I’ve been blogging a lot on customer service lately because we are actively involved with 2 firms aiming to change their cultures to improve the customer experience. So customer service standards and strategies and training are on my mind. Everything I read, see and hear stimulates an idea.

I also have a prospective “culture change” client whose legal department just finished reviewing my company’s contract. Their reaction was to make almost no changes. I was told they appreciated the “fairness and flexibility” they found in our service agreements. We don’t charge for time they don’t use, even when the change occurs at the last minute. We don’t ask reimbursement for every bottle of water and bagel we eat in airport….  I get the impression this was a bit of a surprise.

And it got me thinking… is it possible to have a culture of customer service when standards do not seem “fair and flexible” to customers? How do companies around the world even pretend to be customer-centric when they have terms like these 10 examples:

1. A posted policy says “returns must include a receipt and be within 15 days of purchase.” If the merchandise is made of strawberries, then I can understand it, but silk blouses don’t grow mold….
2. 0% financing is voided when 1 payment is even 1 day late. And bank has the right to select any interest rate it chooses to take effect immediately.
3. Personnel will travel through airport security lines to make sure passengers are not carrying too much stuff on board. (check out this Wall Street Journal article on the subject)
4. Sign on an office wall says, “Your failure to plan does not create an automatic emergency for me.”
5. Personal training appointments cancelled on the day of service will be charged full rate. But if the personal trainer cancels on the day of service no compensation exists for the customer.
6. We only serve burgers well done. (A policy I learned about in a restaurant that also serves sushi.)
7. New customers pay $1 for the same phone that current customers pay $100 for.
8. We only accept MC and VISA.
9. Training materials instruct staff to never say “I’m sorry,” unless it has been determined that the company is actually at fault.
10. Managers devote no time at all to observing and developing direct reports yet when it comes time for performance reviews, they list skills that are lacking and mistakes that were made.

This is a pretty short list of common practices that make it hard for customers - both external and internal - to believe the “powers that be” have their best interests at heart.

And if you show customers that you’re all about protecting your own interests, no matter how it impacts your customers, can you ever call yourself a “great customer service organization”?

There’s no doubt that creating a culture of service must include reviewing every written policy and contract. The unwritten ones need review too. They impact the way employees behave toward each other and business or consumer clientele. Small changes can go along way toward setting a fresh tone for the future.

Now, believe me when I say I am not trying to discourage the development and implementation of training - obviously. But let’s be sure the training focuses on supporting systems that let customers know they matter.

Technorati Tags: Ronna Caras, Customer Service Culture, Customer Service Policies, Training

My friend and colleague, Nick Miller, of Clarity Advantage, Inc. emails “Weekly Sales Thoughts” to his vast list of impressed followers. This week, he captured a subject I have been dancing around as I tell everyone about the value of membership in SOCAP - an organization where people connect and collaborate and help one another solve problems. With Nick’s permission, I am sharing with you his ideas about connecting.

I’m standing in the low ceilinged, dimly lit, stuffy-aired classroom of a driving school - a company owned by brave souls who make a living teaching 16 year olds to drive dangerous objects. My daughter is taking her road test with a State Police officer, her last step before qualifying for her license. I’m waiting, idly watching the TV in the far corner of the classroom. 

The movie, Shrek II, is playing. While I haven’t followed the story line very closely, there is a moment in which Shrek-the-green changes into Shrek-the-handsome-human. Instantly, several young women appear, pushing each other out of the way to gain his attention. They are ATTRACTED to him by his size, good looks, and witty tongue. (This was, after all, a CARTOON movie.) Shrek seemed unaffected by this. (This REALLY was a cartoon movie.)

This story would have played out very differently if Shrek, upon assuming human form, immediately chased the women. The scene would have degenerated into the usual Thursday night at most singles bars. “Hey, ladies, va-va-voom, come along, you’ll have really good time with me, yes”? 

Most prospecting, in its current form, is a variation of this Thursday night singles bar “me push.”  We sales people launch ourselves at prospects with snappy chatter, hoping we can overcome prospects’ resistance or their impossible schedules, thinking that, if prospects would just invest a few minutes, they would understand how wonderful we sellers are and how powerful our products. High frustration. Low success rates. At the singles bars, too.

What would we do differently if we changed the prospecting paradigm from “push” to “attract?”

Attraction involves appealing to natural interest or emotion, arousing hope or desire, or lighting a spark of possibility.  In the “attraction” paradigm, prospects and customers want us to talk to them and be part of their work because they see or experience that we have an insight, an expertise, or an energy they want. (That’d be some Thursday night at the bar, eh?)

How do we convey this? Following the Shrek model, we substitute other characteristics for his.

1. We become resources. When we network, we figure out what is challenging our conversation partners and we find people in our companies or our networks, articles or other resources that can help them. We become known as providers, interested in helping everyone be more successful.

2. We position ourselves as experts in addressing our clients’ problems and complaints. We develop more and broader knowledge about their challenges and potential solutions than they have. We share this perspective by writing, speaking at business or community events, and developing and sharing best practices and success stories. We give away some of our value in the form of articles, podcasts, stories, best practices, network connections, and advice without asking anything in return at the time.

3. Remembering Shrek, we do all of this as if it’s not a big deal. We can’t feel or be “needy.” Needy is NOT attractive. [Refer back to Thursday nights, poor results, above.] Instead, we engage our prospects, draw them out, and warm them up with Shrek’s easy nonchalance that communicates confidence (remember, we are experts), “whole-ness,” and the ability to engage peer to peer.

So, here are my questions to you on the subject of attracting business rather than pushing to get it.

In this world where service and sales lines are being crossed; where everyone is being asked to find more business and keep it; at a time when up-selling and holding back competition is a top priority, how easy will it be to teach your staff to give more without looking for an immediate transactional payback? Are there some success stories in your company about sales leaders who model this behavior and can show its power?

Consultants have been using this model for many years. But I don’t see it being taught to sales folks in any other industry. And, perhaps, the timing is right to take a look at “the attraction paradigm according to Nick Miller”.

Technorati Tags: Ronna Caras, Nick Miller, sales prospecting, law of attraction, sales training

I am currently on the receiving end of extraordinary generosity. My offices are piled high with boxes from Arm & Hammer, Campbell’s, Colgate, Coors, Dannon, Duncan Hines, Frito Lay, General Mills, Kashi, L’Oreal, Nestle, Pepperidge Farm, Sargento, Telerx, Tyson, Unilever, and Zotos…All ready and waiting to be made into enormous gift bags for the New England Chapter Socap June 17th Meeting I am helping to run.

I am blown away by the stuff. We have toothpaste, t-shirts, granola bars, measuring spoons, chip clips, pens and lip balm. We have dog food, hand lotion, mascara, iced tea mix, cake mix, shampoo and even condoms.

Participants will get grocery items and coupons from some of the best brands in the world totaling $100 and then some.

But more than the snacks and cooking items and sex toys which are filling the room, I am blown away by how easy it was to get very busy, very important executives to lend a hand to help us start this local chapter that is many miles from where they actually live and work. Two local member companies contributed to the haul - Ocean Spray gave us their new Cranergy drink and Liberty Mutual Insurance provided jelly beans, if Gloria doesn’t eat them all before the event. But the other 30 goodies are from companies from across the USA.

Obviously, this blog post is a love letter to Beth, Cathy, Cheryl, Dale, Dan, Denise, Donna, Eileen, Jeff, Joy, Karalyn, Karen, Kim, Linnea, Louise, Mena, Willie and more… who took the time and the care to send a variety of items so our welcome gift shows just who SOCAP includes. And that was the point. To show prospective members and guests from New England who they can get to know as professional resources when they get to know Socap. Why shouldn’t local companies want to be a part of a group that includes these powerhouse corporations and people?

It is also a message to anyone who thinks that companies don’t care about people anymore. That there’s no loyalty in workplaces. That business leaders are out for themselves. That networking is a necessary evil rather than the building of real relationships.

The membership at this organization have filled my office with proof that some networks, some people, some companies know what it means to reach out and connect.

Now I have to admit that I have never been much of a group joiner. With their cliques and clichés. But this group is the exception.

If you want to know how to solve any of your business problems, call a Socap member or two or three and they will share a strategy or a resource you can use. No one says “no” here. No one says “we can’t” or “I’m too busy”.

So I’ll end this week’s rant by stating loudly and clearly - if you are a professional in a contact center, customer care or consumer services role who has not connected with Socap, then you are missing out on the best opportunity to achieve greatness in your work. Because greatness is here. And it’s available to all of us.

Technorati Tags: consumer affairs, customer service, ronna caras, executive development, new england chapter socap