The CRM Textbook: customer relationship training Terry James © 2006 Chapter 6: Service

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 2 How good is excellent service? The customer decides The target is not stationary Even if you are on the right track, a train will run you over if you just sit there

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 3 20 second meltdown A year of sales work can be undone in 20 seconds on a support call. A year of lunches, coddling, relationship building, … undone by one rude service call. CRM is a team effort Sales should warn Service about important clients Sales should follow-up after clients sign the cheque. Service should be proactive. See issues as opportunities, recapture lost clients.

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 4 Iceberg model 10% Complain to help desk 90% -too busy to complain -complained to friends instead -intended to complain but didn’t -just never came back -etc

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 5 Add it all up… One bad employee could see a complaint to the employee, a manager, service desk, executive, branch manager, …. Unless you add it up, you don’t see the scale of the damage If people find the support useless, they stop calling Waiting too long so they walk away, Never solve the real issue so they lose confidence, Fewer calls does not mean improved service or no issues.

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 6 The customer survey Short and sweet 5 or less questions Randomly selected clients No sampling errors What are we doing wrong, AND what are we doing right? Ensure executives will take ACTION on findings or don’t bother to ask

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 7 Examples of client survey? How are we doing? How quickly did we respond? How courteous were our staff? How knowledgeable were our staff? Did you get the result you wanted? Overall, how would you rate us? Comment on ways we can improve?

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 8 Role play common issues Client jumps the line Client is screaming Voic hell Client has still furious about an issue from 10 years ago Note: Excellent book is “Perfect Phrases for Customer Service” by Robert Bacal (2005)

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 9 Client jumps in front of a line What do you do? Don’t serve the client Anyone delayed will blame you for the delay, not the rude client Face saving technique The line starts over here, but I know it can be confusing sometimes. I will be glad to serve you when it is your turn. Verbal softener Don’t issue commands or authority. Use softeners like ‘perhaps’ ‘unlikely’ etc. Perhaps you did not see the line (Bacal, 2005).

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 10 Emotional customers People who are yelling and angry are usually not very rational Let them calm down Try to move them away from other clients Just listen Provide feedback once they are rational Get to main issue

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 11 Voic hell (Bacal, 2005) What do you do? Assurance of effort Apologize You’re right Offer choices – empower Broken record Refocus

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 12 Angry for 10 years Don’t take the bait The client can’t wait to tell you about the past incident Stay focused on current service need Repeat focus as needed

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 13 Common errors Start by working on the right problem Obvious, but one most common and difficult areas is not properly understanding the requirements End by Asking if there was anything else Thank the customer

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 14 Don’t Wait to be asked for help Show off -make client feel stupid Use jargon Interrupt Talk to employees while client waits Route the client around Say you “Don’t know” then walk away Guess

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 15 Wow factor Delight the client –what is the trap? Show appreciation Guarantee service Be proactive Be thankful

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 16 Active listening Listen to more than just words Tone of voice Body language Folded arms, turning away, yawning, trembling,… Facial expressions Eye contact Type of person Repeat it back to ensure you got it right

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 17 Cancel the account. DSBAh6RY

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 18 Conflict management All conflict is not bad Conflict can be helpful and constructive Work on one issue at a time If you keep jumping around, you may never solve a single issue There are many levels – go for win-win Walk away, smooth, compromise, compete, or win-win Lose-lose, lose-win/win-lose are poor fallbacks Try to work collaboratively to find solution for everyone Listen actively -put yourself in their shoes, how would you feel, what would you want if you were the customer? Don’t go with the first positive suggestion, work to find the best of many solutions

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 19 Root cause analysis Log every issue Treat causes, not symptoms Ensure the problem is fixed so that it NEVER occurs again. Do you understand the problem? Collect all the symptoms and data, rather than treat just one symptom 1. Identify the underlying cause of the symptoms 2. Does fixing the identified cause remove the problem, or do you see new symptoms and problems? 3. Once you have the correct cause, test your solution. 4. Document the lessons learned to provide a knowledge base 5. Ensure this type of error never occurs again by integrating the learning across the organization.

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 20 Service center Leaders should see the service center as a profit center, not a cost center Most Canadian leaders focus almost exclusively on Improving lowering costs It should be about improving profits Don’t focus on number of calls per hour number of calls issues closed customer satisfaction These are standard measures, you will get what you ask for, but beware of what you ask for. CSRs will take easiest calls first to raise volume of calls handled They will ask open multiple issues for one problem They will not promote products, cross-sell, or build relationships They will rush clients

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 21 Better management Focus on improving customer satisfaction in the important segments Lower satisfaction for low margin clients may improve profits Proactive fixes can reduce costs CSR can generate profits Make cold calls during low use periods Find new leads or referrals Cross-sell when clients are impressed with service Improve ROI of service area ROI = return on investment

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 22 ROI ROI = Number of Problems x Average Impact of Problem x Lost Referral factor x Lost Loyalty factor x Value of Segment Weight x Value of Satisfaction Level.

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 23 Old way – focus on costs Current PerformanceTarget Performance Next Year 50% clients - happy or somewhat happyIncrease to 60% 10 calls per hour per employee12 calls per hour per employee 3 minute wait time per callUnder 1 minute per call 90% complaints resolved95% complaints resolved New Way: focus on profits Current PerformanceTarget Performance Next Year ROI 10% most profitable segment are very happy Increase to 20%1.2 million 15% most profitable segment somewhat happy Increase to 25%4.3 million 0% sales made by service areaCross-selling1 million

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 24 Service employees Work directly with clients These employees matter Training Let them see, use, test, and provide input on new products Budget Give them a budget to deal with client complaints Control Trust these employees, they know the client better than a managers

© 2003 Terry James. All rights reserved 25 Service technology IVR (interactive voice response) CTI, computer telephony integration Call routing technology Outbound dialers Scripting Don’t sound like you are reading Scheduling Analytics