In the television show "So You Think You Can Dance," thousands of people try out for the show thinking they're great dancers. Many are REALLY wrong about this self-assessment!
We've conducted customer service training sessions where participants (especially early on in the session) say "I know all about customer service,why do I keep having to come back to these courses?"
Usually, it becomes readily apparent during the session that these folks don't exactly have service attitudes or the best skills out there, even though they think they're great. But there are truly some outstanding customer service-oriented people in this world. Do you think you're one of them?
If so, challenge yourself with these questions:
- Are you a team player? Do you share information with co-workers instead of hoarding information as power? Do you help coworkers in need and see how it benefits the organization, the co-worker or the customer as the reason for doing so? If so, you're contributing positively to your organization's culture.
- Do you know how to diffuse an upset or irate customer? Do you know how to effectively reduce their emotional level and take control of the conversation, redirecting the topic toward a solution? If so, you probably have some fine service recovery skills.
- Are you very knowledgeable of the company's products/services to the point of being able to handle inquiries yourself, without needing to involve others? If so, you're probably good at first call resolution - getting the right answer the first time.
- Do you know why Joe Customer may stay with your company versus going to a competitor? Do you know what drives Joe's satisfaction or dissatisfaction? If so, you probably have the 1-on-1 relationship development orientation and practices to support your company's retention and growth goals.
- If there's a problem that a customer brings to your attention that actually is unrelated to your area, do you shepherd it through to resolution or at least ensure that it gets addressed by the appropriate party? If so, you probably have an ownership attitude.
- Do you frequently try to determine why you're asked the same question multiple times or have to deal with the same issue multiple times, and they try to eliminate that reason? If so, you probably have a continuous improvement orientation.
It's fine to think you're great at customer service. Confidence is an important part of service success. But we need to understand what it takes to be on the road to greatness. These are just a few of the questions for you to consider and qualities to strive to develop.
Build up these qualities to build toward true personal service excellence.
Build up these qualities to build toward true personal service excellence.
