Phillip Van Hooser - Transformational Leadership

The following are excerpts from my recent interview with Kristina Evey, www.CentricStrategies.com, on customer satisfaction, service and retention.

KE: What is the best way to measure customer satisfaction? Do surveys still matter in a Twitter/Facebook/social media world?

PVH: I won’t discount totally the worth of customer surveys to measure service satisfaction levels.  Surveys might not only be valuable, but completely necessary for some businesses that have limited or even non-existent personal contact with customers.

But for most companies, the best and most reliable method for determining customer satisfaction is the desire and ability to talk to the customer directly, both at the time of the transaction and again later, after the initial exuberance of the transaction experience has subsided.

As for the current social media movement, personally, I am not ready to concede that social media has significantly changed the way we measure customer satisfaction. It has impacted the way satisfaction is reported in small groups.

KE: What is the #1 reason you feel excellent customer service is not delivered?

PVH: There are a number of symptoms that may give indication of service delivery problems, but most can be traced back to a sense of either organizational or individual complacency. We become too comfortable, too satisfied or too oblivious to the fact that even good products and services without continuous effort to improve can change for the worse.

KE: What is the first thing that could be done to turn that around?

PVH: Force employees at all levels to come face-to-face with the customer. Meet them. Talk with them. Listen to them as they describe in detail what they like, and more importantly, don’t like about your products and/or services. This can (and should) be done with any level of employee. During my years in manufacturing, our sales force would routinely take key operations employees (fabricators, assemblers, inspectors, etc.) with them to visit customers. The impact of those visits was felt directly in the information that was fed back to their operations colleagues and in their future attention to detail in their own workmanship. This firsthand contact with customers provided a better understanding of the why not just the how of their jobs.

Maintaining your customer service momentum and building upon the foundation you’ve put in place is the key component for customer service success. If you want to get the most mileage out of your customer service efforts, consider these tips for maintaining your service momentum.

1.  Redefine Your Routine Service Activities.

 All of us have aspects of our jobs that are routine, mundane and down right boring. Often these activities require little thought or planning. Unfortunately, this is the place where our service momentum lags or breaks down first. Redefining the routine, mundane and mindless aspects of our job functions often reveals new opportunities for service at a level unexpected by our customers. Take a quick survey of the routines in your job that you dread, dislike or find boring. With list in hand, schedule some time to talk with the most imaginative person you know. Ask for suggestions that might breathe new life and excitement into these routines. A fresh perspective may reveal possibilities to which we have become blind.

 Additionally, ask for the opportunity to spend some time each month working along side another employee in a job other than your own. This might be a subordinate, a peer, and when appropriate, a superior. The new perspective will give you a better understanding of the overall direction of your organization. You will have the chance to learn more broad-based skills and develop more collaborative working relationships. The change of pace and scenery allow you an opportunity to be infused with new insights and energy regarding how you might better serve your customers.

 2.  Listen, Think and Use Common Sense.

 Exceptional customer service boils down to building relationships with people. The best service providers are interested in the customer’s needs and work to provide a satisfactory solution for those needs. As you are engaged with each customer, ask thoughtful, focused questions that will reveal what the customer is thinking, how the customer is feeling and what the customer wants to happen next. Once you ask a question - listen. The response the customer provides will help you formulate ways to create a common sense, tailor-made plan of service.

 3.  Bend the Rules, Sometimes.

 Some people have been trained and conditioned to think bending rules and going against established organizational policies - for any reason - is the equivalent of heresy.  Hear me clearly, I contend that “bending” rules is different than “breaking” them. An example might help here. The clothing store policy states that store hours are from 10:00am to 9:00pm. A customer purchased several garments and has requested alterations. She needs the items for a business trip tomorrow. The alterations have been completed, but your customer must leave town before the 10:00am store opening time. Question: Which will build your customer service momentum more quickly - opening early for your customer to pick up her alterations or forcing her to abide by the company policy? Gray areas like this occur in business every day. Consider these two points of caution. Evaluate which policies, rules and procedures are pliable and which are not. Those activities that would be too risky, too costly, illegal, immoral or unethical are off limits. The activities which have more room for independent decision making are the ones that, on occasion, can be bent to satisfy the needs of your customers. Finally, take a minute to think. What are the specific, long term ramifications of the action? What is the best thing that can happen if I respond to a customer this way? What is the worst thing that can happen? A moment of thought may save hours of regret.

 4.  Make the Last Few Seconds Count.

 People remember most what they experience last. Making the last few seconds count is a great way to build on the momentum of your customer service efforts. The first step to accomplish this is to display and communicate an appreciative attitude. Tell your customer specifically what you appreciate about them, Specificity proves you know and care about what others do for you. Next, never part company without asking if there is any other way you can help your customer. Offering your assistance is the single beset way to identify continuing or additional needs your customers may have. Finally, if you really want to extend the momentum of your customer service efforts, write your customers a thank you note -whenever possible. This follow up communication is rarely expected. Most service providers miss this additional chance to be top of mind with their customers. It will cause your customer to think about you just a little longer and (hopefully) more positively than your competition. Now that’s momentum!

Phillip Van Hooser
Leadership Expert, Author & Keynote Speaker
phil@vanhooser.com

Phillip Van Hooser’s perspectives and personal experiences change the way people think about leadership and service. His best-selling book, Willie’s Way: 6 Secrets for Wooing, Wowing and Winning Customers and Their Loyalty, has been used by companies all across the U.S. and beyond to help their people develop a renewed spirit for serving their customers. A frequent keynote speaker for top U.S. corporations, Phil shares many of his leadership and service strategies for top U.S. corporations. Learn more now at www.vanhooser.com.

One of my favorite grade school activities was “Show and Tell.” You remember the drill. Students were asked to bring something of interest to them to class to share with their fellow classmates. When called upon, each student would both “show” some manifestation of their chosen topic and then “tell” or explain its relevance. Teachers have long known that many students learn more effectively when they both see and hear. Adult life-long learners still do.

Several months ago, I was asked to participate in creating interactive training programs, delivered via the internet that would allow interested supervisors and managers to get a better handle on the difficult and often troubling tasks of employee interviewing and performance evaluations. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to revisit the many lessons I learned in my former professional life as a Human Resources manager to create the content for the two sessions described below. I encourage you to take a look for yourself.

The Art of Interviewing and Selection

Effective interviewing and selection is one of the key activities for all corporations that value employees as their most valuable asset. Unfortunately, most organizations treat interviewing as an afterthought. Companies don’t spend the time, attention, and effort required to identify and define the characteristics and attributes that make a valuable employee – generally resulting in poor hiring decisions.

Interviewing and Selection features leadership speaker Phillip Van Hooser with an effective blueprint to the employee selection decision and interview process. Business leaders and HR personnel can use his selection blueprint to find the “best suited” candidate for each and every job to be filled, greatly raising the chances of finding and retaining the best employees for their organization.

After taking Interviewing and Selection, users will be able to clearly identify which interviewees will be best suited for the organization, who can contribute to the overall effectiveness of the team.

The Art of Employee Appraisals: Keeping Staff at High Performance

Employee evaluations and appraisals are an important tool for keeping staff at high performance - even for the best, most highly motivated employees. They help provide direction regarding their past and current performance levels, and help them manage their future performance. Evaluations and appraisals are even more critical for marginal or under-performing employees. Supervisors, managers, and HR personnel must be well prepared in order to effectively evaluate, and set goals during the appraisal process.

When business leaders use feedback as a performance setting tool, it is critical to instill a fair and effective process of appraising and evaluating employees. Honest and open feedback can be difficult for employees to deal with unless the right culture and appraisal structure has been established. Without these structures, performance will usually suffer. The Art of Employee Appraisals offers ideas with impact and recommends structures for effectively evaluating and communicating feedback to employees within your organization.

These employee evaluation and appraisal techniques have been tested and proven by speaker Phillip Van Hooser in various organizations throughout North America, and will work for your organization as well.

And For Those Looking for a Customer Service Booster Shot…

Those of you who have read my books, newsletters and articles for years know that I am sold on the importance of serving customers professionally. Well, I’m pleased to report that I have a new tool to recommend for your customer service tool box.

My dear friend and professional speaking colleague, Shep Hyken, has just release his new book, “The Cult of the Customer: Create an Amazing Customer Experience That Turns Satisfied Customers into Customer Evangelists.”  This book shows you how to design a strategy that leads both customers and employees through five distinct cultural phases – from “uncertainty” to “amazement.”  It includes dozens of case studies that show how great companies made this journey; the critical changes that allowed these companies to build a Cult of the Customer.

By the way, there’s even a special opportunity of which you should be aware. Buy the book on Tuesday, April 7 at Amazon.com and you will receive several bonuses that will make this book even more valuable to you. Go to Cult Of The Customer to learn more.

Phillip Van Hooser
Leadership Expert, Author & Keynote Speaker
phil@vanhooser.com