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Eight Questions for Customer-Facing Leaders
If you look at the first illustration in our report, "Six Crucial Behaviours for Customer-Facing Employees," you will see a young woman blithely filing her nails, her back to frustrated customers. The scenario might be an exaggeration, but it vividly illustrates the problem: Employees who ignore customer needs put the organization at risk. Needy customers vanish. By the time leaders realize what has happened, it's too late to repair the damage.
Do you know the two-thirds/one-third rule of business? Our "Six Crucial Behaviours" report makes it simple. Commonly, organizations enjoy two-thirds of their business from existing clients and one-third from new customers. So you'd better make sure the young woman with perfect nails can hustle up lots of new business to make up for the clients she is filing away.
A more productive action would be to hire the right person in the first place—who may or may not be the woman filing her nails. And if she is the best person for the job, your organization can coach her to better—dare we say superb—customer service?
Our report on customer-facing employees identifies six core behaviours for those who face the public, and discusses each behaviour in detail. In addition to examining that list and analyzing your company's record, a bit of self-examination is in order. How do you, as a leader, treat customers?
Some questions for top leaders to ask themselves:
• Are you establishing relationships with loyal customers or ignoring them until you need something? Mining a relationship means getting to know your customer's business, and discovering what he needs from you—sometimes before he knows. Teach your employees how to do this and watch your business grow.
• Are you clear with employees about your expectations and following your own rules? If you tell workers how you want them to behave with existing customers, then brush off a difficult or demanding customer because you are too busy or just do not want to deal with him, you are sending conflicting messages. Leaders need to walk the walk.
• Does everyone in your organization know your customer-service attitudes and follow them? Or do you leave the "duty" of customer service to one department? Everyone who works for your company represents it; this is the way your customers see things, and wise leaders understand this.
• Do you ask your customers about their experience at your business? They will tell you, especially if they like your company and see a way to do business with you that makes their experience better.
• Do you know how to express yourself with tact, even when you disagree with a customer? Knowing how to state your disagreement with diplomacy is a skill not everyone possesses. Some people can learn it, however. If you, as a leader, have this skill, let others see how you use it.
• Do you treat employees with respect? They are your personal customers, and they respond to others in kind. Remember to listen, to praise in public, and to correct in private. Do you have a system in place that remembers birthdays and anniversaries with the company? Do you treat workers as well as you do your valued outside clients? Cultivating your professional relationship with employees produces better attitudes and helps reduce turnover.
• Do you empower employees to make customer service decisions, or do you require them to get permission from someone else—or from you—before helping a customer? Train your employees well and they will know what to do. If they make a decision that appeared right at the time but turned out not to be so, treat it as a learning experience.
• Do you require that customer service issues be resolved pronto, or do you allow them to drag on? Painful indecision benefits no one. The customer will be unhappy and your workers will spend too much time on details while ignoring the big picture.
The illustration of the young woman filing her nails while ignoring customers shows an obvious lapse; most customer service issues are more subtle, often hidden from the boss. The happy news is that fixing customer service is not impossible, with the right people on the job, getting the right message from the top.
Jim Sirbasku, CEO
Profiles International
Although
both answers might appear correct, choose the response that is most
appropriate for each situation. See below to see how you scored.
1. When talking to a customer who has a concern, an
employee should be encouraged to:
a. Be a little suspicious of the customer's motives.
b. Assume from the start that the customer has honourable motives.
2. Focusing on a problem
brought to an organization's attention means:
a. The CSR finds the
answer to how the problem occurred even if doing so takes several hours.
b. Solving the problem takes precedence; the employee may never discover why it
happened.
3. Employees who are not
naturally empathetic:
a. Can fit into a
customer service role if team leaders know in advance how to train them.
b. Should work in a position where empathy is not required
4. Communicating
effectively with customers means that:
a. The words an
employee says are more important than anything else.
b. Facial expressions, tone of voice—even how long someone waits for an
answer—are as important as any spoken message a customer hears.
5. Most organizations
should search for customer service representatives who:
a. Are most like the
customers the organization serves.
b. Are creative problem solvers, even if a bit untraditional in appearance and
behaviour.
6. A CSR who has a tendency
to follow the rules and is highly diplomatic will best fit in a position:
a. At a luxury hotel
where the guest's experience is of paramount importance.
b. At an airline check-in desk where customers take their problems as a last
resort.
7. A loyal customer who
returns several times with the same problem:
a. Is probably not
worth your time.
b. Is likely on the verge of taking his loyal business to your competitor.
8. A routine customer
service job is best served by the employee who:
a. Knows the rules and
goes by them without question.
b. Is highly flexible.
Answers:
1. b.
Encourage employees to focus on finding a solution acceptable to all parties
instead of determining whether the issue is valid.
2. b.
Team leaders should encourage employees to focus on solving the issue quickly.
They can determine later why it happened.
3.
Either a or b is correct. People can develop empathy, but those who possess
it naturally will fit more comfortably in a CSR role. Assessments help managers
determine whose natural tendencies will fit best in a position.
4. b.
How an employee says something is just as important as what he says, especially
when emotions are involved.
5. a.
Know your customers and align your customer service reps with their needs and
desires.
6. b.
Sometimes legal and safety requirements take precedence over customer desires.
Such positions require a person who knows the rules, will follow them, and can
tactfully impart this information.
7. b.
The stars must be aligned right if the loyal customer has returned ONCE with the
same complaint. It means she trusts you enough to give you a second chance. Take
it.
8. a.
Less flexible people are often better suited for customer interactions that
involve routine tasks with clearly defined procedures.
Product Focus
Use CSP to Keep Your Customers
If supplying
customers with good service is not rocket science, why are so many
organizations lacking? One reason is that the person who most often
meets your customers does not fit his job.
As Profiles'
International discovered 22 years ago when it developed the Customer
Service Knowledge Scale, not every worker is an ideal candidate for
customer service, and some employees just do not naturally possess the
knowledge they need to supply your customers with the best possible
outcome.
But there are ways
to find new candidates who are right for your organization, and to train
existing employees in the fine points of customer service the way you
see it. Profiles' Customer Service Profile offers several options—four
versions specific to the areas of healthcare, finance, retail and
hospitality, and one general edition for any industry.
As you know from
reading Profiles' report, "Six Crucial Behaviours for Customer-Facing
Employees," six employee behaviours are necessary for extraordinary
customer service. These are trust, tact, empathy, conformity, focus and
flexibility. Our report describes each behaviour in detail, and the CSP
measures each. It also sizes up how closely the candidate's perspective
matches your company’s customer service policies and
attitudes—information that goes to the heart of your mission.
Here are the
reports employers receive after a candidate takes CSP:
•
The Placement Report.
This offers a Job Match Percentage that tells you how well the candidate
measures up to your standards and the degree of alignment between what
she thinks and what you expect. The report also contains "Considerations
for Interviewing." Whenever the candidate’s score misses your customized
Job Match Pattern, the report suggests interview questions to stimulate
a dialogue. This reinforces your expectations and gives the candidate a
clear understanding of them.
• The Coaching Report.
Even if you know the employee needs coaching, you may not know where to
start. This report shows you the areas to work on to obtain the customer
service attitudes you want.
• The Individual Report.
Not everyone can see himself as others see him. This report increases
the candidate's self-awareness and helps him follow through with the
customer service that contributes to your success.
• The Company Perspective
Comparison Report. Want to see the differences between
your expectations and the candidate's responses side-by-side? Here's
your opportunity.
CSP can help
conquer the challenges of dissatisfied customers, legal liability, high
turnover, and inappropriate messaging about your business. It's so
versatile you can use it not only for initial placement, but also as a
tool for employee promotion, and for succession planning, coaching and
self-improvement.
If you are ready to
ensure your customer-facing employees are pointed in exactly the right
direction, call us at 519-893-1933. We provide the compass.
"Customers
complain because they want you to address a perceived
shortcoming—not because they don't like you." — Bud Haney/Jim Sirbasku, founders of Profiles International, in their book 40
Strategies for Winning in Business
"Two-thirds
of business from existing accounts and one-third from new
accounts is the common balance." — From the report Six Crucial
Behaviours for Customer-Facing Employees, Profiles International
"If you get
everybody in the company involved in customer service, not only
are they 'feeling the customer' but they're also getting a
feeling for what’s not working." — Penny Handscomb, HR
professional
"You can
close more business in two months by becoming interested in
other people than you can in two years by trying to get people
interested in you." — Dale Carnegie, self-improvement consultant
"How you say something to a customer can be just as important as
what you say, especially in an emotionally charged
situation." — From the report Six Crucial Behaviours for
Customer-Facing Employees, Profiles International
Strategies For Winning
Getting To Know You*
Success is All About Relationships
Exceptional products and services, outstanding prices, and
excellent service after the sale are no longer a guarantee that
your best customers will stay with you. A loyal customer base
can be established only through Customer Relationship
Management, which requires the conscious focus of the entire
company on the development of mutually profitable customer
partnerships.
A Personal Story from Jim Sirbasku
One of the
things about Profiles that makes Bud and me especially proud is
the number of wonderful relationships we have formed with so
many people around the world. Bernard Rapoport, a former CEO of
American Income Life, a large insurance company, is one of these
people. One day, he mentioned he was looking for someone to
conduct special training for his salespeople. Mr. Rapoport told
me about the specific information he wanted to impart, and it
happened to be a subject in which I consider myself something of
an expert. I told him I would be delighted to speak to his
salespeople.
Agents and
managers from across the United States attended the company's
next quarterly meeting. My presentation was well received and
Mr. Rapoport reported that I received more favourable comments
than any of the company's previous speakers. Because of this, I
was invited to do the presentation at the company's next annual
convention.
I continued to
participate in the company's training at their home office as
well as regional conferences around the country. During this
period, I noticed that the company used more Profiles'
assessments. In fact, after every one of my sessions, the number
increased substantially. I feel our business was helped because
I was able to form relationships with Mr. Rapoport's people. I
spent a great deal of time with them and got to know their
individual situations and specific problems. This knowledge made
it possible for me to relate to the company's independent agents
and managers on a very personal basis and learn about their
business. I then made specific recommendations of Profiles'
products to help them increase their efficiency and sales.
This is a
typical win-win situation. The company's agents and managers
benefited from the information, and Profiles capitalized on the
increased business. All of this happened because of
relationships. In business, building relationships builds sales!
Existing
Customers—Your Greatest Assets
There are two ways to increase your sales volume:
• Find new customers, and
• Sell more to existing customers
Most
companies seem to focus naturally on the first option.
Traditional sales training and methodologies historically have
focused on selling new business, often to the detriment of the
development of existing customers. The reality is, however, that
it is usually less expensive and consequently more profitable to
sell to an existing customer than to win a new customer, because
selling to an existing customer costs less, they will refer you,
and they are willing to pay more for the value of time saved and
reduced risk.
Seven Steps to Better Customer Relationships
Relationship development is generally considered the sole
responsibility of individual salespeople. Successful
relationships are often deemed dependent upon the personal
abilities of salespeople to establish rapport with key
individuals in important accounts. This should not be so.
Relationship building can be formally planned and monitored in
exactly the same fashion as any sales or marketing campaign—by
setting firm objectives for everyone who has any contact within
the key customer accounts, and by measuring performance against
those objectives. A relationship development program should
include action plans to realize the following objectives, at the
very least.
Involve Everyone
Make sure that all personnel who interface with customers:
• Know something about each customer's business
• Know the names of key contacts
• Understand the priorities of different customers in terms of
the product/services they source from you
• Share the value that you place on your customers' priorities,
and portray a partnership approach to addressing them
• Appreciate what makes your organization's products/services so
special
• View complaints as a high priority and a chance to excel
However,
involving frontline personnel is only half the task. Senior
management must also take responsibility for working with
account development teams to establish peer level contact in
customer accounts. That sort of contact can open doors that
would otherwise remain closed to sales or support personnel, and
insulates the account relationship from dependence on a single
contact, such as the salesperson.
Know Their Business Inside Out
Team
members who have frequent contact within the customer
account—sales or support people, for example—best build this
level of customer knowledge. Customers will happily provide you
with information that makes this awareness possible. Personnel
in contact with the account should continually seek input
through questions like:
• What are
your organizational objectives—short, medium and long term?
• What are your department's objectives?
• What part will you play in meeting those objectives?
• How might the operation of the organization be improved?
• How might the operation of your department be improved?
• What do you view as the key trends in your industry?
• Whom do you consider your main competitors?
• How do you position yourself against these competitors?
Know Them Personally
People
make decisions based on who they are. Account teams should seek
to understand personal ambitions and objectives—where do their
contacts see themselves going in the context of their
organizations: What are they trying to achieve? Can your
organization be an ally in helping them to meet their personal
objectives or career aspirations? Harvey Mackay, a successful
entrepreneur who has written several best-selling books,
including Swim with the Sharks, has a system called the Mackay
55—containing at least 55 pieces of information on every one of
his business contacts. The availability of inexpensive,
easy-to-use, online customer retention systems makes the
collection and management of this sort of information much
easier than it has ever been.
Pulse-Check the Relationship Frequently
Account
teams must take control of relationship development, continually
seeking feedback about how you and your product/services are
perceived. Be sure that they are not too afraid to hear what
they're doing wrong, or too modest to hear what they are doing
right, asking:
• Are we
living up to your expectations?
• How can we improve what we are doing for you?
• Is there anything else we should be doing to ensure our
position as a favoured supplier?
• Is there anyone else within the organization to whom you feel
we should be talking?
• Who is your number one supplier of (the same products/services
your company provides?) Why?
• How can we become your number one supplier?
• Who is currently providing other products/services that we
could potentially supply?
• Why are these suppliers used?
• What should we do to position ourselves for this business?
• What new challenges might we be able to help you meet?
Account teams
should listen to what they are told, and be seen to act upon
it—feeding back any improvements or changes made because of
customer comments.
Be Their Eyes and Ears
Another
way to improve relationships with key account contacts is
through the unsolicited provision of information relevant to
their personal and organizational goals—identifying materials,
ideas and news that might be of practical use to them. No one
has as much time as he feels he needs to keep up-to-date in
today's fast-moving, information-rich business world. Sources
include newspapers, industry periodicals and the World Wide Web.
Maintain a steady stream of value-added communication with key
account contacts. This alone can have a powerful effect in
positioning you as a valued partner.
Thank Them—Every Time
It is
not possible to overstate the impact of two such small words. Be
sure that your customers are aware of the value you place on
doing business with them.
Do it Again, and Again, and…
Make
customer development an integral part of the way you do
business. Ensure that everyone on your team understands the part
he must play in maintaining and developing good profitable
relationships with your major accounts. When almost every other
aspect of your business environment is changing at a rate that
makes even medium-term planning difficult, Customer Relationship
Management provides a reliable link to a profitable future.
Invest in it.
*From the book 40
STRATEGIES FOR WINNING IN BUSINESS by Bud Haney and Jim Sirbasku. ©
S&H Publishing Co., 5205 Lake Shore Drive, Waco, Texas 76710-1732.
All rights reserved. Contact S&H Publishing Co., (254) 751-1644, for
reprint permission.
Feature Article
Become an Employee of Awesomeness
by Megan
Bullard
How can one transform from being a regular employee to being an employee
of awesomeness?
Recently, the Harvard Business blog “Voices” introduced “The Awesomeness
Manifesto” which challenges our ways of thinking about innovation as
outdated and encourages searching for what is truly awesome. According
to Umair Haque’s Manifesto, “awesomeness is the new innovation.” While
it is easy to see how awesomeness is achievable for businesses and
corporations, how does it affect the foundation of the organization: its
people? Haque sees four pillars of awesomeness:
-Ethical
Production
- Insanely
Great Stuff
- Love
- Thick
Value
The
individual can use all of these in his quest to become an awesome
employee.
The topic of ethics can be overwhelming, as it is abstract and largely
dependent upon the individual’s perspective. To be an awesome employee
means to operate ethically, think before acting, set goals, and figure
out how to accomplish those goals without cutting corners or walking
over others. Cutting corners can accelerate the completion of a project,
but it could also accelerate your termination. “Good guys finish last,”
is an outdated mantra from an era where workers achieve value by
cheating others. Embrace the era of awesomeness and strive to be
ethically productive; working ethically will immediately gratify you as
an individual and your co-workers will notice.
Make insanely great stuff. It is easy to do the bare minimum. What if,
instead of accomplishing the norm, you found a way to make it better?
This doesn’t mean you have to invent the next iPhone. Rather, strive to
improve what you do on a daily basis—make it insanely great. Take pride
in each task you have to accomplish and exert the necessary energy to do
each better than before. It can be something as simple as answering a
telephone. Take each call with enthusiasm and willingness to help. Treat
any person at the other end of the line as if she deserves your utmost
attention. Ignite a change in your business by being the first to make
insanely great stuff. Be the catalyst that motivates your business to be
one of awesomeness.
Love. Who knew four letters could make all the difference in your
awesomeness as an employee? According to Webster’s, love is the object
of attachment, enthusiasm or devotion. Don’t just do your job, love it.
Connect with your co-workers, devote yourself to your boss, and be
enthusiastic about your company. Loving what you do causes a domino
effect of positivity. According to the Radical 1000 Research, 87 percent
of people would choose a job they love that reduces their salary by half
rather than take a job they hate that triples their current salary. When
you care about your job, you are willing to do it with enthusiasm and
devotion, and you are ultimately more productive. Loving your job is
crucial to being an awesome employee.
The final pillar is thick value. According to the Manifesto, thick value
is real, meaningful, and sustainable. Thin value is the “bells and
whistles” or unnecessary garnishes people add to appear create the
appearance of value. Truly awesome employees don’t need obnoxious
embellishments because they are genuinely valuable and meaningful to
their company. Employees with thick value are considerate and honest.
They strive for excellence and ask for help when they need it. They are
not overly prideful and work for the greater good of their company
rather than for self-promotion.
To have thick value in your job is to do what others are not willing to
do. Arrive earlier than expected and stay until the job is done, even if
it is after five. Gather all of the information necessary and then find
more to add to your credibility. Be knowledgeable, timely, helpful and
diligent for yourself, others and the entire business. Thick value
brings together the attributes essential to being an employee of
awesomeness.
Today’s economy has negatively affected the way employees think about
themselves, their jobs and the companies for which they work. Negativity
is the antithesis of productivity and we should toss it out with our old
ways of defining innovation. Now is the time to rid yourself of
mediocrity and become something stellar. Make a positive impact on your
business, accept the Manifesto, and become an employee of awesomeness.
Case Study
How to Retain Employees
with CSP
Profiles' clients hear this message repeatedly: Carefully consider how
well an employee’s core behaviours fit with the actual job he or she
will be performing. As this case study illustrates, an organization will
enjoy the benefits of understanding its workers and replicating the
skills of top performers.
Background
Leaders at a
financial services organization wanted to increase employee retention.
Their solution was to conduct a two-year study with Profiles
International to examine the relationship between employee turnover and
how strongly candidates matched positions they sought. Customer Service
Profile measured this relationship.
First Steps
The
organization first developed a Job Match Pattern using CSP. This pattern
reflected the company’s views on customer service. The Job Match
Pattern, which used information gathered from the employer's top
performers, reflected the qualities that the organization valued in
customer relations. Participants that responded in a similar manner to
that pattern implicitly share the organization’s belief in customer
service and thus are a stronger fit than those who lack the same
congruence in responding.
Participants
Leaders at the
organization administered CSP to 1,287 candidates and evaluated their
Job Match Percent. They described 80 percent or greater score as a
strong fit to the job and 79 percent or less as a weak fit.
Next, the financial services organization hired 226 of the 1,287
candidates participating, then monitored their employment status.
Performance Grouping
One hundred
sixty-six of the 226 hired obtained an 80 percent or greater score on
the Job Match question, and leaders saw them as a strong fit to the job
and the organization.
Sixty participants of the 226 obtained a 79 percent or less score on the
Job Match question, and leaders saw them as a weak fit.
Next, analysts tracked the turnover figures for each group:
Strong fit employees registered a 36.7 percent turnover rate. (61 of 166
employees)
Weak fit employees demonstrated a 41.7 percent turnover rate. (25 or 60
employees)
Summary
By using the
Customer Service Profile to benchmark, select and train employees, the
organization realized the ability to successfully predict employee
turnover based on Job Match Percent. It reduced by 12 percent its
financial burden of filling voided positions, resulting in substantial
savings. By using the CSP to increase employee retention, this
organization will continue to hire candidates it is likely to retain.
Understanding its people helps an organization:
• Identify those who excel in their role, and then use assessments to
discover what makes them tick
• Create a model against which it can match potential employees
interested in the same job
• Gain insight as to where employees may be at risk
• Offer specific coaching tips and development suggestions
This pattern now serves as a benchmark for leaders to match to other job
candidates and employees at the financial services organization
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