Category Archives: Customer Service

customer service skills, case studies, how to keep customers and clients happy.

Control Your Attitude to Improve Your Communications

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Hello everyone,

Tis the season to be holly, jolly and happy, but unfortunately a few people out there have not received the message.

Yesterday I saw two guys almost get in a fist fight on the subway platform, until an undercover cop broke them up. The day before, during a big snow storm, I heard one driver yell to another to “watch out, or I will push you into the ditch!”  Even though I was not directly involved in either of these cases, I was still struck with a reaction. Actually my reaction was immediately to shake my head and wonder why people would risk hurting themselves or innocent by-standers over something as trivial as their own ego and misplaced sense of competitiveness.

Let me expand my thought process to you on this.

Do I have a healthy ego and strong sense of self? Yes, for sure. I am reasonably confident and assume I can hold my own in any situation. Do I get annoyed or offended if someone does some kind of perceived injustice to me? Yeah, sort of, but not really.

“What kind of strange answer is that?” I hear you scream. It is my reaction to competitive behaviour when I am not involved in a game or sport.

Winter storm driving is not a sport. Shopping is not a sport. Getting in line or queue for the subway train is not a sport. I think you get my point. Competition is for sports and games with rules to follow, to determine a winner. None of the above activities should apply.

I have built up a ‘filter’ so that when something happens to me or around me 99% of the time I do not over-react with emotion and ego, or with a competitive spirit. I do not see it as a contest of wills, of right and wrong, of winning and losing. I instead try my best to empathize with the other person or people, and I give them permission to be a flawed human, just like me. Through empathy I try to connect with them and calmly work at resolving the issue, one way or another.

Empathy is the key to communication. We must try to listen, read body language and see the issue from the other person’s perspective. We do not need to fight, or run away, or apologize, or get riled up with defensiveness. We instead should practice self-control and empathy first.

I know some of you understand exactly what I am saying, and I also know some of you are wondering what happy-pill I just took. 🙂   The truth is (to me anyway) that attitude, self-confidence, self-control, conflict management skills and empathy are huge parts of better communication, and that is why we need to incorporate them. When we get emotional and defensive in attitude, we cannot think as clearly as when we maintain our composure, relate to the key emotions first, then problem solve the situation to a satisfactory resolution.

On a personal note I would like to share something with you. Over 20 years of study and practice in martial arts here in Canada and abroad in Asia have taught me two important things. One: I assume I can fight, and I will always hope to be able to hold my own.  Two: I hate to fight, and will do everything I can to avoid it.

Just because I can do something, does not mean that I should do that thing.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you, wherever you are. Enjoy your family time and control your positive attitude, no matter what happens to you or around you.

That will serve you as a gift that keeps on giving, throughout your life, and also for the others around you.

All the best,

Ric

Waiter or Slave?

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As I was flipping through the channels this morning, sipping my coffee, I came across the Rachael Ray show. On it were a couple of ladies who authored a book about the experiences of waiters and how to get good service. I watched for a couple of minutes, enough for them to expose their top 4 tips:

1 – Don’t snap your fingers at the server – they are not dogs

2 – Don’t ask any personal question that you wouldn’t ask your doctor, for example where do you live, are you married, etc.

3 – Don’t touch them or grope them

4 – Don’t ask for a complicated menu item switch, for example asking them to substitute a sauce used on chicken to be used on pork, or side dishes, etc.

WOW!
Who knew that was the way to get excellent service???
So what you are telling me is that if I treat my server with normal human respect, and don’t treat them like a slave or sex object, and don’t ask for an unwritten menu item switch, that I will most likely have a good experience at the restaurant? Hmm….

Listen I know I am being sarcastic in the above response. The sarcasm is not directed at the show nor the two lovely ladies who authored the book. The sarcasm is aimed at the people who actually still need to be told these 4 tips. Wake up! Grow up! Develop some empathy and communication skills please!

All of us have either worked in ‘the industry’ or know someone who has. There are so many stories out there of waiters and waitresses getting revenge on their customers who are rude or have a superiority complex. Wait-staff and cooks have been known to spit in food, switch pate for cat food; eat food from your plate, water-down drinks, etc. etc. etc. The list goes on. Why on earth would you invite the chance of this happening to you?

Today’s lesson is simple: treat everyone with respect and common courtesy, regardless of your or their position in society or at work. That in itself will open more doors than you can possibly imagine.

To those of you reading this who did not need this lesson, I thank you for your patience. However I believe you too have seen people who still ‘don’t get it’. Perhaps we need to give them a lesson on appropriate social communication skills?

Polite Customer Service in Japan

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I am enjoying my time in Japan. I have spent my time in Yokohama, Tokyo and Kyoto. Although I have been working with Japanese people in Toronto for 8 years this is actually my first visit here. There are many things I could write about, but today I will focus on the politeness that is mandatory here.

Some of you may consider yourselves very polite, and/or very courteous in your job. I myself used to work in customer service so I understand how to be polite, even when handling disputes.

What I would like to mention today is how mandatory politeness seems to be here. Even if I do not enter a shop, the clerks are still greeting the people walking by. If you do enter the shop or restaurant etc. then of course they will welcome you again. And usually it is not just one person but several. When you are paying for your food or product they are very polite in how they handle your money or credit card. Very respectful indeed and very gentle. It goes without saying that all of this is happening with a smile and with a soft tone of voice. Finally, when you leave they thank you for your business.

One of the strangest things I have seen here so far was when we went through a toll booth, and both the driver and worker exchanged ‘good mornings’ and ‘thank yous’, in addition to an electronic image of a worker bowing to the driver!

I cannot say for sure how much of this society’s politeness is forced, conditioned, or genuine, but it is definitely expected, and to not act politely is a terrible social offense here.

I really like the calmness of the people and the politeness of the service industry. It certainly is better than a lot of customer service in the world, and there are a few staff workers in the past that I have dealt with that could use this kind of training. The politeness is standard here too, so you can expect it and count on it. In other countries, we seem to be thrilled to get excellent customer service or to get a happy, efficient staff worker. Here, it happens 99% of the time.

The big question remaining is, I suppose, how do the Japanese feel about it, and how do they feel about the perceived lack of social and professional courtesy when they travel or emigrate? If you know a Japanese person in your circle, why don’t you ask them?

All the best from the land of the rising sun!

Do Not Abuse Voicemail

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One thing I am sure we all hate is getting home after a long day’s work and checking phone messages, only to find out that half of the messages or more are from telemarketers. They leave a lovely message describing in painful detail all of the advantages of using their system, or buying their product, or selling our house with them, or hiring their moving company trucks…the list goes on. Thank you for wasting my time night after night!

Similarly, we come into work in the morning or after lunch and we have a bunch of voicemails that are long, drawn out, unclear and basically require us to listen through them all just to turn around and contact the offender to find out what they really want. Then, when we check our email, there is a repeat message emailed to us! Wow – what a fantastic example of time-wasting.

If you are wondering why companies still employ telemarketers by the way, even though we all hate them, the reason is simple – it pays well to do so. Statistics state that 10% of an average company’s profits come from telesales. If you think that 10% is not much, please remember that for big companies, that means $100,000.00 or $1,000,000.00 or much more a year! Plus if we add the extra cost-saver of using outsourced overseas companies, we can see why companies still employ this headache-causing but effective marketing strategy.

So what can we do? Well how about answering the phone and telling them about your day for 15 minutes? That would cost their company money! However I know it is not the fault of the telemarketer, so why give them a hard time right? Maybe they need that job.

To return to my title point, please do not abuse people’s voicemail. This goes for personal and professional calls.

Before you actually dial the person’s number, make sure you can say in just a few sentences what you want that person to do next. Do not ramble on and on, and do not let them hear you thinking and breathing and checking your papers or your PC.

Call them and leave a nice ‘clean’ message that takes less than 30 seconds. We are all busy and checking email and phone messages are big time-consumers. Necessary evils, yes, but we need to respect our time and the time of others.

Here are some examples:

Hi John, sorry I’ve missed you. Give me a call back please after 4pm on my office number or after 7pm on my cell. I think we need to discuss the ABC report. Thanks.

Hello Mom, it’s me. Don’t worry, there is nothing wrong, I just want to know if you can call me back in the next few hours to discuss our upcoming day-trip to the park. I have some questions as to our agenda. Thanks, love you!

Hi Rob, this is Rachel at 123 Solutions Inc. I received your email attachment and just had a couple questions about it. Please give me a call back at this number … to discuss. Otherwise we can do this over email. Thanks and looking forward to working together.

Voicemail messages are best used to initiate contact only. Save the details for email or actually speaking to someone – live. Details are best used either in conversation, so both parties can write important information down and ask real-time questions to avoid misunderstanding, etc. or in an email that is written like a report or guide to a project.

If you can implement this simple strategy of leaving a short, simple and clear message on one main topic, you will do two things. You will encourage others to contact you to discuss the details (assuming they want to) and you will save them time, which they like. You will not waste their time like telemarketers often do and therefore you are training others to respect your time, as you respect theirs. It becomes a two-way street to more efficient communications.

Finally, I would also just like to remind everyone to ‘book-end’ your voicemails when you are contacting a new person for the first time. This means leaving your name and number clearly at the beginning and ending of your voice message. It takes a few seconds more, but it gives the listener two chances to write down your information. Then they do not have to listen to your message a second or third time and they can call you back faster. 🙂

Build Relationships Even When Travelling

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Greetings from Moscow, Russia again!

As most of you know I teach relationship-building techniques, the art of small talk and the secrets of winning first impressions. These interpersonal communication skills are vital in life. I also teach networking skills, as these soft-skills are imperative in building business and commerce relationships. How many successful sales people do you know who are extremely introverted and find it hard to strike up a conversation? Not many I would bet. There are obvious reasons for that.

Here in Russia as I had mentioned in my last newsletter I am facing a big language communication barrier (although my reading of the Russian words has noticeably improved, I am happy to report today…) and so I rely on other communication techniques. They are worldwide, human techniques. But a few days ago I was looking for a new headset and microphone in a local mall and I saw an Indian man running a computer shop. He spoke with a strong Russian accent (so I was told) and it was obvious to me that he was an immigrant or migrant worker here. I immediately felt like I was back in Toronto and started to speak English to him. We smiled and chatted and he sold me a new headset which works very well. I am ‘Skyping’ my friends and family constantly, as you may appreciate.

Today after a great day of site-seeing (for those who know Moscow I visited Old and New Arbat, Hard Rock Café, and Victory Park) I decided to add a webcam to my long-distance conversations and returned to the same mall. I purposely sought out the same shop and yes, the same Indian man was working. We smiled again and chatted briefly. I told him this time I was in need of a webcam that can ‘skype’ and he recommended one immediately. I asked how much and the answer was 1000.00 Russian rubles (exchange rate is 1 dollar to 24 Russian rubles, so do the math if you wish) and then I asked if there was a cheaper option that could still skype. He smiled and played with his computer for a minute and then said to me that he could sell it for 800. DEAL. Done.

Some of you reading this story may not be too surprised by a seemingly independent shop keeper giving a bit of a discount, but I was told by my Russian guide that discounts at malls and proper businesses are quite impossible. She was surprised by my discount. I explained to her that I felt that he liked me for these reasons: he thought I was a nice guy, I smile which is almost rare for Russian men in that situation, he was happy to see me as a repeat customer, he did not want me going elsewhere, and finally, I think he could appreciate me as a foreigner in Russia – the same as him. 

Most of us at some point travel, and we should not think that our actions do not matter to the local people. Carry yourself as you would at home and continue to be in the constant habit of initiating great people-skills. You never know when they will help you!

The Best Delivery Folks Carry Phones

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Today I got a call at 8:11am, which as far as I know is NOT during business hours. Needless to say I did not make it to the phone on time. There was no message left.

At 7:30pm I got a call from Purolator Couriers letting me know that that was them, and can they try again tomorrow. Now I don’t mind that they will try again tomorrow, but the question I have is – why didn’t the delivery person leave a message, or leave a phone number for me to call back? Who knows, we could have arranged to get the package delivered 15 minutes later, or on the way back past my location.

Why will so few companies commit to a small window of time, like morning 9-12 or afternoon 2-6? Why is it that the majority of North American companies (any company, not just those in the business of package delivery) say “9-5” or “sometime tomorrow” as their delivery time? Many people waste a day waiting for the delivery, or even take time off work. Many delivery personnel deal with angry customers or have to back-track the next day, which costs the company more money.

The reason I am told is that the majority of delivery personnel are contract workers, and are given a number of things to deliver in a day, and it is up to them to work out a route. So if they ring you once and you do not answer – they keep on truckin’. What do they really care? They get more money by making another trip the next day.

Like you I have had different things delivered, like furniture, telephone or cable upgrades, large appliances etc. and as I recall the most hassle-free deliveries have been the ones where the delivery people carry a phone and call ahead to say they are on their way, or even better, call to arrange a delivery time. If their companies have such a policy in place then I say KUDOS to them for understanding efficiency and customer satisfaction. If it is actually the delivery personnel who have had enough of the industry’s lack of time management and have decided to carry a phone for their own stress-relief, than I say to them “Well done, and thank you!”

Banker-Buddy Follow up

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Some people are curious about what prompted my last blog re: communicating with the bank. There were 2 prompts: The first one is that I used to work at a financial institution doing Customer Service and Collections, so I know how important money is to people. I also know that I would favour the nicer, friendlier people first! Oh yes, I said it. Despite what you may hope, we would always help out the cooperative person or give them a break. Relationship is everything. Communication skills are super-important in building relationship.

The other prompt is that I had a great relationship with a banker, and he helped me get a good line of credit, great interest rates, and took a chance on me when I told him of my entrepreneurial aspirations. He helped me a lot. However this week when I went into my bank to set up a new account I found out that he recently moved departments. Guess what? I got bounced around for 2 days and between 4 people before I (maybe) got settled into a new account manager. Now I did my best to establish and build rapport, but I guess I won’t know 100% until the next visit. I am looking forward to it!

Communicating Loyalty to Staff

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I recently attended a seminar where the presenter talked about the value of good or even great customer service in all types of industries. He actually has a background in the restaurant and hospitality industries, so as you can imagine there was a lot of discussion about good and bad service at restaurants, and how to handle complaining customers, even if you are sure they are ‘scamming’ you for ‘free-bees’. His solution was across-the-board give in and put out. Give in to their complaints and give them complimentary food, coupons, etc. I have to admit my stomach was unsettled.

Many of us have heard the mantra “The customer is always right.” But my question is, what type of message are we, as a worker, a manager, a company or a society giving when we give in 100% to fraudsters? Does that very act not devalue our company? Does it not encourage people to continue to shout loudly for free stuff? And how do you think your company waitresses, clerks, phone operators etc. feel when they are told they must accept the abuse?

Years ago when I worked for a global financial company I had the dubious honour of working both customer service AND collections! So my phone calls were often dealing with angry or complaining clients. I developed some pretty cool conflict management techniques, which I can share with you another time. But for today I want to tell you about the time a client called and was complaining loudly, swearing, and not listening to my calm appeals to slow down, and to dignify her language.

I advised her to stop swearing, and when she didn’t stop, and wouldn’t listen to a word I was saying, I simply hung up on her! Yes, you heard me, I disconnected the call.

She called my manager and obviously complained about that action, to which my manager asked me to tell her the reason. I explained that the client would not calm down and refused to heed my warning about her foul language, so I disconnected.

My manager thanked me, returned to her desk, took the client off hold, and said “yes the reason why Ric hung up on you is that we do not tolerate aggressive or abusive language here.”

The client was shocked for 5 seconds, and then immediately began apologizing for her previous behaviour, and then my manager went on to help her get the problem sorted out peacefully, which any one of us could have done had the client been calmer in the first place. I was very proud of my manager that day.

We often want our clients and customers to be loyal to our company right? Well we cannot forget to be loyal to our front-line workers, staff and managers. Loyalty seems to be a two-way street, and many of us are sick and tired of taking abuse because of an old mantra. So take care of your workers and they will take care of your customers. Loyalty must be communicated in the company first, and then it will be communicated outside as well, with little problem. Set some ground rules for your staff on how to handle complaints, and let them know you will support them, and not leave them dealing with angry people all by themselves. Build a strong team for a successful business! 

This story is always included in my customer service training, because it’s important for both staff and management to come to an understanding of the policies during a conflict resolution that gets out of hand.  Often this article is a starting point for that conversation.  🙂

R-E-O Improves Your Active Listening Skills

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Active listening skills are important to utilize in your everyday life, in the workplace and at home. Passively listening while multi-tasking several things can give the impression that you are not paying attention, and could cause people to avoid you or maybe even resent you.

Recently I met a senior manager at a global financial company who has had the benefit of over 20 years of the best sales and management training.  He knew that we all need a reminder once in a while of the simple communication strategies that work best. He agreed that active listening skills are very valuable and can make the difference between a sale and a loss.  Also, he mentioned that we do not want our colleagues to think that we are not listening, or do not care about their problems. Active listening can really help.  Here is a simple formula to help you – REO.

R – Reflect back or ‘paraphrase’ their main ideas, content, key words and ideas. You need not use the exact same phrase or sentences; rather just serve back the message that you got their main points. The beauty of this is that it immediately gives an opportunity to clear up any miscommunication right at the beginning of the conversation, as opposed to getting halfway through only then to realize you weren’t following the whole picture, and you have to start again from the top.

E – Empathy is a showing of a shared feeling and understanding of the emotional impact of the speaker’s situation. Do not judge, and please hold your own opinion. If you need to illustrate that you understand, briefly mention the basics of your story. This is not the time to take over the conversation. Your job is to listen actively and pay attention to their emotional state and body language. This is why you must be making eye-contact to be a good listener!

O – Open-ended questions can be asked to get more information, background, details that will help you and them discover a solution to the problem. We cannot ask a question that begs a Yes or No answer. We must ask questions that have them talking freely, in their own words. For example we should not ask “Are you going to request a transfer?” but rather ask “What are your options on changing your current situation?”

Also, please remember to be careful with starting your questions with the word ‘Why’. It usually sounds like you are challenging or criticizing the person. For example, “Why are you taking vacation now?” could be changed to “What are the reasons of taking your vacation now, as opposed to next month when things have slowed down here?”

I hope you find R-E-O a useful communication tool. As always feel free to contact me should you have any questions or comments about posts, ebooks, workshops, or personal coaching.

Quick Tip Rules for Professional Phone Duties

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Through my experience working in Customer Service for a global company, plus working with SMEs (including my own) since 2000, and as a current customer service trainer, I have come to rely on a few “golden rules” of telephone management. I hope you find these useful for your business, job, internship, or when you are dealing with a CSR in your personal business, or even just ordering a pizza! Good phone skills are useful anytime.

1) Use polite words and intonation e.g. please, thank you. Yes it can get over-used here in Canada, but nevertheless, it helps set the tone of the conversation from confrontational to friendly. Politeness gets you further than shouting, regardless of what you have heard. Nobody likes a bully, and we are always going to assist a polite person first, rather than a raging bull!

2) Be sincere. Be believable and trustworthy. Faking it with just polite words but having a sour tone in your voice won’t fool anybody. They need to feel that you truly care, and are trying to do a good job, help them out or deal with their problem. You can’t fake it, so be sincere. Control your emotions.

3) Never demand anything or order anyone to do something. Always ask. Do you like being pushed around or subjugated? So why do it to others? For example, instead of saying “I need to talk to Mr. Roberts now” you should say “Is Mr. Roberts available? I would really like to speak to him.”

4) Be professional and diplomatic. Be “P.C”. That stands for “politically correct” which basically means not using offensive or judgmental language. This rule may not be as obvious to those from a uni-lingual and/or uni-cultural country. In Canada, you never know what the person on the other end of the telephone line looks like, what religion they may have, what ethnic background they or their family or spouse is (since not everyone’s’ accent will tell you) etc. Don’t take a chance on offending someone and embarrassing you and your company. Pretend that every phone call is recorded. These days, most are!

5) Remember that with angry customers or staff, it really is nothing personal. How could it be? They don’t know you! You are a “filter” for your company. You should problem-solve with the person, not just “pass the buck”. We all hate it when we tell our story to a person and then they transfer us to a new person, then again and again. No wonder some people get angry! So stop the passing and deal with the problem at its core level. Take some conflict management training if possible, or buy a helpful book on such techniques, especially if you know that your job will routinely deal with complaints.

6) Always be aware that you are a reflection of your company. As a new employee you should read your company profile, mission statement, values, policies etc. so that you are always aligned with the desired corporate image. It is important to note that customer loyalty is based on personal treatment and relationship, not the price, product or history. One bad experience from a CSR (Customer Service Rep) having a bad day can kill a longtime faithfulness to your company.