June 30, 08 by Schoychid
DON’T KNOW? FIND OUT! If you don’t know the answer to a customer’s question, don’t offer a guess (“I think…”). And never end the issue with, “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure.” Always conclude with: “…but I’ll be happy to get that information if it would be helpful for you.” If they do request an answer, get it and get back to them promptly. Even if they say “don’t bother,” get the answer anyway and get back to them. They’ll appreciate the extra service, and you’ll have the correct answer for the next time the question is asked.
Set a personal goal to become an expert on the products and services you offer. Read manuals and marketing brochures; talk with product developers, vendors, and service deliverers; use the products and services yourself. The more you know, the better your service will be.
Check Out These Customer Service Resources From
WALK THE TALK
180 Ways to Walk the Customer Service Talk:
The How-To Handbook for Everyone In Your Organization
June 30, 08 by Schoychid
An optimist is the human
personification of spring.
– Susan J. Bissonette
Today’s quote comes to you from Welcome The Rain:
Choosing to See Beyond Life’s Storms
June 27, 08 by Schoychid
Coaches have to watch for what they don’t want to see and listen for what they don’t want to hear.
– John Madden
Today’s quote comes to you from Leadership Courage:
Leadership Strategies for Individual and Organizational Success
**Part of the Ethics Tool Kit
June 26, 08 by Schoychid
Today’s Topic: We want to know where we’re headed!
Dear Leader,
Why “Listen Up” about direction? Ever boarded a plane without knowing the destination? Ever driven a car blindfolded? Absurd, you say! Yet, these questions summarize the frustrations of many employees today. Why do we need specific direction? Read on!
Want to know one reason why people leave our company? They’re confused about the direction we’re going (or not going)! It may be hard to see from your position, but there’s not a lot of clarity – not a lot of direction – in what we’re supposed to be doing. Too often, the mission statement hanging on the wall says one thing, you can tell us another, and our compensation rewards us for something else.
On top of that, many of our “current” job descriptions were written years ago – in another time, for another purpose. And then when performance reviews come around, you sometimes tell us we should have been doing something completely different. No wonder we’re confused! Believe it or not, many on our team waste as much as five and a half hours a week because of unclear communication about where we’re headed and what we’re supposed to do. That’s seven weeks per year – per person!
If you want to achieve better results and improve our morale, clearly communicate where we are going and why.
Sincerely,
Your employees
Today’s lesson is from Listen Up, Leader:
Powerful Insights Into What Employees Want and Need From Their Leaders
June 26, 08 by Schoychid
It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.
– Napoleon Hill
Today’s quote comes to you from The Manager’s Coaching Handbook:
A Practical Guide to Improving Employee Performance
June 25, 08 by Schoychid
212° Interdependency
Pretend for a moment that you were assigned the task of creating a blueprint for the perfect coworker… “the total package.” What would that person be like? What knowledge, skills, and experiences would he or she possess?
Fact is, no single person – or single type of person – can provide everything a business (and its employees) needs to prosper in today’s global economy. That’s why we have teams…why we form organizations. Because we are interdependent, we need coworkers who think and act differently than ourselves – people who bring diverse skills, abilities, and perspectives to the table. You need them…and they need you!
Keep that in mind and it is likely that you’ll not only approach interactions in a more collaborative fashion, but also look for ways to contribute to each other’s success.
Now, turn up the heat…212°
June 25, 08 by Schoychid
To get what we’ve never had, we must do what we’ve never done.
– Anonymous
Today’s quote comes to you from 212° the extra degree Gift Book:
The Message That’s Motivating Millions
June 24, 08 by Schoychid
Every person I work with knows something better than me. My job is to listen long enough to find it and use it.
– Jack Nichols
Today’s quote comes to you from 180 Ways to Walk the Leadership Talk:
The How-To Handbook for Leaders at ALL Levels
**Part of the LEAD RIGHT Library
June 23, 08 by Schoychid
The following story is written by Ken Blanchard and is excerpted from The Simple Truths of Service.
Great Service Starts with a Clear Vision
Great service is not an accident. It starts by deciding what kind of experience you want your customers to have – a clear vision.
In the early 1970s when everybody was going to self-service gasoline stations, my coauthor Sheldon Bowles said, “What a fabulous time to go to full service. There will be no competition.” So he and his partners developed a full-service gas station called Domo Gas. They knew that if people had a choice, they certainly wouldn’t choose to come to a gas station. They also knew that when customers did come, they wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible. The unique customer service vision that Sheldon and his partners imagined was an Indianapolis 500 pit stop.
All the attendants at Domo Gas were dressed up in red jumpsuits. If you drove into a Domo gas station, two or three people would race out of the hut to your car. Somebody would look under the hood, somebody would clean the windows, and somebody would start pumping gas. As Sheldon and his partners rolled out this vision in more than 150 stations across Western Canada, they killed the competition. A gas station in northern California heard about this vision and went one step further. After serving a customer, they would hand that person a little brochure about their service that said, “P.S. We also sell gas.”
Having a clear vision of great service is the key.
Copyright Simple Truths, LLC, all rights reserved
and reprinted with permission.
The Simple Truths of Service:
Inspired by Johnny the Bagger
June 23, 08 by Schoychid
In order to be mahvelous, you must
look mahvelous!
– Fernando (Billy Crystal), Saturday Night Live
Today’s quote comes to you from Start Right, Stay Right:
Every Employee’s Straight-Talk Guide to Job Success
