Customer Service:
It's Not Just a Department, It's An Experience - March 2009
Welcome to the March issue of "Customer Service: It's Not Just a Department; It's an Experience." Can you believe the first quarter of 2009 is almost over? Is time going fast, or is just me?
In this month's newsletter, we'll talk about losing customers (I hope YOU'RE not!). You'll find an article by Jeff Goldberg, a sales professional who teaches, coaches and mentors salespeople on how to turn customer service calls into selling opportunities. And if you're a member of a chamber of commerce, see below for a powerful workshop I know you'll want to check out!
Welcome to our new subscribers and new clients, and here's wishing that all of your customers remain your customers!
In This Issue:
It's 10pm, Do You Know Where Your Customer Is? | Do You Belong to a Chamber of Commerce? | Turning Customer Service Calls Into Selling Opportunities
It's 10pm - Do You Know Where Your Customer Is?
It's 10:00 PM. Do you know where your children are??
If you're middle-aged like me (yikes, did I just call myself middle-aged?), you remember that announcement that came on every night at, you guessed it, 10:00 PM.
Well, it's March 26th.
Do you know how many customers you've lost so far this month??
You might if some of them actually TOLD you that they were leaving you for.........dare I say, the competition!
However, most customers don't tell us that they're leaving. They just leave! And by then, it's usually too late to do anything about it. The sad truth is, some of our customers are not satisfied with our product or service. And dissatisfied customers are a slow, silent killer. They defect one by one, often without making a sound. What's worse is that they often bring other customers or potential customers down with them - slowly, silently and viciously. People vote with their feet, and often times, they're walking in the opposite direction of our business!
Why don't customers tell us that they're leaving? And more importantly, why are they leaving? The startling truth is that 68% of customers leave because of an attitude of indifference by the owner, manager, or some employee. That's a scary number, don't you agree?
That means that something you or one of your employees is doing (or not doing) is the reason that some of your customers have decided not to do business with you.
What are YOU doing about that?
For starters, how about sharing this article with your employees? Start a conversation. Talk about customer service. And not just today. Constantly talk about the service that you provide to your customers. All of your customers, new ones, old ones, prospective ones.
Remember, you are in the customer service business, no matter what product or service you sell. And if you aren't excelling in customer service, your business will not survive!
Are You a Member of a Chamber of Commerce?
If so, you know one of the goals of the chamber is to keep customers shopping in the community.
Well if the service provided by the businesses in the community isn't outstanding, customers will shop elsewhere.
Contact me today to find out about our SHOP* Local workshop designed to give you and your employees the skills you need to keep customers coming back.
SHOP* Local:
Service
Hospitality
Ownership
Pride
Turning Customer Service Calls Into Selling Opportunities
Let's face it...for most of us when a customer calls in to complain most of us don't get up and start dancing with joy. After all, if they're complaining it means they're upset with us and want someone to take it out on. Many customers have previous bad experiences with customer service so they assume their experience with you will be bad too and that means their tone of voice and attitude aren't the best right from the start. But here's the thing...with a little intelligence and skills on our part, we can not only help the customer and turn them into a raving fan but we can also possibly sell them more (or something new) of what they need.
We should first consider two things. One is if the customer doesn't call they just continue to be angry and dissatisfied with your product or service. They harbor resentment and in most cases it means they'll never do business with your company again and they'll take their business elsewhere. That leads me to the second thing...for those of you in customer service you job actually depends on people contacting you when they are in need of help. If enough of them don't call, or don't get satisfied when they call, you'll be out of a job. While I never like to hear complaints or criticisms, they almost always present an opportunity for me.
My first rule is to always remember that the way I speak has a great deal of influence on the way the customer speaks to me. If I'm surly, short, or uncaring it's likely to escalate the customer's level of unhappiness quickly. A pleasant tone of voice and a smile on your face (which comes though in your voice) can go a long way to helping someone calm down. It's not personal when they call you but they are talking to you so while I don't want you to take it personally I do suggest you accept responsibility. Let people know you understand and will do your best to help. Make sure they are being helped even if you have to transfer the call to someone else. Follow-up to make sure their needs have been met. I can give example after example of both good and poor customer service experiences but I can tell you that the one thing the good ones always have in common is that the CSR always seems to care about helping me. If that's not your "come from" when you're doing your job perhaps you should consider a new career choice.
Once a problem is fixed or a solution is found it's a great time to help your company, and yourself, by cross-selling or up-selling. When you've actually done your job properly the customer should be in a great mood and should be thinking highly of you and your company. It's a tremendous opportunity to use "suggestive" selling techniques. Whether you know it or not you are very aware of suggestive selling. McDonalds sells tons or apple pies by simply training their people to ask, after every order gets placed, "Would you like an apple pie with that?" I don't happen to be a fan of Mickey D's apple pies but I can tell you that each time it gets offered to me there's a moment when I consider it. Best Buy sells a lot of warranty plans for the electronic items by simply having the cashier ask if you want one when checking out. The same thing can apply to your customer service situation. Let's say you work for Cablevision, a Long Island based company that provides Internet, TV and Phone service in the tri-state area. If I was running the customer service department you can bet that at the end of every customer service call, the team members would be saying something like, "Did you know that you can get HBO, Showtime and 40 other premium channels for just $12 more per month?" (I'm making up the package and the price but you get the point) I'm willing to bet that a certain percentage of complaint calls would end up with people upgrading, putting more money in Cablevision's pockets and helping them to justify paying a huge team of customer service reps. On top of that, the customer will be happier too with all those extra channels to choose from.
Take the time to figure out how you can help your customers better and not only satisfy their needs with whatever they're calling about but also help yourself and your company by selling them something too!
Jeff Goldberg - Jeff Goldberg & Associates
www.JGSalesPro.com
In Conclusion...
Thanks for taking the time to read this edition of "Customer Service: It's Not Just a Department; It's an Experience". It is our hope that you not only get the customer or client, but that you also hold onto them! If you have clients, colleagues or friends who wants to hold on to their customers too, do them a favor and forward them this newsletter.
Until next time, take good care of your customers, or someone else will! See you next month!
Sincerely,
Randi Busse
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