Building a Strong Customer Service Team
There are more and more demands being made of front line team members, and sometimes the pressure can be heard by your customer. As the leader of a customer facing team you must be aware of what is going on with your team members – how to best support them, develop their skills and handle some tough situations. Building a strong customer service team is no easy feat. Here are some suggestions for building and strengthening your team:
Hire the right people
Decide up front what skills, strengths and personality you want on the team. The team creates its own culture based on your leadership. Be clear in interviews about what expectations you have for the job, what will create success and how it will be measured. As you narrow down candidates it’s a good idea to have them meet a few people on the team. Let the candidates get a feel for the team they may be working with.
Be a team member as well as a manager and leader
A successful team is only as successful as each individual team member. By viewing each role as an integral part of the team, not as a subordinate, each team member feels valued. This results in greater trust, smoother communication and better individual and team results.
Model the behaviour you want to see
As a leader you are the role model for the team. They set the tone based on you. When things go wrong they look to you for help. After a tough customer call it’s important that they feel they can tell you about it – for two reasons: you never want to be broad sided by an irate customer or customer issue, and you want your team to have trust in you. You can information gather after a tough call which allows you to identify any trends in product issues or identify any training or interpersonal issues. The sooner these are identified the better.
Jointly set objectives
It’s amazing what happens when team members are asked to set monthly objectives! They gravitate toward those tasks that best utilize their skills. Once your team members are clear of the overall objectives they can begin to make them their own. They explore how they can best support and advance the departmental objectives. In a monthly one on one meeting you invite your direct reports to prepare what they each feel are reasonable objectives for the next month. Your role is to ensure that these objectives are moving the individual and team forward in achieving the overall objectives. Delegate any task that you feel is best done by this person if they haven’t already added it on to the list. Inform the team member why you would like them to take it on (remember that the buy in is much greater when you provide scope). If the team is working in harmony the progress toward completing these objective increases. Result: a more motivated, productive team.
Handle problems as soon as they arise
Just as we want customer problems to be handled immediately, it’s important to assist in problem resolution as soon as it arises. Here’s a watch point: you want to let your team members to step out and try new things, take chances and manage the consequences; however you need to be there as the support system if they need you and to help as needed. Be there, be available and be supportive.
Develop your team members
Look at each team member as an individual. If one of your team members is very detail oriented try to give that person process tasks that utilize those strengths. If another team member is a high level type of person who achieves good results with the efforts of others get that person involved in a team project. Taking this individual approach will result in happier, more productive and satisfied team members.
The bottom line is that you as the manager set the tone, direction and expectations for the team. How you work with each person, the team and each situation is an important part of creating a positive, focused and energized team!
Canadian Management Centre’s Customer Service Training seminars, provide the skills and techniques to improve customer satisfaction.
http://www.cmctraining.org/
A Little Pride Goes A Long Way
In todays competitive world, the small things sometimes measure the fine line between success and failure:
1. The caring smile of each employee.
2. The extra effort to meet a deadline.
3. One final check of a job before it goes to the customer.
4. The moment you take to add one last touch to your best effort.
And where do these small things come from? They cannot always be taught or programmed. In fact, they come from only one place inside each of us. The place where pride lives. Quality gives us that vital competitive edge, and pride is the spark that ignites the passion for quality in each of us. Pride moves mountains. It creates great machines. It makes important things happen. Proud men and women, winning over incredible obstacles by virtue of their self-confidence, drive and dedication, built our nation.
But there is more to it than that; because pride works in countless ways and sometimes small invisible ways. It creates little miracles as well as large. And it lights up small rooms just as brightly as great halls. Pride works hard, but it works from the inside out. Pride comes from who we are and how we look at ourselves. The world respects those who respect themselves – and who show it in the way they get things done everyday. They are the winners. Pride also comes from what we achieve. Are the things we accomplish valuable to others as well as to ourselves? Do they make a difference? Pride works wonders, but it does not work half way. If you think 99.9% is good enough, think again. A 99.9% effort could mean:
…Two unsafe landings every day at the busiest airport in the world.
…Five hundred wrong surgical procedures performed every week.
…And, in drugstores throughout the country, more than 20,000 prescriptions filled incorrectly each year.
It is clear that where life and death are concerned, 99.9% is not good enough. But that is just as true in every part of our lives, too. If you take pride in what you do, believe there is simply no room for less than 100% effort.
Pride works. But it does not come easy. We have to look for it constantly, realizing that few things are worth doing unless they are done well and right. It is crucial that we keep challenging ourselves: Go one step further. Reach one inch higher. Hold on one moment longer. Probe one bit deeper. Try just a little harder. Pride works. But only if you make it work. Because when all is said and done, it really does come down to you! Your company’s success depends on your effort! Quality is the responsibility of everyone and your pride will help give you your best in order to get the job done right – the first time and every time!
TEAMWORK = Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision.
The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives.
It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.
Teamwork demands that all departments provide service to the internal customer who is on the front line serving the external customer. That means you are responsible for serving other team members and they are responsible for serving you. As a team member, you must remember that the key word to describe your relationship with others is interdependence. Others are dependent on you and you are dependent on others. We need each other to ultimately serve our external customers and to meet their specific needs.
Together
Everyone
Accomplishes
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Pj Germain
http://skincancer.portal-resources.com/
http://snowboarding.mybiz-successu.com/
http://socialanxiety.portal-source.com/
How To Start A Call Center Home Business
The trend nowadays is for people to work at home, even in their pajamas. Some people start work even before they have breakfast. But these are the lucky few, who were able to find their ideal home business.
It is not easy to start a home business but cashing in on the latest trends like medical transcription and home based call center can be financially rewarding. Majority of those who have ventured in home based call centers are working mothers who want more time at home with their children while earning their keep.
A business at home is not only practical for work at home mothers but also for those who want to earn more, those who want a more flexible schedule or want to get rid of bosses huffing at their backs every working day.
If you dream of having your own business right in the comforts of your own home then nothing suits you more than having your own home based call center business.
A home based call center business requires good English-speaking skills and basic computer knowledge. Most home based call center agents have their own computer and internet connection. Most call center functions are outsourced because of the relatively cheap labor in other countries.
While calls are generally directed to clients in other countries, there should be no worry about rising telephone bills because most home call centers equip their callers with voice over internet protocol systems which treats most long distance calls as local calls.
You have to attend trainings or formal call center lessons though before you can start on your home based call center business. There are plenty of institutions offering call center training and some even offer online call center training. You just have to invest in training yourself and you can already make money right in your home.
There are plenty of opportunities for home call centers since most developed countries are already outsourcing their call center requirements. You only need to do some research as to which companies are accepting home based call centers, apply with them and then make the necessary arrangement for your calls and payment scheme.
If you want a home based business that is financially rewarding with a meager capital then go for a home call center business. It may seem complicated at first but you will get the hang of it in a few months of doing calls. In a home based call center business, you are paid monthly but you also get commissions for sales.
Gaetane has thoroughly researched the Internet to locate the best High Income Business Opportunities that will enable you to start making money from your own home.
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How to Stay in Your Customer’s Mind
Imagine the following scenario: six months ago you paid someone to come and do your gardening. You’d like to use them again but you can’t remember their name and have lost their business card. You end up going to another gardener, which means that the first gardener has probably lost a customer for life.
How easy would it have been for that gardener to stay in touch with you by sending you a newsletter with gardening tips and product recommendations? If you’re running your own business, you can’t afford not to have a newsletter. Sure, it seems that every business sends out one nowadays but that is no reason to avoid using this invaluable marketing tool. It’s an excellent way to build ongoing customer relationships, establish trust and build credibility.
The most cost effective way to send out a newsletter is by email. That way you avoid printing and mailing costs, and it’s so much more immediate.
Here are 5 tips to using email newsletters as a way of staying in touch with your customer base:
1. Use the 80% 20% Rule
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is talking only about themselves in their newsletters. Think about the newsletters that you delete and the ones that you make the effort to read. Usually the most interesting ones contain solid information and tips that benefit you in some way. Think about what would really interest and help your readers and write articles on those topics accordingly. 80% of your newsletter content should directly benefit your reader. Only allow 20% of your content to promote your business.
2. Choose a schedule and stick to it
Consistency is the key when sending out newsletters. Whether you decide on a monthly or fortnightly newsletter, make a commitment to yourself to keep to this schedule. If your newsletter is good, your customers will start to look forward to hearing from you and you don’t want to disappoint them, do you?
3. Pick a quality newsletter provider
A service like Aweber will provide you with the best in service at a very reasonable price. As part of signing up, you get free templates to use. Customize these with your logo and photo to add that personal touch. Aweber also manages people wanting to unsubscribe from your list automatically, which is a great time saver.
4. Plan your content
Instead of inwardly groaning when suddenly it’s time to send out your newsletter again, why not brainstorm and work on some article ideas in advance? Think of your newsletter as an ongoing, fun project and it will be.
5. Put your sign-up box on your website
Make it easy for people to sign up for your newsletter by putting a sign-up box prominently on your website. Also invite people to sign up by putting a sentence at the end of your email signature, saying something like ‘Sign up for my newsletter with the latest articles, news, tips and stories at ‘
The time and effort that you put into your newsletter will pay off dividends by increasing repeat business, and bringing in new business.
Kevin is the publisher and editor of Be Successful News, a site that provides information and articles on how to succeed in your own home or small business. http://BeSuccessfulNews.com/
Why Provide Good Customer Service
Have you heard people say that if not for customers, work will be a lot smoother? They ask questions for which the answers are so obvious. Or they can find the answers if they will just read the instructions that are provided with the product. They just have to call and ask all kinds of questions and sometimes you are not even the person who is supposed to handle such questions. Are you looking for good reasons that will help you feel better about this?
First thing is if there are no customers, then there is no business. If there is no business then you do not have a job. It does not even matter if yours is not a customer-facing job. Customers are needed. Question now is how you can look at the situation differently so that providing good service to the customers is something that you can be happy doing.
Basic reason, of course, is that you get paid to do the job and providing good customer service is part and parcel of the job. It does help to remind yourself that the organization promptly pays you and it is only fair to deliver your responsibility.
Next reason is that good customer service is the best pre-sales effort for the next purchase by the customer. People go all the way out to run promotions and write great copy to entice customers to buy their products. Nothing though can beat good customer service. There are customers who will repeatedly buy from the same company because they are happy with the service provided.
Good customer service is not about falling over yourself providing everything the customer asks for, but it is providing the customer what they rightfully should get for having bought a product from your company.
There is also a completely personal angle that you can look at where service is concerned. Most people nowadays are conscious of their social responsibilities and like to donate or make contributions to worthy causes. Why not make good customer service as such a contribution? In this case, you also get paid for it. In the words of N. Eldon Tanner, “Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth”. The moment you can start thinking that service is something that you want to do, then every customer request will be much easier to respond to.
Is it going to be easy? Not all the time. There will be difficult situations but there will also be customers who will be very appreciative of the service that you provide. For those difficult situations, say to yourself that this is why you are paid a salary and just do it. The moment you stop fighting it, handling the situation gets less difficult.
Now, how do you handle difficult situations so that they do not upset you? The best way to handle this is to calmly listen to the customer. Many a time service representatives have a solution even before the problem has been described. Stop to listen first. Then ask clarification questions if necessary before providing the resolution.
Theodore Roosevelt said, “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”. It will do well to remember these words. If you can listen with a sincere desire to help and be happy to help the customer, you will feel good providing service. Some people even enjoy it. In addition, your whole attitude and listening with care will come through and even the customer’s demeanour will change.
Good customer service is not about having a good customer service week once a year. It is about providing good service every day. As you start work daily, if you can accept that your purpose for being there is to respond to customer needs with concern and a desire to help, it will be a lot easier to get through work. You can even start enjoying it.
Remember at a minimum you are getting paid to respond to customer requests. You are also helping to drive more sales from customers because of the excellent service you help provide. Besides this, from a purely personal perspective, you get an opportunity to be of service even without getting out of your normal routine.
Start having a different outlook to providing good customer service. It will make a great difference to how you support your customers and importantly to how good you feel deep inside you.
Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of Be Successful News, a site that provides information and articles on how to succeed in your own home or small business. http://BeSuccessfulNews.com/