Job Security Tips for Customer Service Professionals

If you consistently make your customers happy they'll help you have more job security by staying with you..

Challenging economic times can be scary. Every day we hear news about lay-offs, company closings, mortgage foreclosures and more.

But no matter what's going on around us, we all have the ability to make our lives less stressful and more secure. An excellent way to do this is to increase our own job security. (It's not hard to do.)

Remember, in tough times it's even more important for companies to make their customers happy, so they keep coming back.

That's the foundation of building your own job security. Every smart manager knows one of the keys to a profitable and growing business is to have employees who keep customers coming back. You can be that person!

Here's a five-step system to make it happen:

1. Serve your customers.

Serving your customers means putting them first. It means helping them get what they want. Remember, your customers come to you to accomplish something they want or to avoid something they don't want They believe you can help them. (Otherwise they would have gone somewhere else.) They have chosen you!

Honor their choice by doing everything within your ability to help them. This means focusing your attention and efforts on discovering what they want and helping them get it. You put their interests and desires first. It means your sole motivation is helping them get what they came for.

2. Connect with your customers.

Connecting with your customers means getting to know them as a person. You develop a relationship with them. Of course you keep it professional and in the context of your business. But it's okay to learn about them as you help them. In fact, the better you get to know them, the better you can help them.

As you develop a relationship with them, you build trust in each other. They trust your ability and motivations. You trust what they tell you. This helps you help them. It improves communications.

This does not have to take long. Sometimes a "social chemistry" can develop within minutes. It shouldn't be phony or manipulative. It needs to happen naturally. If you care about your customers, if you use your people skills, if you ask pertinent questions, if you listen and really focus on helping them, then you'll develop a great rapport with them quickly.

3. Have fun.

One of the biggest reasons customers don't return is they have no reason to. Sure they might get what they want but they often get it with no personality, no sparkle, no sizzle. Their experience is a dud. It's about as exciting as cleaning your ears. There's nothing memorable about it. Or worse, employees are crabby, grouchy or even angry and they show it. Yuk!

On the other hand, companies that enjoy tremendous customer loyalty offer their customers something they can't get anywhere else: FUN. They provide them an unexpected, positive experience. They have fun with them. The employees enjoy their work and each other and their customers. It's not that they goof off or waste time. They don't. But they find ways to bring fun and joy into their work and they bring their customers along for the ride.

4. Be flexible.

With most things there is no one right answer. There is almost always more than one way to accomplish something. But we don't always admit it. Too often we focus on one way to do something. Maybe it's the only way we know. Maybe it's the fastest, cheapest or easiest route to helping our customer. But that doesn't make it the best.

Our goal is to help our customers get what they want, within our ability. So we always need to look for alternatives. We need to be creative. We need to think beyond the first solution that comes to mind when we're working with our customers.

Being flexible means offering customers more than one solution. By offering choices we're making it more likely they'll get what they want. There are few things worse than being a customer and someone says "that's the only way you can do it".

Being flexible also means being willing to try new things and go the extra mile for customers. It means being a problem solver rather than an order taker. Customers know the difference. (So do managers.)

5. Make them happy.

This is the most important thing you can do with your customers. If they are happy with your service they will come back. They will help increase your job security because they'll stick with you and your company. Note, this does not mean you do anything and everything to make your customers happy. You're always limited by the resources and policies of your company. But it does mean you do everything within your ability to make them happy. Get creative and look for ways to give your customer a great experience.

You want your customers to leave happy. That's your bottom line. Make that happen and everything else will follow.

50 Ways to Invigorate Your Customer Service

Is your Service "In"? Are people "Into" what you have to offer them? Here are 50 ways to make your service the "In" place to be.

1. Invite your Customers with a friendly open greeting.

2. Interact with them on their terms. Find out what they would like.

3. Inquire. Ask them what they would like. Ask them how they are doing, how their family is doing. Ask them to help you provide the best possible
Service experience.

4. Input. Ask for theirs. Help them tell you how you might better serve them.

5. Inform them. Tell them what you offer and the best way for them to get the most from your service organization.

6. Include them in all of your communications with them in regards to their service experience.

7. Involve them by advising them of the steps you are taking and why. Then ask for their acceptance and their Input.

8. Interview them. Ask the easy and the hard questions. Not only the 5 W's, add the final 3. "Which would you like", "How would you prefer it"
and "Is there anything else?"

9. Invest your time in discovering what works best for your customers, not your organization.

10. Use your Intellect to provoke a meaningful and rich dialogue with your Customer.

11. Use your Intuition to lead you to providing a better overall Customer experience.

12. Invoke your Customers "Bill of Rights" whenever you have any doubt as to what is the "Right Thing" to do for them.

13. Become Invincible when using these Rights to take care of them.

14. Intervene on their behalf between anyone that is not treating your Customers with the respect and dignity they deserve.

15. Intercede between your Customer and the "Factory" or "Upper Management." It's those moments of "Caring Beyond" that make the difference.

16. Provide Intangibles. Like saying "Please" and "Thank You", Intangibles go a long way in keeping your Customers happy.

17. Infrequent use of the word(s) "No", "I can't do that", "You'll have to" and the ever popular "We don't do that."

18. Infuse your Customers with your enthusiasm. It's contagious and perpetual.

19. Become Invaluable. Not only good for business, it brings Customers back because of the relationship you build with them.

20. Do the best thing for your Customer Instead of what procedures and policy state. After you are done, go back and change the policy or
procedure.


21. Use your Influence to get the changes made. Don't give up just because "It's the way we've always done it." If it's wrong, it's wrong.

22. Insulate your Customers from this change while it's going on. They don't need to see how you run your circus.

23. Instill in your staff the desire to provide good service. Provide them training and guidance.

24. Insist on treating your Customers like they are your friends. Make sure everyone in your organization does the same thing.

25. Interpret surveys and data from your Customers in a positive way. Use these points to make changes that result in a better experience for the
Customer.

26. Show Interest in receiving useful feedback from your Customers even if your company does not ask for this feedback. Ask your Customers how
you are doing.

27. Intensify your search for the Best Practices of your service organization. If your company does not do this, do it for yourself. You might not be
working there very long anyways, and wouldn't it be nice to have a skill set that you can take with you.

28. Become Insatiable in your search for these practices. Don't give up.

29. Interconnect the Best Practices with your professional habits. Your Customer will then get the best of what you have to offer.

30. Invent new ways of providing the service. If you are not creative in this area, start thinking about ways to do the same thing differently. Send me
an email and I can direct you to some resources.

31. New ways of doing things will Invigorate your staff and your Customers. They might like a fresh approach.

32. Have Insight by developing an ongoing communication strategy with your Customers. Ask for and be willing to receive timely feedback. True
Insight is developed by time and dialogue, not one time encounters.

33. Bring your Customers Inside your circle. Let them feel that they are part of the solution not just a "problem to be dealt with."

34. Use the word Instantly in measuring your Customer Service Solutions. Does your staff know what to do Instantly in any given situation? Are they
empowered to handle Customer requests Instantly?

35. Make it easy for you to Intake requests or comments. Examine your procedures and policies to see if there are barriers.

36. Be Ingenuous in dealing with your Customers and Staff.

37. Develop Ingenious ways of working out solutions to sticky problems. Then evaluate and determine if something needs to be changed permanently.

38. Make self evaluation an Integral part of your day. Ask not what went wrong, ask what would like to have done differently or how do you want it
to turn out?

39. Inundate your staff with the thought of asking questions rather than accepting a poor result. It's the first step in becoming Unconquerable.

40. Inspect what you expect. Setting the expectation is the second step.

41. If you must make a change in Staff, having Interchangeable Personnel goes a long way to providing a seamless, smooth experience. You can be
Interchangeable by cross training and growing your Staff from within.

42. Doing things seamlessly and smoothly will Ingratiate your Staff to your Customer.

43. Integrate service solutions with good manners and proper language.

44. Initiate all communications if possible. Be the first to extend the hand, provide a friendly greeting and Invite your Customer to experience what
your service has to offer.

45. Provide Interim solutions that bridge gaps, if needed. Don't wait to provide these Interim solutions, just do it.

46. Intentions are worse than not knowing. By Intending to do something you are acknowledging that you know what you are supposed to do and
haven't done it for whatever excuse. If a person truly does not know what to do, at least they can be trained. Knowing and not doing is far worse.

47. Keep your relationships with your Customers Intact by keeping your Communications open. Even if things have not gone well, you may still
salvage the Customer.

48. Ingrain into your Customer the benefits they can expect in working with you. Infuse them with enthusiasm for your products and service.

49. Practice Integrity with your Customers and your Staff. That way there is never a question as to what you believe.

50. Inspire your Customer and your Staff. Inspire them by Leading them. Inspire them by Asking them. Inspire them by Providing them with the best
you and your Company have to offer.

Your Company's Bottom Line is Tied to Customer Satisfaction

Did you know that you could measure your company's value by your customer service? Read on..

Researchers discovered that regardless if your customer service is outsourced either on shore or off shore this affects the net worth of your business. If your customer service satisfaction as determined through American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) created by National Quality Research Center at the University of Michigan declines so does your
company's value.

This information was presented to determine the impact of off shore outsourcing of customer service. The researchers reviewed the outsourcing
actions from 1998 to 2006 of 150 North American companies including business units. All companies that outsourced their customer service
registered a decline in the ACSI scores. What is interesting the declines stayed the same regardless if the customer service was outsourced
domestically or overseas.

The historical data suggests that the ACSI scores and the companies' share prices tend to move in the same direction. Within this research, the range
of that drop averaged between 1% to 5% based upon the industry for each respective business.

When businesses outsource customer service, they are widening the gap between the business and the customer. Today's customers are pretty
savvy. They are not shy at all about asking the location of the customer service center especially when the customer service representative does not
speak fluent English.

This research only strengthens previous customer service data that building customer loyalty is critical to organizational success. With the average
business losing 10% of its customers annually and acquiring new customers costs 5 to 6 times more than keeping existing ones, businesses must
create exceptional customer service action plans that will develop customer loyalty from additional purchases to making those precious referrals.

Customer Service Coaching Tip: Survey your customers and ask them the level of your customer service satisfaction based upon their expectations
(not yours)? Then also ask them if they would refer your business to someone else? Finally, asked them the last time that they referred someone to your business. These 3 questions will help you build an action plan to secure an exceptional high performance culture that will improve your bottom line results.

Is your business facing inconsistent or insufficient cash flow, lacklustre sales to poor productivity? Then do you have an action plan or are you Captain
Wing It flying by the seat of your pants?

Six Steps to More Loyal Customers

We all know it's important to have loyal customers. But do you know how important it is?

A study by Bain & Company suggests that a 5% increase in customer loyalty can improve profitability by anywhere from 25% to 95%. It shows us there are big opportunities available for owners and managers who are willing to do what it takes to increase customer loyalty.

The good news is, it's not hard. And you can do it with the people and resources you have right now. It takes time, effort and patience to make it successful. But you can make a huge impact on your business.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Ask your customers what they want.

This is different than what they expect. What customers expect is usually less (often a lot less) than what they want. But you need to know what they want.

What do they want in general? What are they trying to accomplish (or avoid)? Why did they choose you instead of your competition? What are their priorities and preferences?

Keep in mind different customers focus on different aspects of what your business does and how you do it. But if you speak with enough, you should see patterns and trends. You should develop some profiles of what various customers want.

Also look for how your customers want to be served. This will vary a lot and is harder to discover. Most people focus on what they want because it's easier to talk about. But people like to be treated well. We all have different definitions of what being treated well means. You need to learn what it means to your customers.

2. Tell your customers what to expect.

Some companies try to be all things to all customers. They do too much and none of it well. Every company has a unique set of resources that gives it a competitive advantage. these are your company's strengths. Learn what they are. Use them to determine what your company can do better than anyone else in your market.

Once you know what your company does best, compare that list with what your customers want. These two lists should overlap. (If they don't, you have a problem!) Where they overlap is what your company should focus on. These are the things you need to do for your customers: the combination of what they want most and what you do best.

From this list you need to develop your message. You might call it a brand promise. You might call it your Customer Service Standards. What you call it is not as important as what you do with it. Use it to tell your story. It tells people why they should do business with you. and it helps them know what to expect when they do business with you.

Then make sure your customers, employees and management all understand your message. Do everything you can to share your message with these three groups. Post it in your store, on your web site, on your business cards, in your ads and anywhere else your employees, management and customers will see it. Get it noticed!

3. Create easy ways for your customers to offer feedback.

This is where many companies stumble. They focus so much on getting new orders and delivering the product or service, they forget what happens afterward. The only way you can consistently get better at what you do is with a steady flow of honest and direct feedback.

Find many ways for your customers to let you know what they think. Brainstorm with your employees. Make it a contest. Copy other businesses. Ask your customers. Do a Google search! Try different communication channels and keep trying until you find a bunch that deliver the amount of feedback you need (which is a lot).

Make sure this step is done by your employees. Don't rely on outsiders (consultants, survey companies, etc.) to do this for you. They are your customers and you need to communicate with them directly. You'll learn more from them this way and you'll develop closer ties with your customers. You'll also get another benefit. Customers love it when a company pays attention to them after the sale. They feel important because you're asking them what they think.

Finally, make sure your customers know how they can contact you. Publish and promote the many ways customers can connect with you. Encourage them to reach out to you often.

4. Listen to what your customers say.

Many companies talk about customer feedback. Some do it well. Most don't. Because they don't work vary hard to hear what customers are saying about them. They might hear the obvious, like complaints and "thank yous" but nothing else. If you want to increase customer loyalty, you need to do better. You need to make a special effort to find out what customers are saying about your company, your products and your service.

This includes more than the feedback mechanisms you create (Step 3). It includes the many other ways people communicate about your company. The Internet is full of people's comments about their customer experiences. Make sure you are mining this resource on a regular basis.

When you build trusting relationships with your customers and you open the lines of communication. You position your customers as partners. They can help you learn how to do a better job. But you need to communicate with them to make this happen. You need a steady flow of quality customer feedback.

Are you doing what you said you would? If not, what's missing? Are they getting what they want? Is the message you're sending the right one? If you have developed a brand promise, is it really what your customers want? And since things change, you need to stay abreast of changes in what your customers want.

Look for the Amazing Service Gap. This is the difference between what you promise your customers and what you're actually delivering. Their feedback is how you know what your gap is. So listen for ideas on how to do better. Find ways to close the gap.

In addition to listening to your customers, you need to gather and store what they tell you. Most companies have plenty of contact with customers. But they never keep track of what their customers say. And if they do keep track, it's often hard to access because it's in a file drawer somewhere or buried in a database that nobody knows how to use.

Make sure the feedback you gather is stored in a way that people can get to. In fact, you should publish it. Make it available to everyone in your company. The more people who see it the more ideas you can generate to use it (Step 5). By having a lot of people look at it and talk about it, you'll be able to see your customers more clearly.

Conduct regular and frequent meetings to talk about the feedback and draw conclusions about what it means. Look for trends and patterns. Also, look for what's not there. Are there things you think are issues or concerns but that do not appear in any customer feedback? If so, what does that tell you? If it's not important to your customers, should it be important to your company?

5. Act on what your customers tell you.

Information is no good if ignored. Beyond listening to your customers and considering what they say, you have to use it. This doesn't mean you act on everything. Remember, Step 2, you can't do everything everyone wants. So you need to pick and choose what feedback to act on. Focus on what will help your company do what you do best. Choose ideas that will help you close the gap (Step 4).

You might find feedback that takes your company in a different direction. Your brand promise (Step 2) might be missing the mark. Maybe you have a changing customer base or a changing market. If your feedback suggests this you need to consider how it affects your business. Then either act on it or make an informed decision to not act on it.

The bottom line in Step 5 is to do something with your customer feedback. It's a gift from your customers so treat it as such. Make sure your thank every customer every time they offer feedback. And, let customers know what you do with the feedback. If they know it gets used they're more likely to keep offering it. Help them get involved and stay involved as your partners.

6. Repeat.

Like the shampoo bottle says, "lather, rinse, repeat". But in this case you should be repeating forever. This is a never ending process of learning, sharing, and working together.

Managing your company is no different than practicing a sport or hobby. The more you do something, the better you get. And since people and situations change constantly, this process needs to keep repeating so you don't miss these changes. Keep cycling through again and again. You'll get better at knowing what your customers want and at giving it to them. Your customers will see you are truly focused on helping them get what they want. They'll have little incentive to go elsewhere.

You'll never please every customer every time. But if you follow these steps you're much more likely to please most of them most of the time. That will keep your customers coming back again and again.

Your Customers - Have You Asked Their Opinion Lately

Learn about the importance of having an "ask strategy" and how to implement it..

Bound for Savannah, sitting on a transfer boat from a resort island in South Carolina, I cannot help thinking about the resort; beautiful and staffed by nice people. But is that enough? I think not.

How Was Your Stay?

When I checked out of the resort, the woman at the front desk never asked me about my stay; wonderful, good, bad, or indifferent. This is the best time to query guests-asking for their honest feedback about their stay. However, nobody cared to ask me.

Had she, I would have mentioned the cob webs hanging from the ceiling, the fact that the bathroom was in desperate need of repair, that I had to call to request maid service, and that none of the resort's materials were in the room, not even a pen and paper-good thing I did not need to order room service.

My Conversation

As I leave, the conversation that I'm having with myself about the resort is, at best, mixed. While most of the time that I'm visiting hotels and resorts is as a speaker, I also organize a number of small meetings each year. Would I bring my group to this island resort? I really do not think I would. My conversation with myself about the place is, "Pretty property and nice people, however I truly question the competency of the resort's staff.

Every time one of your customers does business with you, it is your opportunity to develop or strengthen the relationship-or to damage it.

What's Their Conversation?

How in the world can you query all your customers? Simple, ask them. You can have customer service representatives ask your telephone customers and you can have other employees ask in-person customers. How do you get your employees to ask? Motivate them through incentive. This information is golden as you periodically review your business strategy.

Earlier this week, when I was in my office, I received a call from one of my suppliers. The customer service person was calling to ask how we could do more business together. I suggested a strategy change for sample ordering
from their web site-to make ordering easier on the customer. They asked! And, if they make the change, I will do more business with them.

Ask Strategies

Consider developing both a formal and informal "ask strategy" for your organization. The informal will consist of your employees asking at every possible opportunity, "How are we doing?" And, truly caring to listen, and record, the answers offered by customers. Offer various low cost incentives to employees that turn in their "ask sheets" each week. Hold contests only allowing the people that turned in their "ask sheets" that week, or month, to participate. Offer positive motivation.

For your formal ask strategy; mail out "ask surveys" with every order. Incentivize your customers to participate. Have your sales staff conduct an "ask session" with every customer quarterly-and incentivize the sales staff for their participation.

Path toward Improvement

You can improve your products and services much more effectively when you have a deeper understanding of what your customers consider to be valuable and important. Your "ask strategy" will quickly fill in your knowledge gaps in this area. You do want to serve your customers the way they want to be served, don't you?

How Do You Define a Customer?

Can you define the word customer? What does it mean to be a customer for your business?

Do you consider customers as people who just buy your products or services? Are there different types of customers? If you cannot answer these questions, then how in the world can you develop customer loyalty?

Over the years, I have come to define customers as:

"Individuals engaged in transactions for mutual benefit or gain."

In this way, the definition extends beyond paying customers - to people who conduct transactions that result in some benefit or gain.

Much is written about both external customers (clients) and internal customers (employees) especially with the 21st century business focus on customer loyalty through improved customer service. Research continues to reveal that companies with high levels of loyal customers experience far greater growth both in sales and profits.

Over the years from my corporate to my consulting experiences, I have come to identify customers whether internal or external as one of these 3 types:

Explorers - These individuals, as clients, buy what you sell, explore to buy more and are the sources for innovation. Employees who are explorers do their job with focus and then explore to see how they can help others.
Explorers are loyal and will rave about your business to everyone they meet.

Vacationers - As clients, they patronize your business, but will travel next door if the price is better. Vacationers as employees will do their work, but can be easily distracted. They will hardly ever go beyond what they are supposed to do. Whether the vacationers are clients or employees, their loyalty can be quickly switched to your competition.

Prisoners - Now, these folks truly do not want to be in your business. Possibly, your business is geographically close to them or you are the only distributor for a specific product or service. Given a choice, they would not purchase from you even if you gave it to them for free. And when they do purchase from you they make incredible demands. If they are employees, prisoners barely do their work and are constantly complaining. Prisoners have no loyalty and will quickly share their displeasure with 6 to 10 other individuals.

Customer Service Coaching Tip: Take action by looking at your customers both external and internal. Identify any prisoners and determine how you can fire them even if they are paying customers. Then set goals within your
customer loyalty growth action plan to begin to convert a percentage of your vacationers into explorers. Track the results from that action plan. You should realize both an increase in profitability and a decrease in operating costs.

How Job Satisfaction Can Affect Customer Loyalty

customers loyal..

Employees who are dissatisfied with their positions are a tremendous obstacle to developing customer loyalty.

Some recent research that surveyed 1,597 employed executives (conducted by ExecuNet) revealed some interesting facts:

At least 1 of 3 executives were dissatisfied with their positions - or in more simple terms ready to jump ship. If the executive was in sales, that dissatisfaction translated into almost 1 in 2. The further away the executive was from external customers the higher they rated their job satisfaction.

This last statistic reminds me of a quote by Charles Schultz:

"I love mankind. It is people that I cannot stand."

Since business is all about people, this statistic reveals a lot of people truly do not understand the purpose of business is to attract and maintain customers.

When internal customers (employees) be they executives or front line workers become dissatisfied with their positions, the end result is that their interactions with others become unauthentic. In other words, there is a whole lot of negative energy flowing through the organization. The goal to become a high performance organization, if that is one of the goals, will never be achieved.

Additionally, these negative feelings are both conscious and subconscious. As human beings, our emotional feelings and being unsatisfied has emotional connections. We need to remember that all feelings can be heard, seen and most importantly felt by many around us.

The bottom line is that all businesses have some very real challenges to overcome.

Now is the time to determine why your employees are unhappy especially those who have first contact with your external customers. Your organization may need to engage in organizational assessments that are aligned to recognized quality criteria such as "Baldrige" or individual assessments that look beyond the "How" of behavior to the "Whys" of behavior.

Developing your employees based upon the results of these assessments is the next step. Then, reassessing your actions to determine the impact of the development and coaching is the final step. Failing to take these corrective actions may not only result in unhappy employees, but in higher customer turnover and lower profitability.

Customer Service Lessons From a Sweaty Guy

Never overlook the importance of first impressions and employee recognition.

In my 10 year speaking career, I've had the privilege to visit hundreds of colleges. It's always exciting to walk onto a Campus and meet a new group of students. Last month, though, I had to make a trip to a university.. and I'd been dreading it for a long, long time.

See, I wasn't going to a new campus to present a lecture. Instead, we were dropping off my stepson, Jordan, to start his freshman year at the University of Florida.

Granted, Jordan came as a package deal when I married his mom, but I never could have imagined how close he and I would become. He's a brilliant guy with a lot of depth and insight. Plus, one minute we can be having an intense discussion on politics or philosophy, and the next we can be laughing like school girls while making fart noises with our armpits. Since Jordan is both my stepson and friend, this next step of his life would leave a gaping hole in mine.

So, when it came time to take him to college, I didn't want him to leave - I just knew how much I was going to miss him. I can't even imagine how tough this must be on parents who've raised a kid since birth.

So, one blistering August morning, we squeeze clothes, game systems, computers, books and everything else you can imagine into the car. Two hours later, we pull onto campus and try to get to his residence hall.

Fun Fact: University of Florida is one of the ten largest universities in the country. Approximately 50, 000 students are Gators.

Moving in day. With 50K students. In Florida. In August. And 5000 pounds of Jordan's stuff to lug upstairs to his room. Parking spaces? Fat chance! Err, make that a bit more exact: super morbidly obese chance.

Through gridlocked traffic jams, we finally got to the entrance to a parking lot. The guard walked up to the passenger window, shaking his head and saying, "The lots are all full, y'all." Then, he spots the handicapped hang tag. Right about this time, Carson pops up between my knees in the front seat. The lot guard does a double take.

"Is that a service dog?" We all nod (even Carson because he knows how hot parking lots can be on paws). The guard looks over his shoulder, back at us and smiles. "Let me see what I can do..."

A minute later he returns and directs us to an open spot; the only one, I swear, within a 100 mile radius (or so it felt).

When we piled out, I think all of us were ready to hug this guy. He had, singlehandedly, saved the day. And why? Just because he wanted to help. I wonder if UF realizes what a great job this guy is doing? And how important! So often we forget how vital these "first impressions" can be.

Folks, I want to be like this parking lot guy. I want to smile, even when it's hotter than Paris Hilton out. I want to be observant to the needs of others. I want to try to help however I can. And, above all, I want to help make people's lives easier. This guy was a great reminder of how, with an attitude of assistance - you can really make things better for someone else.

Jordan is sure to get a great education at UF. And to think his first college experience wasn't taught by a professor, but a sweaty guy in a parking lot!

Thanks dude!

How to Prevent a Style Conflict Between Customer Service and Sales

Aligning these key areas of a business is essential when dealing with customers.

A (sales) manager once told me that every complaint should be treated as an opportunity. Treat the complaint with care and you will win a loyal customer.

The difference between sales and customer service is that for the first client contact dominates and administrative tasks occupy only a second priority.

Style in this sense, is the way your company addresses clients. Let's take two main approaches: the formal way and the more personal approach.

I have seen websites that have a virtual receptionist with the image of a real person. "Rose," I found on one of those sites and they have selected this name and her look to represent a real person. Other sites with a virtual receptionist often choose to a cartoon or digital character. Less personal.

To prevent a style mismatch you have to treat your clients in the same way whether they are being serviced by salesmen or by the customer service department.

If the approach is like the above, with the personal touch -- this site in question shows even real employees with their face and real name on the home page with an invitation to discuss a idea, product, service, etc -- than make sure you offer this approach during the whole contact-cycle.

If you use the personal touch in sales, and all of a sudden a customer issues a complaint and you send a letter in response without any name, nor function of the one who has written it, but only the name of the company, you are breaking the style of the approach; Personal in sales, impersonal at customer services.

Clients do not only understand this, they also assume that the impersonal approach is the real one, thinking - "so this is your real face." It shows that the organization is not responsible; when there is a problem they hide behind the brand of the company. This damages the image of the organization as well as the brand, because it sends a marketing message to clients who may chain it to others.

The best thing to do is to consequently choose one style and use it all the way.

To prevent such a mismatch, first look at the business. A complaint may turn out to be a claim but it can also turn into a loyal customer. When designing the organization you have to choose what business process you want to stress most; claims you will always have, but if you are preparing for them in a defensive way you will increase their number too. So design the personal approach with a focus on loyal customers and not on preventing claims.

This requires education and training. sales is much more pro-active, customer service is used to a more reactive approach and that invites a defensive attitude; "there is another customer, what will it be this time." Changing that into: "I bet five dollar if I can change his mood." is not an easy task.

Both departments also differ in focus in the way that sales is return-driven, customers service is more often cost (saving) driven.

Alignment of the approach throughout the organization however (both in sales and customer service) is the (only) option: in either department you propose a friendly and personal approach. That includes accepting mistakes... if you have to ... with a smile. When sending an apology do it in a responsible way, signed with the name of the executive.

How to Build Customer Loyalty by Making & Keeping Credible Promises

Turn around negative expectations by keeping marketplace promises.

It is no wonder that very few companies enjoy customer loyalty nowadays. Consumers are sceptical of company promises. A "new" product is not really "new." A great looking item on an info-commercial works much differently than demonstrated. The beautifully designed hotel room pictured on the website leaves a lot to be desired.

This is why in my new book, Strategy Activation: How to Turn Your Vision Into Marketplace Success, I show how your organization can build customer loyalty by delivering what is expected.

Why Making Promises Is Not Enough Anymore

The Loyalty Engagement Index by Brand Keys, a New York marketing consultancy, shows consumer expectations climbed for a decade-up 28 percent. Yet, brands only kept up 7 percent of the time. The result: Customers were perpetually disappointed.

In 2007 this changed drastically.

Consumer expectations leveled off.

"Consumers are more realistic," said Brand Keys president Robert Passikoff. "Their desires are now based on experience rather than expectation. Consumers who've been disappointed for so long seem to have surrendered."

In other words, consumers now expect imperfect results from companies. They have become cynical and assume that certain things will likely not go their way. But don't confuse expectation with acceptance. When the inevitable letdown occurs they search elsewhere for a new product or service provider. Not a good situation.

Companies need to turn around these negative expectations. Making a promise is not enough to get people flocking to your door. You have to give them a credible promise and a reason to believe that your promise is not another empty one.

For example:

- You promise me speed? Why should I believe that you could actually deliver speed?
- You promise me luxury? How are you going to deliver luxury?
- You promise me safety and security? Can you really keep me safe?

How to Let Consumers Know Exactly How You Will Fulfill Your Promises:

You have to communicate the "What" and the "How" to your prospects and customers. The Promise is "What" you say you're doing. The reason to believe is "How" you do it. For example:

- We will deliver speed by flying your packages overnight to your destination rather than truck them. (Fed Ex) - We will deliver luxury by giving you the Heavenly Bed. (Westin Hotels) - We will safeguard you with our Roll Over Protection System. (Volvo XC90)

Marketers call these the pillars of the promise. They give customers the additional details they need to make an informed decision.

For example, Marriott Hotel promises "Achievement Guests" (those driven to perform and who thrive on personal excellence) an environment that inspires their performance. That's quite a promise. To back it up Marriott developed three pillars to build credibility:

1. Achieve. The hotel's professional, performance-driven side offers well-lit, ergonomic work desks that easily move. This way guests can create the best work environment.

2. Revive. The luxury offerings include aromatherapy bath products, 300-thread-count sheets, and high-definition TVs that guests can connect to personal devices such as iPods.

3. Culture. The emphasis is on warm, friendly, sincere service built on their pledge to provide a refreshingly human touch in today's hectic world.

How To Create A Compelling Brand Promise Supported By Convincing Evidence

Large hotel chains are not the only organizations developing strategic pillars to support their marketplace promises. Dunlop Tires promises performance. Here are the five credible reasons why you can believe that they deliver high performance tires:

Reason #1: Innovative New Products. "New" to Dunlop consists of developing a different product: They don't just make a small change to an existing product and call it "new."

Reason #2: Linkage to the world's most prestigious auto brands. Dunlop can point to prestigious automobile companies that use its tires, which builds credibility.

Reason #3: European Heritage. This third reason to believe was based on its reputation as a performance leader in the fields of European automobiles and racing that played to the customers' emotional connection with their cars.

Reason #4: Link to the racing circuits. Dunlop has a strong reputation in auto and motorcycle racing circuits in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan.

Reason #5: Cutting edge website. The site dares to be different and continually changes to cater to automotive enthusiasts and their lifestyles.

This is why Dunlop Tires has superior customer loyalty.

How to Find The Right Marketplace Promise To Specifically Target Customers -- Then Continually Deliver On It.

Not all promises are created equal. Each organization carries its unique marketplace permissions and organizational competencies. Your best customer promise depends on several important factors:

- Is your promise compelling to customers and does it distinguish you from competitors?
- What permissions and limits have customers placed on you? The marketplace has to believe in your ability to keep your promise.
- Do you have credible reasons for the customer to believe your promise? What assurances can you provide that your promise will be delivered in the marketplace?
- Can you consistently deliver on your promise?
- What current or new capabilities can support marketplace implementation?

Finding the right promise that resonates best with your target customers is the critical first step. But making empty promises is a futile and unprofitable exercise. Keeping promises made to the customer is the only way you will build customer loyalty. This is the new paradigm for success!

The Three Worst Words in Customer Service

By changing a few words, you can turn a bad customer experience into a great one..

We all have little things that drive us nuts. Here's one of mine - the phrase "You'll have to."

Yesterday I walked into a store, politely asked for help, and was told, "You'll have to wait for one of our technicians to be free." I didn't mind the wait, but it got me thinking how often we hear that statement in public - and how abrasive it is to hear as a customer. (Excuse me, but I don't "have to" do anything, especially for a stranger!)

Most of us probably don't say "you'll have to" out of rudeness. We say it because we are trying to protect ourselves, or set expectations with a customer. But when you examine the meaning of this statement literally, you can see where it breeds a lot of customer resentment right off the bat:

-It tells another person what to do.

-It implies that you have the power in this transaction, not them.

-It doesn't give the customer options.

The irony is that, just by changing a few words, you can turn a curt brush-off into a great customer experience. Let's try a few examples:

Before: You'll have to fill out this form.

After: I'd like to get a little information from you so we can help you better.

Before: You'll have to wait for a technician.

After: I'll have someone out to help you in just a few minutes.

Before: You'll have to wait in line.

After: We should be able to get to you soon - it shouldn't be more than a short wait.

Perhaps the best example of an alternative to "you'll have to" came when I tried to go to a sold-out Philadelphia Phillies baseball game last year, while I was passing through town. Instead of saying the obvious "We're sold out - you'll have to come back another time," the ticket clerk said, "We'd love to have you see the game. Even though we're sold out, here's what I'd suggest - if you'd like, feel free to check at each of our gates to see if there are any extra tickets. Good luck!"

As it turned out, there were no tickets at any of the gates and I eventually left empty-handed - but every person I dealt with at the ballpark was so polite, upbeat and helpful that it was still a great customer experience. I later discovered that these people are specifically trained for what to say to fans in situations like these, and it works!

So look critically at times where you are tempted to say "you'll have to" to customers, and start rehearsing new responses that speak to your customers' interests. The difference will be amazing!

Thank You Notes - Are They a Thing of the Past?

Sometimes it's the simple approach that means the most to customers and colleagues.

Do you remember when you used to write real thank you notes to people in your life. Maybe some of you still do from time to time.

The value of the thank you note goes much further than the words you write. The best thing about these notes is that they rarely get discarded. I still keep a box of old thank you notes which I look at on a day when I have had some business disappointments, friendship disappointments and family issues. And if the truth be known I read each one of them sometimes more than one time.

And I always feel better afterwards. When my daughter in law was visiting last year, she wrote me a personal note on a paper plate. It is still sitting where she left it, and I read it every single day. It always makes me feel appreciated and cared for.

I have purchased a variety of thank you notes throughout the years. Some of them have been very fancy, some cute and some with just my name on them. Today when I need one I make it on the computer. But that is okay, as long as my message is in long hand.

It is almost a sad thing that people do not get a pen out, take some time and write a special thank you. There are many reasons to say thank you. Some reasons are for a present, a kindness or just a thank you for being a good friend or business associate. People always appreciate the fact that you took the time to write out your feelings, put a stamp on an envelope and go to the post box to mail it.

Okay now the big one; the proposition of writing thank you notes to insure more loyalty from your clientele. What a daunting thought that a note would stay in the hands of a business associate for a very long time. It certainly beats the time an e mail stays on the computer before being deleted. Your cents can really get a lot of mileage.

When you put your true feelings down on paper it resonates to another person's ego and heart. What a great business strategy to keep your name in front of your clients and customers. What if you sat down today and sent a bunch of your customers a thank you for being such wonderful customers and how much you appreciate their business.

Sound like a lot of work and money? It is a lot cheaper than putting an ad in a magazine or newspaper - and it will last much longer. Do you think they would feel pretty special? I know that I would be delighted.

After reading this article I am hoping many of you will go out and purchase some thank you notes and start writing. Today, with the economy in shambles we need to do all we can to keep our customer loyalty. The joy of making someone feel good is worth the time.

Call Center Skills - Five Tips For Better Huddles and Meetings

One of the keys to providing better customer service is to keep your Call Center Agents up to date..

The best way to do this is run daily team huddles and monthly team meetings. Here are five tips that will help you make your meeting time more effective:

1) How is a call center team huddle different from a formal meeting?

A team huddle is usually an informal 10-15 minute long meeting held just before a shift takes the floor. They are typically held daily. Or, several times a day for call centers with multiple shifts. They usually take place on the call center floor. They are meant to give urgent information to Agents such as that day's hot issues, equipment problems, etc.

In comparison, a formal team meeting occurs once or twice a month. They take place in a regular meeting room and involve a set, pre-announced agenda. The topics include upcoming product or policy changes, and refresher training.

2) What is the recommended location for a team huddle?

You can hold a team huddle in a breakout room or meeting room (if you have the space.) However most call centres hold their team huddles in an open space on the call center floor. Since a huddle is very brief - just 10-15 minutes long - there's no point in booking a dedicated meeting room for it. Just make sure the noise from your huddle does not disturb any nearby Agents who are on a call.

3) How often should you do a team huddle? What time of day should it be held?

Informal huddles are usually done daily. The best time for a huddle is just before the start of a particular shift. For example, all the people who start their shift at 9:00 AM meet at 8:45 AM. During the huddle, the Team Manager outlines any urgent issues, gives updates about the day's potential challenges, and asks for any feedback or questions from the Agents.

4) Who should provide the topics for a team huddle: Managers or Agents?

Usually Managers provide the topics for a team huddle. A huddle is meant to rapidly update Agents who are starting their shift, on urgent issues for the day. So normally the Manager sets the agenda.

5) Those are great tips on how to run a team huddle. Now, what are some techniques for effective call center meetings?

There are a number of activities you can do during a formal team meeting. Because team meetings are longer than huddles, you can build in more interactivity. So, you can ask your Agents to provide feedback. Or, do a skills building exercise. Or, an interactive team building exercise to build rapport.

Another common technique is to focus on a specific product or service, and ask your Agents to share their best ideas for how to sell that product or service. If you are in a service environment, you can ask your Agents to share their best practices for how to deal with a particular service issues.

By allowing your Agents to share, they can learn from each other and build their skill level. This will lead to better call quality scores and improved customer satisfaction.