Unleashing Excellence

The Complete Guide to Ultimate Customer Service

Dennis Snow, Teri Yanovitch

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9780470564196
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Customer Relations
• Index: Business

A step-by-step guide to designing and implementing an amazing customer service culture

In today's competitive business environment, keeping customers happy is the key to long-term success. But some businesses provide much better customer service than others. It's not always clear what works and what doesn't, and implementing new customer service practices midstream can be a difficult, chaotic task. Business leaders who want to transform their business culture into one of customer service excellence need reliable, proven guidance.

Unleashing Excellence gives you practical tools and step-by-step guidance tailored to your company's individual customer service needs. It shows you how to navigate your teams through every step of the implementation process to achieve true customer service excellence. The book covers the training and education of your group, how to measure the quality of your service, how to build a culture of personal accountability, and how to recognize excellence and reward it. Fully revised to include updated information on the latest tools and best practices, as well as the stories and lessons learned from those organizations that have used the process described in the book.

• Offers proven best practices for designing and implementing an excellent customer service culture
• Simple format divides content into nine "leadership actions" that guide you through a step-by-step process
• Shows you how to build a common customer service vision for your entire organization

Customer service is vital to the survival of your business. If you want to move your organization's customer service practices from good to great, Unleashing Excellence is the key.

Chapter One

THE DNA OF SERVICE EXCELLENCE

“I hate furniture shopping, almost as much as I hate car shopping. But my husband and I decided that we needed new furniture for the living room, so we dragged ourselves to a local store. I went in with my fists up, ready to fight off all the pushy salespeople. I’d dealt with pushy salespeople before. Walking around the store, however, I felt different there. The salesperson was helpful but didn’t hover. When we had a question, he magically appeared. Everything about the store felt good. I still can’t put my finger on it. We bought our furniture there without looking anywhere else.”

It’s a challenge to define excellent service because it’s a feeling that you get. You know it when you get it, and you know it when you don’t. This chapter, however, will provide a framework for defining excellent service for your organization. We’re going to look into the “DNA of service excellence.” The concepts, language, and examples in this chapter will provide the groundwork for everything to come later in the book.

“Inculturating” Service Excellence

You won’t find the word “inculturate” in any dictionary, but it accurately describes the whole purpose of this book. The idea is for excellent service to ultimately become part of your company’s culture. You want employees to perform in an excellent manner because such performance is part of the organizational DNA.

Let’s imagine, for example, you’re in a restaurant and you observe an employee interacting with a customer. The employee is providing outstanding service and going to great lengths to ensure that the customer is satisfied. Imagine approaching this employee with: “I’m impressed with the way you served that customer. What gets you to give great service like that?” The best answer the employee could give is, “I’m not sure what you mean. That’s just the way we do things here.” A response like that means that the behavior is simply the normal course of business. Contrast that response with one such as, “Well, management has video cameras monitoring us, and if we don’t act happy we get in trouble.” This type of answer indicates an initiative based on coercion, not organizational DNA.

The Framework

Many (if not most) organizations overcomplicate any initiative they try to take on, including service improvement initiatives. These organizations analyze everything to death and end up paralyzed—too overwhelmed to do anything. The approach recommended in this book is designed to be simple and straightforward. It takes commitment, but it’s not complicated.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

—Leonardo da Vinci

Figure 1.1 gives you a snapshot of the framework for service excellence. It is based on our observations of outstanding, service-driven organizations and our analyses of the activities that make these organizations great. We’ve also studied the not so great to analyze what’s missing. Four components make up the framework: the Customer, the Service Environment (physical setting), the Service Delivery (employees), and the Processes.

Figure 1.1 Customer Service Model

You’ll notice that the customer is in the center of the framework shown in Figure 1.1—the customer experience being the driver of the service strategy. The service environment and service delivery components overlap the customer component since they are designed from the customer’s perspective. Finally, the processes component surrounds everything. Effective processes ensure that each element of the model is executed in an excellent and sustainable manner. Let’s take a closer look at each element.

The Customer

Most organizations say they put the customer at the center of everything they do. Experiencing the service they provide, however, quickly blows that theory. Their processes and policies demonstrate that the focus is on their convenience, not the customer’s. We’ve all been frustrated, for example, by phone trees that say; “For sales, press 1; for reservations, press 2; for customer service, press 3.” For real customer service we shouldn’t have to press anything; we should get to talk with someone right away! They’ve made things more efficient for themselves, but they’re irritating customers in the process. The situation has gotten so bad that several consumer web sites now offer secrets for bypassing phone trees. GetHuman.com, for example, provides specific codes callers can enter in order to get to a live person at hundreds of organizations. GetHuman.com has to update the site regularly because companies keep changing the codes in order to keep customers from getting through. It’s a sad situation.

The Lens of the Customer

A truly customer-focused organization sees things through the “lens of the customer.” This approach asks, “How does the customer see us?” Looking at the operation from the customer’s perspective is one of the performance elements that separates outstanding organizations from ordinary ones. Customers appreciate the difference.

If you’ve ever tried to navigate the corridors of most hospitals, you know that the signage doesn’t usually offer much help. It doesn’t help because staff members who already know their way around the hospital designed the signs. Arrows pointing in 40 different directions make sense to people working in the hospital every day. Those of us who only visit the hospital in stressful times find that these directional signs only add to the stress. The designers weren’t looking through the customer’s lens.

Common employee statements that indicate a lack of looking through the customer’s lens include:

• “The computer won’t let me do that.”

• “First, I need you to fill out this paperwork.”

• “I’m not sure if we carry that item. If we do, it’s on aisle 5.”

• “My department doesn’t handle that. You’ll need to call xyz department.”

• “Have a seat; someone will be with you.”

• “I’m closing this restroom for cleaning. There’s another one on the next floor.”

These statements aren’t blatantly rude; they simply indicate a company focus, not a customer focus. Even a seemingly innocent statement such as, “I’ll have someone call you right back,” indicates a lack of seeing through the customer’s lens. What constitutes “right back” for one person is probably different for another person. Is it 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or an hour? Nit picking? Not to a customer waiting by the phone for you to call “right back.” What about the furniture store that tells you that the delivery truck will be at your house between noon and 5 PM? Whose convenience are they concerned with? Whose lens are they looking through?

Understanding the Customer‘s Lens

A very simple method exists for discovering the lens of the customer. Once you discover this lens, you’re able to perform accordingly. You may be tempted to disregard the method because it’s deceptively simple. Don’t disregard it. It works. The method is this: If you understand the customer’s emotions, you will understand the customer’s needs. Customer emotions are the key to personalized service. The following two possible statements by a visitor to a hospital provide clues to the customer’s emotions:

• Statement 1: “I’m here to see my daughter. She just had a baby. Can you tell me what room Sally Jones is in?”

• Statement 2: “I’m here to see my daughter. She was just in a car accident. Can you tell me where I can find Sally Jones?”

These two statements reflect completely different situations and, therefore, completely different emotions. Unfortunately, both customers will probably be treated in exactly the same clinical manner. While this example may seem extreme, similar situations happen regularly. Is the situation of the young couple taking out their first mortgage the same as that of the person who buys and sells real estate regularly? A completely different emotional dynamic exists. The young couple is nervous, overwhelmed, and excited. They need understanding, clear information, and a banker who is visibly happy for them for taking the big step of buying a house. The experienced real estate buyer has very different emotions and, therefore, very different needs. Yet many lenders will treat these situations the same way.

Computer help-lines are notorious for not understanding the emotions customers are dealing with. When you have a computer problem you’re frustrated and anxious. You have work to do! Computer help-line phone trees are long and complicated, and most customers don’t understand the nuances of the different options anyway. When you finally do talk with a technician, they use “computer speak.” You become more confused and frustrated as the process goes along. Those rare times when you get a technician who speaks in normal, everyday language, you feel comfortable and appreciative. It’s just a change in approach—the excellent companies understand the emotions and needs of their customers.

As you implement the customer service tools and techniques recommended in this book, it’s important to constantly remind employees to see things through the customer’s lens. Using this lens as the decision-making compass dramatically increases the likelihood that your improvement efforts will succeed. Focus the lens on customer emotions and needs. You might hear the argument, “What if we’re wrong about the customers’ emotions? We can’t read their minds!” Yes you can. By shifting the mindset to the lens of the customer, employees will read the situation correctly most of the time. What about those times they’re wrong? When an employee is truly trying to understand the customer’s situation and respond to his or her needs, the employee is likely providing great service even though he or she may have read the customer’s emotion incorrectly.

A bank client shared the story of a teller at the bank’s drive-through window who noticed the customer she was serving was in tears as she pulled up to the window and placed her deposit slip in the container. It was clear that the customer was fighting back sobs as she waited for the teller to complete the transaction. As she placed the customer’s receipt into the container, the teller also included a short handwritten note expressing her hope that whatever was wrong would turn out okay. The customer gave a grateful smile as she drove away. Did the teller overstep her bounds? We don’t think so. Our position is that it’s better to provide an outstanding, caring experience and perhaps periodically misread the situation than to make the decision to be mediocre for everyone in order to avoid any missteps.

In Chapter 4, you’ll be introduced to Service Mapping—a tool used to ensure that each step of the customer experience is designed with the customer’s lens in mind.

The Service Environment

Imagine yourself in a restaurant. As you sit down, you notice the table is a little dirty. There’s something crusty on your fork. How comfortable would you be? Wouldn’t you start worrying about what else might be wrong?

Everything Speaks

Every detail of an organization’s physical environment is saying something about their brand. Everything the customer sees, hears, touches, smells, and tastes creates an impression—“everything speaks.” Customers may not consciously pick up on every detail, but, make no mistake about it, an impression is made. Overflowing trashcans, empty display shelves, peeling paint, and burned-out lights all speak to the quality of the overall business. A bank ATM, for example, is an expensive piece of technology. How many times have you walked up to an ATM only to see a crudely handwritten out-of-order sign taped to this expensive piece of equipment? If everything speaks, what does this sign really say? Go away! Certainly that’s not the message that was intended, but it is the message received. Everything speaks.

Making sure that the setting is right is a sign of respect for the customer. The everything speaks philosophy also has a subtler meaning. If a company can’t handle the small details, why should the customer believe that the company is capable of handling the big, important details? A customer’s experience renting a car illustrates the point:

“I needed to rent a car for a fairly lengthy stay in Chicago, so I reserved a car through one of the bigger name rental companies. When I walked into the office, the first thing I noticed was a roll of toilet paper sitting on the customer counter (this should have been the first indicator of how I was going to be treated). I just couldn’t take my eyes off that roll of toilet paper as I tried to figure out why it was there. The service rep finished his conversation with a fellow worker before finally making eye contact with me. As he apathetically went about the necessary details, I looked around the office at the various stacks of paper, used coffee cups, and dirty office fixtures. I felt more and more like this was a fly-by-night operation, yet it was a name we all know. The rep finally directed me to my car. After loading my bags in the trunk and adjusting my driving directions, I turned the key and . . . nothing. Realizing that I had probably turned the key incorrectly, I turned it again . . . nothing. I proceeded to unload my bags and trudge back to the office only to be treated (by the same representative) like I hadn’t been there four minutes earlier: ‘How can I help you?’ I explained that the car wouldn’t start and he looked me dead in the eye and asked, ‘So, you don’t want the car?”’

That roll of toilet paper on the car rental counter was an indicator of bigger problems. Again, if a company can’t handle the little details, what makes us think it can handle the important details (like cars that start)?

Getting your employees in the everything speaks mindset is a critical component of the service improvement effort. Every employee needs to take personal ownership. Everyone, beginning with the boss, must enter the business as a customer and be alert to any negative messages delivered by the appearance of the organization’s environment.

Raise the level of awareness by noticing and talking about elements of the physical environment that detract from the company’s image. What do these negative elements say to the customer? What does a dead plant in a doctor’s waiting room communicate to the customer? What does a dirty glass in a restaurant communicate? What does a messy desk in a banker’s office communicate? Make no mistake, something is communicated—everything speaks. Just raising the level of awareness helps to focus attention on the details.

One leader we know used a creative technique to focus his team on the quality of the physical environment. Tired of constantly seeing trash scattered around the facility, he implored his employees to pay more attention and to make an effort at keeping the place clean; but nothing seemed to work. In a team meeting he asked the employees why they didn’t pick up the litter. “Because we’re so busy, we don’t even see it,” was the response. So, before the next team meeting, he scattered a few crumpl...

Table of contents

• Praise
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter One - THE DNA OF SERVICE EXCELLENCE
• Chapter Two - THE LEADERSHIP ACTIONS
• Chapter Three - THE SERVICE IMPROVEMENT TEAM
• Chapter Four - DEVELOPING THE SERVICE IMPROVEMENT CORE TOOLS
• Chapter Five - COMMUNICATION
• Chapter Six - TRAINING AND EDUCATION
• Chapter Seven - INTERVIEWING AND SELECTION
• Chapter Eight - MEASUREMENT
• Chapter Nine - RECOGNITION
• Chapter Ten - SERVICE OBSTACLE SYSTEM
• Chapter Eleven - ACCOUNTABILITY
• Conclusion
• Index