Customer service and sales: how to correct a crucial communication error

The walked into an office to purchase a service. The department manager, who was behind the computer in the office,  gave her a business card and said, "Email me with the details and I'll get back to you."

What happened? The prospective customer, who had been ready to buy, took the card and did not send the e-mail.

The office manager, who had the power to act immediately, was not pro-active. She did not take the prospective customer's name,  contact information,  and details, or give her the desired information on the spot. She sounded disinterested in having a prospective new customer. (If the problem was that she was busy, she did not bother to explain this.)

Instead, she expected the prospective customer to put forth more effort (by sending an e-mail) to request the service. She did not consider the number of competitors for that service that the customer passed regularly, or the other distractions competing for the person's attention. In other words, her reaction was all about her (the manager's) needs. It should have been about the customer's needs. The customer, internal or external, is the reason for the business.

This scenario also happens in another, more common, way. When a customer calls into an office, if he reaches the wrong person, that employee can either switch him to the correct person or can ask the customer to call back. The first way is pro-active, and shows great customer service. The second (reactive) way can lose a customer, or get him frustrated. How is this handled in your organization? Do all employees know how to locate the correct employee's name and phone extension, and do they get training in how to switch callers to the correct extension?

Internal customers also count; the work each employee does affects all of them in completing the finished product. (This would be a great topic to discuss when orienting new employees, or when doing the yearly talk on how the company is meeting its' goals,  to show the relationships between the various departments.)

Every customer interaction counts, and communication is vital to all of them. Make the internal or external customer feel wanted through efficient, pro-active communication and sales techniques!
Business Speech Improvement provides communication coaching and concise e-books. Check out your options now!

Top Nine Peeves about How Businesses Answer Their Telephones

A LinkedIn group of business professionals was asked for their "pet peeve" on how telephones are answered. Eighty-five responses came in, very quickly.

Pet peeve #9: Reaching a recording that repeats, "Your call is very important to us. We will be with you shortly". The caller was reportedly placed on hold for 45 minutes.

Pet peeve #8: The business associate who answers the call sounds irritated at being interrupted by a call, and is perceived as being disrespectful to the caller

Pet peeve #8 (a tie with the one above): When the company representative says, "Would you please hold?", and without giving the caller a chance to say anything, immediately puts him or her on hold.

Pet peeve #6:  Employee who answers a call with a script and sounds fake and excessively polite

Pet peeve #5: Answering the telephone without saying the name of the business and the employee's name

Pet peeve #4: Answering the telephone with very long scripted greetings instead of just the essentials (see # 6 above)

Pet peeve #3: Answering the telephone using a speaker phone

Pet peeve #1 (tied with the one below): When the company employee's English pronunciation is difficult to understand on the telephone and also may not understand the caller's questions.

Pet peeve #1: When the American-born customer service rep answers the telephone so fast and mumbles so that the caller cannot easily understand the greeting. The customer service rep has said this greeting hundreds of times, but it may be the customer's first time to hear it.

Customers in the USA are more diverse than ever, coming from many nations, may have a hearing loss or be speaking to you in a noisy place. Clear speech is crucial for your customers!

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive coaching in verbal skills, including professional telephone skills for understanding callers with strong accents. Check out your options now; one seminar is closing enrollment soon!

Amazing customer service - restaurant style

Maggiano's Little Italy in Durham, NC is a little restaurant with a fascinating angle on customer service. They want to make their target customers (new customers and out-of-town visitors) feel very special. They do this in a way that can be (but rarely is) used by most businesses, especially those in the hospitality and other service industries.

I recently had dinner in this restaurant for the first time. The server casually asked my guest and me about ourselves, and any dietary needs. Upon learning that my guest was visiting from another state and that we had never been to the restaurant before, the server quietly swung into action. After we were served a delicious dinner, several members of the restaurant staff visited to welcome us, and we were offered a complimentary (and wonderful) mini-dessert for us to split.
The purpose of this extra attention was of course to make us feel like visiting royalty, and naturally want to return.

Basically, the approach of this restaurant boils down to three principles that can easily be used by other businesses. First, the first person who approaches the new customer is well-trained to ask a few casual questions to search for customers with specific characteristics. Second, there is a system to discretely alert other members of the staff, who also welcome the visitor. Third, the business provides complimentary samples of additional services or products to these visitors, as a tangible welcome.

Many businesses could also offer to put the visitor on their mailing lists, and send him or her coupons for special deals or freebies throughout the next year to entice him to return. Others such as hotels maintain a database of customers' preferences (whether for types of rooms, recreational activities if mentioned, or other issues), so that they can refer to it when the customer comes again.

What is a recent example of great customer service that you have experienced, and what could other businesses do to emulate it? If you own or manage a service business, what else could you do to welcome your new customers?

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in communication skills. Training is offered through seminars, individual coaching and economical, practical e-books. One such e-book is Executive Communication Strategies, including tips you might wish your supervisor knew!

Customer service: voice of the organization

Do your front line staff know that, to the public, they are the voice and face of the organization? Do they have the communication skills expertise to showcase your company in the most positive manner?

In an interesting interaction, a visitor to a recreation facility stopped an employee and gently and tactfully made a suggestion. "Have you ever considered having more trash cans [at a certain location in the facility]?" she asked. She explained what she had witnessed with the trash situation. The employee then stated emphatically that more trash cans would not help but that she hoped the [departing] visitor would educate the other visitors near her when they littered. The visitor, sensing the employee was very irritated, then complimented the employee on how nice the facility in general was looking, and the employee smiled slightly.

Afterwards, the visitor realized that, despite the suggestion box near (with no suggestion forms in sight), the employee did not think visitor suggestions were of value to the facility - even when the suggestions could make her job easier. The employee was basically telling the visitor that she didn't want to hear anything but praise.

A better way for the employee to have reacted would have been to write down the idea and say she would take it to her boss, sounding as if she valued the idea. The employee could then have asked which sections of the facility the visitor enjoyed most, or a similar question to keep the visitor focused on the best parts of her visit. This would not have taken long, and would have ended the visitor's stay in a very positive way.

Think about your front line staff. How do you want them to view customer suggestions - as something positive for the organization, or as a nuisance?

If you value customer suggestions, how do you let your staff and/or the customers know this?
Do you act on the suggestions and let the staff and customers know,  reward them or take other actions? Please share your ideas!

Business Speech Improvement offers intensive coaching and also an e-book on communication strategies for leadership development. Poor communication is so expensive; learn practical strategies for improving your skills!

Extraordinary service - with a smile

Have you ever had extraordinary service in a store that actually made you smile? What's the best way to reward the giver of that service?

Recently a store staff member advised me on a product that was not only safer and more effective, but also much less expensive that the two I had intended to purchase. She took the time and initiative to make this suggestion. The impact of this is that not only will I save money, but the store's credibility has been greatly increased, in my opinion. In other words, I will be a much more loyal customer.

I plan to research and write her company HR director about her efforts, and ask that she be rewarded in some way. I also plan to tell her store manager.

How do you commend people for extraordinary service? Please share your favorite techniques! If you are a human resources director, how do you prefer it to be handled at your company?

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in many types of speaking skills, through coaching and e-books.
Visit us online!

Characteristics of an excelent customer service representative

Today I experienced an unusually good customer service experience. In this case, it was in a retail store. However, as we all have customers, it could have been anywhere.
Four factors made it so good:
1. the salesperson had excellent verbal communication skills
2. she knew her products, their features and location well
3. she heard unspoken objections and offered a guarantee of satisfaction
4. she was clearly eager to please her customers by offering superb service
My congratulations to those who recruited, trained and supervise this salesperson!

What's the best customer service experience you have had recently? What made it so great?

Corporate consistency in customer service

Have you ever called a company twice, spoken to two different employees to get information, and been told the exact opposite by both of them? Obviously two people may use different words to convey the same information, but to a customer, it appears as if the "left doesn't know what the right is doing". The customer can then manipulate others to accept the version he most likes.

As a customer service manager, do you compile a list of the 20 most commonly asked questions, and make sure your reps all answer those questions the same way? This can increase customer satisfaction and reduce possible financial and legal issues later due to answer discrepancies.

A Tale of Two Receptionists

It's amazing how non-verbal communication can convey a concept so different from words - and turn off customers! Today I stopped in two professional offices. Both were in the same industry, and both were busy. In one, the receptionist greeted me with smile and calmly asked me how she could be of assistance. In the other, the receptionist, who had been in another room, rushed behind her desk, said my companion's name, and barked out "We are SO busy today!" My companion apologized for disturbing her, she merely nodded, and we both felt uncomfortable giving them business!

What was the difference between the two offices? In the first, the receptionist appeared to think of us and to realize that her job existed because of the customers. In the second, the receptionist seemed to think only of herself and how overwhelmed she was.

What has your worst experience been with receptionists' communication?

Overwhelm your customer!

Do your customers or guests REALLY get the impression you and your employees care about them?

I recently returned from a family member's college graduation in another state. While there, I stayed in a hotel that had recently been purchased from another chain. I had stayed at the same hotel 4 years ago, and had experienced a room in disrepair and a "worn-out" attitude of apathy from the staff. What a difference there was this time!

Every single staff member who passed me in the hall, or interacted with me in some other way, cheerfully asked me how I was or smiled and said "hello" as if he or she really cared. There were some problems again with my room, and the staff at the desk immediately offered a significant discount, free breakfast the next day and asked if I wanted to move to another room. The staff appeared so welcoming that my impression of the hotel was much more positive.

It costs so much more to get a new customer (or employee) than to keep the current ones; put major effort into caring and your bottom line will look a lot better!