a customer service programme your team can own

8/6/2019 A Customer Service Programme Your Team Can Own

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Coach your team with a customer service programme they can own

By Ralph Brown Skillset New Zealand. Published by Fenman, London

How’s this for a deal?

In this article we’ll look at coaching your team members in customer service, but it

comes with some additional benefits for them and for your organisation. While they’re

involved in the customer service programme, they’ll be developing their communication,

analytical, and problem-solving skills.

It’s a bottom-up approach to customer service, so it’s focused on ownership. Top-down

customer service programmes can develop some useful social skills, but they usually fail

because they’re imposed.

A team-based, bottom-up customer service programme creates opportunities, even for

people who find that their jobs are unrewarding, to feel that they are running their part of

the organisation. Research tells us that ‘feeling in on things’, feeling competent andhaving autonomy at work are major motivators.1

Key learning points

A customer service programme can provide opportunities to develop other valuable

skills.

A team-based bottom-up approach encourages teams and individuals to own the

programme.

A seven point checklist helps teams look for opportunities to improve in a

methodical way.

Developing simple systems, especially tied to routine events, is much more

effective than relying on good intentions.

Customer service projects should fit the acronym SAM QC.

Introducing a customer service programme is a risk. Most customer service programmes

begin with a burst of enthusiasm; then lose energy quickly. When anyone attempts to

revive the programme, the cynics are quick to react, and they have the evidence, ‘It’s a

waste of time. We’ve tried it before and it was just a talk-fest.’ But it doesn’t have to belike that.

A customer service programme will work well when the team members decide what’s

important; when they identify the problems and they come up with their own solutions.

They will too. Even office grouches get involved. They want to be consulted and they

often have plenty to say. Most, but not all, want to see some action, but don’t believe it

will happen. They don’t like grand plans, but they do want things to be better – for them

and for customers. It’s a safe assumption that most people want to do good work.

Your coaching role is simply to help them see the value of the programme, show them a

methodical way of examining their service, brainstorm solutions and keep them focused.

You’ll also need to show them how to develop practical customer service projects.



HELP THEM SEE THE VALUE

Begin by asking them how they feel about devoting time to developing a customer

service programme. Ask them to brainstorm both the advantages and disadvantages

personally, for the team, and for your organisation. The negatives are important. Your

reaction to them shows that you are interested in reality. If they don’t have enough

disadvantages, help them. Suggest the time it might take, the distraction from other

things, the cost and anything else that might seem relevant. Acknowledge that if the

programme is to work, they must find ways of overcoming or minimising the

disadvantages, or making sure that the benefits outweigh them.

The theme is ‘Think Small’. Tell them, because it will come as a relief. Add that it makes

much more sense to think of many small improvements and introduce them gradually

because they are busy people. It has to be a programme they can develop and implement

easily.

Next, ask the team to list their customers, both within the organisation and outside (their internal and external customers). Ask them to put an asterisk beside those customers or

customer groups with whom they have a customer-supplier relationship – where they

supply services or products to people who also supply to them. I like to mention, if they

don’t, the bargaining value of providing a better service to their internal customers.

WHAT’S IT LIKE?

Now ask everyone to consider the question, ‘What’s it like being a customer of ours? As

they work their way through the following seven-point checklist ask them to think of the

customers they’ve already noted. Encourage them to come up with problems and possible

solutions because it’s the negatives that create the best opportunities.

Don’t allow them to settle for vague summaries. We need specific problems and, if possible, specific solutions. Ask them to imagine being a particular customer, or kind of

customer, visiting them, or contacting them by telephone or email on a stressful day. That

focus on the customer is so important to the process (and as a social skill) that you may

want to develop role-plays around some encounters with customers. Encourage them to

ask questions such as, ‘What’s important for our customers? Do we always do that? How

often does that happen? Is it the same for our in-house customers? How big a problem is

it for them? How big a problem would it be for us to fix it?

They should also be noting what they are already doing well, say responding quickly to

enquiries, or answering the telephone courteously, but ask them to consider whether they

could do it even better. Would the customer value the difference?

The checklist will help them to stay focused. I give teams each topic separately so that

they don’t glide over more difficult topics. If we are short of time, I assign the first six

topics to particular groups and ask them to put their ideas on a whiteboard so that the rest

of the team can review them and add their own suggestions.

Contact (Can they contact us when they need us?)

For exampleWhat about after-hours?

What happens if we are out of town or at a meeting?

Would someone calling at the office know where to go? (Has anyone checked our signs

lately?)



Visuals (How do things look to our customers?)

For exampleHow tidy is the showroom/office/workshop?

Do we dress appropriately?

How is the décor?

Are our cars kept clean?

Courtesy (How well do we treat them?)

For exampleDo we give our names?

Do we use their names?

Are we diplomatic?

Do we communicate openly?

Communication

For exampleDo we keep our customers informed?

Do we tell them how long a job or delivery will take?

Do we really listen, or jump to the usual solution?

Credibility

For exampleDo we let people down?

Do we know enough about our products and services to describe them accurately?

Do our customers know about our expertise?

Making the customer feel special

For exampleDo we go the extra mile? Is it really the extra mile or are we just giving what the

customer expects?Do we treat the customer as an individual? In what ways? Could we do more?

Do we do favours for our internal customers?

Consistency (How can we provide the same standard of service every time?)

When they have chosen solutions to the problems they’ve identified, it’s time to ensure

that each solution that asks people to do things differently becomes a system – a very

simple system. Don’t rely on memory or good intentions if you can avoid it. If possible,

link your solution to a routine event or something that is inevitable – say a particular day

or time. (See the panel Some Simple Systems for more.)

Some Simple Systems

Link your improvements to routine or inevitable events.

Council building inspectors decided their cars were dirty too often. They

either kept forgetting to clean them or said they didn’t have time. Their

system was to tie the cleaning to the refuelling so that every time they

filled up, they put their cars through the car wash. As it happened, one of

the local franchises offered a free basic wash with every tank of fuel.

Office staff realised that callers to direct lines were getting voice mail

messages too often and the message might not be answered for several

days. Now whoever comes in first in the morning, checks who will be



away for the day and arranges for their calls to be diverted to a human.

Staff at a community office realised that their desks were a mess and visible

to both internal and external customers. They decided to stop work a few

minutes early on Fridays so that everyone could tidy up. Linking the action

of tidying up to an inevitable event such as Friday afternoon created

another simple and durable system. A training firm (ours) realised that visitors could arrive and find our

receptionist away from her desk. The solution was a greeting system.

Whoever is expecting a client, approaches a colleague (who may be the

receptionist) and says, ‘Mary Williams is coming in at two; could you greet

for me?’ The greeter will look out for the client, use her name, offer a seat,

offer refreshments and bring them through as the meeting begins. The

greeter even uses special cups and heats them so that the tea won’t go cold

while we are talking. The guests feel expected and welcomed by the whole

organisation. (We’ve had that simple system for many years.)

CREATE PROJECTS

They’ll be able to fix many of the customer service problems they’ve identified with

minor changes or simple systems. Some problems are better handled as a project.

Sometimes we know there’s a problem, but we are not sure how big it is, or we’re not

sure what effect it’s having on our customers, so the first project might be an assessment

or survey. Sometimes the project involves looking for a range of solutions, or the best

solution.

Help your team prepare simple customer service projects by taking them through this

checklist with the acronym SAM QC.

Small

Our theme is ‘think small’ – many improvements not grand plans.

Appreciated

If it won’t help us do something the customers appreciate, it’s not a customer service

project. Considering how much they’ll appreciate it helps us to list projects in order of

priority.

Measurable

How will we know it’s done or achieving the results we expect? Think of indicators such

as random checks, the number of complaints or reworks. Often we don’t need to measure.

If our project is to set up a play area for visiting children, or a ramp for disabled

customers, it’s sufficient to tick the box under ‘completed’.

Quick

If it won’t give us quick results, it’s not high priority. If you are using the think-small

approach to customer service, you must get points on the board early and at regular

intervals to counter cynicism and keep the energy going. Could the project be separated

into stages?



CUSTOMER SERVICE PROGRESS BOARDProject Champion/s Due Done

Arrange call diversions to all cell phones Mac and Joan Oct 10 y

Implement greeting system for visitors Jo and Penny Oct 15 y

Produce new dress code for discussion Frances Tom and

Jane

Oct 21 y

Bring signs up to standard agreed Bruce Oct 25 y

Have ramp installed for disabled

customers

Raj Alison Frank Nov 14

CREATE COMPUTER VERSION OF GRAEME OCT 25 Y

Causes

Would the project deal with the real causes of the problem? Let’s say we decide that we

could process customers’ applications much more quickly if we could record more

information when they call at the public counter and don’t have to follow up by

telephone. We could create a project to develop our active listening skills, but perhaps the

real issue is that our customers feel inhibited supplying personal information with others

around them. A more appropriate project would be to investigate the possibility of a private interview room for more sensitive conversations.

KEEP UP THE MOMENTUM

Someone must be responsible for making the customer service programme last. It’s a safe

assumption that the enthusiasm will dissipate unless someone is adding energy. Your

customer service champion can do that by trumpeting successes, providing constructive

support and ensuring that everyone is aware of how well the programme is working and

its effect on your customers.

Develop ‘progress boards’ to record the projects. Put them on display to show that the

customer service programme is making a difference. A progress board also reminds thosewho have committed to a project that the rest of the team is waiting for the result.

When you have filled the board, replace the old entries with new projects, so that the

board is always full, but changing. Thank people for their efforts and gossip and name-

drop (in the best possible spirit) so that everyone knows about the progress. We’ve seen

rivalry develop over projects, with colleagues claiming that they’ve contributed the most

so far and even teasing others that they’re choosing soft projects so that they can have

more to tick off on the progress board.

The team-based ‘think small’ approach isn’t macho, glamorous or dramatic, but it’s

practical and it works. The real benefits are not so much the individual projects, but the

commitment the team members make to customer service and the skills they learn in the

process.

When we are discussing the pluses and minuses of committing to a customer service

programme someone will raise the plus of learning something new. I ask them to imagine

that, years from now, they are applying for another job. “Think how the selection panel

might react if you asked, ‘Are you aware of the Pinnacle Corporation’s customer service

programme? No? Well we developed a programme that we ran ourselves, at team level.

We examined our service thoroughly, found the problems, brainstormed solutions, came

up with simple customer service projects that actually produced results and created



systems so that we could give excellent customer service every time. Those systems have

been running for many years. I was one of the most active members in the customer

service programme and I think it’s an important part of my CV.’” Then I’ll add, ‘How

many people could say that?’

Ralph Brown is the author of Success at work and at home. The book is based on the

framework of emotional intelligence, the research in psychology and business, and

Ralph’s experience teaching thousands of New Zealanders and Australians. Ralph Brown

is managing director of Skillset, a training company based in Christchurch and

Wellington, New Zealand.

Extracts and the book Success at work and at home are available on-line at www.media-

associates.co.nz . E-mail [email protected]

http://www.media-associates.co.nz/



mailto:[email protected]







1 Federick Herzberg, ‘One more time: how do you motivate employees?’ Harvard Business Review, Business Classics,

1991, pp13-22. Also K.M. Sheldon et al ‘What is satisfying about satisfying events? Testing 10 candidate psychological

needs’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, February 2001, vol, 80, no. 2, pp 325-339

a customer service programme your team can own

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