Service Untitled

We buy on emotion, and we justify those emotions with our own particular logic. Yesterday was my day; it was Saks Fifth Avenue calling to me with one of their huge shoe sales. I think it’s important to be on the receiving side of business to know what great customer service really entails, and purchasing a designer pair of shoes at a significant discount doubles the pleasure.

Everyone has their own passions, and in the world of selling merchandise from Apple computers to xylophones, none of us want to admit making poor purchases. We expect to buy good products, and admittedly good products with lousy customer service still sells, but good service can steal away the competition in just a flick of the manicured toenails.

My first encounter with the sales person set the pace. She smiled; she was helpful, and she knew her product. Other customers were engaged in conversations with the sales staff attending to them, and there was a general lilt of camaraderie recognized by those of us who share the “shoe passion.” Sales representatives were having as much fun as the customers. Sales personnel were zipping in and out of the stock room and returning with boxes upon boxes in lightning speed. They knew their colors, styles, manufacturers, and sizing tendencies. (some designer sizes run smaller or larger than others) No one was rushed, and it was all about my feelings yesterday and how the staff at this store made me feel.

Of course you may not understand the pleasure some women get from buying shoes, but the customer service experience we personally encounter can be a barometer how others perceive service, except those of us who write about it or train are more critical in our observations. That first impression is what I looked for when I entered the shoe department. I smiled when she smiled at me. I wanted to see how helpful she would be without hovering over me while I inspected the attractive display of every upscale designer shoe known to women around Palm Beach County. She knew instinctively to let me browse on my own until I turned around with a shoe in my hand, and there she was ready to help me find my size. I’m sure as with most customers I would not have told her if she had made me unhappy had she ignored me, smothered me, took too long to find the shoes, or didn’t know her product; I just probably would not have come back.

From the beginning to the end, my experience was seamless. After she rang up my sale, she asked me by name to sign my credit card, and stepped out behind the counter, smiled, thanked me profusely, and handed me my package. I will be back.

photo credit: M_Shahab

About two weeks ago, I interviewed Doria Camaraza, who is is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Fort Lauderdale Service Center for American Express. This was an interview I was excited a lot about because I’ve written about American Express a number of times and in pretty much any customer satisfaction or customer service ranking, American Express makes the list. As an American Express cardmember myself, the workings behind the 160 year old company were also personally interesting to me.

This is a pretty lengthy interview, so I’ve divided it into four parts. Part one includes an introduction to Doria and her background with American Express, a quick overview of the different service centers that American Express has around the country, and some information on how American Express hires and trains its customer service representatives (called Customer Care Professionals).

You can see part one of the interview by clicking “read more.” A preview of part two is also included at the end of this part.

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Making that first impression in business with the appearance of your web site, the decor, the marketing, or just the friendliness of the first company representative a customer encounters, helps to brand your business. You don’t always have to be faster or cheaper to keep your customers from straying off to the competition, but you need to maintain a consistent brand of professionalism, speed, and convenience.

Customers may leave because they don’t like your product, their friends have influenced them to move to another company, or the competition simply has you beat, but according to statistics, most customers leave because of a change in attitude or indifference by the business. Customers always have to think you care, and customers want you to make them feel good.

Using the time-honored tenet of it being easier to keep an old customer than to find a new one, companies need to concentrate on customer user groups, periodic surveys, social networking, blogging, and above all – customer service. When you have hired the right people, and your employees know how to make customers feel important, customers keep coming back.

For instance, the hairdresser at the salon I have used for years recently relocated to another state. As most of you know, a woman’s hairdresser is really important, and never to be taken lightly. And, so after my hairdresser left, the owner of the salon called me, and asked me what she could do for me to help meet my needs. I was a bit elusive at the beginning since I didn’t feel as if the owner had been paying attention, but within a few days the owner called me, continued to stay in contact, offered suggestions, and made me feel as if I was a very important client. I was able to openly discuss some reservations I had about changing products and stylist, but she was informative, honest, and won my confidence back.

Customer retention strategies are an ongoing process. Concentrate on the most important elements:

• Hire the right people who have the right attitude. Are they friendly? Do they thank you?
• Do what you promise. Customers remember, and customers leave if you disappoint them by not delivering what you promise.
• Pay attention to your customers, and what is going on around you in your business.
• Help the customer even though it might not mean a sale at that particular time. Go beyond your own needs.
• Handle complaints in a mature manner. Admit when something has gone wrong, and correct your mistake. Always apologize to the customer.
• Stay in contact with the customer, and know their needs.

If you keep a database of addresses and email lists, send your customers birthday cards, promotions, and current interesting information. You want to stay in their minds, but never make it seem as if you are being a pest.

photo credit: Art Pets Photography

A JetBlue flight attendant made all the headlines yesterday when he freaked out on a passenger. It seems the passenger refused to remain seated while the plane was taxiing to the terminal. Sources revealed that the passenger stood to remove his baggage from the overhead compartment while the plane was still moving, and the flight attendant asked the passenger to return to his seat. The passenger refused and continued removing his baggage, when the luggage presumably hit the airline attendant. The attendant demanded an apology, but the passenger would not oblige; instead the passenger called the attendant a derogatory four letter word. The flight attendant retaliated by calling the passenger a four-letter word, and announced via the intercom that he was quitting. The attendant grabbed a beer, deployed the emergency chute, and slid away until the Port Authority police arrested him later that day. The attendant has been charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, and criminal trespassing.

So what is the customer service lesson to be learned here? Let’s start with no matter how angry a customer gets, every customer service agent must remain calm and never yell. Training is based on practice, practice, practice. The unique and effective skills needed for managing heated confrontations need to be reinforced with role-playing and again – practice, practice, practice. Training should concentrate on ways to stay calm when an angry customer lashes out, how to choose the response action that will best suit the situation, and innovative ways to bring those volatile interactions to a polite and positive close.

According to the recent news reports, the flight attendant had years of experience, and had been dealing with a personal stressful situation, but he let the customer make the problem personal, took the bait and from that point on, there was no winning. The focus should have been kept on the problem; not the person or the conversation. Immediately upon asking the passenger to be seated until the plane came to a complete stop, the passenger should have been warned it is a FAA regulation subject to criminal prosecution.

The “customer is always right” may have created some high maintenance people, but airline passengers know there are consequences for FAA violations. Customer service agents, and in this case the flight attendant escalated the problem, took it as a personal attack. His last resort and best choice in this situation should have been to let another attendant handle the situation.

Let’s hope that JetBlue treats this sad situation as a learning experience, and hopefully another flight attendant on the verge of a similar outburst can be shown how to best resolve issues in a polite and positive manner.

For more on this situation, see this article from ABC News.

photo credit: gordontarpley

When a customer service representative delivers great customer service, there is less stress and less hassle. It saves the company a huge amount of time, and keeps people happy. Some companies think that customer service representatives do not learn skills from abstract situations taught in seminars and training classes, but I witnessed an interesting experience yesterday that had been learned and mastered well.

I walked into my local branch of Wachovia Bank to speak with a mortgage representative about one of my real estate customers, and since I was early, I had to wait until the mortgage representative was out of her meeting. It actually was a good opportunity for me to gather information for today’s blog. The incident happened during lunch time when many bank employees were out of the building. The customer service representative standing at the kiosk in the lobby of the bank had been speaking to a customer about a “Power of Attorney” and its relevance to her aged parent. The customer had been speaking with the representative about five minutes when a second customer rushes into the bank and interrupts the conversation between the customer service representative and the first customer.

The second customer is a young, good-looking man dressed in an expensive business suit and says, “Excuse me, but I need to get into my safe deposit box immediately.”

The customer service representative turned to the business man and made eye-contact with him, held up her hand in a gesture suggesting  ‘wait a moment’  and responded with, ” I can help you in a few moments, or you can meet with one of our banking specialists as soon as someone is available.” The customer service representative then broke eye-contact with the second customer and returned her concentration to the first customer.

The first priority of an excellent customer service representative is to that of the first customer. The key was to limit her interaction with the second customer, but at the same time not to ignore his presence. She was able to use a short efficient method to address the second customer, and momentarily address him using eye-contact to assure him she was indeed paying attention. At the same time she offered him an option. It was important that she did not address the needs of the second customer while still attending to the first customer. It would have given that first customer the impression that she was less important. If however, the representative felt she could address the second customer’s needs quickly, she might have asked the first customer for permission to do so. A statement such as, “Would you mind if I help this gentleman while you read these documents over. It will only take me a few minutes to help him.”

Empowering customer service representatives with practical knowledge, service skills, and handling situations by role-playing definitely diffused a potentially difficult situation.

photo credit: TheTruthAbout..

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

According to a JD Powers customer satisfaction survey, Canadian home builders last year have been more attentive to the needs of their buyers. Now that the demand for new homes has decreased, buyers have benefited because builders have more time to ensure quality and want to build brand loyalty.

According to the 2010 survey in the Greater Toronto Area, 20% of new home buyers received a defect-free home as compared to the previous year when only 8% of the buyers were satisfied their new homes were perfect. Builders want to salvage new home sales, and although they try very hard to keep the prices consistent with homes that have already sold,  builders are offering buyer incentives that are luring new buyers away from the complicated short sales and a seemingly endless wait for the bank sales to be completed. Instead builders are now coming in with their checklists, and making sure that every complaint is addressed, hoping to motivate more buyers once the word gets out about the exemplary product delivered at closing.

JD Powers has been known primarily for their automotive research, but now looks to housing as another major purchase that consumers research extensively.

In the United States, builders are getting busy again and are also luring new buyers with incentives and promises of better products. With the work force and supplies less expensive now because of the economic downfall, Americans buyers have also benefited with thousands of dollars of extra options at no cost and an improved product because the builders have more time to finish the detail work.

Although there are no statistics available in my community built by Toll Brothers, their two-step pre-settlement inspection was designed to provide customer satisfaction with a 360 item checklist as a guide. The following week all repairs on the checklist were to be done by the builder. When our home was built during 2002, the market was booming, and the customer service we received was mediocre at the best. For new buyers moving into our community, although no surveys have been done, word of mouth at social functions indicate Toll Brothers now to be much more attentive to defects and warranty claims.

Let’s just hope the new awareness with improved customer service will continue with builders. It could even be a plus for the still staggering housing market.

photo credit: merfam

An appendicitis attack landed my friend Linda in the hospital a few months ago. We had been riding our horses, and she kept complaining of abdominal pains, so I ended up driving her to the hospital and staying with her until she was admitted and her family arrived. While waiting with her, it was pretty hard not to notice the long lines, the uninformed staff, the costs, the lack of security, and even the lack of respect toward patients by certain hospital personnel.

Shouldn’t hospitals provide customer service? After all, Linda’s two-day stay for the removal of her appendix cost $78,236.40. “I  almost had a heart attack,” laughed Linda when she saw the bill. “I know I went in as an emergency, but really – $39,000 a day?” So Linda had to fight her way through the very confusing maze of hospital billing services, billing codes, insurance language, and way too few customer service representatives.

Linda does have experience in the medical profession, so her task was not as monumental than perhaps for the rest of us who might not have figured out how to read the bills, what insurance companies don’t cover, and even recognize some of the ridiculous fees that can show up on one’s bill. As an example, Linda was charged $66 for the water recovery system in her room. That was the plastic pitcher and one plastic cup!

In 1998, the US Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry adopted the Patient’s Bill of Rights. It has three major goals, and for the first time provided patients with some level of customer service. The law intended to help patients feel more comfortable in the US health care system. It stresses the importance of a strong relationship between patients and health care providers. Finally, it explains to the patient how to protect their health and their rights, and this last section also applies to insurance plans.

It is unfortunate that medical expenses used to account for the most bankruptcies among Americans. (Now it is replaced by the mortgage failures and the economic downfall.) Patients and their families need not throw up their hands however, but can follow some of the basic principles once they finally do connect with a customer service representative.

Hospitals need to reconsider their role in customer service, and patients need to be related to as customers. There needs to be a liaison between patients and hospitals. Top executive officers and administrative staff need to work together to bring courtesy, efficiency, experience, service, and the best possible product to offer patients. Hospitals need to cultivate patient loyalty and patient satisfaction – no different from any business with a solid plan.

photo credit: Seattle Municipal Archives