Customer Service Training, Tips, Articles & Videos with Myra Golden
You Get What You Celebrate (Customer Service Tip)
Leave a Comment
One of my clients asked me to deliver a keynote to kick off their Customer Service Week celebration. Right before I took the stage, the company played audio testimonials from a few very happy and satisfied customers. The testimonials were very descriptive and quite emotional. Each of the testimonials was about an interaction a customer had with the company’s Customer Service Team. The entire company was in attendance so this was a golden opportunity for Customer Service to shine. People from all over the company got to hear first-hand the impact the customer service team had on customers, satisfaction and the brand perception. Audience members began to smile and nod during the testimonials. At times applause broke out. I got chills as I listened to the customers and watched the audience reaction.
What a great way to kick off Customer Service Week. What a great way to celebrate great customer service. One of my former employees used to always say, “You Get What You Celebrate.” I thought about her as I listened to my client’s testimonials. I knew that each of the employees who were responsible for those heartfelt testimonials had to be filled with pride and that they’d go on to deliver more of that awesome customer service. I also knew their co-workers would be even more motivated to go out and deliver an outstanding customer experience.
You want to improve your customer experience? Why not start by celebrating what is already great about your customer experience? Share testimonial emails and letters on a bulletin board. Forward email testimonials throughout the company. Recognize employees who stand out for delighting customers. Get creative. Think out of the box. Remember, you get what you celebrate.
Be Your Own Customer for a Day
Leave a Comment
Years ago, when I worked in Consumer Affairs I found myself on the phone with a very disgruntled customer who experienced a problem with our company’s product. On top of that, he had great difficulty getting answers from our Customer Care Department when he called to complain about the problem. His first words to me were, “Have you ever called your company to experience what your customers go through?”
Good question. Tough answer!
The bitter truth was I didn’t know exactly what my customers went through when they called to voice a complaint. Certainly, I knew the logistics of complaint handling in our department, and I knew how the processes were “supposed” to work, but what was the reality? So I went on an expedition to find out exactly what my dissatisfied customers experienced when they called the Customer Care Department. I learned a lot!
I challenge you to be your own customer for a day within the next 30 days. Here are 6 things to look for on your expedition as Customer for a Day.
- Call at exactly 4:55pm. Was the phone answered by a friendly, helpful voice? Were your questions answered fully, just as if it were 10:00 a.m.?
- Tweet about your product or brand. Does the company respond? If so, how long did it take to get a response?
- Call up ballistic – Be demanding and irate. Does it end good or bad?
- Call during lunch or any peak period. How long do you hold?
- Visit your website. How customer-friendly is it? How accurate is the information on the site? Does it take too many clicks to get help? Does information seem to be hidden? Is the site useful to customers?
- Send a complaint email. How quick and satisfactory is the response?
Conducting this simple “customer for a day” exercise may leave you surprised or disappointed. The good news is you’ll know what your customers go through and you’ll better understand their needs and expectations. The next step is to change everything that you find unacceptable.
This blog post is an excerpt from Myra Golden’s book, Beyond WOW. Learn more about Myra’s Beyond WOW book.
Customer Service eLearning from Myra Golden
Leave a Comment
6 multi-media eLearning courses designed and taught by Myra Golden
Experience the courses on our website or upload to your SCORM or AICC compliant LMS
This Customer Service eLearning suite includes 6 courses with Myra Golden leading customer service representatives through field-tested and proven strategies for delivering the very best customer service and the very best customer experience.
Myra Golden’s Customer Service eLearning courses include:
- 6 online video courses for employees to follow on their own
- 12-month access to training
- 5 hours of video training (Users don’t necessarily have to participate in all courses – You’ll choose the topics your employees need)
- Training led by customer service expert, Myra Golden
- Interactive exercises and thought-provoking questions to ensure the learning is adopted and applied
- Quizzes at the end of each module to test learning. (Your employees must score at least 80% in each module in order to “pass”)
- YouTube video skits with exercises to keep your people engaged, get them laughing and help make the learning “stick”
- Printable key points
- Immediate password access on our website
- Ready for uploading to your SCORM/AICC compliant LMS or your intranet website
Get the full story on Myra Golden’s eLearning suite, watch a demo, or register now
Tags: Customer Service eLearning, Customer Service Training, Online Customer Service Training
>>Customer Satisfaction Is Worthless!
Leave a Comment
If Customer Satisfaction Is Your Goal, Don’t Ask Me to Help You!
Last month I got a call from a client wanting me to deliver a keynote address on customer satisfaction. I politely explained, “I don’t speak on customer satisfaction.” My client was shocked, as for the past 12 months I’ve been rolling out a strategic plan in her company designed to increase the bottom line by increasing customer retention and by building a customer recovery strategy. I went on to explain 4 reasons why I, as a fierce customer loyalty advocate, don’t speak on customer satisfaction.
1. Customer satisfaction means NOTHING these days. The truth is, today’s customers expect mediocre service. Apathy is expected. Late is expected. Problems are expected. No follow-through is expected. As long as companies don’t g o below these very low expectations, customers are satisfied.
2. Customer satisfaction = “Sufficient or Adequate Service.” When a company achieves “customer satisfaction” what it’s really achieved is
getting customers to feel that the service is adequate or sufficient—that it wasn’t horrible. The customer’s expectations, typically very low expectations, were met. That’s all customer satisfaction means.
3. Customers report being “satisfied” only because their expectations are so low and because no one else is doing any better.
4. Satisfied customers are not your customers. They’re just with you until they find something better.
I concluded that I do speak on and help my clients build customer loyalty. Customer satisfaction is a feeling…a feeling that low expectations have been met. Customer loyalty, on the other hand, is a set of behaviors that produce revenue.
- Loyal customers by definition don’t defect.
- Loyal customers reward the company by buying from you again and again.
- Loyal customers buy other products or services in your line.
- Loyal customers tell people in their network about your company (referrals). – That is, they actually market for you and word-of-mouth advertising is the most persuasive form of advertising.
I urge you to stop striving for high customer satisfaction and focus on delivering truly outstanding service and building a profitable base of loyal customers. Satisfied customers will give you a “good” ranking on a survey today and leave you for the competition tomorrow. Loyal customers return again and again, recommend your company often and significantly add to your bottom line!
I work with companies that are serious about delighting and keeping customers. My blog includes thoughts, articles, videos, and even rants about customer service. Thanks for stopping by. :)
Visitor Comments
 | jessica on Sticks and Stones May Break My… |
 | myragolden on Sticks and Stones May Break My… |
 | Lillian Watts-Ray on Sticks and Stones May Break My… |
| myragolden on Sticks and Stones May Break My… |
 | Linda Jones on Sticks and Stones May Break My… |
