10 Customer Service Tips for 2015 - CRM Magazine

Focus on the human element to inspire your employees.

By Jonathan Gale

Posted Jan 9, 2015



As January rolls around again, it's time to reflect on the highs and lows of the last 12 months and plan for the year ahead.



Whatever happened in 2014, think of 2015 as a clean slate—a new, shiny, fresh-out-of-the-box year, which you can make your own. Here are 10 customer service tips to ensure that you—and your customers—have a happy new year.



1. Aim to inspire.

You don't have to be Superman to inspire; you just need to make your staff feel valued and demonstrate that you appreciate the value of their work.



Unsurprisingly, most workers aren't motivated by the thought of the company's shareholders making more money, so simply showing your team an upward profit margin on a graph is hardly inspirational.



Instead, consider the value of what you give your customers. Whether it's that the product or service your company sells has had a real impact on their life or just that your excellent service has made their day, it's the human element that is really going to motivate your workforce.



2. Ensure goals are attainable.

You could set 20 goals for your team this year, but if only a few of them are realistic, you'll create a demoralizing work environment.



Research published in the Harvard Business Review shows how to strike the right balance. The study, conducted by a team at Florida State University, demonstrates that setting a goal that is a range, rather than a specific number, has a huge impact on whether the goal is met.



The research looked at weight loss groups, and found that asking people to lose between one and three pounds per week was more effective than asking them to lose two pounds.



This works because the range makes the goal seem more attainable, but the option of achieving more adds an element of challenge. The same principle can easily be applied to call center targets.



3. Find the right bottom line.

Along with employee- or team-specific goals, you need to establish a customer service ethos that acts as a bottom line for what's expected from your team.



This should not be result-oriented, but rather relationship-oriented. For instance, this could be trying to say something in each call to make the customer smile or laugh or just calling the customer by name.



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Five Ways to Poise Customer Service for the Future

It’s Monday and the first day of Customer Service Week. Let’s begin by setting goals for a long-term strategy to make sure that customer service is one of your company’s competitive differentiators. I think it’s a fair estimate that a typical customer service representative handles more than 10,000 calls a year. That’s 10,000 interactions, 10,000 opportunities to positively influence the customers’ loyalty toward the brand and the company. There is no other department so uniquely positioned to achieve this goal. The Customer Service Department must take its place on the C Suite level to have the greatest impact.

Here are five ways Customer Service can demonstrate its value and be a top rung in the organization’s ladder. 

1. Turnover in Customer Service is extremely high. According to Forrester’s analyst, Kate Leggett, having less than a 20 percent turnover for call centers is considered good, with some experiencing over 100 percent. As issues become more complicated and communication instantaneous, organizations must have agents who are competent and well trained with comprehensive information about your company’s products and services.  By definition, this requires longevity.  Representatives should be appreciated and compensated for their expertise. It’s important to include representatives in the decision making process.  They are an integral part of the bottom line profitability

2. Stakeholders are critical to Customer Service.  Many departments within a company rely on Customer Service to support them with information not easily obtained otherwise. Consider getting feedback from stakeholders to assess their satisfaction levels. Discover additional services that Customer Service can provide to stakeholders to further support their functions. This will result in additional exposure and help secure supplemental budgets for personnel, training and technology

3. Customers demand a personalized experience. There are new innovations in technology almost daily and multiple products and services from which to choose. Delivering a unique customer experience becomes even more crucial.  Hiring customer service agents with specific skill sets and providing ongoing training is mandatory.  The customer service representative must have the necessary tools to accommodate an individual’s specific needs and requirements.

4.Executives need to walk the talk. Posting letters from C-Level executives highlighting the importance of Customer Service doesn’t mean anything.  Company executives should spend at least a half of a day a year responding to telephone and email inquiries. Feedback should be provided about what they learned from the experience and the processes.  Sending wave files of selected calls won’t achieve the same goal.

5. It’s more than just putting an empty chair in your meetings. Jeff Bezos, from Amazon, placed an empty chair at all meetings; that represented the ”customer.”  This was to keep in the forefront that the customer is central and what would they think of any new ideas suggested.  But is that sufficient?  The person or team in charge of Customer Service should also be in those meetings. That department has the direct connection to the customer. An empty chair can’t talk. Customer Service has its finger on the pulse of what customers want.

Bottom line:  Customer Service is responsible for customers, a company’s most important asset.  Let’s celebrate Customer Service Week by acknowledging both the customer and those who represent them and make sure we give representatives the tools, authority an recognition they well deserve.

Article Source :-Five Ways to Poise Customer Service for the Future
About the author:  Richard Saporito is a NYC Restaurant Insider with more than 30 years experience.  He is currently the President of Topserve Restaurant Consulting, Inc. and the author of "How To Improve Dining Room Service."  Discover how to improve your restaurant's dining room service and dramatically increase your profits here:


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This book says everything I have always believed. Its not only the Chef that makes a restaurant successful. The wait staff is also important. Most successful restaurants all have one thing in common... They provide customer service which exceeds their customer's expectations! From the statistics below you will see why its so important Well, consider these statistics from the White House Office of Consumer Affairs in Washington, DC... For every complaint you're aware of, there are 26 additional customers who have unresolved problems or complaints... A dissatisfied customer will tell 9 to 15 people about their displeasure and sometimes they will tell as many as 20.

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10 Heartwarming Stories of Remarkable Customer Service 2014

Everyone needs to a dose of customer service inspiration every day. Here are ten heartwarming stories of outstanding customer service performed by businesses who “walk the talk” when it comes to delivering the kind of service that wins a customer over for life. Read on!

10 Heartwarming Stories of Remarkable Customer Service 2014 from Merlin Information Systems

TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION - THE STORY OF WILLIAM WALDORF AND GEORGE C. BOLDT

  

WILLIAM WALDORF ASTOR AND NANCY ASTOR

GEORGE CHARLES BOLDT
(April 25, 1851 to December 5, 1916)
He was a Prussian-born American hotelier. A self-made
millionaire, he influenced the development of urban hotel
as a civic social centre and luxury destination.

 It was a stormy night. an elderly couple looking for a room for a night, came to Belle Vue Hotel, Philadelphia. The young clerk at the desk informed the couple that all rooms of his hotel were booked and also that not a single hotel room was available that night in Philadelphia because of an international conference. 


          However, seeing their plight, he decided not to let them to go out in that bad weather. He, therefore, offered them his personal room. The couple were reluctant as that would cause great inconvenience to the young clerk. "Where are you going to sleep, young man, if you give your room to us?" asked the old man. "Oh, I am young and single. I can sleep at the reception area in the night. I insist that you accept my offer as I cannot let you go out in this storm. You may not even get a taxi in this kind of weather." Having been left with no choice, the elderly couple accepted the young man's offer and spent the night in his personal room. 


          Next morning, before leaving the hotel the old man after having expressed his gratitude offered a handsome reward to the young man. "Please don't embarrass me with offer of money for my room. I didn't give my room expecting any monetary compensation. I just wanted to be of some help to you." The old man was really touched by the young man's compassion as well as high sense of honesty. "You are really a good human being, my son! I thought God had stopped making people like you. What are you doing herein such a small hotel? A person like you should become the manager of the best hotel in the world."


          "I am quite happy working here in this small hotel and moreover, I don't have skills to run anything bigger than this. However, thank you for your kind words and compliments." said the clerk.


          "Tell me, if I built some day the best hotel in the world, would you come and join me?" asked the old man with a cunning smile. The young man thought this as some kind of jovial gesture of an old man at an emotional moment. "Yes, if you built one, I will definitely join", said the young man, wanting somehow to get rid of the old couple as he had to take up the pressing list of day's work lying on his desk. "Good bye", said the old man. "You would hear from me soon." "Good bye", replied the young clerk.


          Three years passed, the young clerk was already promoted to become manager of the hotel. While going through his mail one day, he opened an envelope and found a return air ticket to New York, with an invitation letter to attend an inaugural function. However, not much details about why was he invited, were given. 


          The young man became curious and decided to go. Upon his arrival at New York, the young man was welcomed by his host who personally took him downtown. There, in front of him, lay the finest hotel he had ever seen.


          "That," said the gentleman, "is the hotel I built for you to manage." While standing on the street corner beside the soon-to-be world-renowned WALDORF-ASTORIA HOTEL, the young clerk, GEORGE C. BOLDT, was titled its first manager. 


          For the next twenty three years, until his death in 1916, Boldt remained faithful to the hotel and to the confidence WILLIAM WALDORF ASTOR had placed in him.    

WALDORF ASTORIA HOTEL

Article Source :

TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION - THE STORY OF WILLIAM WALDORF AND GEORGE C. BOLDT

The Moral of this Story:- "Do not turn your back on those who are in need, for they might be angels"

Top 5 Books Every Restaurant Owner Should Read - Rewards Network

Too busy to read? Never! Grab a cup of coffee and steal a moment for yourself to savor tricks of the trade from some of the best restaurant professionals in the industry. Inspiring and enlightening, I think these books are more than worth your time. - 

Restaurant Success by the Numbers: A Money-Guy’s Guide to Opening the Next Hot Spot Paperback by Roger Fields
Don’t let the title scare. For those restaurant romantics, Roger Fields does an amazing job providing insight about creating and maintaining sound financial decisions while catering to a broad audience. Instructional, informative, and entertaining, this book is chocked full of valuable information from deciding bar size to understanding your market’s needs. He reinforces the importance of knowing your customers by providing some interesting facts. Did you know that eighteen to twenty-four year olds eat out more often than any other group? Written with authority and encouragement, Restaurant Success by the Numbers is one of those books that can inspire great decisions.

See more at: Top 5 Books Every Restaurant Owner Should Read - Rewards Network

Changing people's perceptions - Virgin.com

Changing People's Perceptions 

by Richard Branson

I am lucky enough to have met some of the most amazing people on the planet. Every so often I sit back and think about who inspires me, who has given me the ideas to screw business as usual, and re-evaluate what I take as being good and bad, successful and unsuccessful.
Its a great read so read on
Changing people's perceptions - Virgin.com

Report: Wife says no, Apple says yes to iPad 2 | TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

A very interesting story on customer service

Report: Wife says no, Apple says yes to iPad 2 | TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog