Customer Attitudes Are Affecting Service Delivery

Customer Attitudes Are Affecting Service Delivery

Companies today are struggling with not just providing a good or excellent customer service. They now are searching for ways to provide the best customer service possible in order to stay competitive in a globally competitive marketplace.

One of the biggest challenges for many organizations is that customer behavior continues to evolve as society has become more mobile, technology-driven and frugal following the recent recession. Add to the mix a more diverse consumer base that, in many instances displays needs, wants and expectations that differ from the past and you have a situation in which customer service representatives or service providers in all industries are rethinking the way that they deliver customer service.

Customer Attitudes Are Affecting Service Delivery

Here are some recent study findings that indicate a changing consumer environment:

“Channel usage rates are also quickly changing: we’ve seen a 12% rise in web self-service usage, a 24% rise in chat usage, and a 25% increase in community usage for customer service in the past three years.” Leggett, K., Forrester’s Top 15 Trends For Customer Service In 2013, January 14, 2013.

“…speed of service more important now, regardless of whether they are on the  phone, web, or at the service location:

In essence, people are more likely to use technology to obtain products and services and less likely to tolerate substandard or slow levels of service in today’s fast-paced world of many choices. When your competitor is literally a mouse click or touchpad away, you cannot afford to be complacent or view the customer at the same level you might have in the past.

About Robert C. Lucas

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.

The key to successfully making money as an author and/or self-publisher is to brand yourself and your company and to make yourself and your book(s) a household name. Part of this is face-to-face interaction with people at trade shows, library events, book readings, book store signings, blogging or guest blogging on a topic related to their book(s). Another strategy involves writing articles and other materials that show up online and are found when people search for a given topic related to a topic about which the author has written.

If you need help building an author platform, branding yourself and your book(s) or generating recognition for what you do, Make Money Writing Books will help. Bob’s popular book addresses a multitude of ideas and strategies that you can use to help sell more books and create residual and passive income streams. The tips outlined in the book are focused to help authors but apply to virtually any professional trying to increase personal and product recognition and visibility.

The Role of Gestures in Positive Customer Service

The Role of Gestures in Positive Customer Service

The use of nonverbal communication with your head, hands, arms, and shoulders to accentuate verbal messages can add color, excitement, and enthusiasm to your interactions with customers. Using physical movements naturally during a conversation may either help make a point or result in added credibility.

Typically, movements or gestures are designed to gain and hold attention (e.g. waving a hand to attract the attention of someone), clarify or describe further (e.g. holding up one finger to indicate the number 1), or emphasize a point (e.g. pointing a finger while angrily making a point verbally).The Role of Gestures in Positive Customer Service

Open, flowing gestures (e.g. gesturing with arms, palms open and upward, out and away from the body) encourage listening and help explain messages to customers. On the other hand, closed, restrained movements (e.g. tightly crossed arms, clenched fists, hands in pockets, hands or fingers intertwined and held below waist level or behind the back) could send a message of coolness, insecurity, or disinterest.

One important point to remember in a multicultural world is that nonverbal cues are not universal and a gesture in one country or culture could take on an entirely different meaning in another. Take some time to research common nonverbal cues around the world before using them in public.

The key to effective nonverbal communication is to make gestures seem natural. If you do not normally use gestures when communicating, you may want to practice in front of a mirror until you feel relaxed and the gestures complement your verbal messages without distracting.

For additional ideas and strategies on using nonverbal communication effectively when interacting with customers, get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success. For suggestions on interacting effectively with customers from different backgrounds, check out Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures.

About Robert C. Lucas

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.

The key to successfully making money as an author and/or self-publisher is to brand yourself and your company and to make yourself and your book(s) a household name. Part of this is face-to-face interaction with people at trade shows, library events, book readings, book store signings, blogging or guest blogging on a topic related to their book(s). Another strategy involves writing articles and other materials that show up online and are found when people search for a given topic related to a topic about which the author has written.

If you need help building an author platform, branding yourself and your book(s) or generating recognition for what you do, Make Money Writing Books will help. Bob’s popular book addresses a multitude of ideas and strategies that you can use to help sell more books and create residual and passive income streams. The tips outlined in the book are focused to help authors but apply to virtually any professional trying to increase personal and product recognition and visibility.

Customer Service Strategies That Aid Customer Satisfaction and Retention

Customer Service Strategies That Aid Customer Satisfaction and Retention

Customer Service Strategies That Aid Customer Satisfaction and Retention

It seems like many organizations are spending a lot of time, effort and money try to impress or “wow” customers, rather than focusing on solid strategies for simply giving them what they want and expect. Unfortunately, a lot of people I know tell me that they are not impressed with all the razzle-dazzle of the latest technology and scripted responses used by customer service representatives. Instead, they just want service providers who are knowledgeable, empowered to act, can communicate effectively and make appropriate decisions in a service situation, especially if service has already broken down.

The following strategies can help accomplish customer satisfaction and potentially lead to more loyal customers.

Create an effective communication environment. One trend that seems to be gaining ground with a lot of companies is that they are actively trying to improve the systems that collect information from customers and communicate with them. Not only must service representatives communicate; they must also actively listen to what the customer is saying and address concerns, needs, and expectations promptly and professionally. Part of this communication is the integration of online and mobile technology processes that give customers a variety of options to access information and service twenty-four hours a day, all year long (24/7/365). All of this is in response to the recognition that there has to be a better response to life balance issues of customers who are demanding that someone be “on-call” to address their needs when they want service.

Provide enhanced service training. Concerned organizations are also working harder to train their employees to really listen to customers and effectively analyze what they are saying. Whether customers communicate in person, over the telephone or via one of the numerous technology channels, successful organizations are striving to better understand and address customer needs in a timely and professional manner.

Using technology that makes sense. In past decades, the use of computers has been integrated into nearly every aspect of business and service delivery. More recently, mobile technology and person data delivery systems have created a more tech-savvy customer base which assumes that service mechanisms, to which they have access and use daily, will be integrated into the service solution equation. Intuitive approaches, apps, and other technology-based mechanisms are being designed and used by many of the top-rated organizations in the 21st Century.

The key to effectively creating and supporting a truly service-oriented customer-centric environment in today’s world is to step back and analyze what the actual needs of customers are and then set out to find ways to address them. This gets back to the first point…actively listening to your customers.

For additional information, ideas, strategies on how to build stronger relationships with customers in order to help achieve customer satisfaction and build customer relationships, get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success.

 

Customer Service Skills for Success

Customer Service Skills for Success – Tips for Delivering Excellent Customer Service

In one of my books, Customer Service: Skills for Success, I feature how-to strategies on topics for customer service representatives that can assist in moving from good customer service to excellent customer service delivery. By applying strategies found in the text, customer service professionals can enhance their knowledge and skills and make them more successful in delivering service to all types of customers.

Customer Service: Skills for Success - Tips for Delivering Excellent Customer Service

In the chapters of Customer Service: Skills for Success I cover the concepts and skills needed for success in the service profession. Strategies provided to readers include listening techniques, verbal and nonverbal communication, using technology to deliver service, addressing the needs of internal and external customers in any business environment, how to build customer loyalty and what to do when service breaks down and they need to recover. I also share experience and tips on how to use positive global service strategies for dealing with diverse customers.

Here are three tips for ensuring better service delivery to your customers:

  1. If you seek trust; communicate it through your words and nonverbal cues.
  2. If your supervisor empowers you to make decisions, that means he/she trusts your ability to handle various issues. Do not take this trust lightly. Before taking action, stop,Customer Service: Skills for Success weigh alternatives, and then resolve the situation to the best of your ability in order to send a message of competency and professionalism.
  3. Unhappy people are still either customers or potential internal or external customers when they contact you at work. Your goal should be to try to serve them effectively them so that they return for future products or services. If you fail at this goal, you and your organization or department will potentially suffer financial and prestige loss.

I am always interested in hearing what is working and what is not in organizations related to customer service. If you have ideas, suggestions, tips or cutting edge practices in the professional that you would like to share with others, please comment.

For ideas and information on how to improve your own customer service skills, get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success by Robert W. Lucas.

About Robert W. Lucas

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

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