Exceptional customer service will keep your business afloat

The customer service function, particularly in service companies, is the most challenged during the Christmas season. Department store salespeople have to contend with clients who demand quick assistance, oblivious to the mammoth number of shoppers that compete for attention. Airline, hotel and restaurant desks have to muster extreme patience and control when confronted with irate patrons who may turn into monsters in a jiffy, unmindful that they are not the only ones that are on the line — offline or online.

It cannot be overemphasized that businesses need to honor their customers’ wishes if they want to keep their operations afloat. In a rush like the merriest of seasons, and more so in a harsh business milieu, your customers are more on the ball and more disbelieving than ever before. Sharp competition and the emergence of mounting alternatives for your customers are there to confront you.

While using all the most up-to-date marketing techniques, you cannot lose sight of the human needs and attractions each customer brings to the table. You just have to deal with their quirks and their “yakety-yaks.” After all, the adage  “the customer is king, and is always right” remains true to this day. Surely, there are ways to face off with the furious types. As a head of a company says, “Even when a customer wants something that you can’t give him, if you explain the reasons behind your inability to grant his wish and offer an alternative, you can typically get the relationship back on course. Feeling that they’ve been treated fairly is more important to most people than simply being right.”

If dealing with troublesome customers tops your “must-manage” list, to help you handle it, you may want to refer to Who’s Your Gladys? How To Turn Even The Most Difficult Customer Into Your Biggest Fan, a customer-service classic co-authored by two USA-based businesswomen, Marilyn Suttle and Lori Jo Vest.  Suttle is a recognized consultant in relationship building, and Lori Jo Vest is a seasoned practitioner of building customer relationships in the communications and television industry. The book revolves around the documented experiences of 10 firms. Each narrative is presented as an unconnected episode, and each deals with a specific customer problem and issue.

The book has an interesting title. You may ask, “Who is Gladys, and what is her relevance in the book?”  Well, as Suttle and Vest explain, Gladys refers to an impossible-to-please client featured in the first case study they use in the tome. Both are convinced that using the name as an example will allow you to win over even the most difficult customers. But it could very well be Rochelle, Lou, Chito, Ron or Harold. Gladys is the personification of everyone’s demanding client, co-employee or employer — one who is hard to please, bad-tempered, complicated, and requires a high level of skill to manage. Essentially, Gladys is a wet blanket. The authors advocate a viewpoint common to good customer service: treat others as you would want them to treat you, which is akin to the classic golden rule: “Do unto others what you want others to do unto you.”

The book features case studies from diverse companies —Singapore Airlines, ISCO Industries, and Clear Vision Optical, among others — and images of how they maneuvered to complement their “Gladys” and how to go beyond the prospects.

Singapore Airlines, for example, has the “tea service story.” Candidates for customer service representative positions are put in a room with chairs and a tea service on a table. The room has a one-way mirror to observe. The only applicants that progress to the next step are the ones who engage others in conversation and offer tea to others in the room. These are the ones with a service-oriented mentality who try to avoid creating difficult customers in the first place. You should “remember that even when you have no control over a situation, you always have control over your response to it.”

ClearVision Optical puts a high value on employee well-being by conducting employee surveys regarding workspace conditions and process inefficiencies, publicly recognizing employees who have received customer compliments and gifts and holding social events for employees such as theater outings and holiday parties.

Preston Wynne Spa is an award-winning spa in Saratoga, California, that services an affluent and highly demanding clientele. It has a staff of 80 employees who are instructed to not use industry-standard scripted language when dealing with clients, but to keep conversations natural and professional. Doing this, each client experiences the kind of personalized care for which the spa is known. Both management and staff interview potential new employees, and this process empowers coworkers to assume ownership of new hires. If a new employee doesn’t buy into the company’s customer service philosophy within 30 days, chances are he will not make it. Managers provide quick, 10-minute reviews for each member of the staff on a monthly basis and maintain a continuous flow of communication, resulting in a low employee turnover rate.

A common element among the case studies cited in the book is empathy — the ability to put oneself in the shoes of a client who has communicated to complain, and treat them not as a problem but as a person.  “Loving what you do and loving whom you are doing it for” is another common thread. This can be challenging if you are discontented in your work, which may be the result of having the wrong personality type for the position, lack of proper training, or neglecting your personal mental or physical health. Discontentment with your work will, in due course, spread to how you behave toward customers and colleagues, no matter how hard you try to suppress it.

Delivering good to excellent customer service is a way of life for companies and their employees. Delivered well, it can bring great results; delivered badly, it can lose clients and sales. The book shares a long list of quotable and “clippable” must-dos to transport the business of customer service to a superior level. These short quips can also work for political wannabes who have to face up to an electorate who have varying degrees of likes or dislikes.

• See the positive qualities in a client with negative behavior.

• Feel compassion while your customers vent their emotions.

• Get to know and love your customers, and give them what they need.

• Be fully present and take care of the details in your everyday actions.

• View challenging situations as opportunities to strengthen the customer relationship.

• Honor the customs of your customers.

• Find value in the lessons learned from mistakes.

• Empathize with your customers; meet the unique needs of your customers.

• Pick a role model who has the qualities you want to develop.

• Establish trust and credibility; know what they think.

• Answer repetitive questions graciously.

• See customers as people, not as problems.

• Make decisions that delight customers.

• Do what you love to do and do it well.

• Keep your promises.

• Anticipate customer preferences.

• Offer control.

• Understand the customer’s emotional response.

• Communicate a consistent message of hospitality.

• Cater to the customer’s lifestyle.

• Exceed expectations; do the right thing all the time.

• Institute long-term thinking.

• Build win-win relationships.

• Be entrepreneurial, regardless of your job description.

• Adopt creative problem solving.

• Personalize your approach.

• Offer a “low-pressure, high-pleasure” experience.

• Touch on the emotional benefits of your product.

• Manage expectations.

• Formulate a habit of asking customers what they think.

• Contact your customer continuously.

• Maintain the relationship during and after the sale.

• Put the right people on the job.

• Interpret a client’s communication style.

• Contribute to a happy work environment.

• Present an artistic service performance consistently.

• Evaluate results.

• Ensure all interactions end on a happy note.

• Provide a competitive differentiator.

• Use customer surveys to gain valuable information about what your customers really want.

• Respond to a customer’s negative opinions with personal contact.

• Be fair with customers, even when they make an unreasonable request.

• Cultivate a culture of inclusivity.

• See every complaint as a gift.

• Educate and empower the front line.

• Show appreciation.

• Use both your head and your heart.

• Know when to say goodbye.

When times are tough and customer pesos are scarce, your exceptional customer service will help your business weather the storm. No doubt about that.

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Email bongosorio@yahoo.com for comments, questions or suggestions. Thank you for communicating.