Flag-Waving Service!

2009-04-10T05:45:00.000-07:00

What is Service to you? Do you care? Does your organization give poor, good, or flag- waving service? If you are the owner of a company or a senior manager, do you care about what your customers think of you?

What is “good service?“ It is the act of providing products and services for a price, and having the customer be happy and satisfied with you. What systems, procedures and incentives do you have in place, to help your employees to perform beyond your expectations? Systems allow your company to deliver a maximum standard of performance to your customers on a consistent basis. Systems help keep management and employees aware of why we are here. It’s for the Customer! Sales people complain about employees/service departments not giving better service and employees/service people say they can’t get it done. Where is the balance?

This is a good place for a lesson from my past. When I was a G.M./CEO for a large company in California, we were struggling to give better service. We were rapidly growing the business. The systems we were using were not working, so management and employees started to have brainstorming sessions to help us to learn how to give better service. We decided to establish teams of employees to find the solution. Let me explain some of the ideas and solutions we came up with:

Employees and Management Goals and New Procedures

1. Meet with other managers on a weekly basis to create ways to:

A. Solve problems.
B. Improve and establish procedures where it is needed.
C. Improve communications between departments.
D. Create incentive programs.

2. Decrease the customer response time by:

A. Give them more guidance, so they can get the job completed.
B. Reduce the number of repeat calls by training all our employees to be more effective.
C. Encouraging our employees to have a better attitude.

3. Different employees are to take turns going to, sales, and management meetings tocreate better understanding between departments and management.

A. Set up a written schedule of training and meeting dates.
B. Assign employees and managers to training schedules.
C. Meet with employees and managers about future training programs.

There is a lot more we could say about the areas of training and communications. These are just a few observations, and I know you could probably add even more ideas. Everyone on the team needs to collaborate in a successful business venture.

In the next article, let’s continue by using some examples of great flag-waving service.

In this article, let’s talk about two stories that illustrate great flag-waving-service. One of the stories recently happened to me.

As a business consultant, one of my clients is in Phoenix, AZ. I have been commuting on U.S. Airlines from my home in North Carolina to Phoenix, AZ every other week. On my last trip from Phoenix back to my home, I experienced the most outstanding service that I have ever received on an airplane, and that is not an exaggeration. This flight attendant was very much in tune with everyone he was responsible for in his section. Let me explain: First, he took the time to introduce himself to each customer in his section by kneeling next to each person and asking them if they had any special needs. Also, as customers started to read, he would come by and put on their overhead light for them. What this flight attendant was doing was simply being aware of his customers’ needs.

What are we doing to understand our customers’ needs? In our industries, it’s time for us to step up to the plate and start giving flag-waving service to our customers. Can a company train its people to give great service? Or is great service an individual thing? I believe that great customer service can be taught to all employees, but everyone knows someone who seems to understand how to take great care of their customers. As an example, many years ago when I was responsible for a large company in California, there was an employee who worked with me. His name was Allen Beggs and he displayed the characteristics of a person with great customer service skills. His customers loved him. He lost very few customers, but when he did lose them, they would apologize to him for quitting. However, it was not long before he got them back. Even if our people do not possess personal customer service skills, they still can be taught.

In closing, I would like to recommend a wonderful book to you: Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles. This book describes great customer service and how customers should be treated. I believe we can adapt the concepts in this book to any industry. One example I learned from the book was to stand on a table and wave a red flag above my head to say “Thank You” to my customers! Well, that exercise may not be for everyone, but you get the idea.

Is your company looking for new customers? Do you have a sales team that is putting on new clients, and then you are losing them on the backside of your business? How do you rate your Customer Service Department? Do you have on-going training in customer service skills?

I want to tell you a story about an extraordinary sales person I met at an Office Depot store in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, and then share with you Five Simple Strategies for Successful Customer Service. I first met Chris Babcock at Office Depot a few months ago, when I was looking for a lap top computer. Upon observing him, I noticed that he paid close attention to what the customers were asking him. He treated them with respect and patience, even if they could not understand what he was trying to explain to them. He also helped them to articulate what they needed. He was always trying to be a problem-solver and not a problem-creator. I watched him as he told a customer "Thank You," showing them appreciation for their business. A few weeks later, I was in the store to purchase a pen. At the same time, I took along my digital camera that was not working, to see if they carried the same brand. As I was preparing to check out, I asked if they had ever carried this brand of camera, when the cashier called for Chris to help. He did not remember me from the last time I was in the store, but he did not hesitate to offer his assistance. He took a quick look at the camera, and with a small tool, he fixed the problem right there on the spot, saving me repair costs. Then he thanked me for coming to the store, even though he is the one who helped me! If you are a business in the Myrtle Beach, SC area, you need to go and hire this person. He would add a lot of value to your business. Chris understood the Five Simple Strategies for Successful Customer Service that he practiced naturally. I don't believe that Chris was a people-centered person. In fact, he told me that he was a "technical support" person. However, it was apparent that he had great customer service skills, because he is a service-centered customer service person.

Here are the Five Simple Strategies for Successful Customer Service to implement in our competitive market today.

1. Help the customer communicate with you, without making them feel like they are ignorant.
2. Be professional in your treatment of the customer.
3. Make a 100% effort to communicate with the customer.
4. Be a problem-solver and not a problem-creator.
5. Show appreciation for the customer's business, and always say those magic words,"Thank You."

These days, we really have to be honest as we look at our companies, to analyze what are we really doing to give our customers the best customer service that they so richly deserve.

A friend went to his local hardware store recently to buy a drill. The store had recently been sold, and the new owner helped him to make a selection. When he paid for the drill, the owner said " Thank you for your business."It took my friend by surprise. Not that he didn't like being thanked for his business, but he just wasn't used to it. The previous owner acted as though customers should thank him for waiting on them. Even though the last few years have seen a new interest in serving customers well, there are still more businesspeople like the former owner of that hardware store; people who act as though they're doing you a favor by letting you purchase something they're selling. It's a pity that more sales and service people don't thank customers for their business. It may not seem like a big deal, but those few words can have a major impact. They can make a customer feel appreciated, and can add a touch of warmth and humanity to an otherwise cold business transaction. And besides, those words are an expression of fact. Customers should be thanked for their business, because there is nothing forcing them to do business with you rather than your competitors! They've made a choice to buy from you, and they deserve to be thanked for their choice. Think about it. Customers always have options. Even if you work for a business that has no competitors, they still have the option of going to the local store. They can always say "No" to you. Thanking customers is just an acknowledgement of how important they are to you and of how much you value them. Without customers, no business can survive. Just try it! The next time you deal with a customer, even if it's only to sell the cheapest product your company sells, thank them for their business. Say it with a smile, and say it with sincerity. You may surprise them. You'll certainly make them feel good. They might not acknowledge it right away , but that little "Thank You" will contribute to a good feeling about you and your company.

For this article, I went to the archives. This is something I wrote for a sales and service staff training program twenty years ago.