How To Make Customer Service Successful Powerpoint

How to Make Customer
Service Successful
Presented by:
Richard Proffer
Business Development Specialist

• Cell phones/pagers
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• Respect
• Interactive process
Housekeeping

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• Participants
– Name
– Company
– Position
– Desired Outcome
• Me
Who are You?

Today’s Agenda
• Customer Service what is it?
• How do I handle customer service?
• Greetings
• Needs Analysis
• Get Talking to Each Other
• Recovery

Outcomes
• Enhanced self awareness
• Customer behaviors
• Introduce new/review skill sets
• How to handle customers at
different levels of satisfaction
• Signature Service

Customer Service –
What is it?

What is Customer Service?
• “the ability of an organization to constantly
and consistently give the customer what they
want and need.”
– Doug Horwell, president ACA Group
• “Organizations exceed customer expectations
by focusing improvement efforts in three
areas: customer friendly processes, employee
commitment to customer service & customer
dialog.” - Eberhard Scheuing, author Creating Customers for Life

Why Customers Leave You…
• 1% die
• 3% move away
• 5% just do
• 9% competition outdoes you
• 14% product/service dissatisfaction
• 68% perception of poor attitude of customer
service staff or person the customer interacted
with

Lost Customers
• It costs five or six times more to acquire a new
customer than it does to retain a current
customer.
• You lose the revenue their business would have
provided in the time it takes you to replace them
with a new customer.

How we Unintentionally offend our
Customers
• See Handout – group activity.

What Offends Your Customers?
• Employees who…
– Fail to acknowledge
– Hover
– Do not listen
– Do not know the merchandise
– Do not know store policies
– Are verbally abusive
– Use negative body language
– Are unfriendly

What Offends Your Customers?
• Employees who…
– Are not dressed neatly
– Are crabby
– Fail to keep their word or lie
– Do poor quality work
– Argue
– Are rude in person or telephone
– Won’t make adjustments for unsatisfactory merchandise
or service
– Indicate that they do not care

Why do Customer’s Come to YOU
• “more customers make their decision to buy
based on the salesperson than any other
single factor in the sale including the price,
quality and comprehensiveness of the
solution.”
– H.R. Chally Group study, “Selling Power” July/Aug 2006

What does this mean to you?
• Increased flexibility on the job
• Higher degree of accountability to your
customers
• Daily exceeding your customer’s expectations
• Higher degree of personalized care based on
each customer’s needs

-OR-
Higher
Level
Of
Customer
Service

Common Sense Customer Service
RESULTS!!!
Increased satisfied customers
Increased employee productivity
Increased business profits

Why do this?
• Increased competition
• Customer’s satisfaction level can decrease
• Fewer prospective customers considering
• People talk to one another

• Why we remember…
– Especially pleasing
– Cost little or nothing
We Remember…
– Take little or no extra time
– Sets you and your
employer/community apart
– Personalized
• This happens when…
– You are paying close
attention to the
person(s) you are
dealing with
– Committed to achieving
satisfaction
– Easy to deal with
– Willing to sign your
name to your work

Types of Customers
• Comfortable
– Need appreciation
– May not be satisfied
• Indecisive
– Need reassurance and clarity
• Insistent
– Need action ASAP
• Irate
– Need validation of emotions

How do I handle
Customer Service?

Individuals
• Handle situations differently
• Think differently
• Process differently
• Recognize differently

4 Fears
• Mistakes
– I must always be right I am informed
– Develop an attitude of growth and learning
• Rejection
– I must be liked I am helpful
– My self worth is not based on number of people
who like me

• Failure
4 Fears
– I must always win I am confident
– Create win-win situations
• Pain
– I must be comfortable I can adjust
– Discomfit is temporary and I can adjust

How Overcome?
• Stop
– Stop the conversation
– Breathe deep
• Challenge
– What am I feeling/telling myself mentally?
– Is it an accurate reflection of situation?
• Focus
– What do I want to happen?
– How can I make it happen?

Greetings

• Pleasant/Friendly
• Conversant
• Relaxed
• Cooperative
Comfortable Customers
• Greeting
– Appreciation
– You deserve
– Glad you are telling me
this…
– We blew it
– Ask for satisfaction

• Insulting
• Intimidating
• Confronting
• Argumentative
Irate Customers
• Greeting
– Ok to be angry
– Listen to customer
– Let customer vent
– Work to understand
– Help resolve
– Ask for satisfaction

• Assertive
• Demanding
• Directive
• Abrupt
Insistent Customers
• Greeting
– Do what customer asks if
appropriate ASAP
– Handle now
– Communicate your
urgency to resolve
situation
– Ask for satisfaction

• Puzzled
• Hesitant
• Apprehensive
• Avoiding
Indecisive Customers
• Greeting
– Reassure
– Clarify
– Stay with them until
needs are met
– Ask for satisfaction

The Process
• Recognize the degree of satisfaction
• Establish a conversation
• Determine the customer’s needs by asking
• Listen to them
• Personalize your response
• Ask for satisfaction
• Repeat till customer is satisfied

Needs
Analysis

Needs vs. Wants
• Needs are “got to have” items
• Wants are “nice to have” items

Needs, Wants & Expectations
• Ask customers what they need and want from
you.
• Ask them what they expect from you. You
can’t meet or exceed their expectations if you
don’t know what they are.

Meeting Your Customer’s Needs
• Do you know the needs, wants and
expectations of your customers?
YES OR
NO

Customer Needs/Expectations
• Three things your interaction is mentally
graded on by your customers
– Did I receive the minimum service I thought I
should?
– Did I get more of what I wanted or hoped for?
– Did I get anything I did not want or feared might
happen?

Customer Needs/Expectations
YOU should have a basic answer for each
of those questions after your interactions
with your customers.

Get Talking
to Each Other

Explanations
• Repeat your understanding of the customer’s
needs/expectations
• Personalize
• Check for clear understanding
• Tell them what you are going to explain to them (policy,
procedure, product, service)
• Explain why they want or need to know
• Explain your answer to the need/expectation
• Ask for satisfaction

When You Can’t Meet…
• Want to keep your customer’s satisfied with
your conversation
• Explain why you are saying “no” is to their
benefit
• Tell them what you can do instead of “NO”
and offer options to help resolve related
issues
• Ask for satisfaction (realize you may not get it)

In All Instances…
• Personalize the conversation
• Touch them appropriately (if possible)
• Recognize them as a person not a number
• Make eye contact (where possible)
• Offer options
• Thank them for being a customer
• Use your name
• Be genuine

Recovery

• 5 A Program
– Acknowledge
– Apologize
– Accept
– Adjust
– Assure
Recovery Steps

Other applications
• Phone calls from customers
• Public settings
• Email
• Internet

Review…
MOST IMPORTANTLY…
You Should
Personalize
the experience…

The Customer…
• Is the most important person in my business
• Does not depend on me – I depend on the customer
• Is not an interruption to my work – the customer is the purpose of my
work
• Does me a favor when calling – I am not doing the customer a favor by
being here
• Is part of my business – not an outsider
• Is a real person with feelings very much like me
• Does not want to argue or match wits with me
• Is a person who brings me his wants – it is my job to fill those wants
• Deserves the best and most courteous service I can give
• Is the one who makes it possible to pay me

• Please fill out
• Honesty is desired
Evaluation
• Continual learning organization

For further questions
Richard Proffer
Business Development Specialist
University of Missouri Extension
Small Business Development Center
Ph# 573-243-3581
Email: profferrd@missouri.edu

Handouts
• Reasons for Poor Customer Service
• Customer Pet Peeves
• How to become more Customer-Oriented
• Customer Service Excellence: It’s in the Details!
• Tips to Customer Satisfaction
• 10 Ways to Miscommunicate
• Walk-in Greetings