Archive for November, 2008

Train of Life

Monday, November 24th, 2008

This poem really spoke to me and I decided to post it here.  Enjoy and I hope it makes a difference in your life – it already has in mine.

Some folks ride the train of life
Looking out the rear,
Watching miles of life roll by,
And marking every year.

They sit in sad remembrance,
Of wasted days gone by,
And curse their life for what it was,
And hang their head and cry.

But I don’t concern myself with that,
I took a different vent,
I look forward to what life holds,
And not what has been spent.

So strap me to the engine,
As securely as I can be,
I want to be out on the front,
To see what I can see.

I want to feel the winds of change,
Blowing in my face,
I want to see what life unfolds,
As I move from place to place.

I want to see what’s coming up,
Not looking at the past,
Life’s too short for yesterdays,
It moves along too fast.

So if the ride gets bumpy,
While you are looking back,
Go up front, and you may find,
Your life has jumped the track.

It’s all right to remember,
That’s part of history,
But up front’s where it’s happening,
There’s so much mystery.

The enjoyment of living,
Is not where we have been,
It’s looking ever forward,
To another year and ten.

It’s searching all the byways,
Never should you refrain,
For if you want to live your life,
You gotta drive the train.

by Marv Hardin

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Are You Taking Care of Your Employees?

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

A recent NIOSH study report that

 

v     more than 50% of employees view job stress as a major problem in their lives – double from a decade ago

v     $300 + billion in absenteeism, burnout, etc. – up from $200 = just 10 years ago according to the American Institute of Stress

v     85% of corporate executives don’t use all the time off they’re entitled to. 

 

Are you one of these statistics?

 

More specifically, it’s reported that customer service/technical support positions are one of the 10 most stressful jobs in America today.  As a matter of fact, 45% of all manager and 75% of all workers say “my job causes me stress.”   Do you agree?

 

A recent survey done by CCH a provider of human resources and employment law information released its 2005 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey with interesting results.  It found that only 35% of unscheduled absences are due to illness.  What’s the other 65% you ask?

 

            21% family issues

            18% personal needs

            14% entitlement mentality

            12% stress

 

Further it’s estimated that employee absenteeism costs companies $660 per employee per year, up from $610 in 2004. And, low morale continues to take its toll in higher costs and rates of absence.

 

On the other hand, a new word (at least to me) “presenteeism”—when a sick employee comes to work—is a concern for 48% of the companies in this survey.

 

What are companies doing?  The survey found that 67% of companies have programs for work-life balance, absence-control programs (leave for school functions), alternate work arrangements, etc. as compared to 16% in 2000.

 

I don’t necessarily agree with this.  I believe, and have the case study to support, that if you provide customer service skills training and increase employee’s skill sets, give them the tools and techniques to handle the stress, morale, and entitlement mentality, and acknowledge their worth to you by investing in them, these numbers will notably decrease, morale will significantly increase, as will productivity and customer satisfaction.

 

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The Human Touch Will Never be Replaced

Monday, November 10th, 2008

Historically, customer service was delivered over the phone or in person.  Customers didn’t have many choices, and switching to competitors was cumbersome.  Today, these methods are but two of the many possible points of entry for any given interaction. With all the options the Internet brings, competition is literally a click away.

 

However, online customer service is not good–to put it mildly.  In fact, some people say it stinks. Why?  The web is but one dimension.  It doesn’t have the human response — the necessary for back and forth live communication–that is so critical.

 

Twenty five years from now customers will still be human beings, still be driven by desires and needs.  Virtual environments do not create virtual customers.   Except for the simplest transactions, customers still need to be connected with and nurtured by a live person. Amazon.com has learned this.  They employ hundreds of traditional customer service representatives using phone lines to help customers with questions that cannot be dealt with online. 

 

In today’s competitive marketplace there is little difference between products and services.  What makes the difference, what distinguishes one company from another, is its relationship with the customer.  Who has the awesome responsibility for representing themselves, their companies, perhaps your industry in general?  Your front lines whether they’re receptionists, admins, customer service reps, or you..

 

However, being great on the telephone doesn’t necessarily translate into the written word, whether it’s e-mail, faxback, or text-chat.  As former Labor Secretary Robert Reich has said, one out of six Americans are functionally illiterate. (New York Times, August 11, 1999). 

 

What can we do about this?  Hire for attitude, train for aptitude.  For instance, train for language skills, basic or advanced.  Train for communication and listening skills, rapport building, empathetic responsiveness, conflict resolution, anger diffusion, and other soft skills.  Perceive training as an ongoing process, not an event.

 

One of the most powerful documents in the world, the U.S. Constitution, begins with “We, the people...”  Yes, ‘we the people’ make the difference.

 

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Communiction Is Not a 4-Letter Word!

Monday, November 10th, 2008

What four letter words do we mean? Here are a few:

Talk
Chat
Tell
Blab

Let’s look at ‘talk’ as an example. If I asked you, you could all talk about almost anything at a moment’s notice. In the computer in our brain, we have lots of programs–what we think, what we feel or believe about anything, even things we know absolutely nothing about!  And we can go on and on about any topic. That is the good news.  However, the bad news is that this is what people call communication–and it’s only talk (or chat or blab, etc.).

Poor communication is the most frequently reported single major source of frustration in companies today. What is communication? Simply, communication is threefold. It means that a message was sent, that it was received, and that it was understood.

Experts say that we spend approximately 80% of each day communicating, as follows:

7% words
38% tone of voice and
55 % physiology or body language

Since you are not always face to face with customers, the first two are most important. Your inflection and tone of voice are more impactful than the words. The positive and negative impressions of what you say, and how you say what you say, are more exaggerated. Therefore, you need to learn to control your tone, your tempo, and volume.

Make no mistake, body language can be heard over the phone.  Suppose you are slouching, I bet your voice is very different than when you are sitting up straight.  Also, we all know that a smile can easily be heard over the phone.

The good news is that communication is a learned behavior. If you learned negative patterns, you can release them and replace them with positive ones.

To me communication and listening go hand in hand.  We all think we know how to listen, don’t we?  The fact is that very few people truly know how to listen.  In our earnestness to serve we get pulled out of a conversation by preparing for the answer while the other person is still talking.  We wait for a pause and when the person takes a breath, we jump in to take them where we think they want to go, to improve or remedy the situation, but the truth is if we’re not listening to what they’re saying we won’t even know the question or request, let alone the answer.

Our intentions are good.  We want to give the best response we can, hopefully the right answer.  However, if we’re not present to the conversation, the other person feels not heard, unimportant, ripped off and the like. 

Listening is a respectful act.  We have two ears, two eyes, and one mouth.  Is this a coincidence?  Is there a lesson here?  For those of you who do anagrams, Listen = silent.

While it is true you cannot control how the customer (or anyone) speaks to you, you can control your own response to that person, and thereby greatly influence the course and outcome of any conversation.

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Quality Customer Service Does Exist!

Monday, November 10th, 2008

 

I just had what I would consider an unusual customer service experience.  Why unusual?  Because it surprised me–it was a positive experience–and the person gave me more than I asked for.  This to me is the absolute definition of over deliver and under promise.

 

I was in the market for a flip video camcorder and Googled it.  Then I went to the various sites comparison shopping.  I found a site that was easy to navigate and had the best price.  And they had an 800 number to call which I did.  I was going out of the country 10 days later and wanted to know when it would ship, which carrier, and where it was coming from to be sure I received it before my trip.

 

The customer service agent answered each of my questions to my satisfaction.  When I asked whether I should order it online or with her, I expected her to say it was quite easy to order online.  Instead she said she could take care of everything. 

When it became apparent that I was a new customer (because she asked me), she told me she was going to overnight the product to me, at no extra charge.  I was shocked.  Ground shipping was free which was one of the reasons I chose that site.  However, overnight was not.  But because I mentioned I needed it soon and because I was a new customer, she said she would overnight ut to me and I would have it the next day.

 

That has never happened to me before!  Very impressive.  I felt very taken care of by this customer service agent, and therefore, by the company.

 

Subsequently, coincidence being what it is, I read an article in the September/October 2008 issue of America’s Best.  This is not a magazine I normally subscribe to but I was interviewed for this issue on the psychology of customer service.  Whenever I am interviewed, I always request several copies of the publication.

 

The article I read spoke about this same company I’m writing about.  When asked the question, “How do your associates put such an emphasis on customer service?”  they responded by saying they’ve come up with a creative way to hire employees and ensure their dedication to customer service through their training program.   Their emphasis is on creating a culture of fun and a little weirdness.

 

What impressed me was their philosophy.  Once hired, these employees go through a vigorous two week training process.  Nothing new here, right? 

 

Here’s what different (or at least the first time I’m heard of this), new hires are presented with an “Offer” after they complete the training.

 

The company offers them $2000 to quit right then and there.  For those who don’t, it speaks to their passion for customer service and commitment to the culture and company.  How many take the offer?  One to 2% do take the offer.

 

This company has learned a number of things.  That there is a direct correlation between the customer service associates and their customers.  As a matter of fact, this is key to their success.  And my experience noted above supports their (and my) contention.

 

By separating the wheat from the chaff, you actually save money on labor which is your highest budget item.  When you train employees and they leave during the first year (which statistically is the case), it’s a high cost.  By allowing them to option out and offering them an incentive to do so, those that stay are going to be your best employees and your turnover rates will tumble (which is a good thing).

 

Because this was such a refreshingly great experience for me, I will answer the question I hear you all asking, “What company is it, Rosanne?”  it’s Zappos.

 

ROSANNE D’AUSILIO, Ph.D., an industrial psychologist, consultant, master trainer, best selling author, executive coach, customer service expert, and President of Human Technologies Global, Inc., specializes in human performance management.  Over the last 23 years, she has provided needs analyses, instructional design, and customized, live customer service skills trainings as well as executive/leadership coaching.  Also offered is agent and facilitator university certification through Purdue University’s Center for Customer Driven Quality.

 

Known as ‘the practical champion of the human,’ she authors best sellers “Wake Up Your Call Center: Humanize Your Interaction Hub,” 4th ed, “Customer Service and the Human Experience,” “Lay Your Cards on the Table: 52 Ways to Stack Your Personal Deck (includes a 32-card deck of cards)—motivational and inspirational readings, How to Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch: 101 Insider Tips and hot off the press How to Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch: ANOTHER 101 Insider Tips (http://www.customer-service-expert.com) as well as her popular complimentary ‘tips’ newsletter on How To Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch! available at http://www.HumanTechTips.com

 

Rosanne is also a Certified Call Center Benchmarking Auditor through Purdue University‘s Center for Customer Driven Quality.  This certification training focuses on the access and use of key performance data to help better understand benchmarking results so as to advise on practical solutions for improvement.

 

For 10 years prior to starting her own organization, Rosanne had responsibility for marketing, budgeting, promoting and ultimately producing domestic and international computerized trade shows in the US, London, Belgium, and Frankfurt.   She inaugurated, created, trained and directed a telemarketing on-site staff and was one of the first 150 people to attain CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) certification.                                                                   

 

She is a columnist for TMCnet.com and Ask the Expert at supportindustry.com.  She represents the human element on the Advisory Board of an Italian software company, authors numerous articles for industry newsletters, and is a much sought after dynamic, vibrant, internationally prominent keynote speaker.

 

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