Service Untitled

As a member of the Board of Directors for the North East Contact Center Forum, I have the opportunity to speak with a number of Customer Service Managers, Directors and VP’s across multiple industries and geographies. The most common theme among these leaders is the intricate balancing act of providing extraordinary experiences while reducing expenses (and sometimes juggling regulatory risk and/or time constraints).

I have battled with the same dilemmas myself. Over time, I have learned to ask myself and my colleagues a few questions:

• What do you coach your service representatives on?
• What are the common conversations in your team and all-hands meetings?
• What is it that your CEO/COO/VP of Customer Service is evangelizing?

More often than not, the answers sound like: call quality, customer experience, superior service, etc. Some time later, I follow up with another set of questions:

• What are the key metrics that you look at daily?
• How do you incent your service representatives?
• What are the metrics that your boss (whether he or she be the CEO or someone else) are hammering you about?

These answers usually sound like: service level, AHT (average handle time), 50-75% of incentives involve productivity numbers, expenses, cost per account/loan/customer, etc.

Things that make you hmmm.

The terms [triple/quad constraints - click each to a see a picture] and charts are typically used in project management, but apply to our quandary.  One constraint cannot be changed without altering another. Triple or Quad constraints are funny; everything cannot be the most important or the highest priority. Trying to make everything the highest priority will only drive you and your service representatives crazy. It leads to mediocre quality, often subpar cost metrics, low morale, and CEO’s/COO’s/VP’s of Customer Service breathing down your neck.

With all of that in mind, how do you move (walk) forward?

1. The first step for any recovery program is to admit you have a problem.
   1. Be objective.
   2. Ask your floor representatives what they think you say and what you really focus on.
   3. Listen to calls, review chats, and emails (are your associates rushing, taking too long?).
2. Force rank your current priorities (create the order that you believe you are presently working under)
   1. Everything cannot be equal
      1. Quality (call quality, defect management, complaints, customer incident surveys)
      2. Cost (AHT, service levels, cost per X, expenses, utilization, occupancy)
      3. Time (are new product releases critical? Service availability?)
      4. Risk (regulatory/legal, credit, reputational)
   2. Make sure you have accurate differentials – use an entire 1-5 scale
3. Have an honest, direct conversation with senior management about what is the most important priority, what is the second most important priority, and so on.

Now that you have your direction, you need to determine what you are going to change. (Hint: don’t limit yourself to the base of the box, work the edges. Read Seth Godin’s Linchpin for more on that subject.)

• People – Do you have the right people in the right places to succeed? Do you need to reorganize? How would you incent people to deliver your priority? What do you need to communicate to your associates?
• Process – What processes would you change? What metrics would you highlight? What dashboard items need to change?
• Systems – How can you leverage your technical solutions to maximize your priorities? Are you able to walk your talk? Or do you need to change your talk?

Guest Writer Bio: Michael Pace is the Director of Customer Support for Constant Contact’s award winning Customer Support Department and on the Board of Directors for the North East Contact Center Forum. You can connect with him via LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter.

Image Credit: Joe

Real estate sales is an ever-changing profession; think technology, economy, and contract law. Even our sales approaches have changed; the terms bank owned property or short sale never existed until the economic change, and mortgage company dilemmas hit us like a ton of bricks. Even though the changes have been monumental, the need for housing still exists, and although a lot more complicated now, the buyers and sellers still demand the best customer service that can be provided.

The first step in providing stellar customer service in the real estate market of today is to know your business. Any Realtor worth their gold-plated identification tag needs to attend seminars, webinars, read business journals, and trade magazines. Realtors need to check out inventory, know the changes in mortgage procedures, and beware of the ever-changing economy and its application to the real estate industry.

Then comes the job of cultivating business associates, competition, and that sphere of influence we hear about every week at staff meetings. Find a niche, and serve them well. Go that extra mile. A few months ago I met a social worker who helps patients going through drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Five years prior she told me she had been in a similar situation and had ruined her credit, but wanted so badly to buy a little condominium of her own. She had saved money, but had no idea how to go about purchasing a home, and no real estate agents ever called her back. We worked together for months to help her reestablish some credit, and her mother was willing to cosign a small loan. Joan now enjoys watching the boats go buy in her own cozy West Palm Beach condo.

From Joan other associates and friends called me for their real estate needs, and from there my business has expanded into higher end listings and sales, but I never turn down those who need help; it’s satisfying, rewarding and eventually lucrative.

And finally I find that to deliver excellent customer service, we need to be acutely aware of our competition. A few unscrupulous agents still exist, but for the most part, it is an honorable profession. Some of my colleagues are inspirational; they spend their extra time with volunteer passions of their choice. Charities range from childhood illnesses, cancer research and animal welfare. It’s all included in customer service; think of someone else’s need before you think of your own.

photo credit: Gold Beach Real Estate

In our efforts to constantly improve customer service, we need to encourage, train, and reward our support staff. Winning is contagious, and when we acknowledge employees who leave their mark, and we show them that they matter, their success can lead to more success from other staff members making it a snowball effect toward the very positive.

Assuming that our customer service representatives know that the customer is the reason for their work, we must continue to train; whether it be through online seminars, practical workshops, conferences, role-playing, or one on one training. All employees should have the availability of resources to help with self-improvement. When our staff is well-trained and the continuing education becomes part of the company culture, employees can be trusted with decisions that entail thinking out of the box or working within a discretionary budget when needed. Excellent customer service personnel make customer service personal, no matter what the product, remembers customers’ names, remembers handshakes, and always says thank you.

Now how do you keep your customer service staff performing at such high standards? As long as employees are meeting customers’ needs, I believe owners should offer rewards from acknowledging successes and accomplishments at staff meetings where employees are recognized in front of their peers to monetary rewards. For high profit businesses, rewards for outstanding customer service can range from theater tickets, spa treatments, or to a day off with pay. In one company, the president offered a three-day trip to the Grand Bahamas for seven unsolicited positive customer comments about an employee’s exceptional service.

For the small company who still wants to recognize their exceptional employees and cannot afford spa treatments and trips, consider other appreciative ways to compensate someone’s hard work. An owner can write a complimentary review of the employees accomplishment and add it to  their portfolio as an edge for a future promotion or pay raise. You can buy the employee breakfast or take him/her out to lunch. How about some movie passes or extra time off? It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should be personal and a sincere way to say thank you for helping your business be successful. After all, empowering your staff to serve in a positive method leads to more business and happier employees.

photo credit: USACE Europe Distric

Everyone has a customer whether it be outside or inside of the company, and morale, productivity, and employee retention improves when we are able to properly facilitate internal customer service. Internal customer service provides our coworkers within our company information or services.

For instance, in the real estate business  someone from our marketing department asked me today to attend a woman’s business luncheon and represent our company for a charity fundraiser. Yesterday afternoon one of my colleagues needed information about a waterfront listing and the riparian grant which a prospective customer asked about, and another colleague needed someone to open a house nearby for someone else. In an environment like this, everybody supports everybody else.

When companies practice exceptional internal customer service, everyone benefits; the “what goes around comes around” philosophy one might say. It attracts and keeps good employees, and it is easier to keep and enhance their careers.

Here are some suggestions to help internal customer service:

• Develop forums to share the goals of the company. Each department contributes so everyone in the company feels they are on the same team.
• Have meetings, informal chats, luncheons, and/or emails to keep everyone in touch.
• Don‘t withhold relevant information. That is how rumors start when only a few departments have information and other departments try to deduce what is happening. That is the recipe for disaster and breaks down the information and trust chain within the company.
• Practice proactive information sharing. Send important information out before employees or representatives need it. For example, in Florida insurance companies were no longer writing flood insurance policies. Imagine that? Just yesterday flood insurance has been temporarily brought back until the end of May. All agents may not need the information, but knowledge is power.
• Try not to let departments become “cliquey.” If employees get territorial, internal service breaks down and can become adversarial.
• View every colleague and fellow employee as your customer and help share information to help everyone get their jobs done. They will want to help you when you need it.
• Say thank you even if it is the person’s job, but isn’t it always a plus when someone thanks you?

photo credit: Stipo team

I grew up in a very small town where we were mostly limited to one grocery store, one department store, one morning restaurant, and even one book store. There was no problem with customer loyalty because the stores had no competition, that is – until the appearance of the mall. Then came Publix, Starbucks, Barnes and Nobles, and a plethora of department stores. Add to that the introduction of on-line commerce, and then the  new competition freed us from the once limited choices of our “home-grown” stores.  Some of the original stores remained; the village atmosphere and the small town appeal most likely spared them from going the route of the dinosaur, but so did the individual customer-centric attitudes of the small shops. How do we duplicate this in the new economy?

I’m not sure if the limited choices of my home town counted as customer loyalty; but nevertheless brand promises are what shapes customer expectations, and trust is what brings in the maximum customer profits. When the little town had little stores, each store owner knew their customer.  Store owners were obligated to listen to their customers. Shouldn’t business still be able to adhere to being customer-centric except employ some modern technology to help?

In order to become customer-centric, it is necessary to know the customer and to appreciate what the customer wants and make it easier and better for the customer. The most knowledgeable part of any company’s staff are those who work directly with the customers. These are the employees who can and will provide the most relevant insight and can share stories and experiences with the rest of the staff to help everyone live up to the brand promises.

The marketing staff for sales and service can relate knowledge through the internet, newsletters, and staff meetings. Wouldn’t it be helpful if weekly newsletters went out to everyone in a company from those staff members who have direct links and exposure to customers and be able to link problems, accomplishments, and experiences to the human resources, operations, technology, engineering, finance and even accounting offices? The entire company can then realize the customer’s priorities and needs. Customer loyalty is still alive; we just need companies to revisit some of the principles of the past.

photo credit: JSmith Photo

Competition among pharmacy retailers and the need to create more efficient business plans are  a sign of the times. Ten years ago, everyone still had a local pharmacist who would fill prescriptions, give a little professional advice and while mother was at the store, she would buy mascara, shampoo,  a sun visor and aspirin.

Mega-stores such as Wal-Mart and Walgreens have pushed pharmacies to new heights in innovative ideas to keep their customers and attract new ones, hence the age of new conceptions as the  Rite Aid  “Customer World Store.”

Rite Aid’s slogan, “With us, it’s personal” had executives redesigning existing stores and planning to remodel, relocate and build between 800 and 1000 stores in a five-year plan starting back  in 2005. The stores were all designed and recreated using the feedback of customers and customer focus groups that had been developed. So what did customers say they wanted? Solutions were derived from the two most important questions:

• How did customers rate the various services?
• How important are each of these services?

Customers overwhelmingly asked for easy ways to find what they were looking for at any visit. Everyone has had the experience of walking into a store with a list of what they wanted to purchase, and upon entering the store had been so overwhelmed by confusing layouts and designs of the store, they quickly got discouraged. Using the customer focus groups, the company was  able to concentrate on targeted problems consumers faced, and with that in mind was able to expand merchandise selection, easier store navigation and create a professional feel at the pharmacy that made customers feel more comfortable and secure.

The customer focus group wanted wide and clutter free aisles. In the waiting areas for the pharmacy, they wanted the experience to be more personal and intimate; thus the new design of the section with lowered ceilings, comfortable chairs, televisions and a consultation section for private meetings with a pharmacist. Online shopping has been partnered with drugstore.com to provide more pharmacy service at all different times. Other improvements suggested by the groups included a separate vitamin department, picture center with digital user-friendly equipment, self-service kiosks and stools, and a drive through pharmacy.

The latest store which opened in Edison, New Jersey yesterday has followed the suggestions of the latest focus group. With more than 14,000 square feet, the new store features direct views to each department, more visible department signs and at center stage, a brightly displayed presentation of cosmetics designed to appeal to female customers.

Listening to the customer, adjusting to the needs of the customer and following through on a practical plan to show the customer that they do indeed matter reflects the importance of something more than just a corporate mission statement. The implementation and the fresh approach to enhancing customer satisfaction goes a long way.

photo credit: Rite Aid

Customer focus is more than just adding directions to your company’s mission statement or sending everyone to training. The training part is just one piece of the total package. Everyone has a customer they want to satisfy and therefore the focus has to address needs, expectations, and behaviors. Customer focus challenges a company to adjust certain aspects of an organization to align with customer values through new strategies, organizational design, business processes, performance measures, information and support.

Working as a group, customer service representatives can identify what they deem as important ways to satisfy customers. Here are some suggestions:

• Meeting Customer Requirements: What new processes have been implemented to validate customer needs? With current customers, is the company producing the products they want? Good ways to address these questions are by surveys; perhaps one every six months to stay on top of an ever-changing market. Setup customer focus groups and ask for feedback. If the company has group meetings or sponsored events, that would be a good time to get input from participants.
• Convenient Delivery of Product: A lot of people do their online ordering late at night. Is there an IT support group on call but not on site? That could be a money saver for the company, but not for the customer.
• Principles for Resolving Problems: If a customer places an order and the company is out of the product, how do you resolve the problem? Customers want to be treated fairly, and they don’t much care about excuses. If you resolve their conflicts and you think it is fair, but your customer doesn’t, you will lose your customer.
• Communication is the Key: This must happen actively and often.
• Meeting Customer Commitments: If a company has to make excuses why a commitment has not been met on time, the company has missed customer focus.
• Performance Measurements: Employees have to be held accountable for their actions. Many companies reward exemplary customer focused behaviors with bonuses; positive reinforcement trumps negative criticism.

Many times owners and managers take it for granted that their staff works towards the same objectives. Group sessions are positive methods to help staff understand the customer-focused vision which enables companies and employees to succeed in a very challenging market.

photo credit: Torley

When I was in New York last week, I visited the famous B&H Photo Video electronics store on Manhattan’s West Side. This very successful store’s unique business practices and philosophies have been written about in countless books and magazines over the years and from visiting the store or dealing with them over the phone or online, you can tell why. I pulled up the company’s philosophy on their website and found that it focuses on these five things:

- Our Easy Access Displays
- Our Educated Staff
- Our Partnership with Manufacturers
- Our Cutting Edge Inventory Tracking
- Our Liberal Return Policy

Needless to say, these things are very different than what you see or hear about from a typical electronics store. And what’s more interesting is that when you visit the store or buy something from the company’s store or website, many of these things are apparent. For example:

• Easy access displays. You can try out almost everything on the floor at B&H. Instead of just looking at the boxes of headphones or of portable hard drives, you can put the headphones on and see how big the portable hard drives are. I didn’t notice much that was just kept in boxes or otherwise inaccessible to customers.
• Our educated staff. I didn’t ask anyone there any questions, but there is no shortage of stories about extremely knowledgeable B&H employees. A friend of mine (who is from NY) went with me to the store and also spoke about how knowledgeable the employees are. What was also nice was the large number of staff members available at any given time. They were all over the store and there were also well placed information booths where customers could ask questions.
• Partnership with manufacturers. B&H says it uses this advantage to let manufacturers show their “newest and hottest products to customers and staff.” Doing this helps to ensure that staff members are knowledgeable about what products are available and how they can help customers. The store also hosts meetings in its conference center to encourage people interested in particular topics surrounding photography and video recording to come to their store and share what they know with others.
• Inventory tracking. A system that makes special orders simple is a system that helps promote customer service. Beyond that, B&H has an elaborate and extremely unique system of conveyor belts and similar devices that move products around the store and to a pick up area. This helps cut down on shoplifting and employee theft and thus, helps keep prices low.
• Liberal return policy. B&H isn’t the only retail store that has a very liberal return policy (see this post on Nordstrom). A liberal return policy represents a desire to keep customers loyal to the company in the long run instead of just making money off of them in the short run. It’s easy enough to not accept returns and keep the money from that particular sale, but it won’t do anything to win customer loyalty. B&H places a premium on customer loyalty, which is why they have a liberal return policy.

B&H is definitely worth checking out if you’re in New York and/or if you’re in the market for any sort of electronics gear. They’re a great example of a company that puts customers first and believes in being honest and straightforward with its customers.

If you’re interested in reading more about this company’s interesting business practices (including shutting down orders on their website on Fridays and Saturdays), check out this great article in Inc. Magazine by Joel Spolsky. It’s worth a read.

Photo credit of the B&H checkout process goes to me (I took the photo when I visited).