BMGT 245- Customer Service Lanny Wilke

Today, we’ll Focus on “Purpose” and Making Our Organization ETDBW.

Imperative 3 - Focus on “Purpose” 4 What is “purpose” and why is having “purpose” important? 4 In management, we know that one of the most important jobs of the CEO is that of visionary. –From that vision comes the organization’s mission (or purpose), (or why they exist).

And we also know that... 4 Success is tied to the ability of the “boss” to articulate that vision to subordinates. 4 Therefore, we can understand that the vision must be “shared” with others. 4 It’s not enough that the boss have a vision if no one else can see it.

And we also know that, to be effective... 4 The vision must be translated into the individual languages spoken by everyone at every level of our organization. 4 It is from this vision and the subsequent “mission statement” that our organizational goals and objectives are derived.

Without purpose….

The Power of Purpose 4 Remember “bifocal” service vision. –Your focus must be clear and must be based on your purpose. –Define it in detail and in writing. –It is our “service strategy statement” - our tool for aligning our day-to-day actions.

It is vital... 4 That the customer service unit write its own vision and mission statements that detail how your unit will support the organization’s vision and mission as well as goals and objectives. –Who are your customers? –What do you do that is of value to them? –How will you, and they, know when you’re delivering?

It is your service rationale. It will help you... 4 Ensure that everyone understands “what’s important around here.” 4 provide distant employees with a snapshot of the big picture. 4 Provide frontline employees with a guide to day-to-day customer service decisions. 4 Give employees confidence when dealing with unusual situations.

And lastly... 4 Let’s people know what things will be measured and monitored by your unit.

Is having a detailed, written, shared, service strategy statement important? 4 The chances of getting high marks in customer service are: –no definition - 3 in 10 –general definition - 50/50 –detailed definition - 90%

Having a service strategy statement is not enough. You must have focus.

So how do we help ourselves focus? 4 Get employees to provide feedback on the degree to which our service strategy statement and our actual performance agree. 4 Ask those in the front lines to evaluate the way you do things. –Is there consistency between what we say we do and what we actually do?

–Do our policies really work for the customers? –Do our policies actually interfere with our working in our customer’s best interest? –If so, how can we change them to make them work better? 4 Hold “what’s stupid around here” meetings. –What practices are outmoded? Which are time wasters? Are there problems that continually recur?

–Set “stop, start, & measure” objectives. Things we should stop doing. Things we should start doing. Things that we don’t track or measure, but should. 4 Hold a “focus fantasy” meeting. Discuss who employees would like to be like. –The business in general and employee behaviors.

The power of purpose. 4 Knowing what to do and when and how to do it, without having to be told. 4 It empowers your employees. 4 It helps provide that customer focus whether viewed from the inside or the outside of the organization.

Get Your Focus Down on Paper

Just as we want to make our “service” tangible... 4 We must make our service strategy tangible to both our customers and to our employees. 4 Write it down. Use: –customers. It makes sense to ask them how we can serve them better. –Employees. They have the firsthand experience.

Our service statement, service strategy, or customer pledge... 4 Must be customer centered. 4 Must be clear, understandable, and to the point. 4 It should discuss the actions that we need to do to satisfy, impress, & keep our customers. 4 It should be consistent with the organization’s mission and purpose.

4 And lastly, employees must see it as doable - what to do, how to do it, & why to do it. Not funny, not extremely hoakey, etc.

Take three steps when formulating your service strategy... 4 Identify your key customers. 4 Identify your core contribution to customers - what is it we have to do to be in the business we’re in? 4 Decide what you want to be famous for. What will set us apart from others?

And once formulated, communicate your strategy over and over.

Check out the customer service strategy of the organization you’re studying. 4 Does it pass the previous test? 4 Does it fit their organization and their customers? 4 Does it speak to both customers and employees? 4 Does it cover both internal and external customers?

Imperative 4 - Become ETDBW

Bad Systems Stop Good People 4 “You can take great people, highly trained and motivated, and put them in a lousy system and the system will win every time. - Geary Rummler 4 Remember, our rules, regulations, and procedures should be in place to help us help our customer.

Our system must help our frontline people better-serve our customers. 4 Our delivery system must be easy to adapt to unusual situations and this flexibility must be available to our frontliners. 4 Make it easy on them and easy for them.

If your customer service stinks, it probably isn’t your people. 4 It may be the system. 4 Remember the blue rules and red rules.

But, whatever the rule, make it a “good” rule.

Good Rules…. 4 Are based on customer expectations and help us meet customer needs. 4 Make you easy to do business with. 4 Are consistent with our service strategy. 4 Provide mutual benefits to our partners (customers). 4 Have feedback as an integral part of the rule.

4 Encourage your people to respond to customers as individuals. 4 Remind everyone that they are guidelines to help us serve better, not additional reasons not to help our customers. 4 Help us remember that it is the needs of the customer that drive us.

Fix the System, Not the People

Warning Signs of a Dysfunctional Service Delivery System 4 I’m sorry. It’s against policy. 4 My computer is down. Can you call back later? 4 Just wait. It’ll show up. 4 That’s not my job. Call accounting. 4 You have to understand how we do business here.

Some Solutions 4 Get out of the office. 4 Call your office/department/store, using the general customer number. 4 Ask for something you know will be difficult or unique, but doable. 4 Count the following: –number of times you’re put on hold.

–Number of times you are transferred. –Number of people who say, “I’m not sure we can do that…” –Number of people who tell you all the reasons why they either can’t help or don’t feel like helping. –Number of people who tell you “No.” –Number of times you have to ask to speak to someone else.

4 The number of times you have to repeat yourself.

So you want to become ETDBW? 4 The best systems are: –Accessible –Accurate –Integrated –Customer-driven –Fast –Totally transparent

So you want to turn your business around? 4 Don’t start with hardware. 4 Don’t hire consultants. 4 Don’t start blaming people. 4 Do: –hold a series of small meetings with customer service and other support personnel. –Ask them two questions:

4 What do our customers like least about doing business with us? 4 What can we do to make it easier for you to serve the customer?

Measure & Manage from the Customer’s Point of View

What does customer- focused measurement look like? 4 It reflects your purpose. 4 It measures customer quality not just technical quality. 4 It should measure what’s important.

Checklist for Measuring 4 Gather information from every useful source. 4 Measure frequently enough. 4 Measure using fair questions. 4 Let employees see the results. 4 Benchmark your delivery system against competitors. 4 Make sure the data you collect is useful.

4 Make sure your measurement is qualitative as well as quantitative. 4 Is there an easily understandable connection between results and consequences?

Add Value: The Milk and Cookies Principle

4 Preplanned Value-Added –complimentary items or services. 4 Spontaneous Value-Addeds –One-time, creative

8 Times to Do Value-Addeds 4 For your non-complaining customers 4 for your complaining customers 4 for your new customers 4 for a customer who has thanked you. 4 For a customer who has been through a difficult time. 4 When you can save a customer from having a problem

4 For a customer who might bring you more customers. 4 For anyone who needs to have their day brightened up.

Make Recovery a Point of Pride

Remember, in even the best system... 4 Things will go wrong. When they do… –apologize –listen and empathize –fix the problem fairly –offer atonement –keep your promises –follow up

There are also 3 modifiers that govern the process... 4 Customers expectations for how service recovery should happen. 4 Customers want to be “fixed,” not just their problem. 4 Effective recovery is the result of planning.

4 “At that point where the customer is most insecure or incensed, you want your frontline people to be the most competent and confident.”

5 ways to make recovery routine. 4 Eliminate barriers. 4 Train their response. 4 Support and encourage. 4 Separate praise and critique. 4 Always back your people in public.

If it ain’t broke, fix it.

10 ways to get information to improve your system. 4 Customer surveys. 4 Focus groups. 4 Employee visit teams. 4 Customer visit teams. 4 Customer advisory panels. 4 User groups. 4 Employee surveys. 4 Mystery shopping services.

Just when you thought it was over…. 4 Not so fast. I’ll be back in a bit.

4 Toll-free hotlines. 4 Benchmarking.

7 ways to analyze information 4 Flow charts. 4 Cause-and-effect diagrams. 4 Pareto analysis/diagram. 4 Run charts. 4 Control charts. 4 Scattergrams. 4 Histograms.

That’s all for today. 4 Take care 4 drive safely 4 and…

Thanks for being here.