SERVICE SUPERSTAR WORKSHOP

You've asked for it, now its here!

Customer service training sessions to transform your business instantly.

Each workshop is 3 hours and there is an option of either Sundays 10am - 1pm, or wednesday evenings 5pm - 8pm. Book early, and if you bring more than one you get a large discount.

$60 per person, or $40 for multiple bookings.
Venues are training rooms at Papanui, Cashmere, and Kaipoi. Other venues can be arranged for groups.

SPECIAL TREATMENT

It is an enormous pleasure making somebody feel special.
For example, if treating someone in your family you know only too well how that special treatment is remembered for a long time. Same is true for your customers, so make it a regular feature to go out of your way to make someone feel special.

The rewards of loyalty and praise will follow you in return - I guarantee it!

FROM THE KING...

" Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. "

Martin Luther King

CONFIDENT CUSTOMER SERVICE

If you really want to give the best customer experience you can, then the crew delivering that exceptional service need to be empowered and confident.
That comes by having the tools, support and training behind them first. They should be never in a position where they feel under resourced, nor worrying about a competitor or what time their shift finishes.

This attitude comes when they really believe and understand the benefits of great service and the product they represent.


Instill confidence and the wow factor follows.

IN A GOOD LIGHT

I have written about first impressions already in this blog.
What still amazes me is how often I see companies getting it wrong. It is rarely done intentionally, it's just that their focus is too narrow.

Impressing customers is only half the job, it's your own staff you need to impress too. Staff talk about their place of work to others - and you really need to have them sell their company well, keep them glowing about the procedures and culture as coming from them the praise has added impact. Even job applicants need to get a glimpse of how fantastic your company is - those that do'nt get through still walk away singing your praises. Make sure your interview process is the best it can be.

Keep the company and your wonderful employees in a good light!

A SERVICE FREQUENCY

The universe we are learning, is like a mirror. What we give out reflects back to us. So if we project out a spirit of service and kindness, then we receive back the same to ourselves.Once you learn and believe that great service is fulfilling and rewarding you develop a service frequency.

Every atom in your body then resonates kindness, warmth and service to others.

" Joy can be real only if people look on their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness. "
- Leo Tolstoy

A MESSAGE FROM WILL

" I expect to pass through life but once. If there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do for any fellow being, let me do it now, as I shall not pass this way again. "



Governor William Penn
Founder of Pennsylvania

ZERO COST FACTOR

A service orientated company need not spend a huge amount on buildings or furnishings.
It is amazing to consider how much large companies can be willing to spend on peripheral eye pleasing gimmicks.
When I worked as a manager in large hotels, I would have a sizeable budget for new carpets, marble tables, or silk furnishings. Yet no money would be available for intangible things like encouraging great service, or pleasing the guests needs.

It is these hard to measure factors though which bring customers back time after time, and set you up for long term loyalty and profit, not the latest photogenic decor.
What so many often miss is the zero cost factor of inducing great service. It takes effort, not dollars to encourage a superior service culture

PHONE A FRIEND

Since the eighties, businesses have increasingly relied on technology to save them money and time with answering telephone enquiries.
However,the overwhelming feedback from customers has been that they are not liked, menu options and lengthy un-answered transfers being the surest way to alienate customers before you have even had the chance to find out how to deal with their problem.

Yet how many businesses recognise this as a marketing gift. If they become one of the only businesses to answer their phones with a PERSON, think what a major P.R coup that would be.
A customer ringing up would be so surprised to have a friendly voice answer, that they would be a fan from the word go!.

SERVICE SUPERSTAR WORKSHOP

You've asked for it, now its here!

Customer service training sessions to transform your business instantly.

Each workshop is 3 hours and there is an option of either Sundays 10am - 1pm, or wednesday evenings 5pm - 8pm. Book early, and if you bring more than one you get a large discount.
$60 per person, or $40 for multiple bookings.

Venues are training rooms at Papanui, Cashmere, and Kaipoi.
Other venues can be arranged for groups.

ARE YOU UPTO SPEED ?

Having the latest knowledge on your industry or profession is key for keeping customers served well and for retaining top staff. It is your responsibility to seek and learn that knowledge. You need to read the latest journals, websites and blogs or be on the training courses. Information in this digital era is key to promotion and success.

You will be asked many questions daily on your work, so it is vital to be seen to be upto speed on your subject.

Be interested, and dont shy away from using your own leisure time to further your knowledge too.

What you do in your eight hours at work just pays the bills.....what you do in your time decides how you succeed.

DIGNITY

There are times when some bright spark at head office will come up with an idea or theme or gimmick to attract attention. It may be a PR trick to grab some fleeting press coverage or a dressing up day for the staff.

Sometimes this can involve telling the staff to dress in pantomime clothing or a costume of some sort to fit the selected theme.

The trouble arises when this theme is not wholly accepted by all the staff and therefore they do not wish to dress for the day as a chicken or in a pirate costume or whatever.
By forcing them to go along with the mandatory dress code, you can not only affront their dignity, but alienate them from your company for a long time .

Allow your staff the choice, and do not forcefully take away their dignity for the sake of some percieved gain in publicity or sales.
The same applies to uniforms - make sure staff can keep their dignity intact and feel comfortable wearing it.

STAY IN TOUCH

Many of your staff communicate in different ways to each other and would probably welcome easier access to managers and work updates if they were communicated in a way familiar to them.

For example, is the staff roster pinned up on a wall somewhere at work? Why not text it direct to their cell phone, there is plenty of software out there to facilitate this.

Can their pay checks be emailed direct to them instead of in an envelope?
How about allowing training videos to be viewed at home or in their own time, instead of in group sessions at work?

Stay in touch with your staff, work smarter.

SAY THANKS!

Two of the most powerful words in the English language.
Thank You.

Do you take time each day to see who you can express these sentiments to?
I use my words here with purpose, "these sentiments".
You can not just stroll up to someone and say thanks for shopping with us, or hey thanks for turning up to work today, and stroll off again.
No - it needs to be delivered with meaning, unhurried, and with a smile.
Say it with sincerity and watch the world warm to you too.
Go on say thanks to somebody special today, then keep on doing it. I guarantee you will make the world a better place for all of us.

WALK A MILE

" Walk a mile in someone elses shoes" goes the famous saying.

In customer service terms, this could not be simpler....... see things from their perspective, imagine yourself with their needs and expectations.
Does everything and everyone work around what is best for the customer, or is the work place constructed around what is cheapest for the company?
Does the business look at things and analyse angles from the customer point of view or is it wholly centred on shareholder profits and making short term gains to induce bonuses for the managers?

Walk a mile in their shoes and see how you can turn the long term profits upward in a second.

FOR YOUR COUNTRY

This may seem a little dramatic, but great customer service is doing your bit for your country.

Foreign visitors come and use any number of services and then they leave.
The impression they leave with is determined by the level of service provided. That then forms a reputation throughout their population. This reputation can be worth millions in future trade, and is often overlooked by people looking after the daily service needs, and the big picture gets lost along the way.

So, next time you are looking at serving a tourist or foreign businessman, look at how you can really excel - for the greater good of your country and reputation.