A: Anticipate: Plan ahead for possible sangs.Do you need extra staff on a busy weekend? Is rain predicted the night of your outdoor luau? Will you have enough merchandise for the upcoming sale? Anticipating problems saves you headaches later on.
B: Balance: Maintain a balance between your personal and professional life. It's easy to get so caught up serving customers you forget to take time for personal relaxation and recreation.
C: Creativity: People are looking for more than dull, ordinary customer service. Be creative in signage, programs and special events. Many businesses offer customers a chance to get their picture taken with Santa. Why not offer pictures with the Grinch?
D: Donate: Foster positive community relationships by donating products or services. Offer a free monthly swim pass from your athletic center to silent auctions or community fundraisers. Offer to loan your extra display units to an elementary school planning a reading festival.
E: Exceed: Exceed customer expectations. Do that tiny bit of extra service that leaves people with the feeling of, "Wait till I tell my friends what happened at that bank!"
F: Fun: Doesn't everyone want some humor in their lives? Add elements of fun for customers. Give a box of chocolate to every 25th customer signing up for an account. Hold raffles for gag gifts. Have staff dress in costumes for various events. Offer half price admission to your theater or bowling center if people wear pink or white on Valentine's Day.
G: Go Green: Many people want to do their part for the environment. Provide recycling bins. Sponsor a recycling carnival where you use empty cans, newspapers and egg cartons to construct carnival booths.
H: Help: Help your staff have a positive attitude. Your smile and upbeat personality helps them cope with the stresses of the day.
I: Innovative: Take a risk and try new things. Encourage staff to give input about registration or ordering supplies. Their new ideas might provide better customer service.
J: Juggle: Expecting extra long lines? Hire a professional juggler to teach juggling skills to customers if they have to wait in line at your business.
K: Knowledge: Even though you feel there's never enough time, try to learn some new skills. Read a book on something besides your particular field. Take a class in an area that's new to you.
L: Leadership: Often, the leader of a department determines its success. Develop your own style of management. People see when you are sincere, instead of trying to imitate Colin Powell.
M: Memory Making: Does your business cater to families? Some families have limited time together. Do what you can to create a time of positive memories for them. Offer small rewards to children with good grades. Offer discount tickets to movies or skating centers.
N: Novelties: Many people love getting small key chains or notepads from businesses. Pass out novelty items as a fun way to let customers know you appreciate their business.
O: Organized: If organization isn't one of your strengths,get help fast! Customers immediately notice when a business is organized. Make checklists, have supplies on hand and have a back-up plan.
P: Pretend: Pretend you are a customer. See things from a customer's point of view. Eat the hotdogs sold in the snack bar. Stand in line to open a new checking account. Better yet, ask your mother to pretend to be a customer. She'll certainly tell you where you need to improve!
Q: Quality: Customers expect high quality when dealing with your business. Return phone calls and e-mails within 24 hours. Handle complaints in a professional manner. Provide a small bouquet of flowers in the bathrooms.
R: Resourceful: How can you stretch your staff training budget? Ask Toastmaster groups to lead a session on public speaking. Ask a local high school for the decorations after their prom. You'll get great themed items to use to decorate your business. Set up a display about your business at community events.
S: Surprise: Add that unexpected element of surprise to your customers. Call them by name. Thank them for participating in past programs. Send them a birthday card.
T: Training: Ongoing training is essential to keep staff motivated. Use role playing and small group discussions at staff meetings. Invite a customer to share their personal experiences, so staff has insight into customer's opinions.
U: Unique: What makes your business unique? Is it the quality of staff? Extra clean restrooms? Unusual facilities? Low cost? High cost for quality service? Find something that makes your programs stand out from the rest.
V: Versatile: Try cross-training staff so they become more versatile. They'll also gain an awareness of the various duties required to keep the business running smoothly.
W: Why? Ask yourself why customers would want to do business with you. What can you offer that your competitors can't?
X: Xylophone: Learn to play the xylophone so you can perform at staff meetings. (What did you expect from the letter X? Install a coin-operated X-ray machine?)
Y: Young At Heart: Don't forget inter-generational marketing possibilities. Grandparents enjoy spending special time together with grandkids. Plan a tea party for grandparents and grandkids when you open a new branch office or have a special sale.
Z: Zany: Let loose and get silly at times! Customers enjoy seeing your staff with a light hearted attitude. It is possible to be professional and also have fun.
Information On Customer Service
Holiday shopping season officially starts the day after Thanksgiving. Traditionally called Black Friday, what for most of the country is a day to sleep late and socialize with visiting relatives and friends, is for retail workers the beginning of the countdown until close of business on Christmas Eve. Swarms of people come out to see what is available, enjoy the decorations and wistfully lament how fast time goes by. How can it be Christmas again already?
It's the retail rhythm of life, and stores are the official worship centers of this highly consumeristic season. As a precursor to this main event, an article flashed across my computer screen last week, indicating that disgruntled shoppers were taking charge and fighting back against poor customer service. I can only imagine what these irate and aggravated customers did to vent their frustration regarding being overcharged and underserved. But I also know what it feels like to stand behind the counter, exhausted, aiming to do everything I can to help, but what I have to offer is seen as not enough.
What customers who complain about poor customer service will not tell you is their whole side of the story. They won't tell you they have not ordered their merchandise early enough to be delivered before they need to be on the plane to their mom's house in another state. They won't tell you that they broke the pretty blue and white vase, the last one in stock, as they put it into their car. It was , you see, broken when they purchased it, and they want a refund. They also won't tell you how they held up the line behind them being unpleasant to a sales associate who was unable to locate their item in the back room because they had ordered a completely different product from another company.
What you will hear is the partial story. Although it is the truth, it is not the whole truth. The truth, the whole truth, is that many of us know we have put too much pressure on ourselves regarding shopping and entertaining, we have waited too long to be able to complete our tasks thoroughly, let alone joyfully, and so we become frustrated, blaming other people at hand for our poor choices. I have stood on this side of the counter too, and recognized the bitterness and enraged feelings that begin to rise inside me like music from a horror movie, as the hidden monster was about to strike.
Raising this issue now is a moment to remember all the times I realized, as I rang people up for ornaments, holiday serving pieces and collector nutcrackers, that blaming retailers for poor customer service is a lot like how we treat God when our prayers are not answered and things don't go our way. Prayers are very much like sales transactions. We place our order for the work, the relationship, the house, the vacation, the weather we want, move on to the next task, and assume God is at work on filling our order. when we realize that the order hasn't been filled to our specifications, we often become irritated, blame God and wonder why God is being mean to us, ignoring us, or not giving us what we want. What about that whole asking and receiving business in the bible? Doesn't that really work?
Our overabundance of material wealth in the United States has backfired on us in so many ways. We assume that if we want something, it must be available, and be available when we say so, even when we are dealing with God Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. God's abundance is always at our door, but not always at our disposal. God isn't about supporting our use it/toss it society, regarding material objects or human resources. God is also not about being dictated to according to the terms we set for how we think things should run.
In chapter forty, verse twenty-five, the prophet Isaiah asks us, on God's behalf, an important question: To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? Do we really want to be treating God as a purveyor of poor customer service in our lives? Do we really think God isn't treating us kindly or lovingly just to make our lives miserable? I do believe God has an interesting way of working with circumstances that doesn't usually enter my mind, except in retrospect. But I also believe that God has my best interests in mind, and is quite delighted to help whenever asked with an open mind and heart.
It's my heartfelt hope that as we stand on the threshold of another holiday season, that we can approach each other with open hearts and minds, remembering that, given the truth and a chance, most people will do their best for each other, simply because they can and they want to.
Both Silvana Clark & Cory L. Kemp are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Silvana Clark has sinced written about articles on various topics from Customer Service, Raising Capital and Stress Management. Silvana Clark presents keynotes and workshops on improving customer service. Her sessions are practical and involve audience participation. http://www.silvanaclark.com. Silvana Clark's top article generates over 201000 views. Bookmark Silvana Clark to your Favourites.
Cory L. Kemp has sinced written about articles on various topics from Women, Women and Customer Service. As an ordained minister, Rev. Kemp has worked in both pastoral and educational ministries in several congregations. Her ministerial background and love of writing have combined to develop Creating Women Ministries, a website dedicated to encouraging the. Cory L. Kemp's top article generates over 74000 views. Bookmark Cory L. Kemp to your Favourites.
Clothing In The Medieval Times It has been around for many centuries because it is super comfortable and it looks great. If the people from the medieval times think chemise lingerie is cool, all females should think the same wa...
