Customers or Profits?

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Sam Smilie

I saw a forum conversation recently wondering whether companies should focus on the customer or on earning a profit for shareholders.  The posters premise was that we should always make sure that the customer has a positive experience, even at the expense of profits.  I can agree with that.  However, companies cannot sacrifice profits all the time; companies are in business to make money after all.  So where is the tradeoff?  That is the basic question that was being asked; I think it is a good one.  I believe that there are three key points to be made that will answer this question.

First, the customer always has to come first.  If you have to sacrifice a little profit to earn a satisfied customer, so be it.  The old saying that the customer is always right is not always true, but the customer has to be allowed to have the win in most cases.  If you are in a service related industry, and most of us are nowadays, giving the customer a month or two of free service is not going to break the bank.  As a matter of fact, it could, in the long run, earn more profits.  Afterall, if we refuse to yield on some small points, the customer will most likely leave and go elsewhere, so we’ve lost that customer, for good probably.  However, if we give in and let them win, they will likely stay as a customer.

Second, customers talk.  When I was in car sales, I had a manager who said that a satisfied customer would tell a friend, a dissatisfied one will tell 10.  When a customer has a negative customer experience, he or she is going to tell people to stay away from the company.  A really remarkable tool for marketing is a satisfied customer.  They don’t cost a thing that the ROI can be incredible.  The same can be said about a dissatisfied customer.  They can be a huge stumbling block when trying to get new customers.  Can you imagine the sales guy who has had a great presentation only to have the prospect turn him down because his cousin had a negative experience with customer service.  Let’s face it.  Most companies sell and market about the same goods and services.  I don’t know of too many companies that have really unique product lines.  It comes down to customer service; who gives the customer a better experience.

My final point is why does there have to be a dividing line?  If you provide excellent customer service and give customers outstanding experiences, they are going to spend their money with you.  If you give the experience, you get the profit.  If you think small and concentrate on the company too much, you lose.  When customers lose, we lose.  When customers win, we win.  I think it really is that simple?  I am not saying to give away the house every time; you won’t be in business long.  However, be customer centric and I think you will find a winning combination.

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Rules For Good Customer Service

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Sam Smilie

Know Your Customer. In customer service, whether it be problem resolution, sales or any other facet, you are in business to serve your customer’s needs, and we can only do that if you know who your customer is and what they want. When you listen to your customers, they will let us know what they want and how you can help them Do not forge that it is the customer that makes our jobs possible.

Be An Active Listener. Take the time to find out what your customer needs by asking direct questions and concentrating on what the customer is really saying. Listen to how a customer is telling you their problem, not only to what they are saying. Do not make the mistake of making assumptions. Listen to what the customer has said, and repeat it to them so that you are sure that you have understood them correctly.

Make Customers Feel Appreciated. Treat them as individuals. Use their name and be sure to compliment them whenever possible, but be sincere. Everyone values sincerity. It will help to create a good relationship and builds trust. Customers will know whether or not you really care about helping them. Be sure to thank them for being a customer. Remember, they can get the same service elsewhere. Customers choose a particular company, in most cases, because they feel comfortable with the people they do business with, rather than the actual product. Not many companies have unique products or services.

Help Customers Understand Your Systems. Every company and organization have unique systems, and different ways to navigate through them. Make sure your customers understand how to get what they need from your system. The best system in the world is useless if the customers cannot use it, or do not understand how to make it work for them. If they cannot figure out how to make it work, they will likely go elsewhere. Take the time to make sure the customer understands the systems and is comfortable with it.

Elevate The Positive. “Yes” is a powerful tool in customer service, customers want to win. The old saying that the customer is always right is not always true, but the customer should always be the winner in any contact. As long as a customer’s request is reasonable, do all that you can do to see that it happens. When the request is not completely reasonable or doable, find a way to satisfy the customer. The actual request may not be achievable, but once you’ve really listened to the customer, perhaps you can find some common ground and find a solution that is doable and satisfactory.

Apologize When Appropriate And It’s Always Appropriate. Don’t be afraid to apologize if a problem occurs. Customers appreciate it when people are honest. Listen to the problem that the customer is having and apoligize. Do be sincere when apologizing, don’t make it sound rote or scripted. Too many times an apology from a customer service agent sounds like something they are reading. Be attentive to the complaint they have and, once you’ve apologized for the problem, find a way to turn this complaint into a positive customer experience.

Exceed Customer Expectations. The success of any company lies in the satisfaction of its customers. This is achieved by supplying goods and services they need and want, but more importantly by making them feel that you and your company care about their needs and problems. Some things that help in this area are:

  • When you see a second problem that the customer has not noticed when investigating their complaint, get that issue resolved as well, and let the customer know.
  • After resolving their complaint, if you notice that there is an additional service that might help them, suggest it. When doing this, make sure to resolve the complaint first, then suggest a new service. Nothing will aggrevate a customer more than having a problem and an agent tryng to sell a new service before fixing the original complaint.
  • Follow-up. Take a personal approach to making sure that the complaint is resolved to the customer’s satisfaction. Don’t rely on a system generated message, especially for complex issues, or when the customer was especially upset or aggravated.

Get Feedback and Follow-up. During the conversation, encourage the customer to give you feedback on the services, as well as your understanding of their problem. If the problem cannot be immediately resolved, be sure to follow-up with the customer regularly with updates. When the problem is resolved, follow-up with the customer to make sure that the problem is turly resolved on their end. There is nothing worse than telling a customer that the problem is resolved when they are still experiencing the problem. Simply by following up, you can make sure that the problem is resolved. It is possible that another issue is causing the problem to continue when the immediate problem is resolved.

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Be Responsible and Follow Through

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Sam Smilie

How many times have we called into a call center, only to be meet by an individual that seems to not really care about our issues?  How about when we call in, the issue seems to fall into the great abyss somewhere between here and Timbuktu?  All too often it seems that customer service agents follow a script too literally and believe me, it shows.   The worse part of this is that once you are off the phone and the customer service agent has passed the issue off to another department, it seems to be “out of sight out of mind”.  This only leads to issue resolutions being unnecessarily protracted and increased customer dissatisfaction.

If a customer service agent says he or she will do something, they have to follow through and do it.  It is not good enough to simply promise to pass the issue on to engineers, or some higher authority, enter the information into a CRM program, and move onto the next call.  Some sort of follow through may be required.  If you have to pass an issue up to a higher tier, check on it within a reasonable amount of time.  That time span will probably vary depending on the organization and company, but it is generally easy enough to check to see if the issue is being worked on.  If not, a customer service agent may have to pull his or her manager into the issue to add some urgency to the issue.  As customer service professionals, we issues time and again, and it’s possible that the issue seems trivial to us.  Always remember that the customer does not see the issue time and again, and the problem is definitely not trivial to them.  It may seem to be a showstopper for their business.  When they don’t hear anything, and more importantly don’t see the problem going away, the frustration builds, and pretty soon there is an escalation to the corporate office.  Even worse, the customer moves to another company where he or she believes they’ll get better service.

This negative customer experience can be eliminated, or at least mitigated, by customer service following through on promises made and keeping an attitude of ownership of the issues.  Just because customer service cannot resolve an issue does not mean that they are absolved of the responsibility.  It is customer service that will feel the pain when customers call in again and again on the same issue.  Customer service is the face of the company for the public.  If the customer service organization appears to be lackluster and non-caring, the customers will think that the entire company is, whether that is true or not.  The same seems equally true, when customer service is responsive to customer issues and complaints, and keeps on top of issues through the entire life cycle of the resolution, customers tend to appreciate and respond to this by staying with the company.  I have said before that in an environment where different companies offer essentially the same products and services (see Customer Retention: Product or Service), it is customer service that sets a company apart, negatively or positively.  As customer professionals, we can positively affect the bottom line and customer retention simply by following through and being responsive to our customers.

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The Power of One

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Sam Smilie

I have heard it said that some that they don’t believe that they can make a difference, that no matter what they do, they are just a small cog and their contributions won’t be noticed.  Never believe that one person cannot make a difference.  Whether for good or bad, one person can certainly impact a person’s life and their opinion of a company and its services.

There are many examples of one person making a difference.  Afterall, where would the civil rights movement have been if Rosa Parks had not boarded that bus and refused to go to the back?  In 2004, Marine Corporal Jason Dunham put his helmet over a grenade and sat on it, to shield him and his team.  Corporal Dunham died of the wounds, but don’t you think he made a difference to his team?  So, don’t let it be said that one person cannot make a difference.

Those are, admittedly, extreme and dramatic examples of one person making a difference.  However, in the business world, and especially in the customer service arena, one person can certainly make a difference.  When a customer calls a company, they don’t talk to the company as an entity, they talk to a person.  How that person treats them may very well determine how that person feels about the company, and maybe if that customer remains a customer of the company.

I recently went into a local home improvement store to have my counter-tops replaced.  I worked with a very knowledgeable man and my wife and decided to move forward with the project.  The problem came when the 3rd party who were to take out the old counter tops told me that they would not work with old sinks or faucets.  Now, my sink may be old, but it works perfectly well.  Had I been told about this at the beginning, it probably would not have been an issue, but I was not.  This would have added a couple hundred dollars to the project.  There was an obvious disconnect between the 3rd party contractor and the home improvement store, or maybe in the processes within the store.  Either way, it’s not my problem; it should not have arisen at the time of scheduling.  But it did.  I was on the verge of canceling the whole order; I actually had done so.  Then I got a call from the guy I had worked with to begin with.  He had been talking to his manager and they decided to throw in the sink and faucet, rather than lose a $3400.00 deal.  Understandable.  My wife and I were going to go to a competitor.  So, because one person decided to take an extra step, we remained customers of that store.

I suspect that everyone has similar tales of woe, and hopefully good service that tied him or her to a company.  My example started with a tale of woe and turned into a positive experience.  I have also had bad experiences that got worse, to the point that I left the company; such as an experience I had with an ISP.  The point is that one person can make a difference.  How one representative of a company treats the customers he of she comes into contact with can very well determine the fate of an entire company.  There is a saying is sales, a satisfied customer tells a friend, a dissatisfied one tells ten friends.  If that one bad person touches enough customers, and each tells ten friends, that company may not be in business long, especially if it is small anyway.

As customer service managers, we must drive home the point that every customer touch is an opportunity to win a customer for life.  A customer who receives what they perceive as excellent customer service will remain customers for the foreseeable future.  All things being equal, it is generally service, not product that ensures customer loyalty.  While the product will bring the customer to a company, it is service that keeps them with the company.  One outstanding customer service touch can keep a borderline customer for a long while.  One bad customer service touch will drive that customer to a competitor.  In each case, it only takes one person to create long-term relationship, or destroy one.

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Handling Irate Customers

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Sam Smilie

We’ve all had them.  None of us have liked them.  But, they keep coming back.  Truth be told, they are the reason why we have jobs.  What am I talking about?  Problem and irate customers.  These are the folks that have a problem, and they want you to fix the problem right away.  Maybe you can and maybe you can’t, but most likely it will never be fast enough.  So how exactly do you deal with these folks?

It all starts out when the customer has a problem.  Their service does not work or something they bought won’t start.  It is completely reasonable that they have called your department.  These folks are mad and they are letting you know it.  They may be shouting over the telephone at you, or showing their displeasure in other ways.  I have found only thing that will diffuse the situation and let you get on with the task of fixing their problem or helping them in some meaningful way.  That one thing is logic.

First, you have to let the customer vent for a minute or two.  They probably need to, especially if they have gone through one or two tiers of support to reach you.  While they are venting, take notes about what they are saying.  Then, start asking some pointed and leading questions that require the customer to think logically and clearly about what he or she is experiencing.  It is very difficult to remain emotional when you start to think logically; the two simply are mutually exclusive states of mind.  You’re questions will need to be intelligent and on point about the problem, if they are you have passed the first hurdle.

Once you know what the problem is and the customer is settled down, you can work collaboratively with the customer and with any internal groups within your organization to solve the problem.  There are some important things that occur when you effectively handle an irate customer.  First, the customer is less angry and easier to assist and work with.  Second, and possibly more important, once this has occurred and you have been able to help the customer, he or she considers you a subject matter expert and that leads to a better customer experience in encounters in the future, and enhances the possibility for customer retention.

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Customer Retention: Product or Service

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Sam Smilie

There seems to be a debate, and maybe it is as old as business itself.  How do you secure customer loyalty and ensure retention?  Obviously, customer loyalty and retention are vital for the success, and therefore survival, of a company.  Some companies address this by introducing bigger and better products.  Certainly, there is a good argument for this strategy, especially if you have the “next big thing”.

As an example, when Apple came out with the IPhone, they probably did not need to worry very much about customer service, because the IPhone was so much more advanced than anything else on the market.  Obviously, since AT&T was the sole provider of the IPhone, they could piggyback on this.  However, the advent of the Android cell phones has changed that equation for Apple, and the fact that Verizon has the IPhone now has changed it for AT&T.

Very few companies can truly say that they have the “next big thing”, or at least not for very long.  Business is a great copier of successful records, and sometimes the most successful businesses do not create a product, they make it better.  So, with the exception of a few instances, and those are as short lived as they are rare, companies cannot afford to rely on having the product that no one can live without.

How then can a company differentiate itself from the competition?  I think that it is undeniable that some customers go to the same companies time and again for their needs.  If we agree that most companies offer more or less the same products or services, why do customers choose to select the same companies again and again?

I think that the answer comes down to service.  Companies compete for a finite number of customers every day.  If a company does not have the “next big thing”, then their reputation for competence and satisfying the needs of their customers becomes increasingly important.  When I have a problem with a service and call into customer support and get rote-scripted responses, I tend to look elsewhere to fulfill my needs; especially when those rote-scripted responses do not solve the problem, and they rarely do.  I think that it is the same for other customers.

An example is when I was with an Internet Service Provider (ISP); I had been for years.  I had started with dial-up and moved up to DSL.  When I experience some downtime, I called in see what was happening.  I got a very nice young lady who apologized for my problem and said that the engineers would have it fixed soon.  When it was not, I called again and spoke with engineers who ran through the typical fixes, for my computer, and found nothing.  This went on for a week.  Finally, I canceled my service and went with someone else.  As soon as I did, I had a connection again.  While the previous ISP had attempted to put the issue on my computer, I obviously did not have a problem there, since the exact same service worked with another ISP.  The first seemed to be buying time by trying to make me believe that the problem was with my computer.

A positive example was with Home Depot.  I had a problem with one of their contractors.  They had requirements that were not revealed to me when I was making the order; I went to talk to Home Depot about the situation.  To make a long story short, Home Depot supplied the additional requirements to keep me happy and to save the deal.  As a result, I am still a Home Depot customer and will be getting my countertops from them and not from one of their competitors.

The bottom line for me is that companies need to pay attention to the needs of their customers.  Companies need to make sure that when a customer calls in with a problem or a complaint, they are not meet with rote-scripted replies or customer service agents who clearly do not care.  Customer Service Managers have a clear and necessary mandate to give their agents training that will allow them to genuinely help their customers.  Part of this training has to be in soft skills and conservation management, and part has to be about the products and services themselves.  But, a company is clearly not serving its customers when it pushes complaints to one department or another while the customer waits to have their problem fixed.  A maxim that I observe is “Take care of the customer first”.  If you need to address systemic issues later, so be it, but get your customer taken care of.  If there are issues that are occurring that prevent you from doing that, tell the customer, don’t try to mislead or confuse them with industry jargon.

Customer service and support departments are generally considered cost centers rather than revenue centers.  In many cases this is technically correct.  However, it is my belief that when a company takes this view too literally, they lose in the long run.  Customer service centers can help to ensure customer loyalty when properly managed and used.  When the customer service agents are empowered to help the customer and the company dedicates itself to top quality customer service, revenue is realized through increased customer retention, and referrals.

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To Script or Not to Script, That is the Question

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Sam Smilie

I have been following a discussion on the Linkedin Best Practices in Call Centers Worldwide group about scripting.  The question is whether or not to script answers for your call center employees.  The responses have been wide-ranging and highly educational and informative.

My personal view, with over 15 years of experience in customer service and 10 in call centers is that I don’t think that there is a real pat answer for this question. I believe it really depends on the level of the call center and the situation. For level 1 support, a script can be very beneficial, since these are typically folks who may not know all the ins and outs of every service or product that a company offers. This is probably especially true in today’s age of outsourcing level 1 support to countries where English is not the primary language. However, the scripts do need to be carefully thought out and the support agents carefully trained on when to use which ones.

I liked what one contributor said.  Nick Kossovan, who manages call centers in Canada, is of the opinion that scripting should be avoided, unless there are legal reasons to do so.  His points are that customer service agents are professionals and should not be treated like children.  A call center can entail repetitive tasks as it is, and making them more repetitive through the use of scripts can lead to increasing levels of job dissatisfaction.   I agree with Mr. Kossovan to a point.  Yes, repetitive tasks can be unfulfilling professionally, and managers should indeed strive to make them less so, when possible.  I completely agree that call center managers must strive to empower their employees so they can provide the best possible customer experience.  However, I also think that that a maxim may need to be considered in some cases.  “Do the same thing the same way every time.”  This ensures that mistakes do not crop up because we are not following good procedures.  Of course, this presupposes that the initial process is a good one, and that is the job of the call center managers.

The point that Mr. Kossovan makes that I like best is that call center managers should employ ROWE (Results Oriented Work Environment).  I believe this is an excellent business philosophy.  Employees should be measured on what they accomplish rather than on how well they memorize and repeat rote phraseologies.  It is the job of call center managers to properly train and motivate their employees to perform well and to know their products and services.  When that is done, and done properly, the need for scripts for every conceivable situation tends to evaporate.

I believe that the use or ROWE basically eliminates the need for scripts, especially in the higher tiers of support.  As a customer is escalated further up the support track, they get increasingly more knowledgeable, hopefully, agents. The conversations also tend to get more specialized, and it becomes increasingly difficult to write efficient, and meaningful, scripts. That is not to say that scripting is completely useless at higher levels, but it does become more difficult and requires a lot more care and thought.

The bottom line is that the need to script is dependant on the call center, and more importantly on the level of the employees.  Lower level employees need to have the scripts in order to avoid mistakes and undue customer frustration that comes from that.  However, as the level of the employee increases, and the level of complexity of the problems increase, scripts become less and less useful and should be eliminated when possible.  If the scripts are used as an entry-level platform to a discussion, they can be useful.  However, employees should not be bound to use them once the connection with the customer is made.  They are useful in answering initial questions, but customer service agents have to be able to move away from them when circumstances warrant.  They should only be used as guidelines, rather than end-all methods.

Posted in Call Center Operations | Tagged | 3 Comments

Is a social media strategy necessary for everyone, or is it a luxury for bigger companies?

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Sam Smilie

This goes to effective customer service. In the old days, a company would not have a conduit to proactively approach customer complaints in real time. With the advent of Facebook, Twitter and other Social Media sites, this is no longer true…. Social Media must be a part of a company’s customer service strategy now. I don’t think it is an option any longer. A company’s customer’s are online and participating, or at least browsing, Twitter, Facebook and blog entries, and so are its competitors. So, a company must be online, in a more proactive manner than merely a website.

A part of that strategy must be people who regularly monitor social media sites and respond to the negative comments left there. They can either respond personally, or refer them to a manager or someone else in customer service. In either case, the issue must be addressed quickly, since things go viral very quickly on the Internet. The monitoring of social media and responding to complaints there is not a luxury for some big companies, it is a necessity for every company wanting to be successful.

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A little about me

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Sam Smilie

Have you ever had a less than satisfactory experience when calling into a company? How about a really bad one? Of course you have; everyone has. Nobody likes it when it happens, but does anything ever get done about it? My passion is to lead teams of customer service and support professionals in a way that fosters outstanding customer service.

I think that the way to create a positive customer experience is to listen to the customer, and not to offer scripted advice, that might or might not apply to the customer. Find out what they want in life and business, and you will find out how to best serve that customer. When you find that out, you directly affect the bottom line of the company, because that customer will continue using the company’s products and services. In a tough economy where many companies offer similar products and services, it is the customer support team that retains the client base. The customer is the bottom line.

I am an experienced professional with more than 15 years of proven experience in customer service, client relations, process management, computer operations and computer support. I have the ability to work independently and use critical thinking and to adapt to complex and highly volatile environments. I can use these skills to make the customer’s experience the best that they have ever had, and therefore have a direct effect on customer retention and the bottom line.

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