Are Your Customer Service Skills Where They Should Be?

Most customer service people are excited about their first day at their new job.They go to work ready to hit the road running,and for the next few months, their days are filled with interesting things to do and learn, and new people to talk with. As they start working with their customers, they probably even exceed their own expectations with the level of customer  service they’re providing. They do it because they understand the importance of first  impressions.  But sooner or later, the newness of the job—or customer—wears off, the day-to-day demands of  the job settle in, and all the extra customer service they went out of their way to provide in the beginning starts getting old.
When a customer calls and you say you’ll get back to them,don't push the request to the side. If you do before you  know it, two days have passed, and the next conversation you have with their customer starts off  with a litany of excuses—sometimes lies—rather than informed and articulate answers. If you want to be thought of as a superstar when it comes  to customer service, handle the promises with a professional attitude toward solving the problem and keep your promises to the customer.

Take full responsibility for your own customer service skills. Customer service is not always an  easy job. It can be fun when everything is going great, but not so much when there’s a problem.As a customer service professional you already may know the basics of customer service, but do you  read the occasional article about trends in customer service? Do you ever take the time to  honestly reflect on how your customers might view your customer service skills? Do you have at  least one customer service role model who excels at customer service?

Customer service is more than just problem solving. Every conversation, message, and email you  are connected with represents not just your skill at it, but also how important you think it is. Your  good customer service will give your customer every reason to feel respected and appreciated. When your customer service skills are excellent, you’ll be well on  your way to building long­term profitable business relationships.

Are your customers dealing with a different version of you after they’ve done business with you for some time?  Here a three tips of advice.

1. If you are having a bad day, it's not your customer fault. Suck it up and put on a smile  and make their interests, concerns, or problems yours, and do it happily.

2. From the moment you say hello until you say goodbye you are being judged for better or  for worse. Surly you don't want to be the main topic at their business meetings as a bad  example of poor customer service.

3. Good morning, good afternoon, thank you for your business, we look forward to working  with you are words dear to your customer ears and go a long way.

Most of all if you are burned out, no longer care for the job (and customer service is about one of  the most demanding) talk to the person in the company that can help you get over those hurdles.  If you don't, the customers will go away and with it their revenue and with it your job. So remember , make everyday a great selling day!          

                         

Alan Luoma is a Sales Coach with extensive experience in industrial sales, sales management, new product development, sales and product training. He works with a national sustainable packaging company and their distributors to increase sales. Alan is an expert that speaks on eliminating behaviors that prevent you from being successful in sales and uncovering sales prevention departments that hinder your success. He is a member of the Hartford Springfield Speakers Network, The National Speakers Association and New England Speakers Association. You can view his profile on LinkedIn, or contact him at Luoma@snet.net

What I Learned About UPSERVING at the College Open House with Our Daughter

Today, my wife and I attended a college open house with your 17-year-old daughter. As a sales professional, I think I was more impressed with the experience than Olivia was. Yes, she walked away excited and convinced this was the right school for her, but I walked away equally impressed with such a great sales presentation by all the professional staff. They did not sell to us, they served us.

I guess I should say that I didn't really learn anything new, it all just
reaffirmed what I already knew was right about a good presentation. First, the pre-planning information we received in advance was well thought out and easy to follow. Next, our arrival at the campus was made easy with good signage and easy-to-understand instructions. The signs were well displayed at the welcome event, complete with food, gadget giveaways, and lots of smiling, friendly staff members, all ready to help us find our way. Each person was professionally dressed with an easy-to-read name badge identifying who they were.

As we made the rounds to each of the majors our teenager selected, each presentation was complete with all the means for reaching the typical adult learner; a colorful video presentation with sound, a fun, enjoyable, and sometimes humorous lecture or introduction, guest speaker students and staff ready to offer testimony, visual displays with proof of the kind of work our teen might embark on, and hands on assignments for the parents to participate in.

New York Times business bestselling author Daniel H. Pink

wrote in his book, TO SELL IS HUMAN (Riverhead, 2012), that trying to UPSELL a customer is wrong. Instead, good sales organizations learn to instead, UPSERVE the customer; doing more for the other person than he or she expected or that you initially intended. He says it's "...taking the extra steps that transform a mundane interaction into a memorable experience." That's what this university did for us today... created a memorable experience. Are you UPSERVING your customers, or just UPSELLING them?



Bill Corbett is the founder and organizer of the HARTFORD SPRINGFIELD SPEAKER'S NETWORK and an award winning professional speaker who has been speaking since 1995. He has been on stages across the U.S. for everything from brief lectures to keynote speeches to multi-day training events, and was the featured speaker at a conference in The Netherlands this Fall. He is a regular contributor to network television affiliates and provides one-on-one speaker coaching for business professionals. Learn more about him and his top-selling Amazon books.

THE COMPLAINING CUSTOMER: YOUR AMAZING HOLIDAY GIFT!

‘Tis the season to give and receive! A complaint from an unhappy constituent is probably NOT on your wish list during this holiday season. Yet the complaining customer is a huge gift, albeit a well disguised one, to you and to your business.


Here are five reasons why your complaining customer is a gift: 

1. One complaining customer is the tip of the iceberg, because for each one, there are 26 unhappy people who say nothing to you, but tell nine to fifteen others. And 13% of the 26 are each telling 20 others.  Conservatively, this could result in 313 negative comments about your business.

The person who complains to you is giving you the wonderful opportunity to address a problem. When you can eliminate the problem for that one, you improve your service for many, and reduce negativity.
 

2. When you respond respectfully and in a timely fashion to the complaining customer you have the opportunity to create a loyal fan. Even if it takes time to resolve the complaint, the customer will likely continue to use your company. When you are able to resolve the complaint satisfactorily and also quickly, the complaining customer is practically guaranteed to remain loyal.

 

Since it costs five to seven times more to replace a customer than it does to retain a customer, you have the opportunity to save money for your company.  

3.  Approximately 68% of the customers who leave a company do so because they feel they were not treated well. Their complaint offers you the opportunity to change that perception.

4.  A new prospect has a 5-20% likelihood of buying a product or service you are offering, compared to your existing customer’s 60–70% probability, so you create more profit by retaining a customer.

And, perhaps best of all...

5.  With each complaining customer you engage, you grow in experience, professionalism, value to your company~~~and self-esteem.

 A visit from a disgruntled customer may be your best gift this holiday season. Enjoy!

 
      Jeannie Newman is a speaker and coach, specializing in all aspects of Emotional Intelligence. Contact her for guided discussions, workshops, and seminars that feature theory and practical application of staff retention, customer retention, and related topics. She works with individuals, agencies, organizations, and corporations. She can be found at JZNAssociates.com, LinkedIn, or 860.794.4109.

Act Enthusiastic and You’ll Feel Enthusiastic

Some of my undergraduate classes took place in the evening, at a community college. After a full day on the job we adult students would traipse into school, tired and perhaps a bit out of sorts, still in our work clothes and work personas. Many of us were the sole support of our households. All of us were responsible, serious adults, determined to continue our educations. Oh, at times we were a grim group.

In one particular class our professor was a human dynamo, about as big as a minute, but as wise as a century. No matter where we were in our moods or our careers, we were all very respectful of her.  When she said “Jump,” we jumped~~~quite literally.

Not at every class, but sometimes, she would walk into the room, take a look at us, and command everyone to stand. Then she would order us to do a number of vigorous jumping jacks, as we all shouted, “Act enthusiastic and you’ll feel enthusiastic!”

A few moments later we would be in our seats, panting, perhaps, ties and scarves askew, but newly energized and eager to learn.

Now, anyone who has ever been in a customer service environment is familiar with such mandates as, “smile when you greet the customer,” or “a smile can be sensed over the phone.” The message seems to be that the smile is for the benefit of the customer. While that is true, it gets even better than that.

By acting as if we are happy, we become happy, since emotions follow actions. Feel free to test this statement on yourself. One caveat: You need to reach into your heart for a real smile. A sickly grin, a sarcastic smirk, will not bring forth your desired effect. Have you ever been advised to, “Have a nice day,” in such a way that you understood it was not the actual message? Then you know exactly what I mean.

And if you have difficulty in bringing up that smile, just stand up right now and do five jumping jacks. Here's to your happy, enthusiastic Monday!

 Jeannie Newman, JZN Associates~~~JZNAssociates.com

Welcome to the JZN Associates Blog the 17th of Each Month!

Have you ever been so frustrated by a company’s poor customer service that you wanted to scream?
 

Is it possible anyone ever felt that way about your company’s customer service?

According to current statistics, for every one customer who complains to you, 26 won’t tell you they are unhappy--but they will tell nine to fifteen other people. And a scary 13% of them will tell 20 or more people. Picture them in the middle of town…with a bullhorn made out of your hide.

               Don’t let this happen to you!

Now picture yourself enjoying a successful business, secure in the knowledge that your staff is using their well-honed Emotional Intelligence skills to deliver sparkling customer care to your constituents.

Emotional Intelligence--also known as soft skills, or people skills—makes the difference in any arena between going through the motions and delivering an authentic, warm experience. As the principal of JZN Associates, my specialty, my passion, is helping individuals put their Emotional Intelligence to practical use in their careers and in their personal lives. I am available to agencies, organizations, and corporations. My experience is in recruiting, hiring, training, managing and motivating across a variety of industries, in both the non-profit and for profit worlds.

Watch my blog for Pearls of Wisdom on such topics as 

·         CustomerCentric Mindset

·         Employee Retention

·         From Disgruntled Customer to Biggest Fan…And much more…….

Jeannie Newman

http://jznassociates.com   Jeannie@JZNAssociates.com   860.794.4109

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Fellow Speakers and Entreprenuers!  It is a pleasure to have the privilege of sharing some information about myself and what I will write about in future blogs.  Today is Tuesday Sept 16^th. 

Bill: Yale University's Woolsley Hall

My name is Bill Miranda and I have been blessed with a long and varied work background that has seen the likes of both one person start-ups, right up to Fortune 500 companies.  My career has helped me to understand, define and develop World Class Customer Service organizations, Marketing Strategies, and of course Dynamic Sales Strategies and Tactics. 

After a successful career in “corporate America”, my wife and I decided (she was 6 months pregnant at the time) that it was in our best interests for me to quit my job and start a sales representative  business.  Selling was my strength, and it seemed prudent to work for myself and my growing family.  Afterall, how hard could it be? 

Since this is a blog and not a book, I can’t begin to tell the tale of the ups and downs, the starts and stops, the successes and failures that were seen on this journey.  I can’t effectively explain here (you should see me live though!) how the periodic desire to “move on”, to do something else met with the stubborn drive and willingness to keep “fighting the fight” and not to succumb to the challenges that are thrown at each and every one of us by everyday life.

I have prospered thru strong market growth, and survived the cataclysmic decline during our most recent “economic recession/depression” . . .whatever it is the politicians are calling it!

At the end of the day, there are 3 things that drive me: 1) my family: my wife of 27 years, and my 3 children (including college age twins),  2) the burning desire to excel and be known and respected as one of the best at my trade, and 3) sharing my success with others by communicating  the lessons learned while navigating the constantly changing business climate. 

An accomplished and award winning speaker, I am currently writing my first book.  As a dynamic and entertaining speaker, I utilize a combination of stories and anecdotes to motivate and inspire my audience to take action.  Sharing a story is one thing, sharing the “spark” to approach life differently is something else.

Graduate of Fairfield University (B.S. Management), and Sacred Heart University (M.B.A. Marketing).   Graduate of the Dale Carnegie Course and countless other training and leadership programs.

Please email me for more information, and a free telephone consultation 
billmirandaspeaks@gmail.com

Next Month:  “Developing World Class Customer Service”