Customer Service: Stop Sabotaging Your Customer Relationships
If youīve called for customer service recently youīre familiar with this recorded message "This call may be recorded or monitored for quality purposes." I immediately think to myself, "Oh great, here comes the game of 20 questions."
Now donīt get me wrong. I spent many, many years training Customer Service Reps. (CSRīs). Iīm all for making sure customers receive the best possible service. What Iīm not for is the pre-scripted list of questions CSRīs are required to ask, regardless of whether they are applicable to the situation at hand. Iīve seen some checklists with as many as 25 pre-scripted "call quality" standards that CSRīs are required to use. If they donīt, and someone happens to monitor the call, they get marked down. Ludicrous I say!
Let me give you a few highlights from a recent call I made to my well-known auto club:
CSR: What is the year, make and model of your vehicle?
Me: 2000, GMC, Yukon, Denali
CSR: There is no 2000, GMC, Yukon, Denali (obviously it couldnīt be found in her list of computer options so she needed to tell me I was wrong)
Me: Yes there is, I drive it every day
CSR: Whatīs wrong with your vehicle?
Me: I donīt know. It wonīt start.
CSR: Does it need to be towed or jumped?
Me: I donīt know. I donīt know whatīs wrong with it.
CSR: Well do you think it needs to be towed or jumped?
Me: I have no clue.
CSR: Where is your vehicle?
Me: In my garage.
CSR: Can you push it out of the garage into the driveway or the street?
Me: No. Itīs a full size SUV. I canīt push it anywhere.
CSR: Is there another way you can get it out of the garage?
Me: No. It wonīt start.
Eventually, after Iīd jumped through enough hoops, the call finally ended.
Chances are it wasnīt the CSRīs idea to get her laughs for the day by asking me stupid questions. Instead, her own company sabotaged her ability to quickly and efficiently take care of her customer, by requiring she use a scripted questioning process.
What Could Have Gone Better? For starters, rather than telling me that the make and model of my vehicle didnīt exist, she could have said that she was having trouble finding it in her database, and then asked for verification. Next, instead of asking me twice about whether the truck needed to be "jumped or towed", she might have asked if I had any ideas about what could be wrong with it.
And finally, considering that she already knew the vehicle wouldnīt start, asking a woman to push a truck out of a garage seems a little unreasonable.
What Needs To Change? First, re-think your call quality standards. You may have too many standards; they may be too focused on internally created "shoulds", with very little focus on what matters most to your customers. Involve your CSRīs and customers in the process.
Secondly, empower and train your CSRīs to think, act and personalize service to best accommodate the given situation. One size does not fit all, or even most! Teach your CSRīs how to recognize different communication styles, and then how to adapt their personal style so they can best relate to the customer as an individual. In other words, teach CSRīs how to treat customers how THEY want to be treated.
And thirdly, continually ask for feedback from CSRīs as well as customers. Make time to find out whatīs working and whatīs not working. Pay attention to what they have to say. Make ongoing improvements that benefit everyone. Repeat the cycle.
Companies spend thousands, if not millions of dollars each year to acquire new customers, yet sometimes they forget about how to best take care of the customers they already have.
Everyday your customers and your CSRīs make decisions about whether to stay with your company or go to your competitor. Loyalty is built on good, solid relationships. Your company relies on the loyalty of your CSRīs to service your customers. And great customer service can set you apart from your competition. Take action now! Stop sabotaging those relationships with unnecessary standards that donīt really matter to your customers. Your customers and your CSRīs will love you for it.
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