Customer Service – thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World

How would you characterize your organization’s attitude toward customer service?

January 14, 2021/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Career, Customer Service, Leadership, Poll /by Ryan Shaw

Our reader poll today asks: How would you characterize your organization’s attitude toward customer service?

We go out of our way to exceed expectations 61%
We do our best to meet expectations 32%
We try to meet expectations but don’t worry too much if we don’t 6%
We do the bare minimum to get by 1%

Is meeting expectations good enough? IN a hyper-competitive world, a clear majority of you are going out of your way to exceed your customers’ expectations. It doesn’t take much and it goes a long way. For those of you satisfied with meeting customer expectations, recognize that your competitors are trying to push beyond those expectations. Fall short enough times and you’ll find those customers are no longer yours. We all know it’s less expensive to keep an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one. If you’re one of those “meeting expectations” firms (or even the ones who don’t really care too much about meeting expectations) just recognize your marketing team will be very busy and very expensive but your finance team might not have a lot of work to do when it comes time to count your profits. Ignore customer service at your own risk!

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Tips for Hiring Customer Service Staff in Anxious Times

October 12, 2020/0 Comments/in Business Toolkit, Communications, Customer Service, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Ryan Shaw

4 Make-Or-Break Customer Service Skills and How to Find Them

Today’s post is by Ken Crowell

The pandemic and economic and political turmoil has Americans stressed out, making customer service skills more important than ever for businesses to be able to thrive and grow.

Even before the latest economic disruption, poor customer service was blamed for costing American businesses billions each year. Meanwhile, ample evidence indicates that companies with friendly and attentive employees keep customers and attract new ones.

Customer service personnel are the first point of contact customers have with your company and can make or break your business. A service orientation also helps employees work together and independently to fulfill company goals, and helps create a culture of teamwork and collaboration.

We’ve compiled a list of what we consider to be the top skills to look for when hiring, as well as some questions that can help identify the candidates who possess these qualities. Look for candidates who demonstrate:

Are You Promoting Responsibility? Are You Sure?

May 4, 2020/2 Comments/in Books, Customer Service, Guest Blogger, Leadership /by Ryan Shaw

Managing a team comes in many different forms and requires a lot of different skills, check your ego at the door and rethink how you’re promoting responsibility in your organization.

Today’s post is by Lonnie Wilson, author of Sustaining Workforce Engagement (CLICK HERE to get your copy).

Several weeks ago, I had two experiences that reminded me of the nature of responsibility; and management’s role in promoting and sustaining a responsible workplace.

First, a student of mine sent me the following email, “Coach, there is next to no sense of responsibility here. Nothing happens when dates are missed, goals are ignored, etc… I may be going bonkers. Can we talk?” We talked.

Second, I was at the 10 am production meeting of yet another client when Dave, the day shift production coordinator made the following report to Mark, the plant manager. “Mark, the critical shipment to Quality Industries went out first thing on schedule. Raul and his crew got it 100% completed. It has been picked up. But Mark, you need to know that Raul had to work 32 hours of overtime.” At which Mark replied, “What is wrong with Raul? Didn’t he read the notice from the home office we got just this week that costs are over budget and for the rest of the year there will be no hiring, no expedited freight and especially no overtime? What is wrong with that guy? Can you get me his home number?” Dave responded, “I knew this would be an issue, so I asked Raul what happened. He told me that 4 of his crew, who carpool together, got into an accident on the way to work, a serious one. None of our guys were hurt, but the other driver was drunk and two of his passengers were taken away by ambulance. The guys said they would be a couple hours late, at least, and probably miss the entire shift, while the police investigated it. So, Raul held over 4 people from swing shift.” Mark replied, “Well let me advise the boss; there will be hell to pay by someone.” Dave interceded and said, “Hold on Mark, before you make that call, you’ll want to know this overtime was not just regular overtime but double time and a quarter. He only had a few minutes to decide and had tried to call you; but said no one picked up. It was 10:50pm.” Mark exploded “Holy shit, how am I supposed to explain that? This may cost Raul his job.”

How often do you move team members around to cross-pollinate skills and culture?

March 12, 2020/0 Comments/in Career, Customer Service, Leadership, Poll /by Ryan Shaw

Our reader poll today asks: How often do you move team members around to cross-pollinate skills and culture?

Rarely: 34%
Occasionally: 30.88%
Never: 18.41%
All the time: 16.71%

Don’t let them get stagnant. Leaving your people in the same role, same location or same team for extended periods of time creates risks and misses opportunities. The risk is they get bored or disillusioned and when that happens, performance drops or they leave the organization. By not moving them around, you’re also missing an opportunity to spread and reinforce culture, build new skills and strengthen co-worker relationships. Granted, there’s a balance of how often you move them, but no movement at all is problematic. Think about how you can create some fresh experiences for the members of your team. These don’t have to be permanent reassignments — projects are a great way to get things moving around.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

How frequently do you update your strategic plan?

February 20, 2020/0 Comments/in Career, Customer Service, Leadership, Poll /by Ryan Shaw

Our reader poll today asks: How frequently do you update your strategic plan?

We refresh more than once per year—13%
We update it annually—43%
We update every couple of years—19%
We rarely refresh it—12%
What’s a strategic plan?—13%

Regular strategy review. 56% of you are refreshing your strategic plan every year or even more frequently. The world moves rapidly. Priorities change quickly. Investing the time in regular reassessment is highly recommended. Shifting too slowly in response to market changes can put you at an extreme disadvantage you might not recover from. For those of you who don’t have a strategic plan or aren’t updating them regularly, you should be concerned. Even if you aren’t the owner of the strategic plan, you can still push for the organization to review it. Ask your leadership team if you can help lead the review. Offer to do some of the work. The organization you save might be your own!

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

What portion of your time do you work from home?

February 13, 2020/0 Comments/in Career, Customer Service, Leadership, Poll /by Ryan Shaw

Our reader poll today asks: What portion of your time do you work from home?

100%: 7.6%
75-99%: 8.2%
50-74%: 5.4%
25-49%: 8.2%
1-25%: 54.7%
0%: 15.8%

Time from home. 85% of you spend a decent amount of time working from home. Only a small portion go to the office every day. As an employee, be sure your home environment is conducive to being productive and actively manage staying connected with your office coworkers. It can be easy to leave people off meeting invites or forget to check in with them when they’re out of sight. If you’re leading a team with remote workers, find ways to involve them in team events and conversations. This takes deliberate effort on your part. Team members who feel disconnected find it easier to “mail it in” and also have less attachment to your organization. This puts them at higher risk for looking for greener pastures elsewhere.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post? If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog. It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!). SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!