Customer Service

Content Strategy and Words for Business on the Web • • Feature Post Sales vs. Marketing

Twitter Changes the Customer Service Paradigm

Friday, June 20th, 2008

Image via WikipediaOh, how I hate to use the word “paradigm”, but … Customer service media include phone, email, chat rooms, blogs … and now Twitter. Only with Twitter, the customer service experience is upside down.

A few days ago my Twitter pal Kim put out a Tweet asking if anyone besides her was having trouble logging on to MyBlogLog. It so happened I was having the same issue, so I Tweeted back to confirm.

Several hours later I received a Twitter reply from @mblsupport, apologizing for the service breakdown and reporting it had been fixed.

Wow. My first reaction was, this is unexpected. I can’t believe MyBlogLog was listening, and that they took the time to respond. My second reaction was, I don’t really know if I like a company monitoring my Twitter conversations. My third reaction was, hey, if that’s the way I feel, what am I doing on Twitter in the first place? (more…)

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Do Your Non-Sellers Need Sales Training? YES!

Thursday, February 21st, 2008

Did you ever stop and think how important your non-sellers are to customers?

Customer service reps have hundreds of email and phone touches with customers every day.
Accounts receivable staffers spend most of their day talking to customers, often on ticklish issues.
Shipping personnel schedule deliveries and expedite orders all day long.
Credit department employees have some of the very first contact with new customers.

Amazingly, few people in these areas receive basic training in sales skills — such things as how to ask questions, how to listen, how to talk features and benefits, how to present information, how to negotiate, et cetera.

Having just concluded an extensive customer care training program I developed for a national packaging company, I was struck by how similar customer care and sales are when it comes to building customer relationships.

In the eyes of many customers, an inside support contact is the company. How customer care people talk to customers and resolve their problems may determine whether the customer grows — or fades away. Investing time and effort in developing their skills leads directly to more loyal customers who are eager to do more business with you. It’s key.

I believe so strongly in this I’ve made Selling for Non-Sellers a standard part of my training and coaching program.

Recessions are a good time to take action on this. Customers are under enormous pressure to reduce cost. Their patience with mistakes that cost money is stretched to the limit. Your support staff is under the gun. Are you giving them enough ammunition?

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How TO Customer Service–Dig It Photography

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007

Last week I let Sears have it for their poor customer service during my quest to procure a photo of myself for this Web site. But the story didn’t end there.

My next call was to a local studio, Dig It Photography. The owner, who answered the phone himself, asked me to come in for a shoot at 12:30 pm that very day. Wow! Now we’re getting somewhere.

Or so I thought. When I arrived at his studio, the door was locked. Taped to it was a scribbled out note saying he’d be back at 2:30 pm.

Grrr. Big company or small, customer service is dead, I thought. Wrong! The phone was ringing when I returned to my office. It was the photographer, Don. He couldn’t have been more apologetic. He had gotten hung up on a location shoot. He asked for another chance and said if I came in again, he’d take me immediately.

How could I say no? I returned that very afternoon. Don showed a real interest in my business, asking lots of friendly questions. He shared a few humorous stories about his experiences as a photographer, including an anecdote about William Shatner.

He made me feel at home. He made me want to come back.

After he finished prepping the photo (you can judge the results for yourself), he insisted on giving me a 50% discount! It was the last thing I expected, and I told him it wasn’t necessary. But he said his reputation was more important than money (!) and he felt he had not treated me up to his standards.

Needless to say, here was a textbook example of how to take care of a customer. He’ll absolutely get more photography business from my family and me. He’ll get referrals every chance I get. Simply by expressing concern and maintaining high standards, he transformed an irritated prospect into an advocate!

How many millions (or billions) in extra sales could a company the size of Sears bring in, if only they could follow the simple example of a neighborhood photographer?

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Sears, or How NOT to Customer Service

Friday, August 17th, 2007

After months of procrastination, I decided to get a professional head shot for my business. My first call was to Sears, and it turned out to be a textbook example of inept customer service.

I called the phone number from the Yellow Pages and was greeted by a sterile-voiced automated attendant. I had two options–”1″ to schedule an appointment, “2″ for anything else. At least that’s what I think, because while the instructions were playing, the line was ringing loudly.

Before I had a chance to respond, a woman at Sears answered the ring. The first thing out of her mouth–”What’s your phone number?”

This bothered me. Is that any way to start a conversation with a customer? By demanding personal information? Why does she need my phone number anyway? I reluctantly gave her my number and asked about scheduling an appointment for a photograph.

“Sir, you have to call another number for that.”

Splendid. Now I feel confused, violated and frustrated.

At least it was a toll-free call. A woman answers promptly and starts giving me a scripted explanation of how to schedule an appointment. “Whoa,” I say. “Before I schedule an appointment, I’d like to know how much it costs.”

“Sir, you have to call another number for that. What is your zip code?”

Time to bail. Three phone calls and two pieces of personal information was more than I wanted to invest. I said thanks but no thanks and proceeded to look elsewhere.

Bureaucratic. Intrusive. Aggravating. Impersonal. That’s the way my customer service experience made me feel about Sears. Besides that, I wonder if they make it difficult to find out the pricing on purpose. Whenever companies erect road blocks between me and pricing information, I get suspicious. But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and say that Sears just has an ineffective process in place.

You already know that Sears is not alone. How often do you run into the same type of thing? I wonder if customer service managers ever take the trouble to test their phone support by using it themselves. Don’t you think that would eliminate the problem?

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What Makes a Great Customer Service Rep?

Thursday, June 28th, 2007

This type of scene played out many a time when I was a sales rep.

Brad: (Solemnly) Charlie, we’ve been forced to make some changes in order to improve our service throughout the territory. As much as I’ve enjoyed working with you over the past four years, I’m no longer going to be your sales rep. You’ve been a great customer, an ally, and a real friend. We’re hoping this change won’t affect our business together. Are you going to be O.K. with this?

Charlie: Oh, sure, Brad, no problem-o. (Solemnly) But Carrie’s still going to be our customer service rep–right?

When you hear a conversation like that, you know you have an outstanding customer service rep on your hands! What makes Carrie great?

1. Resourcefulness. Carrie does whatever it takes to get the job done for the customer. She does not get discouraged when she runs into an internal brick wall. Instead, she uses–

2. Creativity. Carrie knows the products, system, the staff and the suppliers inside and out. Her knowledge enables her to devise alternatives that will satisfy the customer. Carrie always has a Plan B, a Plan C, and a Plan D.

3. Making the extraordinary ordinary. No matter how much pressure Carrie endures, no matter how many heavens and earths she moves to solve the problem, she’s always on an even keel when talking to the customer. Customers don’t want drama–they want results. It’s the combination of relaxed communication and dependable performance that forges unbreakable customer relationships.

4. Listening and sensing. In order to solve problems, Carrie obviously has to listen. But she’s also sensitive to the customer’s tone and the things that aren’t said. This helps her establish the level of urgency, the specific tasks that need to be accomplished, and the timetable. Listening and sensing prevents the turning of molehills into mountains, as well the turning of mountains into molehills. Listening and sensing prevents crucial details from falling through the cracks.

What else do you think makes a great customer service rep?

Word Sell … Scrambled Toast

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The Pros and Cons of On Hold Phone Messages

Monday, December 18th, 2006

No company wants to strand customers on hold for an extended period of time. But when it happens, you want to make the experience pleasant–or at least tolerable. Music CD’s or radio make convenient and inexpensive options for on hold background. In some cases, however, a custom on hold phone message is worth the investment. The most common varieties–

1. Educational messages. An accounting firm offering commentary on recent tax law changes, or a veterinary clinic describing symptoms of various pet illnesses, are examples of solid material for educational messages. If you have a timely topic of wide interest on which you can shed light, consider this approach.

2. Redirecting messages. Phone service providers, banks, and airlines like to provide customers with alternate methods of contact to steer them off the phone and onto the Web. This tactic serves the dual purpose of reducing phone volume and explaining and promoting unfamiliar customer service options. But only if your company has extremely efficient online help capabilities is this technique worth considering.

3. Promotional messages. Lots of flexibility here. Companies can announce promotions, describe products and services, report company news, and/or explain their position or mission in the marketplace.

Is an on hold message right for you?

1. If you have a compelling educational message, it will keep customers on the line longer than music or radio. Compose your message as a series of brief tips–you don’t want customers coming off hold in the middle of a long, complex dissertation.

2. Be extremely cautions with redirecting messages. Even if your online support is second-to-none, promoting it with an on hold phone message can backfire. Customers with a problem, in the heat of battle, might infer you don’t consider them important enough for a personal conversation.

3. Promotional messages similarly can backfire. Again, customers with a problem might be in no mood to hear a commercial. However, customers enjoy learning how to save money or gain new benefits. Make your message a series of brief announcements, for example using the “Did You Know …” technique. And be sure to develop about five minutes-worth of material–you don’t want customers listening to the same blurb over and over.

The production cost of a custom on hold phone message ranges from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending mainly on the length. Content can be developed by the production company or by the firm itself, usually in collaboration with a copywriting firm.

The main disadvantage of a custom message is cost. To prevent your message from growing stale, you need to change it on a regular basis. Depending on your message and caller frequency, “regular” can mean quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.

The main advantage of a custom message is that appeals to the widest range of callers–if it’s done properly. It’s impossible to find a single radio station or music program with universal appeal, and chances are, whatever you choose will completely turn off some of your callers. If a custom message keeps customers on the line, relieves their stress, and delivers an appealing company message–well, why not?

Bottom line–being put on hold is an extremely unpleasant customer experience. Statistics indicate upwards of 80% of customers hang up when confronted with on hold silence. Silence or the wrong sound will drive business away. Your on hold phone strategy cannot run on autopilot.

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How to Leave a Voice Mail Message

Sunday, December 17th, 2006

In Friday’s post, we talked about how to compose a voice mail greeting. But how about leaving a voice mail message? Here are some ideas to make your corporate communicaton more effective.

1. Be brief. Assume the person listening to your message is up to his eyeballs in work, or going through a crowded airport security line. Just provide the short version–background details can wait until the actual conversation.

2. Leave a callback number. You can’t always assume the person has caller ID or remembers your phone number.

3. Say the callback number slowly. I’m a dimwit with numbers. Sometimes I have replay a voice mail message three times to transcribe the number correctly. If you shoot out the numbers like machine gun fire, the listener might surrender and not call back at all. And don’t forget your area code.

4. Leave the callback number at the beginning of your message. If the listener needs to replay your message to get the number, at least she won’t have to listen to the rest of the message first.

5. Give the listener a time frame in which to call back. Do you need an answer within five minutes, five hours or five days? Help the listener manage her time. She will appreciate the courtesy.

6. Give the listener time to respond before you call someone else. It’s tempting for a caller with a serious problem to call several people at the same time, hoping that one will respond immediately and help. Two problems with this. First, it tends to cause mass confusion at the other end, which may actually impede the resolution of your problem. Second, the next time you call, the listener will head for the break room, assuming you’ve already corraled someone else into handling your problem.

Small matters? Perhaps. But remember–sometimes a few small drops of oil are what keep the wheels of commerce rolling.

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How to Compose a Voice Mail Greeting

Friday, December 15th, 2006

Most people don’t think about their voice mail greeting as a thing that needs formal composition, but sometimes, a voice mail greeting is every bit as important as a sales proposal or the home page of your Web site.

For instance, the man pictured above (let’s call him Mr. Grim) has a problem. Maybe the order you were supposed to deliver yesterday never arrived. If he doesn’t receive it in an hour, his plant will shut down and he’ll lose a $100,000 customer.

1. If you compose your voice mail greeting with Mr. Grim in mind, you’ll be 3/4 of the way there, especially with regard to the tone of your greeting. The tone should be straightforward and professional, never syrupy or cute.

2. Start by identifying yourself quickly but completely. “Hello. My name is Amanda Jones, ABC. Company, extension 1411.” If your office location or department is important, mention it. The point is to get to the point. Mr. Grim is in no mood to hear a prologue.

3. State your whole name. It’s amazing how often a voice mail message will say, “This is John,” or “This is Julie”. What if the caller needs to talk to you again? Do you really want to put Mr. Grim in the position of asking your switchboard operator if he can talk to “John”? If the switchboard operator replies, “Which John? We have thirty-seven,” Mr. Grim’s next call will probably be to your competitor.

4. Mention your extension. Seems obvious, but how many times do you hear it? Make sure your caller has your extension–that way, if she needs to call you again, she won’t have to wait on hold or go through an annoying search-by-name routine on your automated switchboard. Imagine how grim Mr. Grim would be if he had to call a second time and go through that.

5. Give callers bypass instructions. After you identify yourself, say, “If you want to go directly to my voice mail, press the star key.” A return caller or frequent caller doesn’t need to hear your whole message–she just wants to leave her message and get on to something else.

6. Forget the fluff. Some people, especially in sales and customer service, are tempted to include a long-winded personal pitch. Their motives are noble–they want the customer to know how much he is valued. However, if the caller is a satisfied customer, she already got the message. If the caller is a new inquiry, she might want to hear it, but then again, she might want to get on with it. When the choice is between selling and speed, pick speed. Finally, if the caller is Mr. Grim, the absolute last thing he wants to hear is a boilerplate sales pitch or personal fluff.

7. Conclude with a commitment. If Mr. Grim leaves a message, he wants to know what to expect. A solid voice mail greeting will say, “Please leave a message at the tone. I will call back before end of business today, or first thing in the morning.” Obviously, don’t overcommit! But don’t be overcautious, either. Even if your callback commitment is unacceptably long to Mr. Grim, you’re doing him a huge favor by stating it. Now, Mr. Grim knows he needs to get someone else on the line–now.

In corporate communication, a few bad threads can unravel the whole garment. Incredible as it sounds, the best customer service department in town can be undermined by a few terribly poor voice mail greetings. If you reflect on your own experiences dealing with customer service, you you may recall a time when your service rep’s greeting was, in reality, a goodbye.

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