2.02 – FOSTER positive relationships with customers to enhance company image. Marketing 6621

Identify beliefs held by employees who have a customer-service mindset  Fostering positive customer interactions vs. ________________  View negative customer interactions as a way to identify customer’s __________  View your work through the eyes of the customer; devote full attention to ______________.  Define your functions with the customer in _____________

Importance of exhibiting a customer-service mindset  Customer satisfaction = Profit  Goodwill/positive feelings develop  Gathers information about customer buying decisions  Avoids loss of sales  Avoids markdowns and sales returns  Avoids delays in sales that result in longer interest payments on loans to purchase store items for resale

Occasions for exhibiting customer- service mindset When a customer is upset and angry, the _________________ should act quickly to correct the mistake. Employee should demonstrate a focus of attention on the customer when there is a _____________________.

Guidelines for exhibiting customer-service mindset  Measure regularly through customer feedback  Measure internally for employee satisfaction  Customer ________________ = employee bonuses (incentives)  Link _____________________satisfaction to other business goals

Activity 1  Working in tables :  You will receive a strip of paper  Create a role-play for your assigned scenarios.  One role-play should represent bad customer service and the other role-play should represent good customer service.

Service orientation  Listening to and understanding the customer. Customer satisfaction is high priority.

The Relationship between communication and service  Clear communications from sales personnel will ensure customer buys the product that best suits his needs.  If there is a problem, then clear _______________ is imperative so that the employee can act precisely and quickly to clear up the problem for the customer.  Clear communication is again necessary in record keeping so that the data can be used to influence future business decisions  Clear communications to receive feedback from customers and employees on satisfaction levels

Different Ways employees demonstrate service orientation.  Greets the person promptly and courteously.  Pays attention to the person.  Asks questions to determine the person's needs.  Listens carefully and empathizes with the person's concerns.  Offers relevant information.  Summarizes to check for understanding.  Acts or agrees on a clear course of action.  Tries to do better than expected.  Asks questions to check for satisfaction.  Follows through.  Thanks the individual.  Takes surveys to determine people's needs.  Is courteous to citizens, clients, patients, etc.  Does not "pass the buck.” (Play the “blame” game)

Procedures for reinforcing a service orientation through communication  Use customer surveys to pinpoint areas for improvement  Use employee surveys to pinpoint areas for improvement  Develop a follow up procedure to determine levels of customer satisfaction after the sale

Activity 2  WARM UP 2/23 – Argumentative Writing: Out of the 14 ways to demonstrate service orientation through communication ( discussed yesterday in notes ), write down which three you perceive to be the most important and why they are better choices then the others. When complete, turn in to bin and continue to work on project

What next?  With the sheet that says clock buddy, go around and make different appointments with classmates. Write their names on the different slots (ex: you write your name on their paper by ‘12’ and they write their name on your paper by 12.) None of your appointments can be with people at your table.  Also put a number 1 – 18 on the second slot – DO NOT GO IN ORDER 1:00 – 1, 2:00 – 2 etc  Example – 2:00 appointment- Chantel - 12 Activity 3

What is the purpose of Adapting communication to a client’s cultural or social community? 1. To avoid offending clients with your lack of sensitivity to their needs. 2. To better assist clients to make the right purchase for their needs.

Reasons for adapting communication to the cultural or social differences among clients. 1. Our market is very global and therefore impacts many different cultures socially and geographically. 2. The success of all companies depends on their abilities to understand cultural differences and work with them to keep all customers happy and well-informed to make the best buying decisions. 3. It is impossible to achieve customer satisfaction without clearly communicating product _________ and benefits. 4. Clients could be offended by your lack of understanding of their culture’s typical use of a product.

Skills associated with adapting communication.  Empathy – Risk taking – Problem solving  Being patient, flexible, and empathetic are key personality traits when dealing with communication barriers.

Different ways to adapt communication to the cultural or social environment of clients. 1. Language 2. Material culture (understand the way a country makes products and you will understand how they value the products) 3. Aesthetics (what a culture considers valuable or beautiful) 4. Social organization (what is acceptable in a culture) 5. Religious beliefs, attitudes, values, space and time

 “How culturally aware are you?” Quiz  When the music stops get w/ the next appointment 1 -7, are on the wall – others just look at your paper  8 10  9 3  11 7  1 6  5 2  12 4 Activity 3

Identify the types of customer inquiries 1. Merchandise  Defective, wrong size or color, damaged, improper labeling, not meeting customer needs, customer purchased the wrong product 2. Store personnel  High pressure sales, rudeness, providing insufficient product information, being inaccurate 3. Business  Unhappy with the number and types of services offered, unhappy with business policies)

How to handle customer inquiries:  Listen to determine reason for complaint (shows a concerned attitude) helps customer feel connected  Restate the complaint (show your understanding of the problem)  Investigate the problem; be proactive! (determine how to handle)

How to handle customer inquiries (cont):  Explain the store policy(desire to maintain fairness by following store policy)  Take action (quick action makes the customer feel important)  When obtaining _____________ for client, always ask when it would be convenient to call them _________. Touch points are all the opportunities an employee has to interacting with the customer.

Term business policy:  General rule that personnel should follow in order to avoid misunderstandings and apply fair and consistent treatment to all situations  What are some of the policies at your job?  What are some the policies at school?

Characteristics of effective business policies 1. Goal should be __________ satisfaction 2. Policy should be used consistently 3. Policy should be flexible 4. Policies should be well understood by employees

Why do business’ have policies?  The policies create a business image and help you to consistently maintain that image.  Nature of the business – different situations will deem what policy is necessary.  By saving time and resources, positive customer relations can ________________ a business’s productivity.

Types of policies that affect customers:  Purchase policies  Return and exchange policies

Other customer relationship items to remember:  Sometimes there are unwritten or intangible rules that are referred to as corporate culture  __________________ can be a convenient way to help personnel connect with _________________ (ex: , facebook, google+, LinkedIn).  Always show _______________ for the customers business; they will always remember it!

What next?  Complete “Customer Relations Match-up” worksheet on the back of the 2.02 notes.

Activity 4  On your desk – read over “ Policies & Customer service – CAN YOU BLEND THE TWO? ”  Think about how you will respond to the following situations (know the policies; you will have approximately 5 minutes)!!  With your 2:00 appointment – do situation A  With your 5:00 appointment – do situation B  With your 12:00 appointment – do situation C  With your 9:00 appointment – do situation D  With your 1:00 appointment – do situation E