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A Corporate Facelift With Sound Bytes
If Baby Boomers can get botox and tummy tucks, then why don’t companies receive facelifts to improve their image as well? The telephone is the lifeblood of any business. Use it respectfully. Don’t leave your clients on-hold to listen to radio...
Improvingcustomer service in large stock registrar cmpany
ROBLEM The organization was always working under a crisis mode, with the managers feeling pressured and "under the gun". There was discord and resentment among the manager team, which reflected in the employees. Re-work and bureaucracy were...
The Types of Complaining Customers
You can't please everyone, though as a business your main
purpose is to please as many customers as possible so that they
keep returning. When customers are dissatisfied with the service
you are providing they will be one of three kinds...
Useless Resume Objectives
What’s wrong with an objective on a resume? The problem with objectives on resumes is that a typical objective is self-centered and self-serving; therefore, it is useless. Instead of an objective, use a power statement.
Let me...
Who Comes First - The Customer or Employee?
The commonly held view that the customer comes first is worth a
close look. Think about the last time you received less than
satisfactory customer service. What caused it? Probably an
employee! Either directly, bad manners and a "don't...
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The Eight Rules of Good Customer Service
The Eight Rules of Good Customer Service
If the Bill of Rights was written today, it would likely include
the right to complain.
Americans love to complain, but who can blame us? For the most
part, customer service has been heading downhill as companies
try to cut costs by outsourcing, off shoring and hiring
inexperienced staff. Take the airline industry, a favorite
punching bag, as an example. In the first quarter of this year,
the Federal Aviation Administration received 2,650 complaints
about airlines and other travel-related services. That's up by
one-third from a year ago, and doesn't include complaints from
frustrated passengers who never bothered to file a formal
grievance.
Many times we don't complain effectively and that in turn causes
more consumer frustration and more complaining, often
accompanied by yelling, screaming and cursing.
But don't worry, we're here to help. We spoke with customer
service consultants--the people who are trying to help companies
serve you better-- to find out the secret weapons in the
complaint arsenal.
Rule No.1: Know Exactly What You're Complaining About And What
Action You Want
Say you bought a reciprocating saw from Home Depot and it stops
working three months later. Before taking it back to the store,
figure out what you want. Do you want an even exchange, a refund
or a different brand of saw?
Keith Bailey, co-founder of Sausalito, Calif.-based Sterling
Consulting Group and co-author of Customer Service For Dummies,
suggests that, after you make your request, you should shut up
and listen to what the sales person has to say. If you stay
quiet, he will eventually come up with an agreeable solution.
"Don't dramatize your emotion. If they're wearing a name tag,
call them by name, be polite, get them on your side and create a
rapport," he says.
Rule No.2: Never Demand To Talk To The Manager
Sure, sometimes to get your problem solved you'll need to speak
to the person in charge. But no matter what industry you're in,
you really don't want people asking to speak to your boss. And
for some reason you do ask to speak with him, the boss will
mysteriously be out to lunch--even at 9 A.M.
T. Scott Gross, speaker and author of several customer service
books, says that as soon as you go over a salesperson's head,
you've created an adversary. "The best way to say it is, 'Who
can we talk to who has the authority to solve this problem?'
You're asking them to help you, to be on your team," he says.
"It's important for customers to realize it's a power
relationship. Servers have the power--maybe not the
authority--to give you a good service experience or a miserable
one."
Rule No. 3: Sneaky Ways To Contact A Company
Customer service representatives are much more expensive than
Web sites. That's why companies intentionally make their phone
numbers difficult to find. You could get lost in the jungle of
information on Amazon.com's Web site while looking for its phone
number. A better idea is to look up its profile on Yahoo!
Finance and, sure enough, along with an address is listed a
phone number.
Gross suggests finding the company's latest press release on the
pressroom of its Web site, calling the contact person and asking
them who to speak with. (Sorry PR folks, but
it's called public
relations for a reason.)
Bailey also has a few tricks up his sleeve. If you call a
company's main number and get a recorded greeting, you can
sometimes bypass it by dialing another extension. If the last
four digits of the company's main number are 2700, try 2701 or
2705. More than likely, you'll get a live body to speak to, and
they can transfer you to the department you need.
Another sly tactic companies are using on their telephone
systems is not offering the option of talking to an operator
until the very last moment--those final seconds when most people
have already given up. Bailey explains that the caller thinks
the recording is about to hang up on them, then there's a short
pause and, finally, the recording suggests dialing zero for an
operator. Think you can outsmart the company's computerized
phone system by just dialing zero at any time? Guess again.
Bailey says that many times the system is programmed not to
recognize the zero key until the very end of the message.
Rule No. 4: Invoke Your Rights Under Rule 240
Rule 240, which is part of an airline's contract of carriage,
spells out passengers' rights due to delays, cancellations and
missed connections that are not caused by weather.
Unfortunately, each U.S. airline has a different policy. But
knowing what that policy is before you go to the airport could
be the difference between getting on the next flight and
spending a few hours watching CNN in an airport lounge. Don't
expect the airline employees to tell you about their policy,
either. However, don't forget about Rule No. 1 and the fact that
the airline employees are dealing with not only you, but with
dozens of angry customers. If you go up to the counter waving a
copy of the rule in their faces and demanding they follow it,
you probably won't get very far.
Rule No. 5: Address Letters To Individuals
Bailey says consumers should only send letters when they have a
specific name and address. Also, mark it private and
confidential. Sure, it may still be opened by an assistant, but
it has a better chance of reaching the intended person. If you
don't get results the first time, send another letter.
Rule No. 6: Keep Your Expectations In Check
This is a simple one: Don't expect to have a Nordstrom's
shopping experience at Wal-Mart. You should still expect good
service no matter where you shop, but you won't get the
white-glove treatment with rollback prices, so don't complain
about it. Goods are cheap at discount stores for a reason.
Rule No. 7: Patronize Locally Owned Stores
As Gross points out, if you shop at a local establishment, the
owner is usually there and eager to resolve any problems. Sure,
local outposts usually cost more than superstores, but when was
the last time Billgates or Ivan Seidenberg helped you with your
complaint?
Rule No. 8: Don't Just Complain. Praise, Too
If you're going to complain, you also have to readily
acknowledge superior service. Bailey suggests not only thanking
a customer service representative for a great job, but also
writing the CEO or employee's manager. "When someone says 'You
did a great job', it lights these people up," he says.
visit my site http://www.careerpath.cc
About the author:
Manik Thapar (MBA) http://www.careerpath.cc
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