Revitalizing Your Customer Service Culture

12 Steps to Keeping Customers

Even though the economy demands that we hold on to our customers, most businesses lose them every day because of bad service. Smart executives know that customer service development is an on-going process, not just a training event. If your goal is an excellent customer service culture throughout the organization, the following 12-step process will generate the desired results.

1. Gain buy-in from the top

One approach to capturing senior management's attention for building the customer service skills of staff and management is to calculate the value of one lifetime customer to the organization. When you present this figure, oftentimes six or seven figures, consider the number of customers who don't return due to service issues. One executive calculated the return on investment for an organization-wide training initiative in relationship to a real example of a saved customer. A typical customer for his company can bring in up to $140,000 in revenue per year. If the customer stays with the company for twenty years, which is not unusual, that would be a $2.8 million customer. Statistically this customer will share his or her experience with ten others, who may bring business to this company. Therefore this customer's positive experience could generate $28 million in revenue. When compared to the cost of the organization-wide training initiative, the return on investment turned out to be 933:1. In addition to the investment of resources, senior managers need to provide a clear vision of the organization and articulate how excellent service fits into the long-term plan.

2. Measure first

Use data as a basis for understanding current service levels and where these levels can improve. Such data can come from surveys of staff and customers. One type of survey to document the impact of training is to ask employees the following questions before and after training:

The people I work with...

  • have an attitude that represents excellent customer service
  • practice effective listening skills to identify customer needs
  • practice body language that delivers a positive message to customers
  • take advantage of all opportunities to deliver excellent service
  • effectively resolve conflict with customers
  • go the extra mile to delight customers

One hospital asked its employees, as part of an employee survey, "would you bring your family here?" This type of question can solicit valuable data about the need to improve customer service in the organization. In addition, customer letters, complaints, and casual feedback are invaluable tools for learning where the opportunities are for improvement.

3. Make service-skill building a part of your strategic plan

If customer service is a key part of the organization's vision and data says it needs to improve, goals related to customer service need to be a component of every department's plan. Dealing with naysayers in the organization becomes much less of a barrier when everyone is accountable for excellent service. ...

4. Structure accountability and train at the management level

Too often training, OD, and HR professionals are expected to change the customer service culture without the managers' involvement in the process. ...

5. Find the right training solution

A quality customer service training program designed to improve the service culture includes:

  • Behavior-changing activities
  • Service standards customized for the organziation
  • Skill building for both internal and external customer service
  • Linkage of standards to performance management
  • Relevant case studies specific to the service provided
  • An interactive and enjoyable experience for participants
  • Application to all levels of the organization
  • Specific modules for managers, which include leadership behaviors, managing feedback, measuring service, writing service standards, and recognition
  • Capacity for delivery by internal resources

Bob's article also covers the following sections:

6. Plan the launch

7. Make it a big deal

8. Deliver quality training

9. Identify barriers to excellent service in training

10. Re-measure results

11. Start process improvement teams as a results of the training

12. Build customer service training into new employee orientation.

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