If I could offer one free piece of customer service golden advice, then it would be make sure you close the loop in all your business transactions and discussions. Even when there is not a conflict, best practices of customer service would have you say before moving forward with action, “We/I took care of X for you. You can expect X to occur this day; I will follow-up to make sure it happened.” I encourage you to broaden this to your personal life as well, but for the sake of my blog I will keep it to business.
What made me think of this is I’ve recently been frustrated with the lack of follow-up, and then ultimately lack of closure when dealing with companies as a customer. One example deals again with my friends at Foot Locker. After multiple emails, they finally bring closure to my website transaction and correctly settle a mailed in merchandise return. They offered to email me an e-gift card for my refund. Perfect, I think, because it will be quick and I can go back to doing what they want me to do, give them money.
Yesterday, I attempted to order more merchandise on Foot Locker’s website, but when I opened the email that was the confirmation they were giving me the e-certificate I realized they did not actually issue the certificate, but issued only a statement to tell me they were issuing me a gift card in another week. One half, yes my error for not noticing this earlier, but really this should not be this hard. So now I emailed them again and wait for a gift card.
This is just one example, and I am sure you have others that are similar. Funny, I don’t know of one person who enjoys working with customer service to get something resolved, even if they are a service professional. One reason is because of this needless convoluted lack of closure to transactions, of going nowhere fast and just waiting for a fight.
The Customer Service Gurus Tips for Success
Make sure when you close a transaction, of any type, that it is really closed. Do not operate in the “I think it happened” realm. Follow-up, show you care about your customers, and make it easy for your employees to do so. Ensure the customer or client has everything they need to move forward with the positive growth business you want them to engage in.
Direct Customer Employee Impact
Practically speaking, as a leader this means simplifying processes so not a gazillion hands need to touch something to have it resolved. In the Foot Locker example, it is hard for me to grasp that the person I spoke with could not immediately issue the gift certificate. That it took another department to issue a $26 refund. The less hands involved, the faster and more accurate the resolution. If you do not trust your employee’s accuracy, then you may have a lack of skill training issue.
Practically speaking as well, I know the idea of employees holding on to an issue to absolute resolution is daunting from a labor perspective because you need them to move forward with the next issue. But I respectively argue if they do not wait until the final resolution, more times than not that issue will come back again, therefore any gain in labor is lost. Think of how many people at Foot Locker have touched my relatively simple transaction. In a traditional brick and mortar store, the whole thing would have been wrapped up in 10 minutes.
Professional Employee Impact
Delivering superior customer service is something for all employees, even those in more traditional white-collar roles such as managers, lawyers, accountants, and engineers. In all these roles the goal is to provide a service and/or a tangible product to the client. I have seen multiple times where the lack of delivering basic quality customer service skills has cost a project thousands of dollars in resources due to missing that final clarification ‘close the loop’ statement.
If you are in such a role, always ask that final question, “This is what we are doing based on the parameters you have given us. Is there anything else you would like to see, have us do? Do we agree this is the course moving forward? I will follow-up with you when we reach the next milestone,” and then actually follow-up. Do not wait for the client to call you because I can almost guarantee that will mean a change in scope, a mistake, a difficult situation, i.e. a problem you probably do not want to have.
Light at the End of the Tunnel
It is not all doom and gloom in the service world. Most people providing service do so because they enjoy working with people or they are proud of what they can deliver to their clients. By using a few statements to close the loop of the transaction you will work more accurately and waste less time and money, the clients and yours.
Post script to my Foot Locker story: Using the Live Chat function on their website, the effective pleasant representative quickly discovered when issuing my original e-certificate a typo in my email address caused a missed delivery. Now why something was not done with the bounced back email I do not know, but it proves again my point about closing the loop.
So as we close 2011 commit to bringing all your customer and employee interactions to successful closure. Make that phone call that you have been delaying or avoiding; follow-up with customers to ensure you have done what they need you to do. Building that strong sense of integrity to your work builds strong client referrals, and creates a smoother work life. Work is not perfect, but you can do much to help yourself and your employees avoid mistakes and create loyal satisfied customers. It’s as simple as asking, “What else can I do for you?” Do not stop until that answer is, “Nothing, thanks. You've been great.”
Friday, December 9, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Time Keeps on Slipping into the Future
If you’ve seen me on Linked In, then you know I love this book, Mike Veeck’s “Fun Is Good: How to Create Joy & Passion in Your Workplace & Career.” It came to my mind as we near the end of 2011.
In the book, he suggests this exercise. Put pebbles or some small marker, I use blue glass beads, to represent one week in a container. Each week remove one pebble from the jar and challenge yourself to think of what you did that week to change a life. Did you make a difference for your stockholders, customers, leaders, or employees? Did you do something meaningful for someone else, personally or professionally, to make someone’s life better? Did you reach a goal or objective to help your business grow?
Veeck includes in the jar all the remaining weeks of a life, based on the average life span. His main theme is we do not have forever, so make everyday, every moment, count. That is too fatalistic and depressing for me. Instead I used the 52 weeks of the year.
Since I read the book this last May, I started with approximately 30 or so glass beads in my martini glass. Like many things we begin, I started like gangbusters the first two months, but slacked off and skipped many weeks. Today, I caught myself up to November 16.
I started with 30+ beads. In a flash, I am down to six. Wow.
It is a cliché that “Time flies by.” It is a cliché because it is true, and when something visual represents that passing, it smacks you in the face! Professionally, personally, it astounds me to think how the year has progressed in many prosperous ways. The events I have had the privilege to attend; the people I have been fortunate to meet. But also there have been a few devastating events, which I would never believe could have occurred. How about you?
It also made reflect how cyclical we think in the world. We mentally follow the seasons, but we do so only because of our human constructs. Seasonal time is a concept we build into our lives to cope with all the tasks we need to do to succeed, and we accept periods of productivity and lax, as laws of nature.
Business Impacts
I started consulting for large corporation in the spring, but I had been their customer for years. It wasn’t until I became a part of the organization, that I realized how much we think we are moving, but we recycle much of the past. What I was asked to do as a consultant I remembered I experienced many of the same things as a customer. The more I thought about it, I realized most places I worked were like this. Maybe some details change, but one year could remarkable begin to look like another. I believe it is because we do not challenge ourselves to do much different. Trust me, I include myself in this thought.
So we accept periods of not as much productivity as Just-The-Way-Things-Are. We are full of gusto in January creating strategic plans. In the spring, strategy seems to give way to the practicality of what can we realistically accomplish. Summer everyone mentally takes a vacation, as the weather improves. For Americans, August we get back on track when the kids return to school, whether we have them or not. Fall we enjoy the cooler weather, but we are really marking time until the holidays. Once the holidays start, we rush to complete our performance reviews (which I know few people who find this a valuable exercise, but this is for another blog), and start the stressful obligations at work and home to end the year. Then we find ourselves at January again.
My Point
You are in control of this cycle. You are also in control of your direct reports cyclic behavior. My constant mantra is your employees model your behavior. Actually, everyone you connect with will follow your example, even if they do it subconsciously. How to help manage this is setting performance expectations and keep them a part of your ongoing conversations with employees.
One idea, at the beginning of the year create one of these “ Year in a Glass” containers for each of your direct reports. Every week they give you the pebble, or whatever, and tell you what they did to make a difference the prior week. It should only take a minute or two, unless a bigger performance conversation needs to occur. It keeps everyone focused on the progressive big picture, not only the tactical everyday routine of work.
Also boost team morale and increase your standing as a leader by doing the same, being accountable to them. For all, some weeks it could be something small, “Bob needed a ride home, so I was able and happy to give him one.” It could be significant; “We delivered our project, on time and slightly under budget.” It’s a part of the environment of success you create.
Your Six Weeks
So what will do you to powerfully impact these last six weeks of 2011? Make it count.
If I can help in anyway, please let me know.
Reference
Veeck, Mike and Pete Williams. Fun Is Good: How to Create Joy & Passion in Your Workplace & Career. Rodale Books, 2005.
In the book, he suggests this exercise. Put pebbles or some small marker, I use blue glass beads, to represent one week in a container. Each week remove one pebble from the jar and challenge yourself to think of what you did that week to change a life. Did you make a difference for your stockholders, customers, leaders, or employees? Did you do something meaningful for someone else, personally or professionally, to make someone’s life better? Did you reach a goal or objective to help your business grow?
Veeck includes in the jar all the remaining weeks of a life, based on the average life span. His main theme is we do not have forever, so make everyday, every moment, count. That is too fatalistic and depressing for me. Instead I used the 52 weeks of the year.
Since I read the book this last May, I started with approximately 30 or so glass beads in my martini glass. Like many things we begin, I started like gangbusters the first two months, but slacked off and skipped many weeks. Today, I caught myself up to November 16.
I started with 30+ beads. In a flash, I am down to six. Wow.
It is a cliché that “Time flies by.” It is a cliché because it is true, and when something visual represents that passing, it smacks you in the face! Professionally, personally, it astounds me to think how the year has progressed in many prosperous ways. The events I have had the privilege to attend; the people I have been fortunate to meet. But also there have been a few devastating events, which I would never believe could have occurred. How about you?
It also made reflect how cyclical we think in the world. We mentally follow the seasons, but we do so only because of our human constructs. Seasonal time is a concept we build into our lives to cope with all the tasks we need to do to succeed, and we accept periods of productivity and lax, as laws of nature.
Business Impacts
I started consulting for large corporation in the spring, but I had been their customer for years. It wasn’t until I became a part of the organization, that I realized how much we think we are moving, but we recycle much of the past. What I was asked to do as a consultant I remembered I experienced many of the same things as a customer. The more I thought about it, I realized most places I worked were like this. Maybe some details change, but one year could remarkable begin to look like another. I believe it is because we do not challenge ourselves to do much different. Trust me, I include myself in this thought.
So we accept periods of not as much productivity as Just-The-Way-Things-Are. We are full of gusto in January creating strategic plans. In the spring, strategy seems to give way to the practicality of what can we realistically accomplish. Summer everyone mentally takes a vacation, as the weather improves. For Americans, August we get back on track when the kids return to school, whether we have them or not. Fall we enjoy the cooler weather, but we are really marking time until the holidays. Once the holidays start, we rush to complete our performance reviews (which I know few people who find this a valuable exercise, but this is for another blog), and start the stressful obligations at work and home to end the year. Then we find ourselves at January again.
My Point
You are in control of this cycle. You are also in control of your direct reports cyclic behavior. My constant mantra is your employees model your behavior. Actually, everyone you connect with will follow your example, even if they do it subconsciously. How to help manage this is setting performance expectations and keep them a part of your ongoing conversations with employees.
One idea, at the beginning of the year create one of these “ Year in a Glass” containers for each of your direct reports. Every week they give you the pebble, or whatever, and tell you what they did to make a difference the prior week. It should only take a minute or two, unless a bigger performance conversation needs to occur. It keeps everyone focused on the progressive big picture, not only the tactical everyday routine of work.
Also boost team morale and increase your standing as a leader by doing the same, being accountable to them. For all, some weeks it could be something small, “Bob needed a ride home, so I was able and happy to give him one.” It could be significant; “We delivered our project, on time and slightly under budget.” It’s a part of the environment of success you create.
Your Six Weeks
So what will do you to powerfully impact these last six weeks of 2011? Make it count.
If I can help in anyway, please let me know.
Reference
Veeck, Mike and Pete Williams. Fun Is Good: How to Create Joy & Passion in Your Workplace & Career. Rodale Books, 2005.
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