Hi there and welcome to this edition of Arizion’s customer service news letter!
 
In this issue you will find:

1) Times Survey Highlights Customer Service as an opportunity
2) Marks & Spencer – the ascending star!
3) Scheduling
4) Telephone customer service

1) Times Survey

The Sunday Times recently published a “state of the nation” survey headlined “How we feel about ourselves”. One of the questions asked was:

Which daily gripes irritate you the most about everyday life in Britain?

60% Rudeness and bad language
57% Young yobs
50% Poor service
49%  Telephone call centers

Customer service related “gripes” coming in at 3rd and 4th in the rankings! Although many organizations have moved customer service up their list of priorities, it appears that we still have a long way to go. These statistics came from a survey conducted in December 2006, in the final weeks before Christmas, a fantastic opportunity to show customers what your organization can deliver, and encourage them to come back in 2007!

What was your level of service over the Christmas period?
What are you going to do differently in 2007 to create an unbeatable customer experience?

2) Marks & Spencer – the ascending star

In September 2004, a newspaper article highlighted that the level of service in Marks & Spencer had fallen to a place where “it is simply too difficult, time consuming and frustrating to shop” with one reporter waiting an average 11 minutes and 8 seconds to get served across a selection of stores. No wonder in his 2006 update, Stuart Rose, Chief Executive, talked extensively about the company’s investment in their customer service programme “Our service style” which has seen over 56,000 “store colleagues” undertaking customer service development with the programme accounting for over 1 million hours of training.

It is interesting to see how the focus on product, environment AND service has resulted in M & S being one of the shining stars of Christmas 2006!

3) Scheduling

An area highlighted by Stuart Rose was that they had improved their staffing schedules “so that more of our customer service assistants were on hand during our busiest times”. A basic and fundamental tool for any business is to ensure that we have the right people in the right place at the right time. Schedules need regularly reviewing and updating, and it is not always about spending additional money, it is about working smarter with the resources we already have. Perhaps NOW is the time to check who is where and when in YOUR business.

4) Telephone Customer Service

49% of people interviewed in the Sunday Times survey were irritated by telephone call centers. One of the challenges faced by customer service professionals in call centers is that our biggest opportunity to communicate with our customer is missing – our body language. Whenever we communicate with customers by telephone, we need to compensate for the missing body language. Effective use of verbal language is critical, and we will talk more about this in the next newsletter. For now, you will find below, ten tips for providing great customer service on the telephone.

Ten Telephone Customer Service Tips!

1) Answer promptly

2) Identify yourself and your company

3) Be friendly! – smile  down the phone – it really works!

4) Have your resources ready – customer details, pens, paper, prices etc.

5) Use your customer’s name where appropriate – the sweetest sound for most people is the sound of their own name

6) Express your willingness to help

7) Listen! (See the September news letter or let me know if you would like a copy)

8) Give clear and accurate information

9) Transfer your customer only if there is no alternative

10) Make the call a pleasant experience

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Have a great week 
 
 
 
Geoff