e-series: Excellence in Customer Service

How does your organization measure up? Take the Customer Focus Challenge! Assess your strengths and weaknesses from your customers' perspective. Who is your customer? What skills do you use? How do they apply to your environment? Most people first think of customers as those who purchase and receive a service or product from a provider. But, the term "customer" may also apply to co-workers, project team members, support staff, and other internal departments. When working with others in your organization, you are in effect, providing a service that contributes to your organization's ability to satisfy the paying customer. Regardless of the specific department or function, everyone needs good customer service skills.

Identify your strengths and weaknesses in 3 key service areas with our Customer Service Assessment! It's a great tool for anyone who manages or leads a team that works directly with your customers or with internal departments. (View/Print PDF of Customer Service Assessment ) Find out how you and your team measure up in these 3 service areas:    Communications    Customer Service    Team Building Once you've completed the assessment, your score will indicate the areas that may need additional training or attention.Use this assessment to set powerful objectives for improving your customers' experience and satisfaction. You may notice, once you've completed the assessment, that to create and maintain a customer focus, we must involve staff up, down, and across the organization. At Fred Pryor Seminars and CareerTrack, we've partnered with many leading organizations, to help them attain their customer service goals and increase customer satisfaction. If you're ready to supercharge your staff's customer focus, please call or e-mail us for a free consultation. 1-800-944-8503  pryoronsite@pryor.com     Are you communicating effectively with your customers? 6 Great Tips to Improve Your Communication Skills 1 Plan and prepare for the interaction so the outcome is positive. 2 Put yourself in the customer's shoes. Look at the situation from their perspective to identify potential issues contributing to the difficult behavior. 3 Identify situations that trigger potential "hot buttons," then avoid or modify those situations that set them off. Be prepared to respond tactfully -- preparing can diffuse a negative response when "hot buttons" are pushed. 4 Understand that difficult situations can lead to conflict. Conflict involves needs, perception, power, values, feelings, and emotions. 5 State requests clearly and confirm understanding by asking the customer to repeat back what they heard. 6 In a difficult situation, focus on behavior rather than the person. (View/Print PDF of Communication Skills poster)     What message are you really sending your customers? 6 Great Tips to Improve Your Customer Service Skills 1 Bring about a successful solution to a problem. It's your job to help the customer understand. The customer isn't always right ... they may not understand your organization's policies and procedures. 2 Listen when a customer talks. 3 Create positive language statements for employees to use. Instead of, "I'm sorry our policy is ..." try "Let's see what we can do ..." 4 Build rapport and gain trust by keeping your word and doing what you say you will do. 5 Take control of a difficult customer situation by involving the customer in the solution.  6 Confirm understanding by asking the customer to repeat back what was heard. (View/Print PDF of Customer Service Skills poster)     Are you encouraging the growth and success of your team? 6 Great Tips to Improve Your Team-Building Skills 1 Build rapport and increase morale within the team ... remember the customer is part of the team.  2 Encourage others to be part of the problem solving solution. 3 Provide additional training to help employees handle conflict in the workplace. 4 Strengthen the team with friendly competition. 5 Identify individual and team strengths and weaknesses and create project teams incorporating these differences. 6 Empower your employees with information and the ability to handle customer service issues, and provide them guidelines for when it must go to a higher authority. (View/Print PDF of Team-Building Skills poster)   Prepare your customer service team for success with new skills...new ideas...and a recharged staff with our NEW Customer Service Training Series!  Your training consultant is eager to answer your questions and send you our detailed brochure.  Call or e-mail your training consultant today! 1-800-944-8503  pryoronsite@pryor.com Check out our Management Training Series - Comprehensive management training equipping managers with essential skills that lead to improved results.