WINNING IN CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Why do customers take their business elsewhere? Some move away. Some change because they are not satisfied with the product. Some go for competitive reasons. But the majority of customers take their business elsewhere because of an indifferent attitude toward them by the business owner, manager, or front-line employee. Most of the time these customers don’t even complain. They just don’t come back.

Do you know the key factors that cause customer dissatisfaction? Research has discovered that the top reasons for customer dissatisfaction focus specifically on employees who: don’t listen to what the customer is saying, ignore customers completely, don’t do what they say they will when they say they will, aren’t knowledgeable about their company’s products and services and don’t follow up or follow through. 

Providing consistently high-quality service puts you and your company on the fast track to success. How well you treat your customers may make the difference between achieving your business goals and just barely keeping your doors open (or not keeping them open at all!). Giving great customer service is not a matter of doing what you think your customers want. Rather, it is a matter of doing what your customers want. One of the greatest mistakes business owners make is assuming they know what their customers want without actually asking the customers what they want. To understand customers, you need to get close to them; stay tuned in to them, and think like them. Front-line employees are your key to success.

Present the face of your business to the world, so it is crucial that you train them to interact effectively with customers. Most business managers, owners, and employees understand the importance of great customer service, but they often lack the skills and knowledge to know how to handle all situations.

Although you understand how important customers are, you may have coworkers who do not appreciate their importance. Managers and team leaders will often ignore employee behavior problems because they simply do not know how to deal with them. The sad news is that ignoring problems will not make them go away. Rather, ignoring them may make customers go away.

Customer service is the most important aspect of your job. You get it. How can you get all your coworkers to get it?

Customer service leaders need a practical tool to help them learn the skills necessary to train employees and transform problem behavior. This book offers a whole set of attitude adjustment tools, tips, and helpful advice for problem solving issues of providing customer service. Written for the busy person with little time to search for solutions, this book provides the necessary skills for learning and teaching coworkers how to give exceptional customer service.

Seasoned employees will appreciate brushing up on these helpful tips, while new employees will find it a handy training tool. Thus, all employees will find the book relevant and helpful.

Each page is packed with valuable information, including practical examples of what to say when encountering delicate business situations.

Every day we play different roles. We play one role when we parent our children and another when we socialize with friends. At work, we play a different role altogether. Changing our mindset to adjust to each role is important if we are to play each part to the best of our ability. Customer service is a role some people choose, yet many do not know how to interact well with patrons. Leading customer service employees to perform their best is like directing actors in a play. First, you find a good script. Second, you cast the correct actors for the roles. Third, you ensure everyone learns the lines. Fourth, you rehearse.

Finally, you are ready for opening night. Unless you execute each of these steps correctly, your play might not have a second night. Do everything to delight your audience, and you will receive rave reviews. How successfully you acted and directed are ultimately decided by the audience, so it is important to spend time becoming acquainted with your audience. The play director analogy is used throughout this book. Each chapter begins by relating an aspect of a director’s role in putting on a great performance. The common theme throughout the book is that everyone is in charge of his or her own performance; therefore everyone should think like a director. Similarly, every director is a cast member, who needs to know how to perform each role well. In other words, managers and employees are responsible for their own behavior. The most important benefits of learning the tips in this book are increased productivity, efficiency, and job satisfaction. It is cheaper and faster when your frontline employees do the job right the first time. Changing the attitude of an unhappy customer costs a lot more, both financially and time, than satisfying that customer from the beginning. Finally, learning how to communicate well, how to positively interact with others, and how to become a strong leader will help you, not only on the job, but in all areas of your life.