Customer Care Coaching

Services & Manufacturing

Sectors

Scope of Presentation

Who is the customer?

What do customers want?
Customer service basics
Keeping customers
Customer complaints
Telephone etiquette
Customer service charter

Who is the Customer?

Who are Customers?

The fact is, your job everyone's job
exists for one primary purpose to either
make or do things for other people.
Those other people are our customers.
As such they are the real source of your
income, they are the real reason you are
blessed with employment.
Customers are people who need your
assistance. They are not an interruption to
your job, they are the reason you have a
job.

Customer Service
Customer service is an integral part of
our job and should not be seen as an
extension of it. A companys most vital
asset is its customers.
Without them, we would not and could not
exist in business. When you satisfy our
customers, they not only help us grow by
continuing to do business with you, but
recommend you to friends and associates.

What do customers want?

What do Customers Want?

Customer Service Basics

Why is Customer Service

Important
Customers pay our salary and make our
jobs possible
Direct customer interaction > drives
perception of company
Good customer service = client satisfaction
Poor customer service = less likely to work
with you again
Analysis says you need to actually delight
customers, not just satisfy them

The Customer Service Gap

EXPECTED SERVICE
Customer Service Gap

PERCEIVED SERVICE

Perceptions of Customer
Service
For your customers, perception is reality!
Perceptions are created at every contact.
Perceptions are dynamic and individual;
perceptions change moment to moment and
from person to person.
Assess perceptions of customer service by
asking:
How do my customers see me?
How do I know they see me this way?
How do I want them to see me?

How do I see my service?

The Four Ps

PRINCIPLE

Represent Compan with

HONESTY.
Abide by the RULES.

POLITENESS

Be THOUGHTFUL.
Be COURTEOUS .

Be KIND.

PRIDE

Show respect
To YOURSELF.
To your company.
To the CUSTOMER.

PROFESSIONALISM

Do your BEST.
Use your BEST.
Present your BEST.

Focus on Satisfaction over

Service
Each customer deserves to be treated as unique
How customers rate service providers:
Reliability: Deliver as promised
Responsiveness: Positive, prompt and polite
Empathy: Care, concern and consideration
Tangibles: Quality, appearance and ease
Assurance: Courtesy, respect, helpful and
knowledgeable
Customers do not care what you know until they know
you care. L.L. Bean

Attitude Checklist
What attitudes assist in providing
good service?
Enjoy helping people
Handle people well
Care for your customers
Give fair and equal treatment to all
Be understanding of people with
special needs

Greeting Customers
The purpose is to create and maintain a
welcoming environment - how can we
achieve this?
Be attentive, acknowledge a person as
soon as they appear, even if youre busy
SMILE!
Establish eye contact
Tell them your name
Ask how you can help
Give the customer your full attention
Be polite and courteous

How To Make Customers Feel

Important
Recall a good customer service experience
You received individual, personalized attention
Treated as though you were their only client
Treated with respect
Your problem was no problem

Use their name and find ways to compliment them,

but be sincere them, but be sincere customers
know
Your words , non-verbals, and actions must all match
and show you care!
Think of ways to generate good feelings about
working with you bring passion to your job

Think Like The Customer

Always try to see the customers
point of view
Its about the customer , not about
you
Were really busy right now
My systems down
Thabo is on leave this week

Skip the blame, solve the problem

Solving Problems
Tell them what you CAN do, not what
you CANT
Im not the right person to help you with
that
I can transfer you to the right department
I dont know
I can call you back with the answer
Im not authorized to do that
I can ask my manager for authorization

What to Avoid
Saying I dont know without offering
an option
Saying you dont know where a
colleague is or saying theyre at lunch/
toilet/ gone for coffee
Leaving people on hold for a long time
Ignoring people if youre busy
Treating people unequally

Communication

The Communication Equation

What you hear
Tone of voice
Vocal clarity
Verbal expressiveness
message

40% of the

What you see or feel

Facial expression
Dress and grooming
Posture/ Body Language
Eye contact
Touch
Gesture

WORDS..

50% of the message

ONLY

10% of the message!

Keeping Customers

Keeping Customers (1)

1. Avoid making the customer feel
WRONG.
a. Never ever EVER tell your
customer they were stupid /
wrong to call / email for
assistance. Thats the best way to
LOSE that customer- and possibly
many more!

Keeping Customers (2)

2. Be Patient.
a. A customer whos having to deal with
an issue or problem getting fixed is
going to not be on their best behavior.
i. Understand this beforehand and
you're ahead of the game.
ii. Know that it's not personal - it's stress
and anxiety. This is not really the
normal person it's the reactionary
part of the psyche

Keeping Customers (3)

3. Be Empathetic
a. Being Empathetic means you'd
like to help- you understand their
position / opinion. It doesn't mean
you have to agree with it. Just
hear them.

Keeping Customers (4)

4. Take time to Listen- really listen
a. It takes time to win a customer,
but it only takes seconds to loose
one

Keeping Customers (5)

5. Its OKAY to say I Dont Know.
As long as
a. You follow up with but I will find
out for you!
b. Follow through and Follow up
a. You have shown them respect
and they will respect you and
your business!

Keeping Customers (6)

6. Be Positive
a. A real smile goes a long way

7. Understand the customers

reality
a. Bad customer service is often a result
of not understanding what the
customer really needs.

Keeping Customers (7)

8. Make customer service a standard
practice
a. Cultivate a business culture where
excellent consistent and part of your core
business function customer service
training is constant.
9. Make customer service real.
a. Find out what your staff is thinking.
i. Finding out what they think is cheaper
than finding out from ex-customers!

Keeping Customers (9)

10. Enlarge your idea of service
a. Anyone who interacts with
customers MUST be trained in
customer service.
b. Role distinctions are meaningless
to customers- If any employee is
untrained, customers may make
harsh and often immediate
evaluations.

Keeping Customers (10)

11. Internal customers are just as
important as external ones.
a. Your business type does not
matter- anyone who needs or
uses what you provide is a
customer

Keeping Customers (11)

12. Dont get comfortable
a. Business is cynical. Do something
well and soon your competitors
do it just as well- or better!
b. Excellent Customer Service gives
you an edge.

Factors Affecting the Quality of

Service

Reliability
Confidence
Responsiveness
Efficiency
Consistency
Organisation
Acceptance of and adherence to
policies and procedures

Guaranteeing Return Business

Leave a positive impression, smile
Check customers have everything they
need
If youve said youll follow-up, do so
Tell them something that may be useful
to them later (eg new service starting
soon)
Invite them back
Say goodbye

Customer Complaints

Planning Good Customer

Service
Recording procedures
Reporting procedures
Observe and report customer needs
Be proactive in improving service
Have processes and procedures for
dealing with difficult situations
BEFORE they happen and make sure
staff are trained.

Follow Up & Follow Through

Follow Up
Reach out to your customers be proactive
Confirm problems have been solved
Do questions remain, or new problems?
Customers thrive on contact and information

Follow Through
Do what you promised to do, when you
promised to do it
Being reliable is critical to positive perception

When Things Go Wrong

Make it simple for customers to
complain only 4% actually do
Know how to apologize its okay! Its
easy and customers appreciate it
The customer may not always be right,
but the customer must always win
Even if customer is having a bad day,
go out of your way to make them feel
comfortable

When Things Go Wrong

(2)
Deal with problems immediately and
let customers know what youve
done (follow-up )
Value complaints opportunity to
improve!

Dealing with Difficult

Behaviour

Label the behaviour, not the customer

Listen
Dont get defensive
Dont take it personally
Find out what the customer wants
Discuss alternatives
Take responsibility for what you CAN
do
Agree on action

The Angry Customer

Listen carefully without interrupting so
you understand the problem
Empathise in a broad way
Stay calm and remain polite
Dont escalate the problem
Dont take it personally, be defensive or
blame others
Propose an action plan and follow it
Seek support if you are scared, if you cant
agree on a solution or if the customer asks
to see whoevers in charge

Telephone Etiquette

Telephone Skills
Know how to use the phones
Speak clearly and slowly
State your name and organisation
Write down the callers name and use it
Dont say rude things while someones on
hold
If theyre explaining something use words to
show youre listening (umm, yes )
Have pad and pencil ready to take notes or
messages
Dont eat or drink while on the phone

Customer Service Charter

 The main objective of the customer

service charter is to provide a
framework for defining service
delivery standards, the rights of
customers, and how complaints from
customers will be handled.

 In addition to the above mentioned

objective the customer service charter
objectives could be summarized as the
following:
Provides an overview statement of
organizations business that describes
its activities.
Highlights the goals as far as
customer service are.

 Highlight the customers rights as

they pertain to your business.
Details what the organization will do
to ensure it will meet the customer
service goals and observe
customers rights.

Conclusion
Good customer service is critical to
perception
Customer perceptions, satisfaction and
complaints MATTER to us.
Make every customer feel important
Think like the customer
Be a good listener
Follow up and follow through
We must close the customer service gap.

Conclusion

Excellent Customer Service is a

serious, strategic investment that
warrants constant focus, followthrough and review.

Take Away
If we dont take care of our
customers, someone else will.
-UNKNOWN

KE A LEBOGA