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What does your E-mail say about you? - 13 Customer Service Tips

Susan Hoekstra — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:48:14 GMT

The amount of business e-mail we can get on a daily basis can sometimes be overwhelming; however, used properly, e-mail can be a very effective way to communicate with colleagues and clients. Even though the tendency may be to be more casual, it is advisable that business e-mail have an element of formality to it, and follow certain protocol. Listed below are my 13 e-mail best-practice service tips that, if followed, can provide your clients and colleagues the best experience possible, and help you brand your experience.

Identify yourself, your company and your department in the signature line: Set up your standard signature to follow the guidelines of your firm; and make it easy for people to find your contact information. At minimum, include your first and last name, company name, department, phone number, fax number, and web address. Very often you may want to include your corporate title and business address as well.

Use spell-check: Eliminate the risk of sending e-mails with misspelled words. Outlookand many other e-mail programs can be set up to scan your messages automatically before being sent.

Don't copy the world: Some people copy everyone or 'reply all'. If you have something to say to one person, say it directly to that person and spare the rest.

Let people sending you an e-mail know if you’re not in the office

Use the 'out of office' tool on e-mail and let the recipient of your 'out of office' message know when you'll be returning.
Let people know if you are going to check e-mail messages while you’re out, and if yes, how often. Let them know as well who to contact in case their matter is urgent.

Don't send negative messages through e-mail: Words in the written format may often be misunderstood. In addition, e-mail is a written document and as such, may be forwarded. If you have a negative message to deliver, speak to the individual in person, or on the phone. We've all heard the stories of people who found out their job was being eliminated via e-mail. Not good. Although this is an extreme case, even messages that may be perceived as being mildly negative can be blown out of proportion when seen in written format.
When you receive a negative e-mail message, give them the benefit of the doubt: If you receive a negative e-mail message, pick up the phone, rather than retort in kind. You'll surprise the person who sent the e-mail, straighten out any misconceptions, and often will move to agreement.
Pick up the phone: If e-mail goes back and forth more than two rounds, pick up the phone to clarify the issue. Some messages are more complicated and may be better communicated via the phone.
Send positive messages through e-mail: Thanking someone or congratulating someone for a job well done is a great use of e-mail. Copy the individual's boss, so the employee receives accolades there as well. You will build better relationships as a result.
Follow-through: When people request information, respond back and do so within the requested time-frame. They’ll be more likely to use your e-mail in the future if they realize you are responsive when they do leave a request.
Use the subject line: Because people receive so many messages, use the subject-line, and make it specific so the recipient is able to find the e-mail later. Include the words 'Action Required' in the subject-line if applicable, and include only one topic per e-mail. It's fine to send one e-mail with a summary of the meeting in which you discussed 4 agenda items; but don't send one e-mail with the summary of four meetings.
Use bullet points: Breaking up longer messages with bullets or numbers makes e-mail messages more aesthetically pleasing and easier to digest. It also makes the required follow-up action items easier to understand and track.
Be brief: Include only the information that is necessary in your e-mails, don't include your opinion or bias, and stick to the relevant information. Today, many people are reading e-mail on their blackberry or other hand held device. Show pity.
Be professional: Your e-mail message is an extension of you, and that of the firm you work. Avoid slang, casual language and cutesy pictures.

Following these simple best-practices for your e-mail messages can lead to great service experiences on behalf of those who receive your e-mail, and improve your firm’s and your personal service brand as well.

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Develop your customized service strategy and implement more than 50 tactics by picking up a copy of my book, The Service Journey; available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and more!

When the Answer is No ... Proactive Service

Susan Hoekstra — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:02:00 GMT

I do a lot of my clothes shopping at Talbots. I like their classic styles, well made clothes and robust website. However, one of the main reasons I am loyal doesn't have to do with any of these things. It has to do with someone I spoke to a number of years ago in their contact center.

For I had received a catalog in February filled with spring clothes. This particular winter had been endless, and it was fun looking at the promise of spring. I found a jacket I loved! But what was the point of ordering it, when snow was still on the ground? So I waited.

When I did finally go to the website to order it, the jacket was no longer available. Oh no! So I called Talbots' call center and spoke to someone. He confirmed they were indeed out of stock. But then he did something unexpected. "Let me go in our warehouse and see if there are any available there." Really? You're not going to simply tell me to go away? You're not going to tell me to read the 'out of stock' sign on your website? OK!

But alas. There were no jackets in the warehouse either. Instead of giving up, he then looked at the store inventory, and found the jacket I wanted at a store in Tennessee. He had them ship it to my house - at the sale price, with no shipping charges, since the store wasn't equipped to handle shipping. I received the jacket within two days.

Every time I wear the jacket I think about this individual who, when the answer was 'no' went above and beyond, and created a very loyal advocate for the firm. What's the experience your clients have when the answer is 'no'?

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Develop your customized service strategy and implement more than 50 tactics by picking up a copy of my book, The Service Journey; available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and more!

Put On Your Best Face When Delivering Great Service on FaceBook

Susan Hoekstra — Sat, 22 May 2010 12:17:00 GMT

I joined facebook last year when I started organizing my high school class reunion. I have found it is a great way to keep in touch with old friends. I also set up a facebook page for my company, and have joined the facebook pages of businesses, politicians, travel, charities and things that generally interest me. Some, such as DiscoverCard are genuinely helpful. Some, I have found are not.

Since doing so, I have made these observations:

Keep in mind many people are staying in touch with their pda, e.g. BlackBerry. It's one thing to quickly scroll through messages when you are on your computer; but on the pda? Not so much.
There is such a thing as too frequent communication. There are groups who will communicate 4 - 5 times a day on a regular basis. Even if I love to read the occasional message update or insider news, I find it's just too much, and I tend to ignore everything. One political site was posting state by state news. Individually. All 50 states. I had to go to my computer and hide their info, or accept the fact I'd be scrolling through messages for a very long time. Now, even though I did enjoy seeing some of the info, I see nothing from them.
Review messages on both the computer and pda and make sure they're short. Because I will frequently review facebook via my BlackBerry, I appreciate the short succinct message. I'm not sure the people posting messages appreciate what it is we see when we are on our pda.
Have someone respond (quickly) to anyone who posts a negative comment. If anyone other than the politician, business, or page administrator responds to an individual who has a negative comment, opinion rather than fact takes over, and none of the people discussing the issue really know the answer. Conversely, I have seen people on DiscoverCard 's site comment they weren't approved for various offers; the administrator responds within minutes and takes care of the issue offline. End of discussion.
Post things people may share. I have had people join my site and the site of others, because I reposted the info, graphs, and or other details so my friends could see it.
Stick to the Point. Understand what the purpose is of your product, cause or business and stick to that. I have one political site that continually posts links to debt reduction sites. That's not why I joined.
Links are good! Use them to provide more info. Just make sure they also work on the pda.

Facebook and other social sites is a great medium to communicate, promote, rally and inspire.  But if not used correctly, the experience your clients have may not have the impact you desire.

And join myFacebook page and our discussion on great service! I promise to keep your pda message short & not to inundate you with messages!


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Develop your customized service strategy and implement more than 50 tactics by picking up a copy of my book, The Service Journey; available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and more!

Snapshots of Great Customer Service

Susan Hoekstra — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:06:00 GMT

For Mother's Day this year, my sons gave me a great gift. They scanned all their baby photos, so now I have digital copies! I have had so much fun looking at the pictures; funny thing is, I clearly remember when they all were taken. Even though so many years have passed by, it seems as if it was just yesterday.

The same thing can be said for the progress made with service. Sometimes, when you make a commitment to fostering a client-centric organization, it is hard to see the progress. And yet, when you look at where it is you began, you understand just how far it is you have come.

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Develop your customized service strategy and implement more than 50 tactics by picking up a copy of my book, The Service Journey; available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and more!

Can Good Customer Service Reduce Lawsuits?

Susan Hoekstra — Tue, 04 May 2010 14:47:00 GMT

Studies have shown that a consistently good, branded customer service experience can improve sales and profitability. Did you know the same is true for customer service and a reduction in lawsuits? A study by Hickson and Levinson, published in 2002 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that doctors who gave good customer service and did so - especially when something went wrong, were far less likely to get sued than doctors who tried to avoid the issue.

A good customer service strategy doesn't only reduce lawsuits for doctors, however. Read a few examples of people and or cities who sued, when poor service occurred.

When an individual bought her laptop at Best Buy in 2006, was informed a repair would take two to six weeks, and then after much follow up on her part, came to realize after four months, that the computer was missing. She was offered a $900 Best Buy gift card as compensation, which was less than what she originally had paid for the computer and warranty. So she sued them for $54 million dollars instead.
The city of Los Angeles sued Time Warner Cable after TWC made an acquisition that added more than 1.6 million subscribers to TWC's 360,000-member Los Angeles base. In the midst of the transfer, the company allegedly failed to meet service level agreements.
Pat Dori, a disgruntled Dell customer who found no resolution to the issue of a broken laptop after five months and 19 phone calls, decided to go legal and sue the company for failing to adequately address the problem.

A consistent, proactive and branded service experience can improve sales, increase profitability, and yes ... even reduce lawsuits. Review your firm's lawsuits and ask yourself if any of them could have been avoided if a good customer service strategy was in place. In most cases, the amount it would cost to develop the service strategy and implement it would have been less than the lawsuit itself. Go figure.

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Develop your customized service strategy and implement more than 50 tactics by picking up a copy of my book, The Service Journey; available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and more!

Can You Call Back? Customer Service Tip

Susan Hoekstra — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:14:00 GMT

My windshield wipers were stuck in the up position. I tried to have it fixed at one of those no-appointment-needed auto repair places, but they weren't able to fix it. Of course, even though it took one minute to diagnose that fact, I had to bring the car there twice, because they were busy the first time, and the no-appointment-needed place actually gave me an appointment for later in the day.  I thought it was ironic they asked when would be convenient for me to bring it in, because I wanted to say 'Now. Now is convenient. That is why I am here.' But I didn't. I made the second twenty minute trek a few hours later, only to here that they couldn't fix it after all.

So, I lived with the problem a few more weeks before trying again.  Last week I phoned another car repair business to find out if they did this type of work and make an appointment.  I was told I could bring in my car the following day, but then I was told I should call back in twenty minutes to confirm it with the boss.

Both of these situations places the responsibility for follow-up with the client and are not atypical.  Here's some additional examples:

Message when the contact center has high call volume: 'Your call is important to us; please continue to hold' ... for 20 minutes or 'call back later'
Message when the call is placed after-hours: 'Thank you for calling. Our hours are Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm ET. Please call between these hours.' Click

Improve your clients' experience by reviewing transactions from their perspective. Take a message, call the client, arrange for call overflow or take a moment to diagnose the issue - so the client is minimally inconvenienced. You'll have much happier clients, and chances are your business will improve as a result. Windshield wipers? All fixed. But I needed to follow-up with them at the end of the day in order to find that out.

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Develop your customized service strategy and implement more than 50 tactics by picking up a copy of my book, The Service Journey; available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and more!

Rewarding Great Customer Service

Susan Hoekstra — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:00:00 GMT

"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it." - Chinese Proverb

In order to resolve client issues, do your employees need to jump through hoops? Are your best client-focused employees also successful within the firm?

Employee sample profile:  An employee, when seeking a resolution for a client issue would relentlessly call the area within the firm that would be able to correct the issue. If she didn't receive an acceptable resolution, she would physically sit outside that individual's office until she received a resolution. Clients loved her. Within the organization, she had moderate success, at best. Her reviews said people within the firm, those who weren't responsive, complained.

Employee sample profile: Two account managers, one competent and client-focused, the other not. The account manager who was competent was turned down for promotion after promotion. When she left years later, she was told it was because she was too good. The incompetent account manager? Promoted.

Employee sample profile: A cashier worked at a grocery store for years. She not only would bag her customers' groceries, but sort them according to frozen and refrigerated foods, so it would be easier to unpack when the customer arrived at their home. Her hours were changed when a new employee was hired, who wanted the early morning hours.

Your employees watch who and what is rewarded.  If you reward the employees who aren't customer-focused, it doesn't matter what anyone says. Actions trump words - every time.

Share your insights on this topic! I'd love to hear from you.
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Develop your customized service strategy and implement more than 50 tactics by picking up a copy of my book, The Service Journey; available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and more!

So What Are You Waiting For? Prioritizing Great Customer Service

Susan Hoekstra — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:00:00 GMT

My son is a junior in high school now. Getting him to this point has not been easy, because he's the type of person who, when given a homework assignment, determines whether or not it's worth his time. 'Why do I need to know that?' Is something I hear frequently. It's not as if he's not capable. When he wanted to get his drivers' permit, he studied online for 20 minutes and passed with flying colors. Studying is simply not a priority for him and no amount of reward or penalty has changed that fact.

Not making service a priority often can be evident in every industry out there: restaurants, stores, travel, business, etc.  Similar to my son, it's not as if everyone doesn't agree service is important, but there may be emergencies and other priorities that frequently take precedence.

When poor service occurs however, we need to recognize that experience impacts more than just that one transaction. People talk.  These days, people use social media and cyber-talk.       It's also been shown to be much more profitable to keep clients than to get a new one.   Even in a poor economy, great service has been shown to be worthwhile.   And if you can turn your clients into net promoters?   Wow! Then you have clients selling your business for you!

Continually making service a priority is a challenge in today's environment, when resources may be tight and priorities may be focused elsewhere. Recognize service can be done creatively, however, doesn't need to cost a lot or take a lot of time, and the benefits pay dividends. The links I provided you today will help you make the business case for prioritizing a great service experience for your clients. And as for my son? I finally see signs that he's outgrowing his view on homework; he's realizing he needs to reevaluate his priorities! It couldn't have happened too soon for me.

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Develop your customized service strategy and implement more than 50 tactics by picking up a copy of my book, The Service Journey; available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and more!

Let's go Team! Leverage Teamwork and Improve Customer Service

Susan Hoekstra — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Very often managers who give negative feedback will sandwich it between positive news. An example of this tactic may sound something like the following:

        "You're always on time for work.  You really handled that call poorly. You greeted the caller correctly."

So perhaps I'm exaggerating a little, but the point is the positive feedback is supposed to make the recipient feel better about receiving the negative feedback. The problem with using this tactic is everyone knows what is coming, making the positive feedback feel artificial.  Solidifying that feeling is the fact the recipient walks away from the meeting with a list of tactics and promises to improve the negative feedback, but no action items are necessary for what is done well.

What if that were to change, however? What if employees had action items not only for what they needed to improve, but also what they did well?   Making this change could revolutionize the morale of your employees and improve your clients' experience.  Leverage your employees' best-practices by giving all employees action items, not only on what they need to improve, but also on what they do well.  You'll improve your clients' experience in the process.

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Develop your customized service strategy and implement more than 50 tactics by picking up a copy of my book, The Service Journey; available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and more!

Could Long Employee Tenure Hurt the Clients' Experience?

Susan Hoekstra — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:27:00 GMT

It seems as if my diversity entry last week hit a nerve with many of my readers, especially those of you who are job hunting. Many of you agree that companies and clients could benefit from employees who have the transferrable skills, but experience outside that firm's specific industry. I'd like to take this diversity topic further, because great service is about developing relationships with the client, making the client feel valued, and exceeding client expectations. This would imply and often is based upon the benefits of a stable workforce.

There are times, however, when long employee tenure could in fact hurt the clients' experience:

When employees' world-view is only dependent upon that company, the employee stops questioning the absurd. To exemplify, when I bought my first home, it had cabinets that were painted bright green with farm animals on them. I was shocked! After a while, however, I wasn't shocked any more. In fact, I didn't even see those cabinets (I did eventually change them - but other projects were completed first). In a similar manner, new employees look at what has become commonplace within the organization with a fresh perspective, one that often mirrors the perspective of your clients.
According to the American Society of Quality, 68% of clients leave because of an attitude of indifference from a company employee. But who is likely to be indifferent? Not new employees. New employees usually want to prove themselves. New employees often want to exceed expectations. It could be employees who have been around for a while who may become complacent.

Having a diverse, stable workforce absolutely benefits your clients. Don't look at all turnover as bad, however, because your clients may actually benefit from the fresh viewpoint of new energetic employees. A diverse workforce benefits your clients: different race, culture, gender, age, industry and yes, even tenure.

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Develop your customized service strategy and implement more than 50 tactics by picking up a copy of my book, The Service Journey; available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and more!

Importance of Diversity to a Great Service Experience

Susan Hoekstra — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:14:00 GMT

If you read my book The Service Journey, you know I have gained my conviction for great service by having gone through situations which gave me a personal appreciation for service's fundamental premise: actions produce reactions. Many statistics also prove this to be true, but for me these statistics have personal meaning, as I have worked in many different industries that have seen this premise in action, through unsuccessful leveraged buyouts, fraud, and most recently the financial services upheaval.

In each of these situations, calamity could have been avoided if the voice of the dissenter was heeded. On one particular occasion the voice of the dissenter was my own. In my late twenties, I worked for a manufacturing company as an accountant and financial analyst. After completing the cash forecast, I told senior executives they were on the brink of imminent financial collapse; they brought in a consultant to show me where my analysis was incorrect. "Did you show this to senior executives" "Yes", I replied. "And what did they say?" "They called you to show me why I was wrong."

Even in today's online Wall Street Journal, I read about Lehman firing an employee of fourteen years because he 'raised red flags about the firm's accounting in 2008'. Diversity is a term that is flippantly used these days. Many firms believe and say they are diverse. Often, they tie their diversity program only to people of different gender or race, however, and, they really don't want someone to challenge them. You only need to look as far as the job advertisements, to realize true diverse viewpoints are not being sought. Financial services firms only want to hire people with financial services backgrounds, and the same is true with consumer products, pharmaceutical, food, advertising industries ...and the list goes on.

This practice however, hurts shareholders, employees and clients. In addition to being able to avoid calamities if diverse viewpoints are sought out, there are service benefits to having a diverse workforce - one that not only incorporates differences in gender and race, but differences in culture viewpoint and industries:

Hiring diverse experiences challenges the norms. Today, most products and services offered are similar and undifferentiated. Part of the reason this is true because the people who work at these industries tend to all have the same life experiences, backgrounds and viewpoints. In the banking world, the traditional mold of a bank was broken when Commerce Bank (now TD Bank) was created by a marketing executive instead of a banking executive. They have actually provided a better service experience by creating banks that are open seven days a week, open late, offer free gift cards, gift envelopes and pens, notary public service, and the list goes on. This occurred all because someone started a bank who wasn't confined by what a bank was supposed to look like.
Hiring diverse experiences also matches the viewpoints of your clientele more closely. Great service is attained when we conform to our clients, not the other way around. And diversity evidences itself in the largest and smallest of ways. I once asked a financial services firm what types of reading material they had in their lobby. Financial periodicals was the reply. But if the firm hired people who more closely matched their clientele, they may have realized their clients were more interested in traveling, running their small businesses, golf and retirement, and their reading materials may have matched their clients, instead of their own viewpoint.

In order to reap the benefits of a diverse workforce, people from different races, cultures, gender and yes - even diverse industries need to be sought out and their opinions carefully considered. Your business and clients will reap the benefits.

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Develop your customized service strategy and implement more than 50 tactics by picking up a copy of my book, The Service Journey; available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and more!

The Importance of Keeping Clients

Susan Hoekstra — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:43:00 GMT

It’s five times cheaper to keep a client than to get a new one. ~ U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs

Many statistics and studies exist that prove great service pays for those businesses who place a priority on delivering great service. Intuitively most people know good service is good business. Did you ever stop to really think about why some of these statistics are true, however?

For example when it comes to the statistic about it being cheaper to keep a client than get a new client, why would it be five times cheaper to keep a client than get a new one? Here are some thoughts. See which ideas pertain to you and your company:

There are often a lot of up-front costs with attracting new clients: marketing, time, sales, advertising, paperwork.
Discounts are often given to new clients to attract them.
New clients tend to need more hand-holding. They don't understand the product and/or service and ask more questions.
New clients tend to make mistakes. Mistakes that can cost the relationship and/or money to fix.
New clients don't tend to do as much business with you. You need to gain their trust first.
Clients who have been with you a while will often give you referrals. Their referral is someone who has been pre-sold on your services by a friend, putting them further on the client life cycle.

Now my question is this: If this is true, why do we spend so much on attracting clients, and next to nothing on retaining them?

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Develop your customized service strategy and implement more than 50 tactics by picking up a copy of my book, The Service Journey; available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and more!

Why Didn't You Just Tell Me? Great Customer Service and Computer Passcodes

Susan Hoekstra — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Have you noticed that computer passcodes are getting longer and more complex lately? Capital- and lower-case letters, numbers, and even symbols are a frequent requirement now. I understand that it's done in an effort to ensure privacy and protect individuals from identity theft, but honestly, the complexity of the passwords are making it so it's difficult for me to remember who I am. In addition, I probably have 20 - 30 sites I need passcodes for, making it nearly impossible for me to remember them.

From a customer service perspective, this can be a nightmare, because when clients have difficulty accessing accounts, a layer of annoyance is added to the transaction, making their first experience an unpleasant one. Although I do not have experience with privacy and security, may I suggest that there may be a few things that can be done from a client experience perspective, however, to help mitigate a clients' poor experience.

Tell me upfront if you will require my user name to be my e-mail address. It will save us both a step in having to enter information twice.
Similarly, tell me upfront if you will require my passcode to be at least 8 digits, alphanumeric lower case and caps and include a symbol. It's not intuitive, and it's not all that fun to enter my information once, let alone twice. Just tell me.
Ask me security questions, that will enable me to gain access to my password on that same screen (e-mailing me my passcode just requires me to have to login to my e-mail account) - and don't assign me a new password! Otherwise we'll be back at square one the next time I need to access my account.
Remember me - that box is my favorite! I like the warning they put there as well - don't click this box if you're at a public computer.

Unfortunately the cyber-world we live in today, requires diligence to protect individuals' identity. In an effort to protect the client, I'm just suggesting we don't forget the client.

You Are All The Same: Differentiating Yourself in a Commoditized World

Susan Hoekstra — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:24:00 GMT

Today, nearly every business is commoditized: stores, airlines, financial services, car companies, wireless service, hotels, restaurants. Even professionals are commoditized: accountants, realtors, trainers, builders, and the list goes on. Don't believe me? If your clients can't get the product or service from you, how hard is it to find a very similar product or service elsewhere?

A commoditized product or service coupled with low client loyalty is dangerous, as the impact can immediately be felt when and if issues occur. To exemplify, look at what happened this past month at Toyota. When quality issues at Toyota surfaced, sales at Ford and other Toyota competitors immediately increased. Whether or not Toyota's competition will be able to sustain that growth remains to be seen, however. Because if there is no plan in place to differentiate themselves, Toyota's competition will also lose business when their situation changes.

Delivering a branded, consistently great customer service is a true differentiator in a commoditized market. It helps firms (and individuals) gain and maintain business, makes firms more profitable, and enables firms to charge a premium when others are cutting prices.

Regardless of whether you benefit from a client's misfortune, or if you lose business to your competition, you will need to differentiate yourself from your competition in order to gain or maintain a competitive advantage. Deliver a branded, consistent service experience for your clients. It will differentiate you from your competition in a very commoditized world and help you weather the storm the next time the wind blows.

Great Customer Service via Operational Excellence

Susan Hoekstra — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:25:00 GMT

This article is written by my friend and colleague Peter Sluka

Very often when service issues exist, the cause of the problem is complicated. The fact is, the cause may be due to the employees, training, measurements, lack of service standards, objectives, or many other factors. If you have already embarked on your Service Journey you are no doubt beginning to see real, tangible benefits. Maybe you noticed an employee going the extra mile to win the lasting loyalty of a customer. Maybe you feel that heightened energy level in your call center. And maybe you have even noticed improved retention, attrition, conversion rates and repeat business. You’re on your way!

But that’s not enough. Your motivated, accountable, aligned, caring, customer-centric workforce must also be enabled to achieve service excellence through highly capable processes and the appropriate tools. Too often the rug is pulled out from under them by processes (and technology) not capable of consistently meeting customer requirements. Even if your people have the skill and the will, they will be let down if the process is flawed. Bad processes trip up good people. Your customers are impacted and frustration sets in with your employees.

This is where six sigma can help. Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects in any process -- from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service. With properly selected and executed six sigma projects, your people will be rowing downstream with the wind at their backs. The synergy of a caring, customer-centric workforce along with processes optimized through Six Sigma will ensure a wildly successful workforce, differentiated service and market share gain.

Six Sigma starts by finding out which attributes are most critical and identifying the processes that produce them. Then, in a fact-based, data-driven way the root causes that prevent consistent fulfillment of customer requirements are identified. The optimal solution set is identified and implemented. And finally, steps are taken to ensure the ongoing performance of the process.

By the way, you can expect the typical Six Sigma project to yield $200,000 to $500,000 in sustainable hard dollar benefits virtually ensuring a positive first year ROI. The Service Journey and Six Sigma ... powerful synergy.

Great Customer Service: Changing the Culture

Susan Hoekstra — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:00:00 GMT

<"I don't know ..." was the response I received to my question about whether or not it was supposed to rain a few years ago.  My kids and I went to the roller coaster mecca of the United States: Cedar Point, the tourist attraction in Sandusky Ohio.  If you're familiar with the location you know a strip of hotels is located on the road right outside of Cedar Point; the hotels' entire business is dependent upon the traffic brought in by the amusement park. Weather is of utmost importance to their guests, and yet the hotel employee who worked at the front desk not only didn't know what the weather forecast was, she didn't seem to believe she should know.

If you don't want this to be the experience of your clients, you need to take a multi-pronged approach to customer service, and realize great customer service is really about changing and influencing the culture. Delivering excellent service is complex; one key element is constant reinforcement and a comprehensive training and communications program that includes a combination of the following:

Formal professional skills training: employees within the organization should have baseline training that trains employees on the firm's service philosophy, customer service, difficult clients and proactive service training.  Note:  It's important to not only train your current employees but new employees as well.

Informal training: this is the 'training' that occurs on a department-level i.e., during staff meetings and through various corporate communications.  Employees should be communicated with frequently in a variety of ways, so that service permeates existing and stand-a-lone venues.

Impacting the culture requires everyone in the firm and every conversation, decision made, and product or service offered reflects a client-centric mentality. Formal and informal training and communications is necessary in order to ensure clients have a consistently excellent experience.  When this occurs, even when something is not within an employees' formal job description, they still know what to do to impress clients. We're planning to stop again at Cedar Point again this summer, on our way out west. Hope we have great weather.

How Much Do Your Clients Love You?

Susan Hoekstra — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:31:00 GMT

Today, in the United States, we celebrate the love we feel for someone special to whom we are loyal and advocate. Likewise, in order to grow a business that is truly profitable, we need to create clients who are not only loyal, but advocate on our behalf. Did you know in the typical business, the majority of clients doing business with someone really don't care about that individual, business, or firm one way or the other?

According to Reicheld's The Ultimate Question:

The average firm has net promoter score (where the percentage of promoters outweighs the detractors) of only 5 - 10%.
Many firms have negative Net Promoter Scores.

If you can create positive word of mouth, you can create a more profitable business. In order to do this though, you need to create the types of experiences that will encourage this positive word of mouth. For, in addition to promoters and detractors, there are a lot of neutral clients out there - clients who may do business with you, but may not want to risk their personal reputation advocating on your behalf. It is therefore necessary to recognize the risk your clients take, and recognize that some businesses inherently have a greater risk factor than others. For example, I may feel comfortable recommending a restaurant to friends. If they don't like it, the worst thing that happens is they have a less than ideal meal. However, if I recommend a financial advisor, a realtor, or doctor and the experience is not favorable, I could risk our entire relationship.

Recognize the risk necessary for your clients to become advocates for your product and service. Then create the type of experiences necessary for your clients to feel safe enough to rave about and advocate your business to their friends and relatives. And Happy Valentine's Day!

How much is it worth? Great Customer Service

Susan Hoekstra — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:00:00 GMT

Have you ever had a really poor experience at a restaurant, store or business that made you stop going there? Probably all of us have. Furthermore, there are probably places you used to frequent often, where you've cut back. I know for me personnally, after many years shopping at the local grocery store, I started food shopping at a store much further away. I still may shop at my local grocery store for odds and ends, but the bulk of my food shopping is done elsewhere. How many businesses would provide better client service and train, hire more customer-oriented employees, or emphasize the importance of a better client experience, if the true worth of each client was calculated?

For I find it is often the case that many businesses never calculate the true value of their clients when making business decisions. Here is a way to do it:

Start with the lost revenue stream: include not only the cost of the average transaction, but the net-present value of future transactions. The meals purchased, clothes purchased, sales lost over time should be included in here. Even discounted for net-present value, this number can add up to serious money.
Add in the revenue stream of referrals: loyal clients tend to make referrals. Referrals are a cheap source of income, since it costs nothing to acquire them, and current clients help advocate your services for you, so they are more likely to trust you and purchase more quickly. If you lose the customer, you've also lost the revenue of referrals.
Add marketing costs: loyal clients who help build the business mean cheap referrals and reduced marketing costs. If you lose loyal clients, you will need to market more, incurring increased costs. There are often a lot of upfront costs with new clients as well. Be sure to add that in.

According to a November 2009 study on The Cost of Poor Service, Genesys calculates the one year cost of poor customer service in 16 key economies at $338.5 billion! Take the time to calculate what your clients are worth to you. It may be an exercise that results in different decisions being made and a better client experience overall.

Clients, Employees and Shareholders: How To Achieve a Culture of Excellent Service that Doesn't Break the Bank

Susan Hoekstra — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:00:00 GMT

"Sure we can give our clients everything they want, but then we will go out of business." This is something I often hear when helping firms implement a culture of excellent service.  Sometimes, if I don't hear it, I can sense the concern. Perhaps this may even be a concern of yours.

If great service was delivered to the detriment of the shareholders however, and money was spent on service without a return on investment, no one would come out ahead, as the firm would not be optimizing profits, would not be competitive, and would not be able to stay in business for the long term.  Similarly, if great service was delivered at the expense of the employees, and the employees were treated poorly, ultimately the clients and shareholders would lose out, because there would be high turnover, clients would not be treated ideally by the employees who were left behind, and revenue would decline.

Ultimately, in order to maintain and sustain a culture of excellent service, the desires of the clients, employees and shareholders need to be balanced. Investments in excellent service need to be carefully weighed in order to ensure the highest return for the investment.  A cost-effective ongoing all-encompassing program needs to be implemented. And accurate and applicable measurements must be reviewed in order to ensure client loyalty and employee satisfaction are optimized. When this happens the firm ultimately can attract and keep the best employees, develop client advocates, and optimize firm profits.

The statistics in study after study show that firms who deliver great service are more profitable, and have a competitive advantage. The road to achieve this is realized by maintaining, balancing, and ultimately optimizing the needs of the clients, employees and shareholders.

Are We There Yet? The Service Journey

Susan Hoekstra — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:28:00 GMT

If you go on a long trip with young children (and sometimes not so young!), they will inevitably ask when you're going to arrive at your destination. Mine used to ask that age old question seemingly a thousand times, "Are we there yet?"

When we are on a journey to deliver excellent service, we can never ask if we are there, though. Because there will never be a time when we can say 'we've arrived'. As our service improves, our clients will become increasingly demanding, our competitors will begin to adapt your best-practices, and when not constantly reinforced, our employees' behavior will begin to wane.

Thank goodness journeys with our children result in us eventually getting there; unfortunately, with our service journey, we never reach our destination.