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Showing posts from February, 2011

BE HUMAN IN YOUR CONVERSATION

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Many companies think that automation is the holy grail of all their efforts. The more automation, the better. In that case, you really do miss the point. Why? Because service business is first and foremost people business. Your customers are people of flesh and blood and want to be treated as such. The same applies to your employees, they are also humans! So, the golden rule (treat someone else in the same way you would like to be treated) should be the cornerstone of your business. Now, you can say, what a big deal, that is what I have known for   a long time. But there is a difference between ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’. Last week I tried to sell my shares via a specialized company. First, I did go to their website. After some searching it became clear that I needed an activation code to sell my shares. That is fine, but the activation code will be send to me (in The Netherlands) by postal mail from the US. Clearly that doesn’t help me, it is far too slow (mails take approx 3 weeks) a

TOP 7 FACTORS IMPACTING CUSTOMER/PROFESSIONAL/TECHNOLOGY SERVICES IN 2011

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When you are responsible for the service business in your organization, these are the factors to take very seriously this year. SERVICE BUSINESS = PEOPLE BUSINESS Instead of focusing on the weaknesses of your employees and managers, focus on their strenghts and passion. This is much more challenging and helps people to take responsilbility and show commitement. Employee Egagement is not a luxury, but a necessity. Listen and actively engage your people in all your plans and activities. Have a clear purpose and make sure that you provide meaning in all that you do. Develop an entrepreneurial mindset in everyone. Execution alone is no longer enough. SOCIAL MEDIA This is not a fad, but a fact of life. Therefor make sure that you are present in the space where your customers are ‘residing’. Focus on building communities and real relationships. CULTURE OF INNOVATION Foster and build such a culture that change and innovation are the norm. Also here the entrpreneurial mindset is crucial

WHO IS CUSTOMER SERVICE?

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There are a lot of articles written about customer service. And most of those articles are not very positive about its performance. It even does have a hashtag on Twitter (#custserv). But who is customer service? It is a name of a department or even a collection of departments. In those departments work people, yes PEOPLE! Very hardworking people who try to satisfy the customer, solve problems and give other information. It could be sales support, the bid team, receptionists, support engineers, call center employees, logistics, administration and many different other tasks/departments. I did mention that they try to satisfy the customer. Why ‘try’? That is because they are most of the time located between a rock and a hard place. They are the bridge between the customers’ needs and the internal organization. Their task is rather challenging when the internal org is not supportive, not up to date, when the processes don’t work or when the systems are outdated or not reliable. Desp