The right to a healthy environment.

8.1.1     Exercise

8.2    Guidelines and Policies

With the UN’s adoption of the guidelines, consumer rights were finally elevated to a position of international recognition and legitimacy, acknowledged by developed and developing countries alike. Unfortunately they can continue to be ignored or trivialized by governments, producers and powerful interests.

Many countries, states, provinces and companies have their own consumer rights and policies which they enforce and adhere to. Being aware of the consumer rights which are applicable to your customers is important when encountering a situation where these rights need to be enforced.

When a consumer is purchasing goods, their legal rights will include:

• Goods must be of a satisfactory quality
• In appearance or finish
• Must not have any defects
• Be fit for the purpose for which they are intended
• Goods match their description
• Goods must be safe for use or consumption.

If these rights are not satisfied after purchase, the customer has a right to compensation or asks the retailer to repair or replace the goods.

There are times when the law does not apply, for example:

• A customer has examined the goods before sale and any fault was obvious.
• The retailer has pointed out the defect in question
• When customers have damaged the goods themselves
• When the customer has made a mistake e.g. “I don’t like the color” or “It’s the wrong size.”
• The customer has seen cheaper goods elsewhere.

Distance selling is becoming more popular with the internet and shop-from-home companies that make it easier to buy from interstate and overseas. Distance selling includes:

• Telephone of fax
• Mail order
• Electronically via the internet, email or television
• Shopping channel or teletext
• Catalog
• Newspaper or magazine advertisement order form.

Goods can be damaged before sending or during transit, so it is very important to be aware of your rights that cover distance selling.

Guarantees like a contract because they are legally binding and should be provided to the customer at the point of purchase. The customer should always be made aware, by the retailer, of the importance of looking after the guarantee and of reading it straightaway.

When dealing with a customer about faulty goods, always be sure to take it seriously. Customers will not be slow to complain about faulty goods and service so be sure to give customers clear advice from appropriate government agencies. Always remember that selling faulty goods results in bad publicity and the retailer is always the loser.

8.2.1    Customer Rights Quiz

9    Targets and Goal Setting

In the previous chapters, the focus was primarily on staff and customer behavior, the interaction between the two, learning how to communicate, and what we mean by ‘customer expectations’. We also looked at Customer Rights, and how to handle complaints.

As a result of this learning, you will now have a good basic grounding in how to deal with customers. In this next chapter we will start to look at how you and your organization must continuously try to improve the customer service you deliver, and why there is always room for improvement.

These changes can be physical, in terms of the look and layout of the shop/store/office etc; with the selection and pricing of merchandise; or other services, which the provider introduces such as loyalty and incentive schemes.

When working for a customer service provider, everyone has a responsibility to support new changes, which the organization may introduce, and to present these changes positively to customers.

In this chapter we also see how members of the customer service team are encouraged to develop their own ideas, and how to present them within the organization.

You will be engaged in a series of exercises designed to stimulate and test your ideas and initiative.

9.1    Setting SMART Goals

Goals should be straightforward and emphasize what you want to happen. Specifics help us to focus our efforts and clearly define what we are going to do. Specific is the what, why and how of the SMART model. It is most important that the goals you set are specific, clear and easy. This ensures you will reach your goals and will be encouraged further to set even higher goals in the future.

S – When we made our goals too general, we aren’t able to visualize them, and if we can’t see them, we have a hard time devoting our efforts toward reaching them. We are more apt to do a good job of redecorating the bathroom if we have a picture in our mind of how it will look when it’s done.

M – If we can’t measure a goal, we have no idea how close we are getting to reaching it, and that can be de-motivating. For example, let’s say you have decided you will save some money from every pay check in order to take a vacation this summer. But if you don’t set a specific amount each pay, and you don’t have an amount you want to reach, you are less apt to put the money away.

A – We sometimes think that we should set high targets or goals for ourselves, in order to grow and stretch. Well, we do want to grow and stretch, but if we set goals that aren’t doable, we soon get discouraged and we stop trying. The really high achievers in the world know this. They set goals that they know they can reach, and when they get there, they set another goal they know they can reach. They climb the mountain one foot at a time.

R – Goals have to make sense, and have some importance, or they will soon be discarded. Set goals that make sense to you.

T – Put a deadline on your goals. Deadlines are great for getting things done. And put these goals in writing, so everyone will remember them all the time.

9.2    Standards

Standards, expectations or targets are good because they give us something to strive for. They tell us what we have to do to have our supervisors say our work is satisfactory

Standards should meet or exceed the expectations of our customers. The only way to do this is to ask customers, on an ongoing basis, if they are satisfied with the service.

9.3    Consistency

If you want your business to be seen by the public as dependable, trustworthy, and reliable, then you and your employees need to ensure a consistent experience every day at every location by every employee.

Customers expect a certain ‘range’ of consistency when conducting business with you. If the company’s actions fall below their range of expectations, then they are disappointed. You may find your dealings with these customers will slow down or even cease completely. When it is the opposite and your company meets or exceeds your customers’ expectations, most likely you will do business with them again. If you really exceed their expectations, you may find your company will be the subject of positive word of mouth advertising.

The bottom line is, you want to deliver a consistent customer service experience. When it is not consistent, you want the reason to be because you exceeded customer expectation, not because your company fell short.

How do you ensure that all your employees are delivering consistent positive customer service experiences?

Answer the following questions with a yes or no and provide a reason for your choice.

9.3.1    Exercise

9.4    Communicating Improvements back to the customer

In this chapter we are going to look at the importance of communicating changes in service to the customer and how to do so effectively. It is also important that the improvements, once made, are continually measured to monitor and adjust accordingly.

Effectively communicating to customers about changes and improvements will ensure the customer understands the reason for the changers and the benefits to them. The relationship between the store and the customer can be viewed as a type of partnership. Partners will always know what the other half is doing so never lose the opportunity for good publicity that will communicate to your customers and benefit your organization in the long term.

Changes in the service industry are inevitable. Making sure your customers are aware of these changes well in advance is always a must. No matter how big or small the change in service, an apology to the customer for any inconvenience caused is an essential courtesy to be displayed with your notification of change.

When it is not changes or improvements, but additional services to advertise to customers, make sure customers are made aware of what you are doing and about the extra services which will be provided. Deliver these messages with well presented in-store notices and leaflets which can be handed out to customers.

The monitoring and evaluating of improvements should include how they have impacted and improved customer service as well as the reaction of customers to these changes. Discussing the impact of changes upon employees is important to resolve any misunderstandings and negative attitudes that can impact poorly upon the delivery of great customer service. It is crucial to remember to support the changes which others may be responsible for because a time may come when you may be responsible for a change.

Always be on the lookout for the next improvement to be made. This will encourage positive behavior in the workplace and show initiative to your superiors.

9.4.1    Exercise

9.5    Improving your own Customer Service

There is no such thing as perfect customer service, which is why there is always room for further improvement. There are many ways we can improve our customer service, not just as an individual, but as part of a business too.

When looking for improvement areas, always refer to who and why it impacts the most– you as an employee and your customers.

Some key elements to remember when aiming to improve customer service is by learning from our previous mistakes and listening to all customer feedback, so that it can be used to improve service strategies and processes.

Knowing why your customers are coming to you for service is essential to improving your customer service. These days, with many stores having competitors in such close proximity, it is important to maintain excellent service standards to aid not just customer loyalty, but positive word of mouth.

The following is an excerpt from a retail store customer feedback from.

The information gathered from customer feedback forms allow the business to adapt their service and store to the customers wants and needs. Identifying key areas for concern encourages the business staff to act accordingly, and exceed their customers’ expectations. The benefits of feedback are enormous and the best part about asking your customers for feedback is that it is free!

What are the benefits of feedback?

• For you?
• For customers?
• For your team and immediate colleagues?
• For your company?

9.6    Learning and Improving your performance

The world doesn’t sit still, so neither should you. Technology alone is advancing at an unbelievable rate and it is important to keep up to date with the latest offerings. Continually learning and improving your skills and knowledge will not only be a benefit to you, but your colleagues and employer. The benefits to you will include an increase in interest, satisfaction and motivation with your work. This positive behavior will increase your value and employability and in turn will lead to more responsibility and rewards.

With some positions it is a requirement to learn certain information and standards which can be found in your terms and conditions of employment, staff manual or your supervisor can instruct and advise. Seeking accurate feedback from relevant people on how well you do your job ensures you are on the right track to improving your skills and knowledge.

When seeking appropriate learning and improvement opportunities, there are many places where information can be found. It is always best to start with you Human Relations department and then seek other options outside your workplace. Some suggested places for learning opportunities are:

• Colleagues who can instruct and advise
• Training courses within your organization
• Training courses outside your organization
• Library books
• Self-study CDs
• Web searches.

Use the template below to make a simple plan of how you are going to continue your learning after finishing this program.

9.6.1    Working as part of a team Quiz

9.7    Presenting your ideas for improvement

Now that you have an understanding about gathering information and feedback this next section looks at how you should present your ideas for improvements to someone within your organization.

Whilst most and particularly larger organizations are managed within tightly established guidelines and procedures, the best of them encourage their employees to contribute creatively and constructively to the development of the business. So, it is important that you have the confidence both to think independently, and know how to present their ideas. However, procedures have to be observed. Ideas have to be presented in the proper manner and within the guidelines that are laid down by the organization.

The number one need of all people is to be accepted and appreciated (another way of saying loved). You can best meet this need by ensuring that people feel that YOU hear, understand, appreciate and include them. You do this by regularly being out there with your people in their world, talking with them, receiving information from them, and understanding their major obstacles and problems.

At the same time giving them information, helping them to see things in a new light or maybe understand more fully the reasons for a decision, or whatever is topical in your business right now. Importantly it is about you being out there with people and connecting at a real level, not just superficially.

Formal presentations are a powerful way to communicate your message about important HR programs and ideas and to persuade your audience to embrace your ideas. Keeping a logical flow to your presentations by having an introduction, narrative and finishing with a summary or conclusion gives your presentation structure.

Having an effective business presentation that will have the audience on their feet requires more than the usual factoid dropped into your PowerPoint.

Find a relevant fact beyond your topic norm. Give them the unexpected like an obscure and contradictory piece of information that will raise heads and stimulate discussion. Where do you find such information? Go past the typical quick search engine scan. Check out educational websites for new research, interview industry mavericks, or scour the business press.

PowerPoint expert Cliff Atkinson, author of Beyond Bullet Points says, “When you overload your audience, you shut down the dialogue that’s an important part of decision-making.”

He points to some important research by educational psychologists. When you remove interesting but irrelevant words and pictures from a screen, you can increase the audience’s ability to remember the information by 189% and the ability to apply the information by 109%.

A knockout business presentation is so captivating it makes you forget about the speaker and become absorbed in the talk. Practice your delivery over and over until you remove the distractions including nervous tics and uncomfortable pauses.

Pay particular attention to your body language. Is it non-existent or overly excessive? Good presenters will work the stage in a natural manner.

Business presenters will flirt with the temptation to deliver the stand up humor of Chris Rock. Remember your audience didn’t come to laugh; this is a business presentation. Leave your jokes at home. It’s ok to throw in a few natural off the cuff laughs but try not to overdo it.

Remember that you don’t need a box full of props. A few simple props to demonstrate a point can be memorable in the minds of your target audience. Management guru, Tom Peters, uses a cooking timer to show how quickly factory expansion is occurring in China.

A knockout business presentation doesn’t leave people wondering what you said. It might be tempting to throw in a few big words but you could be alienating your audience in the process. Always explain terms and acronyms because the number of smart executives who aren’t up on the latest terminology would surprise you.

Many corporate brains will turn off at the sight of yet another complicated Visio document or overworked PowerPoint presentation. Over 400 million desktops currently have the PowerPoint application. If you want your business to stand out, don’t be like everyone else. Use slides in your knockout presentation to highlight and emphasize key points. Don’t rely on your slide projector to run the show.

9.7.1    20 strategies for reducing stage fright

9.7.2    What support do I need?

Support from all aspects of the business is required to ensure customer satisfaction. A happy employee will always ensure happy customers. This is why managers and business owners need to support their staff to encourage confidence and pride within the workplace.

Good management trumps all. Survey after survey shows that people don’t leave organizations, they leave bosses. If front liners are respected, listened to, provided good working environments and recognized for their hard work, and if managers routinely keep their promises and take responsibility for company policies, it often holds more value in employees’ eyes than promotional opportunities, compensation, or health benefits.

10              The Final Quiz

This final quiz tests your knowledge and understanding of the content covered in the whole book, rather than on specific chapters. Some of the questions are similar to those in the previous quizzes, and are included to test your memory. Others are new questions and may prove to be a little harder. Try to complete as many questions as possible in the next 10 minutes, before checking the answer guide for the correct answers.

11              Glossary

12              Answer Guide

12.1Customer Rights Quiz

12.2Working as part of a team Quiz

12.3Final Quiz

13              Certification

13.1Customer Service Certification Pathway

Customer Service professionals need to know a whole lot more about the various ways of delivering services to the customers. It is no longer sufficient just to know the basics.

There have been so many changes in customer expectations and with service delivery, which is why we have created a completely new series of qualifications and certifications. The Customer Service Certification Scheme has been created to support students in their aim to gain relevant qualifications that practically apply to the ever-changing world of customer services.

13.2How does the Certification Pathway work?

First, you need to complete the foundation – The Customer Service Foundation Program which focuses on the fundamentals, general knowledge, terminology and BASIC concepts used in Customer Service. This program earns you 2 points toward your Customer Service Expert Certificate.

After this come the Customer Service Intermediate options. The pre-requisite for these programs is that you have the Customer Service Foundation certificate. We appreciate that you don’t need to know everything about each area of Customer Service so this is where the programs become more specialized:

• Customer Service and Call Centers
• Customer Relationship Management
• Customer Service and Sales
• Communication Strategies
• Conflict Resolution
• Public Speaking & Delivering Presentations
• Retail
• Decision Making & Public Speaking.

From the eight Customer Service Intermediate programs available, you will select a minimum of five programs to complete and progress to the Expert program, each Intermediate program earns you 3 points toward your Customer Service Expert Certificate (minimum 17 points entry requirement).

The next level is ‘Customer Service Expert’ program. This is specifically aimed at Customer Service Supervisors and Managers who wish to consolidate their knowledge and experience and achieve formal recognition of their skills. The program is worth 5 points.

13.3How do I achieve my Expert level?

Once you have gained your minimum of 22 points, you will have achieved Customer Service Expert status and receive your Customer Service Expert certificate.

14              References

Paul E. Spector (1997) Job Satisfaction, Application, Assessment, Causes, and Consequences. Sage Publications.

Janelle Barlow and Claus Moller (2008) A Complaint is a Gift. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

John Newstrom and Edward Scannell (1998) The big book of team building games. The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Paul R. Timm (2007) Customer Service: Career success through customer satisfaction, Prentice-Hall.

15              Index

A

anger   53, 60

apology   60, 78

assistance   44, 89, 115

audience   84-6

authority   92, 94, 99

B

bad publicity   69-70, 110

behavior   16-17, 28, 51, 57-8, 91, 106

body language   6, 17, 21, 26, 31-2, 34, 85, 88, 91, 114

business   12-13, 16, 20, 25-6, 36, 48-9, 51, 60, 62-3, 65, 75-6, 80-1, 84-5, 87, 92, 97-8

business expectations   47

business staff   81

C

caller   18-19, 21, 23, 29-30, 50, 53-4

calm   34, 52, 58, 60, 86

catalogue   5, 109

certification   8, 117

Code of Practice   92

Commitment To Service (CTS)   74

compensation   62, 67-8, 87

competence   33-4

competitors   16, 57, 80, 92, 94, 104

complaints   19, 41, 48-50, 52, 55, 58-9, 61-2, 70-1, 92-3, 110, 120

comply   97, 99-101

computing, cloud   117-18

conflict   41, 83, 112

consumer   63, 67-8

consumer rights   68

continuous improvement   74, 93-4, 96, 98

conversation   20, 24, 27-8, 30, 32, 61

costs   95

counter techniques   74

culture   32, 94

customer expectations   14, 42-3, 46, 77, 93, 95-6, 98, 101-2

customer feedback   80, 90, 93-4, 96, 98, 116

customer loyalty   12, 80, 97-8

customer rights   7, 66, 71, 97

customer satisfaction   14, 42, 87, 93-4, 97-8, 102-3, 120

customer service   6-7, 9-10, 12-15, 17, 25, 35, 48, 63-5, 71, 77-8, 80, 88, 91-106, 114, 116-18, 120

D

delivery   70, 78, 85-6, 109

designations   3

dissatisfied customers   48-9

dress codes   26

E

employees   17, 20, 42, 51, 54, 56, 59-60, 62, 75-6, 78, 80, 84, 87, 107

employer   56, 81

Employer Responsibility   7, 42

expectations   6, 12, 15, 29, 36, 42-3, 46-8, 62, 72, 75, 95

eye contact   31-2

F

facilities   15

faulty goods   69-70, 109-10

feedback   44, 76, 81-4, 112-13

front line staff   94, 99-100, 106

G

goals   7, 17, 30, 51, 59, 71-2, 102, 107

goods   67-70, 93, 102, 104, 109, 116

guarantees   25, 69, 89, 115

H

harassment   41, 83, 112

I

impression   23, 25, 27, 35, 63

incident   41, 64

individuals   16, 38, 73, 106-7

interaction   21, 25, 32-3, 60, 71, 73

L

laws   58, 68, 70, 88, 94, 97, 100, 109, 114

leader   20

learning   7, 36, 71, 80-2

legislation   92, 99-101

liability   3

listening   6, 27-8, 30-1, 33, 80

logic   50

M

manager   52, 57-8, 64, 77, 79, 87, 107

merchandise   49, 51, 71, 80

mission statement   101

model   55, 106

money   13, 60, 72, 79, 102, 104, 107-8

N

non-verbal communication   28, 32, 34

O

obligations   99-100, 106

P

performance   7, 42, 74, 81-3

phone   17-19, 21, 29, 31, 47, 54, 63-4

problem   11, 31, 44-5, 47, 49-55, 58-62, 64, 84, 86, 93, 97, 102, 106

problem solving   7, 12, 51, 58

R

regulations   92, 99, 104

resources   95, 98

responsibilities   7, 25, 36, 38-9, 42, 47, 49-50, 52, 56, 59, 61, 67, 71, 81, 83, 111

rights   3, 55, 66-9, 89, 115

risk assessment   103

S

safety   64, 67, 100, 103

sales   21, 27, 48, 55, 58, 68, 102-3, 109-10, 118

service delivery   73, 101, 117

service providers   32, 42-3, 46, 58, 73, 77, 96-100, 103, 105

staff   12, 37, 42-3, 50-2, 57, 59, 62, 71, 73, 80, 87, 99-101, 103, 105

stores   79-80, 88-9, 114-15

supervisor   53, 72, 81

support staff   94, 100, 106

swearing   53

T

tangibles   47

team members   38-9, 83, 111

telephone   6, 15, 17-19, 88, 99, 109, 114

V

value   5, 36, 43, 59, 81, 87, 91, 107-8

W

warranty, extended   70, 89, 110, 115

workplace   24, 26, 65, 75, 78, 81, 87