As a District Manager, I preached and practiced three ideas with a profound impact on our customer service. First, we trained all associates and managers to forget the word “Customer” and live the life of serving “our guests”. This simple change of terminology allowed the elevating of our service standard in order to meet the needs of a guest, not an anonymous “customer”. The second idea was installed at orientation, before any of our associates had any guest contact. The associates were empowered to resolve any guest issue, without having to stop and consult with the manager in charge. The idea is revolutionary, but with continuous training, as a company, we felt it would promote speedy recovery and a sense of responsibility for all of our associates.
The third and most important practice involved me, the District Manager. I religiously replied to every positive and definitely every negative comment sent regarding any of my units WITHIN THE FIRST 24 HOURS. I have to admit that the fact that I called and/or replied to the e-mail with such urgency worked for me over 90% of the time. The guest was not only impressed with my quick response, but also felt that we cared enough to stop our busy schedule and deal with their issue and/or feedback ASAP. The fact that I always started my reply by thanking them for taking the time to write to us, coupled with the heart felt apology for the issue on hand, softened their hard feelings. I made a point to ensure them that I was not only personally involved, but I always partnered with my management team to correct any issues. We always offered more than one solution to satisfy the guest. I did not hold back on the recovery package; I wanted to give the guest great reasons to continue to patronize my units.
What are the ingredients of a missed Recovery? One of the most frustrating customer service problems for me is being confronted with customer relations people who are not empowered to fix a problem. This is a call to all companies who fall in this category: train them and empower them. Your guests do not care how hard your managers and associates work; they want and deserve what they are paying for. Oh, by the way, please do not be naïve, show urgency in resolving the issue. I do not understand representatives who, after you have stated your issue, reply, “No problem!” There was a problem! What about the announcement that your conversation could be recorded for quality control purposes? Are they policing the very team who are paid to recover their service issues and handle complaints? Can you believe that there are firms who outsource their customer service? What are they thinking? (The answer is probably about saving money -- but losing loyalty is part of that equation, like it or not). I love when someone takes responsibility.
Customer service starts from the top. CEO’s should stopped their busy schedule and spent a day side by side with their customer service reps, at least twice a year? WOW, now that is a different approach! Would it be amazing if the District Manager deals with your issue ASAP?
Firms must understand that not only they have to hire excellent customer service associates and managers, but must also spend half of the training time on teaching the products and the services that the company provides. The other half of training should cover how to take care of an upset customer. After all, they, the guests, will pay the bills and add to your bottom line.
Thomas Antonopoulos, Bottom Line Consultant
Bottomlineconsultant@gmail.com
tommythegreek.blogspot.com
Twitter: @Doughdude
http://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasantonopoulos
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