Today I witnessed a customer service miracle in action. I took my son to our local fast food restaurant, so he could have some lunch and play in the indoor playground. While I was waiting for our food to be ready, a woman approached the counter with a crushed Styrofoam cup. She said, “This cup fell off of our table and broke. I need another drink and I need someone to come clean up our table and the floor.” The tone of her voice suggested that somehow the restaurant was responsible for her broken cup. And of course, there was no, “Hey I’m so sorry, one of my horrible children was fooling around and caused you a mess.”

It was then that right before my eyes a customer service miracle occurred. Rather than replying with the same nasty treatment they had just gotten from the customer, the staff quickly gave her a new drink. Then a man appeared with a smile and said, “I would be glad to clean that up for you.” The staff never heard the words “thank you” from that customer, yet they acted as if they had. All were professional and conveyed an attitude that said, “We love having the opportunity to serve each and every person in this restaurant.”

Not surprisingly, the place is almost always busy. The restaurant is clean, the management supports our community with various school spirit fundraising nights, the food is better than most fast food, and most of all, the people that work there make you want to come back.

Watching customer service interaction is my hobby and my work, and today’s experience was a living, breathing example of the 21 Rules for Excellent Retail Customer Service that we share with the participants in our courses. Most of them are not that hard to follow. However, they can be hard to follow consistently.

If you work with customers in retail, take a look at the list and ask yourself how closely you follow the rules.

1. Smile when greeting a customer in person and on the phone (and yes, they can tell if you are smiling over the telephone!).

2. Use age-appropriate greetings, and avoid referring to older customers and women as “guys.”

3. Be proactive and ask how you may be of service.

4. Stay visible and available, but don’t hover.

5. Don’t turn away, walk away, start to make a phone call, or duck beneath the counter as a customer approaches. (We’ve all had it happen to us.)

6. The live customer standing in front of you takes precedence over someone who calls on the phone.

7. Never judge a book by its cover–all customers deserve attention regardless of their age or appearance.

8. Leave food and beverages in the break room.

9. A customer doesn’t want to hear about your upcoming break.

10. Makes any personal calls when you’re on a break and out of earshot.

11. The correct answer is never “I don’t know” unless you add to it, “but I can find out for you.”

12. If a customer wants something that isn’t on display, go to the stock room and try to find it.

13. If the item isn’t in the stock room, offer to call another store or order it.

14. Learn to read body language to see if a customer could use some help.

15. Don’t let chatty customers monopolize your time if others are waiting.

16. Call for backup support if lines are forming.

17. Be discrete if a customer’s credit card is declined by asking if there is another method of payment he or she would like to use.

18. Never discuss customers in front of other customers (they’ll wonder what you’re saying about them once they leave).

19. Inspect merchandise before bagging it to make sure it’s not defective or the wrong size.

20. Make sure customers receive everything they’ve paid for before they leave your store.

21. Smile as you are saying goodbye and encourage the customer to come again.

And here’s one more tip: if you can, give people more than what they expect.

Many articles supply answers, but here I do not. Here, I ask the questions. If you want to rack your brains for finding the answers to these life conundrums. But, I warn you. Beware. These are not easy, and though somewhat hilarious and funny, they are real and true to life.

Should I begin? Ok, here I go:

1) How come Tarzan has no bears even though he grows up with wolves in the jungle?

2) Why does glue not stick to the insides of the tube or can that it comes in?

3) Why do they use sterile injections when executing someone who is condemned to death?

4) Why do we press down harder and harder or the remote controls even though we know that the batteries are low?

5) Why is it that when someone hits us in the ankles with his supermarket trolley and then appologizes, do we say that everything is ok? I mean, things are not really fine. Why is it that we do not say that it hurts?

6) Why is it that whatever the color of the bath soap, the bubbles are always white?

7) Why is it that you will never find a day when mattresses are not on sale?

Why is it that online casinos always offer big prize money for their tournaments but never reveal the real name of the winner after the competition is over?

9) If human beings evolved from monkeys, why is it that there still are monkeys?

10) Why did the Japanese Kamikaze pilots wear helmets during the second World War?

11) Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest but, then, duck when the empty gun is thrown at him.

12) Why do banks charge a commission when you go into debt even though they know that there is no money in that account?

13) Why do people go back again and again to the refrigerator hoping that something new to eat will appear there?

14) Why do people move their vacuum cleaner over a thin thread lying on the floor, bend down, pick it up, examine it, and then, place it on the floor again and move the vacuum over it again?

15) Why do people believe it when they are told that there are more than four billion stars, but when they see a sign that says wet paint, they have to touch and check?

16) Why does a plastic bag not open at the end where you first try to open it?

17) Why do you never hear jokes about father in laws?

18) Why are there dead insects inside enclosed electric lamps?

19) Why is it that in winter we try and keep the house as warm as it was during the summer when back in the summer we hated the heat?

20) Why is it that every time you try and catch something that is about to fall off the table, you always hit something else and drop that instead?

Conclusion:

Life has many oddities and conundrums: some funny, some less. I have mentioned but a few. Think of more? Send them to me.

Sales is one of the most exciting professions. It is also one of the toughest professions. Selling to customers can be a real task. If by any chance, you get a tough buyer, you will need all the training to sell to him/her. Let me ask you - do you sell yourself as a person of integrity and honesty to your buyers? Or you focus only on your product? Let me ask you one question- do you think that your bus the product only because of the value of the product? Or because your buyer believes in you and thinks that you will not sell anything bad to them? What do you think hen you buy anything? Who is selling to you does affect you. Am I right?

How to sell yourself to your buyer? Let us examine that. Do you come across as a person who knows the subject? Are you ready with all the answers or always need time to refer back with the answer. Can you tell your buyer about the competitive products in as much detail as you can do for your product? Are you sure that your buyer is good for your customer or you sell it to get only the commission or earn the salary?

Do you know your regular buyers habits? Do you know about their family and other personal details? Do you talk to your buyer as a hard headed professional or as a friend who knows what is best? Do you come across as a honest person? What is the image of the company for which you are working? Are your promises of after sales service are always fulfilled or you forget the buyer after making the sale? Does your buyer believe your words? Does your buyer think that you area person of character? If you can do that, you can raise your commissions to any limit.

Do many of us realize that we are working an unpaid part time job for the grocery stores and some home appliance stores? We are ringing up our own goods, are not getting any price discount for doing so and are saving these retailers money.

Each self-serve lane contains two to three self-serve scanners. Retailers have an average of two to four self-serve lanes. Retailers are saving each store an average of four to eight cashiers’ salaries per store. One attendant is assigned to these self-service machines. Hypothetically, if stores are paying full time cashiers $7 per hour, they are now saving $14,000 annually in wage expenses for each cashier that they do not have to hire. Multiplied by four to eight cashiers, each store saves $56,000 to $112,000 per year on wage expenses. This simple calculation does not even count other benefits that companies pay to their cashiers, such as healthcare, vacation pay, sick pay, 401(k), pension benefits and tuition assistance.

Are these savings passed on to the consumer? Nope!

Why should we work an unpaid part time job for the grocery industry?

1. Self-serve scanning machines are not always user-friendly

When grocery bags get filled up and you have nowhere else to put your groceries, the machine will say something like “Please place your item back in bag” and not even let you know what the problem is. The machine treats you like you’re an imbecile. The machine is wasting your time while an attendant has to correct the problem.

2. Self-serve scanning machines do not always scan every bar code.

Some of the machines do not scan deposit bottle return slips, which requires an attendant to manually scan the deposit slips. If there is other merchandise that the machine will not scan, an attendant also has to manually override the system, which is consuming more time for the customer.

3. Self-serve scanners cannot correct price variations.

If an item should scan at a certain price, but the store’s system scans the item at a different price, an attendant has to manually override the scanner to give the consumer the correct price.

4. Risks of alienating senior citizens

If self-scanners are challenging for younger people, imagine how intimidating the machines must be for seniors. Sometimes, perception and not reality can dictate a retailer’s success. If seniors perceive that cashier-scanning is going to be phased out by self-scanning, seniors may take their business where the human touch is still being utilized.

5. Gas stations offer a price break for self-serve

Although full-serve gas stations are becoming more rare, those stations that still offer full-service and self-service combinations offer price breaks to those customers who pump their own gasoline. If gas stations can offer a price break to customers who pump their own gasoline, why can’t grocery stores offer a price break to customers who ring up their own goods?

6. Impersonal aspect could dissuade customers

Many customers go to the same store, restaurant or tavern because people who work at the establishment remember them. Remember “Norm” from Cheers? They want to go “where everybody knows their name…” A U-Scan Machine is not going to know you from Adam.

7. Self-scanning is currently not set up to handle large amounts of goods.

Currently, U-Scan machines are set up to handle about fifteen items or less, which is fine with the light shopper. What happens with customers who are purchasing over fifteen items? Are the larger-quantity purchasers being rewarded by not having to scan their own goods? Why do shoppers with fifteen items or less have the opportunity to do voluntary part time work for retailers? Is it a case of if customers purchase enough groceries, they don’t have to work for the store today?

Should this concept be called self-scan or self-scam? Fortunately, ringing up one’s own goods is still optional. Yes, it is still optional to do part time unpaid work for a retailer in which you are patronizing. Customers are doing the retailers a favor by purchasing goods at their stores. Is this how the customers are being rewarded? What will be next? Will customers go into a restaurant, order their food, be expected to prepare the food and pay the same price as if someone else had prepared the meal?

Here are 7 common mistakes well-intentioned professionals make when it comes to dealing with unhappy customers. Learn exactly what not to do so that you’re well positioned to completely regain the goodwill of unhappy customers after any service mishap.

1. Telling the customer he or she is wrong. You will be smart to NEVER tell a customer they are wrong or mistaken. Telling a person they are wrong arouses opposition and will make the customer want to battle with you. (Ever tell your spouse they are wrong?) “It is difficult, under even the most benign conditions to change people’s minds.” So why make it harder by starting out on the wrong foot? If you know your customer is wrong, it’s better to start off saying something like, “I thought the contract read otherwise, but let’s take look.”

2. Arguing with a customer. You must realize you cannot win an argument with a customer. Certainly, you can prove your point and even have the last word. You may be right, but as far as changing your customer’s mind is concerned, you will probably be just as futile as if you were wrong. Your goal in complaint situations is to retain the customer, not to be right. If you win the argument, you may very well have lost the customer. Think carefully about the response you want to give and ask yourself, “Is my reaction one that will relieve the problem, or will it just relieve frustration? Will my reaction drive my customer further away? What price will I pay if “I” win the argument?” The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.

3. Telling a customer to calm down. Certainly, there are times when a calm disposition would make every one’s life easier, but telling your customer to calm down is rarely effective. Like you, your customers don’t like to be told what to do. Try this approach instead: “Clearly you’re upset and I want you to know that getting to the bottom of this is just as important to me as it is to you.”

4. Failing to apologize to customers in the wake of problems. One of the easiest and quickest ways to diffuse anger, create rapport, and regain goodwill with unhappy customers is to apologize. Offering an apology to a customer who experiences a problem should be a natural response from customer service providers. Yet, recent research reveals the startling fact that 50% of customers who voice a complaint say they never received an apology.

Not only does an apology give “soft benefits” such as creating calm, shaving minutes off of talk time, less stress on the employee, etc., it can also translate into significant and measurable savings in reduced lawsuits, settlement costs, and defense costs.

An apology does not have to be an admission of fault. It can be offered to express regret. For example, “I’m so sorry for any inconvenience this misunderstanding has caused you.”

5. Escalating voice. Avoid the temptation to yell just because your customer is yelling. You don’t want to get caught up in their drama. Instead, remain centered and calm, relying on your ability to communicate with diplomacy and professionalism.

6. Not allowing the customer to vent. An angry customer can be compared to an erupting volcano. When a volcano is erupting, there is nothing you can do. You can’t tame it, can’t speed it up, and you can’t control it. It must erupt. But erupting volcanoes eventually subside. Your angry customer &ndash who is intensely emotional &ndash is the same way. He must erupt (that is…express his anger through venting). You can’t tame the customer, you must simply let him vent. After briefly venting, most angry customers will begin to calm down. Let your customers vent.

7. Proclaiming to the customer: “This is all I can do.” You are there to help. Give your customer options and look for every way you can help.

Two important pre-reading notes: Before you chose to read or not read this article, let make two things clear. Everyone has Customers. Even if you work in an internal staff department in a large firm, you have Customers. They are the people you provide work to. And second, don’t be put off by the term Customer. Maybe you call them Clients, Students, Patients, or (heaven forbid!) Users. If one of those words works better for you, read that word every time you read Customer. Now that I have eliminated your reasons for not reading, please continue . . .

We can read lots of books and articles about Customer Service strategies and how to build processes that will serve Customers more successfully. All of these things are valuable, but if we put all of our focus on processes, systems, strategies and procedures we may lose track of something very important.

Customers are people first.

This means that each of your Customers, like everyone else, wants to feel important. It a universal truth - we all want that feeling, and will gravitate towards those that make us feel that way.

Hint: Having Customers gravitate towards you is a very good thing.

Here are seven ways that you as an individual, regardless of any corporate policies or systems, can make Customers feel more important, written from the Customer’s perspective:

Please use my name. I know I may have a Customer or registration number and that I might need to give that to you. But I also know that once you put that number in the system, you know my name. Use it. If I hand you my credit card, now you know my name too. Please use it.

I want to be a part of the “in” crowd. That’s why I like being invited into Frequent Flyer clubs, frequent buyer clubs or anything that provides me with discounts, special services, education or surprises. If you have this kind of club, invite me to join. If you don’t have one yet, please think about starting one.

Ask me for my advice. I have an opinion, and if asked in the right way, at the right time, when I know you really care about the answer, I’ll give you that advice. Opinion cards may be OK, but I would love to be asked personally. Give me the chance to tell you what I think, and I’ll reward you with more of my business. I don’t often get asked for my opinion and it feels good. And who knows, you might even get a great idea for a new product or service.

Acknowledge me. I know you are busy sometimes. I can see the line. I even understand that your system might be down, or that you have five people in the phone queue. I’ve been there, I work too. But when I call or come by, acknowledge that I am there and let me know you are glad I’m in the line. A smile and a hello, or a “We’ll be with you shortly” will go a long way. Acknowledge me and I’ll understand. Ignore me, and well, how do you feel when you’ve been ignored?

Surprise me. A little extra something with my order or a hand written note would be nice. A special discount “just because” or a free sample of dessert. It doesn’t have to be a big thing, and it doesn’t have to be every time. If you get a good surprise, do you want to share it with others? Me too.

Apologize. I hate it when people try to prove they were right, or don’t mention that fact that the order is three days late, or the surcharge can’t be removed, or the item is out of stock. But again, I know things do happen. When things do go wrong though, please give me a simple apology. Here’s the funniest thing. When you make a mistake, and then apologize (perhaps even including a surprise of some sort) I’ll love you more than ever. Apologies and good service recoveries are so rare that you can take my dissatisfaction and turn it into loyalty, if you will do this right.

Listen. Most all of the other things I’ve told you require you to listen. I can tell when you are really listening to me and that makes me feel very good &ndash because true listening is rare, sometimes even at home. Listen to my concerns. Listen to my ideas. Listen to my order, so we don’t have any misunderstandings. When you really listen, you can’t believe how good that makes me feel.

All of us can do most of these things each day. When we do we will make our work more enjoyable, easier, and quite likely will begin creating legions of loyal Customers immediately.

And before you go, read these seven things again, with the voice of one of your Customers in your head, as a reminder of how you can make each of your Customers feel more important.

As you may have already heard, PAS (the Prosperity Automated System) has added another income source to its line-up. It is called Freedom Rocks. Freedom Rocks, in a nutshell, promotes a unique “Wealth Builder” program that produces automated buy and sell triggers for its members, giving them guidance for trading in the Forex market.

Freedom Rocks consists of a proprietary software system that helps its members know when to buy and sell, requiring little to no prior experience. Here are some of the highlights, taken directly from their online FAQ:

- You place all of your own trades, in your own brokerage account, so you always have 100% control over your money

- There are no charts or graphs to read

- No research

- No signals

- You’ll always trade currency pairs which (historically speaking) move in opposite directions

- You’ll seldom exit your positions

- You can manage a portfolio of any size in just a few minutes per week

- You don’t have to monitor your portfolio all night when the markets are their most active

- In addition to your trading gains, you can set your portfolio to produce virtually any level of interest you desire - keeping in mind, that higher interest rates may significantly increase the volatility and overall risk of your portfolio

The Cost

$189 to get started, then $100/month thereafter. In addition, you must pay an annual website maintenance fee of $45.

Now, I could see this working IF you happened to be one of those PAS members that is currently pulling in a decent profit. Given that PAS members must pay $190 per AdPack per month (or find their own means of marketing altogether), another $100/mo just isn’t justifiable to me unless I were already at least $290 in the green (per month). For my money, Freedom Rocks is one business opportunity that will have to wait.

PAS Support (or Lack Thereof)

As a PAS member, I had submitted a support request to PAS some time ago (27 days ago, to be exact). During a recent members-only teleconference, a member asked Bill O. about the whole support ticket system issue. Bill’s response could basically be summarized as: If you want an answer to a support issue, just voice your concern via one of their members calls … which means that you must be available to be on the call at the date and time they have scheduled it.

For me, this poses quite an inconvenience. In my opinion, if they’re not planning on replying to any past support tickets, then they should pull down the support ticket system altogether until they believe they have the manpower to properly address the issues. I had waited over 20 days only to find out the there was very little likelihood that my ticket would ever be addressed (unless I called in and voiced it during a membership teleconference).

Another way to look at it … they’ve apparently had enough time to strike a deal with not just one, but TWO other opportunity sources (IPG8 & Freedom Rocks), but they have yet to solve their glaring support issues. These kind of collaborations usually take a considerable amount of time in planning and execution (we formed several of these back in the days of my previous company). In my personal opinion, they are focusing on the wrong priorities.

Now, please don’t get me wrong, expansion can be a good thing. But, it should be executed carefully, with a robust support system in place prior to adding additional components to their business model.

Call it a blind spot. Call it regimented thinking. Call it the-way-we-have-always-done-it. But by any name, there are actions and practices that far too many businesses engage in that can unknowingly drive customers away.

When I observe such practices, I move from being angry to just plain sad. Really sad. Because the truth of the matter is that no one CONSCIOUSLY set out to ruin my day. No one sat in a board room and dreamt up procedures that would have us leaving in droves. No one woke up and said, “I can hardly wait to make you miserable.” It happened “because”. Because the truth of the matter is that it takes courage to stop and ask the critical question: Does this serve our customer? Our member? Our community?

We all “know” the rules of service. But sadly, sometimes we don’t take the time to think through just what our actions might be do or say to the customer. Here are some actions guaranteed to drive folks from the doors of an enterprise. It’s time for all of us to sit up and notice!

Over promise and under deliver.

Bring people to the conference with the promise of cutting edge material. Lure attendees into thinking that the hotel is a four-star marvel. Tell customers that they’ll have all the material they need in three days. Promise the meeting planner that the press kit will go out overnight. Then sit back and watch. Really watch. If it isn’t true 100% of the time, it’s a bait and switch promise.

Take the idea of “cutting edge material”. I’ve attended conferences in which the only cutting edge was the serving knife on a buffet table. Same ideas. Same methodology. Same format. Get a clue! Shake it up. Be provocative. If we say it, we better deliver.

How about that four-star hotel? Brochure looks great. The conference walk through is stunning. But then, could that ghastly-looking luncheon plate REALLY be the same chicken marsala you were served in the tasting? And, how about the fact that the hotel “forgot” to tell you that the major dining room would be undergoing renovation. Yikes!

The three-day guarantee. If you can’t deliver it all the time, it’s not true! Now, perhaps Three Day Blinds has reversed its practices, but years ago, I ordered window coverings for our new house. My mother was coming to visit us over Christmas and I needed shades. Alas, the third day came and went. I discovered that only “some” shades are three-day, not all. Beware of the implied promise.

Never walk the talk.

The brochure for the conference said, “a celebration of members”, a “community that listens.” Too bad it didn’t play out in reality.

The setting is New Orleans. A couple thousand folks have gathered for the “celebration” and the “community”. Alas, the reality is another fact. I discover that people are invited to parties based upon their status in the organization. The luncheon session I am addressing has some 50 “important people” file into the banquet hall and take their places on a stage that is three tiers deep. Talk about a “we”/ “they” set up. I am told, “This is the way we have always done it.” The intent to “honor” these 50 people was to have hundreds watch them eat and to also set up the boundary between the “us” and the “them”.

Come on. There are a few more creative ways to showcase the “us” that is far more inclusive, educational, and community building than a camera shot of folks eating. I end up addressing an audience while have my back to 50 plus people. It’s rude, off-putting, and the exact opposite of what the organization, in all good intentions, wishes to create.

Our lives had better mirror the words we use and the beliefs we profess to all. Otherwise, we’re merely impersonators. I watched a very well known speaker who specializes in relationship building turn into a snarling, demanding customer who treated the flight attendants like personal servants. How many disbelievers were created on that day?

Make technology your primary form of communication.

Make sure there’s a voice mail doom loop from which someone will never emerge to actually speak with a live human. Conduct all business via e-mail, assuming that a message sent is a message received. And while you’re at it, hit send as soon as a message is written.

These three practices can doom any business relationship. Amazing isn’t it: having a person answer the phone can actually be a competitive advantage! How easy do we make it for people to do business with us via the telephone or even our web site? I tried to book a reservation in a lovely hotel, only to be treated to a lovely online tour of the property without ever finding a contact number!

E-mail is great for data but not perfect for relationship building or critical pieces of information. In fact, often the E in e-mail stands for escalation and error. Two colleagues almost became bitter enemies over rapid fire e-mails that had the sting of a viper and the warmth of the Arctic. Neither thought to pick up the phone and talk things out. Thus, the lop-sided “chats” turned into internecine warfare. Talk about beating folks up!!

I discovered fascinating information about a client when we talked through my normal pre-program survey rather than depend upon an electronic transmission. I had thought my online survey was a time saving device. Instead, what it became was a gatekeeper, preventing me from digging deeper into an issue. Likewise, multiple choice answers on written or online customer service surveys will never result in information of substantive depth.

Forget the wisdom of the outer circle.

In organizational life, there’s always an “inner circle” of power and control. Boards of Directors wield it. So do powerful departments. When practices and policies come only from the inner circle, the rank and file is not only unheard, but can turn its back on the organization. Members leave associations when they feel discounted and “not in the know”.

Never say “thank you”.

Mother was right when she made us kids write notes to relatives after Christmas. It’s a forgotten habit that can go a long way to letting people feel appreciated. Likewise, pick up the phone and call a client or member who has a complaint and THANK THEM for making that complaint known. You’ll discover a huge dividend in goodwill after they recover from the shock of your call.

Three Practices to KEEP customers and members.

Common courtesy isn’t common. Be uncommon.

Service is an unnatural act. It takes emphasis away from ourselves and gives it to others. Be unnatural.

Time is the only non-renewal resource. Never waste people’s time.

Hope I haven’t wasted yours!

(c) 2005, McDargh Communications. Publication rights granted to all venues so long as article and by-line are reprinted intact and all links are made live.

Clients work with professionals whom they trust. Building trust is an ongoing process. Here are 10 ways to build trust with both old and new clients.

1. Keep your agreements with your clients &ndash If you promise delivery on a particular day, make sure to deliver when it was promised. Even something as small as the time you have scheduled an appointment is an agreement. Each time you break an agreement with a client, you break the trust.

2. Create realistic client expectations &ndash Help the client to understand exactly what you will do for him or her. Put boundaries around what is included in your service and what is not. What will create extra charges? How and when will you be billing the client? Living up to the expectations you create helps your clients to take you at your word.

3. Help client to understand the process &ndash If your client understands how you and your office works the client can then know what to expect and when to expect it.

4. Explain your plan and strategy &ndash Not only does the client need to understand your office procedure but also what the plan and strategy is for his/her particular case. This will help client to know what to expect and when to expect it. Trust comes when the client feels confident and comfortable with the plan and the strategy.

5. Never over promise &ndash It is tempting to promise whatever the client requests without consulting a schedule or asking if it is doable. Over promising often causes broken agreements and thus broken trust.

6. Carefully explain the client’s role &ndash When a client is clear on what his or her role is then the client gets clear on what progress can be made without his or her involvement and what needs his or her input before moving on. Getting really clear on what the client needs to do to move his or her case forward, helps you work as a team and builds trust.

7. Discuss potential pitfalls &ndash Nothing disturbs the trust of a client more than when something unexpected happens. (If it is good of course you can celebrate! Whew!) Guard against something negative happening as a surprise by discussing the potential pitfalls with the client.

8. Review the agreement in detail &ndash Any agreements that the client is going to have to make should be discussed in detail. Trust is built over a long period of time but it can be broken easily. A surprise that results from an agreement the client made but is unaware of breaks that trust quickly.

9. Avoid making the client feel stupid &ndash No one likes to feel stupid. If clients feel that you think they are stupid they will no longer entrust you with their ideas or thoughts. Clients who don’t feel valued by the professional may stop trusting that person. Professionals probably don’t set out to make a client feel stupid. In fact it may be an attitude, an inadvertent comment, or a look that gives the client that impression. Be aware of your inner thoughts. They show up without your noticing. Use careful language.

10. Don’t allow interruptions at meetings &ndash If you take interruptions during meetings with clients it makes them feel they are not important to you. Eventually you erode the good will and trust that you had with them.

The preamble to the United States Constitution begins, ‘we, the people.’ I feel strongly that we, the people, are what make the difference in life, both personally and professionally.

The interaction anyone has at any level with your employees, including you, gives a customer– whether current, potential, internal or external–an opportunity to make a judgment about you, your company, all companies like yours. I’m not just talking about call centers here. All technical support or help desk personnel are included as well. As a matter of fact, anyone who is in the customer service business period.

With continued focus on customer satisfaction, customer retention, and lifetime value of the customer, it is no surprise that contact center operations continue to increase in importance as the primary hub of a customer’s experience. For the customer, the person on the other end of the phone is the company. The contact center is still the most common way that customers get in touch with businesses. In fact, Gartner reports 92% of all contact is through the center. And it’s been reported that 70% to 90% of what happens with customers is driven by human nature, having nothing to do with technology. State of the art technology is a necessity today, but it is meant to enable human endeavors, not to disable them.

I often talk about taking customer service and ‘kicking it up a notch.’ In the food industry, the word ‘lagniappe’ is often used. Its definition is “a small present given to a customer with a purchase. For example, when you go to the bakery and buy a dozen donuts or bagels, you oftentimes get a ‘free’ one or a baker’s dozen. That’s what customer service should be about–giving the customer more than they expected! Let’s bring lagniappe into the contact center industry.

If we’re going to speak about world class customer service, let’s have a working definition it so we’re all on the same page. Customer service is those activities provided by a company’s employees that enhance the ability of a customer to realize the full potential value of a product or service before and after the sale is made, thereby leading to satisfaction and repurchase.

Let’s look at the first W which is Why?

The state of customer service today is not good, be it over the phone or self service. Because 92% of people feel their call experience is important in shaping the image of a company, this reinforces the importance of centers in branding the image of their companies.

In a Mobius Management Systems Survey, here’s what happened because of poor customer service:

60% cancelled accounts with banks

36% changed insurance providers

40% changed telephone companies

35% changed credit card providers

375 changed Internet service providers

Are you one of these statistics? I certainly am.

In a study done by Purdue University and BenchmarkPortal.com, in answer to (1) how did agents satisfy your needs and handle the call, and (2) based on any negative experience, would you stop using this company in the future? the findings reveal a strong correlation between the participant’s age and the tendency to stop using the company after a bad experience.

What does this mean? Younger participants were less tolerant and more likely to move to the competition. People over 65 were found to be more demanding than those in middle age.

What can you do? Give younger callers a ‘wow’ experience–maintain their loyalty. People over 36 probably have more of an ‘emotional bank account’ with the company they are dealing with&ndashmaybe had some good experience and therefore are more willing to ‘forgive.’

In a recent study (CRM Magazine/PeopleSoft Web Seminar on How Usability Helps to Drive a Profitable Contact Center), the number of applications required for agents to access customer inquiries were:

3.7% just 1

81.5% 2 &ndash 5

7.4% 5 &ndash 10

7.4% more than 10

As you can see, the majority of applications are 2 - 5. The goal, of course, is to link every point of contact to one central location for a customer-centric, synchronized approach satisfying customer experiences with every interaction.

Strategies for success for world class service should include:

Respond promptly

Handle requests through the customers’ choice of medium

Be brief and clear

Reduce back and forth communications (especially in writing, i.e., email, kick it up to a phone call if it goes beyond two)

Personalized service

Delight the customer

What do we mean by delighting the customer?

Inform and educate them

Establish your expertise and professionalism

Offer options

Diffuse upset, anger, when and if necessary

Escalate, if required

Take Ownership of the call

Remember we’re still on the first W &ndash the Why. Today’s pressures on agents are different than in the past. They are asked to handle more customer, more volume, more complex and/or complicated calls. After all if we could handle our issues with self service, we probably would not call. But if we tried self service and it didn’t work, now we’re upset and it’s an escalated call from the get go.

They’re asked to provide more information, do it faster and be available and accessible. But they are to lower costs, generate revenue, incorporate new technologies, ensure closure and commitment, deliver ‘great’ service and when? Yesterday, of course.

As a matter of fact the CDC (Center for Disease Control) has said that the causes of death for people under 65 are:

21% - environment &ndash war, accidents, crimes

9% - health care system &ndash doctors, hospitals, medications

17% - human biology &ndash not because of lifestyle

53% - because of the way people choose to live their lives!!!

This is the good news and the bad news. It’s bad news because it’s more than half. However, the good news is that this is something we can do something about, it’s about choice.

The #2 W is Who should be trained?

We suggest front line agents/representatives, supervisors, team lads, managers, assistant managers, internal customers and other departments &ndash anyone who is a touch point so that they can learn to speak the same language, and more importantly, not be in an adversarial position, but rather, together they are serving the external customer or end user.

The #3 W is Where should the training take place? Offsite vs onsite, and there are advantages and disadvantages for both.

Certainly it is most cost effective to have training on site. However, distractions are rampant as is the participant’s availability to a person or problem.

Offsite is more costly. However, there are no distractions and the participants are unavailable to other departments, their managers, or any issues. I believe there is psychic value in taking people away from their work stations and off site to acknowledge the touch jobs they have.

The #4 W is What should be included in any training? We believe the following modules provide a robust, powerful, and succinct training curriculum:

 Quality Customer Service  Rapport Building

 Customer Expectations

 Perception Shifting  Conflict Resolution

 Language Skills

 Anger Management  E-Mail Protocol

 Stress Reduction  Empathetic Responsiveness

 Change Management

 Communication/Listening Skills  Interaction/Role Play

 Service with a Smile

Further suggested is university certification to up the ante. The more professionally you treat your employees, the more professionally they will treat your customers.

The #5 W is When. We say for new hires, monthly, ongoingly, consistently, whenever change occurs, when stressors increase, and as needed.

We further suggest that each employee get a minimum of 24 hours per year of ongoing training, spread out over time for the most absorption. We divide our trainings into two four hour sessions per day and deliver 6 days per employee. Therefore, 30 people can participate in the training per day. If there has been no ongoing training, we do four days once a month for four months and then a session three months later, and then another three months later. In this manner, training is customized, in real time, and can address whatever challenges are presented when they occur.