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Just 8 minutes a day (every day) can tell the difference between where customer service is today and where it needs to be to function as a true competitive advantage for your business – transforming your customers into icons of the world. It’s hard to imagine what the difference would be between You can provide great customer service, elicit customer loyalty and passion, and often at a premium price.
Closing the 8-minute gap between current customer service levels and target levels is one of very short, repetitive actions. I offer It has been rated as a true game changer for my consulting clients. I am known as a Customer Service Transformation Consultant. We work with companies to take them even closer to the pinnacle of customer service excellence, helping customers across industries become the ‘Zappo of car dealers’ or the ‘Four Seasons of banks’. “
1. Ritz-Carlton-inspired 8-minute customer service revamp
If you want to be considered ‘The Ritz-Carlton of the X industry’ because of your excellent customer service, consider the following: Since 1983, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has always had a so-called “lineup” every day (and the start of every shift, if there were multiple shifts). I use the same technique, but I call it “customer service refresh”. The reason we’re sticking to eight minutes is because when you start edging toward ten, or quivering, fifteen minutes, it’s becoming just a meeting. (Note: Daily updates may not be practical for your company culture, so do it weekly.)
We don’t talk about quarterly numbers or KPIs when it comes to customer service innovation. You are not talking about any such direction. Instead, strive to communicate, learn, and be inspired by one of the company’s core customer service principles and behavioral guidelines.
For example, let’s say that Monday’s customer service update discusses the “default is yes” principle. The principle is that, as an organization and as individuals, we will always strive to find ways to say “yes” to our customers, and if we can. Never say “no” flatly without offering one or two reasonable alternatives. Ideally, employees even share examples of applying the “default yes” approach to real customer situations.
On Tuesday, we’ll highlight another principle: our approach to customer service recovery—what it means to help and ultimately change the way customers feel. etc. Think about how much learning and enhancement your entire company will experience in a week, let alone a year.
RELATED: 5 life-changing customer service secrets you can learn from 5-star hotels
2. The 10-5-3 sequence to avoid ignoring customers
A nearly universal desire of customers is acknowledgment, the feeling of being seen rather than ignored or ignored. One quick and easy way to prevent the latter from happening, at least on-premises, is the 10-5-3 sequence.
• If you’re 10 feet: Look up from what you’re doing, make direct eye contact, and nod to recognize guests.
• 5-foot position: Smile with your lips and eyes.
• For 3ft: Greet guests verbally and give a time of day greeting (“Good morning”).
The only exception is if you notice a customer fiddling with their phone, shopper, child (or parent) at 3 feet away, it’s important to just walk past. Please do not disturb this customer!
RELATED: Great customer experiences start with great employee engagement and management. Here’s why.
3. The Law of the Three Rings
Answer incoming calls before the fourth ring, if humanly possible. why? By the time the fourth ring rings, the caller begins to feel uneasy, so doubt whether to so far And when I finally pick it up, I start to wonder if it’s too distracting to be of much use. With this in mind, many high-end brands, such as Nordstrom and all major luxury hotels, adhere to the 3 Ring Rule.
This is standard in the Forbes Travel Guide rating system. Hotels striving for 4- or 5-star status will have their points deducted if they delay too far beyond the 3rd ring, as they may ultimately be denied their desired star rating. will be At this highest level of service, it is best to adhere to the 3-ring limit whenever possible.
4. Immediate behavior modification
Correcting employee mistakes quickly is essential to building and maintaining a great customer service-focused company. He has two reasons. First, and most obviously, we want immediate improvements in customer service performance, not worsening disruptive behavior. Second, if you wait a while (for example, until the performance appraisal starts), the employee will never remember the event as much as you do, and it’s not until this late in the day that he learns from your corrections and turns around. You’re going to get mad.
For best results, you need to do a lot of “walking around and managing”. In doing so, you’ll be able to model good customer service behavior while also witnessing the inevitable failures like misspelled words, overinformality (or even overformality). It seems like a small thing, but when it all adds up it makes a big difference. Wait until the customer has stopped speaking and say, “Do you have a minute?” If you do this often and gracefully, no one will be offended by this word.
Without a doubt, many aspects of the customer service transformation work I do take time. You’re not going to revamp your hiring process, rewrite your materials, or design behavioral best practices in just a few minutes a day. But it’s impressive how repeating the short steps above can help you climb the ladder from acceptable customer service to excellent and even legendary customer service.