342 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships LO 9-4 Technology Etiquette and Strategies CONCEPT Using technology ethically and with correct etiquette is important. As with any other interaction with people, you should be aware of some basic dos and don’ts related to using technology to interact with and serve your customers. Failure to observe some commonsense rules can cause loss of a customer. E-MAIL The e-mail system was designed as an inexpensive, quick way of communicating via the World Wide Web. E-mail was not originally intended to reS place formal written correspondence, although many organizations now T use it to send things like attached correspondence and receipts and to notify customers of order status, O to gather additional information needed to serve a customer, and for other business-related issues. No matter what the function, e-mail has itsVown set of guidelines for effective usage to ensure that you do not offend E or otherwise create problems when dealing with customers via e-mail.R Here are some e-mail tips to remember, as well as some etiquette for effective usage. , • Use abbreviations and initials. Since e-mail is an informal means of communicating, using acronyms and other short forms or abbreviations C States of America) works fine in some cases. (e.g., USA versus United Just be sure that your receiver knows what the letters stand for; otherA wise miscommunication could occur. Figure 9.4 lists some common abbreviations employed byR e-mail users who typically know and e-mail one another frequently (e.g.,Ointernal customers, friends, and family members). When communicating with external customers, you may want L to use abbreviations sparingly or avoid them altogether to prevent confusion, communication breakdown, and the perception that you are 2 unprofessional. • Proofread and spell-check 3 before sending a message. Checking your message before sending an e-mail may help prevent damage to your profes1 sional image. This is especially true when writing customers because you 3 are representing your organization. Poor grammar, syntax, spelling, and usage can paint a poor picture of your abilities and professionalism and T can leave a bad impression about your organization and its employees. S • Think before writing. This is especially important if you are answering an e-mail when you are upset or emotional. Take time to cool off before responding to a negative message (an insulting or provocative e-mail FIGURE 9.4 Common Abbreviations LOL BCNU FYI Laughing out loud or lots of luck Be seeing you For your information ROTFL TTFN TTYL Rolling on the floor laughing Ta-ta for now Talk to you later IMHO FWIW In my humble opinion For what it’s worth BTW ASAP By the way As soon as possible CHAPTER 9 Customer Service via Technology message is called a flame) or when you are angry. Remember that once you send an e-mail, you cannot take back your words. Your relationship with your receiver is at stake and the recipient can easily share your message with others (think about all the e-mailed messages you get regularly that have been forwarded to many other people and whose names appear in the text section of the e-mail). The latter is why you should never forward jokes, articles, or other materials that could be viewed as discriminatory or racist, or could cast a negative light on you and your organization. It is also why most companies do not allow personal use of their e-mail systems. • Use short, concise sentences. The average person will not read lengthy messages sent by e-mail. Scrolling up and down pages of text is timeconsuming and frustrating. Therefore, put your question or key idea in the first sentence or paragraph. Keep your sentences short and use new S of thumb is that if the paragraphs often, for easier reading. A good rule entire message does not fit on a single viewingTscreen, consider whether another means of communication is more appropriate. An option would O be to use the attachment feature so that lengthy documents can be V printed out. E writing a sentence or • Use both upper- and lowercase letters. With e-mail, message in all-capital letters is like shouting R at a person and could offend or cause relationship problems. In addition, reading a message , written in all-capital letters is difficult and is likely to annoy your customer, whether or not he or she perceives it as “shouting.” C letters, you should use • Be careful with punctuation. As with all-capital caution with punctuation marks, especially exclamation points, which A can cause offense because, like all-capital letters, they indicate strong R emotion. • Use e-mail only for informal correspondence.O Although it is becoming L more acceptable to send business correspondence (e.g., contracts, resumes, and other information) via e-mail, it is probably better to use a more formal format in most instances (see the additional information on 2 the Business Writers’ Workshop at www.mhhe.com/customerservice). For example, it would be inappropriate to send3a cancellation notice via e-mail. The receiver might think that the matter is not significant 1 enough to warrant your organization’s buying a stamp to mail a letter. However, this caution does not mean that you3should not attach letters or other documents to an e-mail. Just consider T the effect on the recipient. Another important thing to remember about e-mail is that it is S sometimes unreliable. Many people do not check their e-mail regularly, especially if they use free e-mail accounts offered by yahoo.com, gmail .com, google.com, and other companies. Computer systems also fail and individuals often change service providers without notifying you. If your message is critical and delivery is time-sensitive, choose another method (e.g., a telephone call or express mail). If nothing else, call as a follow-up to ensure that the e-mail was received. Do not assume the addressee got your message. In some cases, e-mail that is not delivered is not returned to the sender, so you may not know why the recipient did not respond. If your computer system allows, you can also request a return receipt notification showing 343 344 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships Customer Service Success Tip the time and date that a message was opened. The downside of that is that your receivers can cancel the return notification on their end and you will still not know if the message ever arrived. • Use organization e-mail for business only. Many companies have policies prohibiting sending personal e-mail via their system. Some companies have started to actively monitor outgoing messages and many now can use unauthorized use of the e-mail as grounds for dismissal. Avoid violating your company’s policy on this. Remember, too, that while you are sending personal messages, you are wasting productive time and your customers may be waiting. Unless you have security software that will decode and mask the information, hackers or others who do not have a right or need to know such information can gain access to it. A good rule of thumb is to never send anything by e-mail that you would not want to see in tomorrow’s newspaper. • Use blind courtesy copies sparingly. Most e-mail systems allow you to S send a copy to someone without the original addressee knowing it (a blind courtesy copy, or T bcc). If the recipient becomes aware of the bcc, your actions might be viewed as suspicious and your motives brought O into question. A customer might view your actions as an attempt to hide V something from him or her. Thus, a relationship breakdown could occur E if the original recipient discovers the existence of the bcc or if the recipient of the bcc misuses the R information. • Copy only necessary people. , Nowadays, most people are overloaded with work and do not have the time to read every e-mail. If someone does not need to see a message, do not send that person a copy with the “reply to all” function available inCe-mail programs. When you do the latter, anyone listed as a recipientA or copied will get the return e-mail. emoticons (emotional • Get permission to send advertisements or promotional materials. As menicons) Humorous characters that R send visual messages such as smiltioned earlier, people have little time or patience to read lengthy e-mail ing or frowning. They are created O someone trying to promote or sell them somemessages, especially from with various strokes of the comthing. This is viewed the Lsame way you probably think of unsolicited junk puter keyboard characters and mail or telemarketing calls at home. Companies should routinely have an symbols. “opt-out” check box available when they 2 are soliciting e-mail information from their customers. If your company does 3 not have this option, it might be well for 1 management to consider such an option 3 as a service to their customers and potential customers. T S • Be cautious in using emoticons. Emoticons (emotional icons) are the faces created through the use of computer keyboard characters. Many people believe that their use in business correspondence is inappropriate and too informal. Also, since humor is a matter of personal point of view, these symbols might be misinterpreted and confusing. This is especially true when you are corresponding It is so easy to send a potentially offensive message via the computer, with someone from a different culture. especially if you are in a hurry. What do you do to ensure that you follow Figure 9.5 shows examples of emoticons. accepted e-mail protocol and etiquette when sending messages? Never send financial, proprietary, or confidential information (e.g., credit card numbers, medical information, social security numbers, or personal or employment history information) via email since it is an unsecured method of communicating. CHAPTER 9 :-) :-( ;-) Happy Sad Flirting or wink :-} :-D :-) :~/ Devil Really confused Customer Service via Technology • Fill in your address line last. This is a safety mechanism to ensure that you take the time to read and think about your message before you send the e-mail. The message cannot be transmitted until you address it. You will S message on the recipient. have one last chance to think about the effect of the T O FACSIMILE As with any other form of communication, there V are certain dos and don’ts to abide by when you use a fax machine to transmit E messages. Failing to adhere to these simple guidelines can cause frustration, anger, and a R breakdown in the relationships between you and your customers or others , to whom you send messages. • Be considerate of your receiver. If you plan to send a multipage document Csure that it is OK and a to your customer, telephone in advance to make good time to send it. This is especially true ifA you will be using a business number during the workday or if there is only one line for the teleRirritating to customers phone and fax machine. It is frustrating and when their fax is tied up because large documents O are being transmitted. If you must send a large document, try to do L so before or after working hours (e.g., before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m.). Also, keep in mind geographic time differences. Following these tips can also help maintain good relationships with co-workers who may depend on 2 the fax machine to conduct business with their customers. 3 • Limit graphics. Graphic images that are not needed to clarify written 1 text waste the receiver’s printer cartridge ink, tie up the machine unduly, 3 any unnecessary graphand can irritate your receiver. Therefore, delete ics (or solid colored areas) including your corporate T logo on a cover sheet if it is heavily colored and requires a lot of ink to print. (If appropriate, S fax cover sheets.) create a special outline image of your logo for your • Limit correspondence recipients. As with e-mail and memorandums, limit the recipients of your messages. If they do not have a need to know, do not send them messages. Check your broadcast mailing list (a list of people who will receive all messages, often programmed into a computer) to ensure that it is limited to people who “have a need to know.” This is also important from the standpoint of confidentiality. If the information you are sending is proprietary or sensitive in any way, think about who will receive it. Do not forget that unless the document is going directly to someone’s computer fax modem, it may be lying in a stack of other incoming messages and accessible by people other than your intended recipient. FIGURE 9.5 Sample Emoticons 345 346 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships Customer Service Success Tip When a customer calls or contacts your organization, you should personally accept responsibility and do whatever you can to help ensure that he or she gets the finest level of service available. Remember that, to provide quality customer service, everyone in the organization has to take ownership for customer satisfaction. The first person interacting with a current or potential customer sends a powerful message about the organization and may be the only person with whom that customer ever deals. The way that person is treated will often determine the memory of the organization and whether he or she becomes a supporter or spreads the word about the poor service received. S T List many strategies that O organizations are using to maintain a high-touch relationship with current and potential customers. V What are some commonsense rules related to using e-mail to deliver E customer service? R messages, what dos and don’ts should you When sending facsimile consider? , KNOWLEDGE CHECK 1. 2. 3. C A LO 9-5 The Telephone in Customer R Service O C O N C E P T The telephone is the second most important link in customer service. L Not all service via technology, and specifically the telephone, is delivered from a customer contact center. Although many small- and medium-size 2 organizations may have dedicated customer service professionals to staff their telephones, others do 3 not. In the latter cases, the responsibility for answering the telephone and providing service falls on anyone who is 1 available and hears the telephone ring (e.g., administrative assistant, salesperson, driver, nurse, 3 partner, owner, or CEO). Modern businesses relyT heavily on the use of telephones to conduct day-to-day operations and communicate with internal as well as external S customers. Effective use of the telephone saves employee time and effort. Employees no longer have to take time to physically travel to another location to interact with customers and vendors. By simply dialing a telephone number or typing in a text message on a cell phone, you are almost instantaneously transported anywhere in the world. And with the use of the fax and computer modem, documents and information also can be sent in minutes to someone thousands of miles away—even during nonbusiness hours. Figure 9.6 lists some advantages of telephone customer service. With these tools, more businesses are setting up inbound (e.g., order taking, customer service, information sources) and outbound (e.g., telemarketing CHAPTER 9 Customer Service via Technology Even though there are some disadvantages to telephone communication (e.g., lack of face-to-face contact with the customer), there are many advantages. Some of the advantages follow: • Convenience. Sales, information exchange, money collection, customer satisfaction surveys, and complaint handling are only a few of the many tasks that can be effectively handled by using the telephone and related equipment. If a quick answer is needed, the telephone can provide it without the need to travel and meet with someone face-to-face or to endure the delays caused by the mail. • Ease of communication. Although some countries have more advanced telephone systems and capabilities than others, you can call someone in nearly any country in the world. And, with advances in cellular phone technology, even mobile phones have international communication capability. • Economy. Face-to-face visits or sales calls are expensive and can be reduced or eliminated by making contacts over the telephone as opposed to traveling to a customer’s location. With competitive rates offered by many telephone companies S since the deregulation of the telecommunication industry years ago, companies and customers have many options for calling plans. ForT example, customers can purchase a calling card and use it from any telephone. All of this makes accessing O especially when combined customer services a simple and relatively inexpensive task, with the other technology discussed in this chapter. V • Efficiency. You and your customer can interact without being delayed by writing and E to kindergarten and grade responding. Telephone usage is so simple that it is taught school children. R , sales, customer service, customer surveys) telephone C staff. Through these groups of trained specialists, companies can expand their customer contact A and be more likely to accomplish total customer satisfaction. R O COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR SUCCESS L with a customer, the Just as when you are delivering service face-to-face same skills apply to providing effective customer service over the telephone, especially the use of vocal quality and listening skills. Your cus2 tomer cannot communicate with or understand you if she or he doesn’t 3 accurately receive your message. To reduce the chances of message failure, think about the communication techniques discussed below. 1 3 correctly, you increase • Speak clearly. By pronouncing words clearly and the chances that your customer will accurately T receive your intended message. Failure to use good diction could decrease a customer’s comS prehension of your message and be interpreted as a sign that you are lazy, are unprofessional, or lack intelligence and/or education. If you are unsure how to improve your diction, do an Internet search to find helpful tips. • Limit jargon, slang, and colloquialisms. Technical jargon (terms related to technology, an industry, a specific organization, or a job), slang (informal words used to make a message more colorful; e.g., whoopee, blooper, bummer), and colloquialisms (regional phrases or words such as “fair to middling,” “as slow as molasses,” “if the good Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise,” or “faster than a New York minute”) can distort your message and detract from your ability to communicate FIGURE 9.6 Advantages of Telephone Customer Service 347 348 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships • • Customer Service Success Tip Avoid distractions while you are on the phone in order to help prevent breakdowns in communication. It is difficult to listen effectively when you are reading something, writing notes to yourself, using a cash register, typing, polishing your fingernails, and so on. • • • • effectively. This is especially true when your recipient speaks a language other than your native language. By using words or phrases unfamiliar to the customer, you draw the customer’s attention away from listening to your message. This is because, when people encounter a word or phrase that is unfamiliar, they tend to stop and reflect on that word or phrase. When this occurs, the next part of the message is missed while the mind tries to focus on and decipher the unfamiliar element it encountered. You must then repeat the missed portion or end up with a miscommunication. Adjust your volume. As your conversation progresses, it may become apparent that you need to speak more loudly or more softly to your customer. Obvious cues are statements from the customer, such as “You don’t have to yell” or “Could you speak up?” Or if your customer is speaking really loudly, he or she may have a hearing impairment. To find out S say, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Reynolds, are you able to if this is the case, you could hear me clearly? I’m having T trouble with loud volume on my end.” Speak at a rate that allows O comprehension. Depending on the person to whom you are speaking, you may find yourself having to adjust your V rate of speech (covered in Chapter 3) by either speeding up or slowing E is to mirror or match the other person’s rate down. A good rule of thumb of speech to some extent, Rsince he or she is probably comfortable with it. Otherwise you risk boring the customer by speaking too slowly, or con, fusing the customer by speaking too rapidly. Be careful not to be too obvious or unnatural when doing this; otherwise, some customers may think that you’re making Cfun of them. Use voice inflection. By using inflection and avoiding a tendency to speak A in a monotone, you can help communicate your message in an interestR your customer’s attention. The result might be ing manner that will hold saved time, since your message may be received correctly the first time O and you will not have to repeat it. L Use correct grammar. Just as important as enunciation, good grammar helps project a positive, competent image. When you fail to use good grammar in your communication, you may be perceived as lazy or un2 educated. Keep in mind that your customer forms an image of you and 3 the company you represent simply by listening to you and the way you speak. (Grammar 1 is covered in more detail at www.mhhe.com/ customerservice.) 3 Pause occasionally. ThisTsimple yet dramatic technique can sometimes affect the course of a conversation. By pausing after you make a statement or ask a question, S you give yourself time to breathe and think. You also give your customer an opportunity to reflect on what you have said or to ask questions. This practice can greatly aid in reducing tension when you are speaking with an upset customer or one who does not speak your language fluently. Smile as you speak. By smiling, you project an upbeat, warm, and sincere attitude through the phone. This can often cheer the customer, diffuse irritation, and help build rapport. A technique some telephone professionals use to remind themselves to smile when placing or answering a call is to put a small mirror or a picture of a “smiling face” in front of them or next to their telephone. This reminds them to smile as they talk. CHAPTER 9 Customer Service via Technology 349 • Project a positive image and attitude. All the tips related to using your voice that were presented in earlier chapters contribute to how people envision you. Customers generally do not want to hear what you cannot do for them or about the bad day you’re having. They want a timely, affirmative answer to their questions or solution of their problems. Giving anything less is likely to discourage or annoy them and result in a service breakdown. • Wait to speak. Many people tend to interrupt a customer to add information or S ask a question. As you read in Chapter 5, this is not only rude but can cause a The sound T of your voice projects your true attitude and mood. Make sure breakdown in communication and pos- that you O remember to put a smile in your tone when talking to customers. sibly anger the customer. If you ask a How do you ensure that you project a positive message when talking to Von the phone? question or if the customer is speaking, people allow him or her to respond or to finish speaking E before interjecting your thoughts or comments. R • Listen actively. Just as with face-to-face communication, effective listen, service provider. The ing is a crucial telephone skill for the customer need to focus is even more important when you are speaking on the phone, since you do not have nonverbal cues orCvisual contact to help in message delivery or interpretation. A TIPS FOR CREATING A POSITIVER O TELEPHONE IMAGE L People quickly form an opinion of you and your organization. The message they receive often determines how they interact with you during the conversation and in your future relationship. Keep in mind that when you answer 2 your organization’s telephone, or call someone else as part of your job, you 3 represent yourself and the organization. Since many telephone calls are short, you have a limited opportunity to make a positive impression. 1 3 T Before discussing the following dilemma with other students, S research the National DoEthical Dilemma 9.2 Not-Call Registry on the Internet. You have heard that there are federal laws that prohibit call centers from contacting people with whom they have no prior business relationship or who are on the National Do-Not-Call Registry. Your organization has recently started a phone campaign to identify potential customers and is using a number of phone lists obtained from various other companies. When you remind your supervisor about the nonsolicitation law, she tells you not to worry about it, and instructs you that if someone complains or states they are on a do-not-call list when you call to just hang up. 1. Are there any potential legal problems with this policy? If so, what might they be? 2. Are there any ethical issues here? Explain. 3. What should you do in this situation? 350 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships When you feel good about yourself, you normally project a naturally confident and pleasant image. On days when things aren’t going so well for you, your self-image may tend to suffer. Here are some suggestions to help serve your customers effectively and leave them thinking well of you and your organization. • Continually evaluate yourself. You are your own best critic. From time to time, think about your conversation—what went well, what could have been improved. If possible, occasionally tape-record your conversations and evaluate your voice qualities and message delivery. Have someone else listen to the tape and provide objective feedback. To help in your self-assessment, you may want to make copies of Worksheet 9.1 (see www.mhhe.com/customerservice) and evaluate all your calls for a specific period of time (for example, a couple of hours or a day). • Use proper body posture. SThe following can negatively affect the sound and quality of your voice: T Slouching in your chair. O Sitting with your feet on a desk with your arms behind your head as V in your chair. you rock back and forth E chin on your chest, to read or search Looking down, with your through drawers. R Resting the telephone handset between your cheek and shoulder as , you do other work (e.g., type data into a computer, look for something, write, or doodle). Strive to sit or standC upright and speak clearly into the mouthpiece whether you are using a headset or handheld receiver. If you are using a A handheld receiver, make sure that the earpiece is placed firmly against R is directly in front of your mouth. your ear and the mouthpiece O • Be prepared. Answer a ringing phone promptly and use a standard greeting as outlined later in this chapter. L • Speak naturally. Whether you are calling someone or providing information to a caller, speak in a conversational voice. Don’t use a “canned” or 2 and don’t read from a prepared script, unless mechanical presentation, you are required to do 3so by your company. If you must read from a script, practice, practice, practice. Before you connect with a customer, 1 become very comfortable with your presentation so that you can deliver it in a fluid, warm, and 3 sincere manner. Nothing sends a more negative message than a service provider who mispronounces a customer’s name, T stumbles through opening comments, and seems disorganized. S • Be time-conscious. Customers appreciate prompt, courteous service. Be aware that time is money—yours, your organization’s, and the customer’s. Have your thoughts organized when you call a customer. It is a good idea to have a list of questions or key points ready before calling (see Worksheet 9.2 at www.mhhe.com/customerservice as an example). If a customer calls you and you don’t have an answer or information readily available, offer to do some research and call back instead of putting the customer on hold. Respect your customer’s time. Chances are that customers will prefer to hold if they will be waiting only a short time, but give them the option. In addition to helping better organize your calls, a written call-planning sheet will provide a good record of the call. CHAPTER 9 Customer Service via Technology • Be proactive with service. If you must say no to a customer, do so in a positive manner without quoting policy. Tell the customer what you can do. For example, if your policy prohibits refunds on one-of-a-kind or closeout items, you might make an offer such as this (depending on your level of authority or empowerment): “Mr. Targowski, I see that the computer you ordered from our website was a closeout item. I understand that you have decided that you need more RAM. Although I cannot give refunds on a closeout item, I can give you a voucher good at any of our retail locations for a $50 discount on a memory chip upgrade or free installation, whichever you prefer.” • Doing more than the customer expects after a breakdown is important, especially if you or your company made an error. When you or your company is not responsible for the error, but you want to maintain a positive customer–provider relationship, going out of your way to help make it S better is just good business practice. • Conclude calls professionally. Ending a call onT an upbeat note, using the caller’s name, and summarizing key actions toObe taken by both parties are all recommended practices. For example, you might say, “All right, V by Ms. Herrick, let me confirm what we’ve discussed. I’ll get E . You’ll take care of the 23rd, and call you to confirm . Is that correct?” Once agreementRhas been reached, thank the customer for calling, ask what other questions he or she has or what , hang up first. By folelse you can assist with, and then let the customer lowing this type of format, you can reduce misunderstandings and elicit any last-minute questions or comments the customer might have. If you C fail to bring the conversation to a formal close and hang up abruptly, the A servicing him or her customer may feel you are in a hurry to finish (regardless of the fact that you have just spentR15 minutes talking with him or her!). Think of this final step as wrapping O a gift: it looks fine, but adding a nice ribbon and bow makes it look even better. The thank-you and polite sign-off are your ribbon and bow. L EFFECTIVE TELEPHONE USAGE 2 3 One basic strategy for successfully providing effective customer service 1 phone features and use over the telephone is to thoroughly understand all them effectively. This may seem to be a logical3and simple concept, but think about times when you called a company and someone attempted to T clearly. If the transtransfer you, put you on hold, or did not communicate S tips for effectively usfer was successful, you were lucky (Figure 9.7 gives ing the hold and transfer features). If not, you probably couldn’t understand what happened, got disconnected, were connected to the wrong party, or heard the original person come back on the telephone to apologize and say something like, “The call didn’t go through. Let me try again.” Sound familiar? If so, use the following strategies to ensure that you do not deliver similar poor service. • Eliminate distractions. Do not eat food, chew gum, drink, talk to others, read (unless for the purpose of providing the customer with information), or handle other office tasks (filing, stapling, stamping, sealing envelopes, using the computer, etc.) while on the phone unless you are 351 352 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships checking information for the customer on the line and with his or her permission. Your voice quality will alert the customer to the fact that you are otherwise occupied. • Answer promptly. A lot is communicated by the way a phone call is handled. One tip for success is to always answer by the third or fourth ring. This sends a nonverbal message to your customers of your availability to serve them. It also reduces the irritating ringing that you, co-workers, or customers have to hear. FIGURE 9.7 Transfer Calls and Use the Hold Function Properly blind transfer The practice of transferring an incoming caller to another telephone number. Be sure you understand how the telephone transfer (sometimes called the link) and hold functions work. Nothing is more frustrating or irritating for callers than to be shuffled from one person to the next or to be placed on what seems to be an endless hold. Here are some suggestions that can help to increase your effectiveness in these S areas: T before transferring a caller. This shows respect • Always request permission for the caller and psychologically gives the caller a feeling of control over the O conversation. You can also offer options (you can ask the caller to allow a transfer or let you take a message).V This is especially helpful when the customer is already irritated or has a problem. Before transferring the call, explain why you need to do E who handles billing questions is Shashandra Philips so. You might say, “The person at extension 4739. May I transfer R you, or would you rather I take a message and pass it along to her?” This saves you and the caller time and effort, and you have , service. If the caller says, “Yes, please transfer me,” provided professional, courteous follow by saying something like, “I’d be happy to connect you. Again, if you are accidentally disconnected, I’ll be calling Shashandra Philips at extension 4739.” C reached the intended person, announce the call by • Once you have successfully saying, “Shashandra, this isA (your name), from (your department). I have (customer’s name) on the phone. She has a (question, problem). Are you the right person to Ranswers yes, connect the caller and announce, handle that?” If Shashandra “(Customer’s name), I have Shashandra Philips on the line. She will be happy to O assist you. Thanks for calling (or some similar positive disconnect phrase).” You can then hang up, knowing that Lyou did your part in delivering quality customer service. If the call taker is not available or is not the appropriate person, reconnect with the customer and explain the situation. Then offer to take a message rather than trying to transfer to different people 2 while keeping the customer on hold. You would make an exception if the call taker informed you of the appropriate person to whom you should transfer,3 or if the customer insisted on staying on the line while you tried to transfer to the 1 right person. • You should avoid making a blind transfer. This practice is ineffective, rude, and 3 transfer happens when a service provider asks a not customer-focused. A blind caller, “May I transfer you to TCathy in Billing?” or may even say, without permission, “Let me transfer you to Tom in Shipping.” Once the intended transfer party S the call hangs up. Always announce your caller by answers, the person transferring waiting for the phone to be picked up and saying, “This is (your name) in (your department). I have (customer’s name) on the line. Can you take the call?” Failure to do this could result in a confrontation between the two people. If the calling customer is already upset, you have just set up a situation that could lead to a lost customer and/or angry co-worker. • If you place someone on hold, it is a good idea to go back on the line every 20 to 30 seconds to let the person know that you have not forgotten the call. This action becomes more important if the phone system you are using does not offer information or music that the customer hears during the holding time. • One final word about holds. Once you return to the phone to take the call, thank the caller for waiting. CHAPTER 9 Customer Service via Technology 353 Customer Service Success Tip Use equipment properly. Ensure that the earpiece and mouthpiece rest squarely against your ear and in front of your mouth, respectively, when speaking to customers. This allows you to accurately hear what is said and accurately and clearly transmit your words to the customer. Your success or failure in receiving and delivering messages often hinges on simply holding the receiver or wearing a headset properly. • Use titles with names. It has been said that there is nothing sweeter than hearing one’s own name. However, until you are told otherwise, use a person’s title (e.g., Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Dr.) and last name. Do not assume that it is alright to use first names. Some people S regard the use of their first name as insolent or rude. This may especially be true of older cusT tomers and people from other cultures where respect and use of titles O it is also a good idea to are valued. When you are speaking with customers, use their name frequently (don’t overdo it, though, V or you’ll sound mechanical). Repeat the name directly after the greeting (e.g., “Yes, Dr. Carmine, E how may I help you?”), during the conversation (e.g., “One idea I have, Mr. Perrier, is to . . .”), and at the end of the callR(e.g., “Thanks for calling, Mrs. Needham. I’ll get that information right, out to you. Is there anything else I can do to assist you today?”). • Ask questions. You read about the use of questions earlier in the book. Use them on the telephone to get informationC or clarify points made by the customer. Ask open-end questions; then listen to A the response carefully. To clarify or verify information, R use closed-end questions. O make • Use speakerphones with caution. Speakerphones sense for people who have certain disabilitiesLand in some environments (where you need free hands or are doing something else while you are on hold or are wait2 sering for a phone to be answered). From a customer vice standpoint, they can send a cold or impersonal 3 message, and their use should be minimal. Many 1 callers do not like them and even think that speakerphone us3 used ers are rude. Also, depending on the equipment and how far you are from the telephone, the T message received by your customer could be distorted, orS it might seem as though you are in an echo chamber. Before using a speakerphone, ask yourself whether there is a valid reason for not using a headset or handheld phone. When you are using a speakerphone, make sure that your conversation will not be overheard if you are discussing personal, proprietary, or confidential information. Also, if someone is listening in on the customer’s conversation, make sure that you inform the customer of that fact It is important to always project a professional image and explain who the listener is and why he or she is lis- whether talking to customers face-to-face or by tening. As you read earlier, some people are very protec- telephone. How do you project a professional image to tive of their privacy and their feelings should be respected. your customers over the telephone? 354 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships • Use call waiting. A useful feature offered by many phone systems is call waiting. While you are on the phone, a signal (usually a beep) indicates that there is an incoming call. When you hear the signal, you have a couple of options: excuse yourself from your current call, by getting permission to place the person on hold, or ignore the second caller. If you have a voice mail system, the system makes the choice for you by transferring incoming calls to your message system. Both options have advantages and disadvantages. By taking the second call, you may irritate your current caller, who might hang up. This results in lost business. On the other hand, by not taking the second call, you might miss an important message and/or irritate that caller. By ignoring the signal, you might offend the second caller. Research indicates that many customers forget to or decide against placing later calls to busy numbers, especially if they have already made several attempts. Customers may feel that you’re too busy to properly serve them. So, how do you handleSthe dilemma? Make a judgment about how the customer to whom you T are speaking might react and then act accordingly. In some instances, company policies tell you what to do, so you O don’t have to decide. V VOICE MAIL ANDE ANSWERING MACHINES OR SERVICES R Although voice mail is hailed , by many people as a time-saver and vehicle for delivering messages when an intended recipient is unavailable, many other people have difficulty dealing with this technology (including anC refuse to interact with a machine. Let’s take swering machines) or simply a look at some ways to useA voice mail. R To effectively use voice mail, you must first • Managing incoming calls. understand how your system O works. Check the manuals delivered with your system or speak with your supervisor and/or the technical expert L responsible for its maintenance. A key to using voice mail effectively is to keep your outgoing message current, indicating your2availability, the type of information the caller should leave, and when the caller can expect a return call. If your system 3 of accessing an operator or another person, you allows the caller the option should indicate this early1in your outgoing message to save the caller from having to listen to unnecessary information. Figure 9.8 provides a sample 3 outgoing message. Also, Work It Out 9.1 can be used to evaluate the voice T you call them. Another key to effective voice mail messages of others when S FIGURE 9.8 Sample Outgoing Message • “Hello. This is (your name) of (company and department). • I’m unavailable to take your call at the moment, but if you leave your name, number, and a brief message, I’ll call you as soon as possible. • Thanks for calling.” If you know when you will be returning calls (e.g., at the end of the workday), tell the caller so. If your voice mail system offers callers the option to press a number to speak with someone else, let the caller know this right after you state whose voice mail he or she has reached. This avoids requiring the caller to listen to a lengthy message before he or she can select an option. CHAPTER 9 Customer Service via Technology 355 WORK IT OUT 9.1 Evaluating Voice Mail To help increase your awareness of the effect of voice mail messages, make note of the following questions during the coming week. As you call peo- ple or organizations, consider the outgoing messages that they leave on their voice mail or answering machines and evaluate them, using the following questions. Greeting (hello, good morning, or good afternoon)? Organization’s name? Departmental name? A statement of when the person will return? 1. Was the call answered by the fourth ring? An early announcement of an option to press a number for assistance? 2. Did the announcement contain the following: Instructions for leaving a message? • S When calls will be returned? T O mail usage is to retrieve your calls and returnV them as soon as possible. Usually within 24 hours, or by the next working day, is a good guideline for E returning calls. Doing so sends a positive customer service message. Placing calls to voice mail. Many normally R articulate people cannot speak coherently when they encounter an answering machine or voice , mail. One technique for success is to plan your call before picking up the phone. Have a 30-second or less “sales” presentation in mind that you C For example, if you get can deliver whether you get a person or machine. a person, try, “This is (your first and last name) A from (company) calling (or returning a call) for Wilhelm Tackes. Is he available?” Also, have R available a written list of the key points you want to discuss so you don’t O forget them as you talk. If you get a machine, try, “This is (first and last L name) from (company) .I calling (returning a call) for Inez Montoya. My number is to .” If you are calling to will be available from 2 reason I am calling is get or give information, you may want to add, “The to .” This allows the return caller to3leave information on your voice mail or with someone else and thus avoid the game of telephone tag. 1 • Avoiding telephone tag. You have probably played telephone tag. The game starts when the intended call receiver is3not available and a message is left. The game continues when the callTis returned, the original caller is not available, a return message is left, and so on. S Telephone tag is frustrating and a waste of valuable time. It results in a loss of efficiency, money, and, in some cases, customers. To avoid telephone tag, plan your calls and make your messages effective by giving your name, company name, phone number, time and date of your call, and a succinct message, and by indicating when you can be reached. If appropriate, emphasize that it is all right to leave the information you have requested on your voice mail or with someone else. Also, you may suggest that your message recipient tell you a time when you can call or meet with him or her face-to-face. By doing this, you end the game and get what you need. Use Worksheet 9.3 (see www.mhhe.com/customerservice) to help plan your calls effectively. 356 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships TAKING MESSAGES PROFESSIONALLY If you have ever received an incomplete or undecipherable telephone message, you can appreciate the need for practice in this area. At a minimum, when you take a message you should get the following information from the caller: Name (correctly spelled—ask caller for spelling). Company name. Phone number (with area code and country code, if appropriate). Brief message. When call should be returned. Time and date of the call and your name (in case a question about the message arises). If you are answering someone’s phone while he or she is away, let the caller S know right away. This canTbe done by using a statement such as, “Hello, (person’s name)’s line. This is (your name). How may I assist you?” In addiO you make regarding the intended recipient’s tion, be cautious of statements availability. Sometimes, well-meant comments can send a negative message to V customers. See Figure 9.9 forEtypical problem messages and better alternatives. FIGURE 9.9 Communicating Messages R , Message Possible Interpretation “I’m not sure where he is” or “He’s out roaming around the building somewhere.” “Don’t they have any control “He’s not available. May I or structure at this comtake a message?” pany?” C “I’m sorry. She is still at lunch.” (Depending on the time of A the call.) “Must be nice to R two-hour lunch have breaks!” Same as above or “I’m sorry; she is at lunch or is unavailable. May I assist you or take a message?” “We should have that problem taken care of soon.” “Don’t you know for sure?” “I apologize for the inconvenience. We’ll attempt to resolve this by .” “He isn’t available right now. “Is there a problem there?” 2 He’s taking care of a crisis.” “He isn’t available right now. May I assist you or take a message?” “She’s not in today. I’m not sure when she’ll be back.” “She’s not in today. May I assist you or take a message?” “He left early today.” O L 3 Same 1 as above. 3 T “Obviously, you people are not very customer-focused or S he would be there during Alternative “He is out of the office. May I assist you or take a message?” normal business hours to assist me.” “I don’t know where she is. I was just walking by and heard the phone ringing.” “Nice that you’re so conscientious. Too bad others are not.” “I’ll give him the message “So there’s a 50-50 chance and try to get him to call you I’ll be served.” back.” “Hang on a second while I find something to take a message with.” “She isn’t available right now, but I’d be happy to take a message.” “I’ll give him the message when he returns and ask him to call you back.” “Doesn’t sound as if people “Would you mind holding at this company are very while I get a pen and prepared to serve customers.” paper?” CHAPTER 9 Customer Service via Technology GENERAL ADVICE FOR COMMUNICATING BY TELEPHONE Don’t communicate personal information (someone is at the doctor’s, on sick leave, etc.), belittle yourself (e.g., “I don’t know,” “I’m only . . .”) or the company (e.g., “Nobody knows”), or use weak or negative language (e.g., “I think,” “I can’t”). Instead, simply state, “Malik is unavailable. May I take a message?” or, if appropriate, “I’d be happy to assist you.” After you have taken the message, thank the caller before hanging up and then deliver the message to the intended receiver in a timely manner. If you discover that the receiver will not be available within a 24-hour period, you may want to call the customer and convey this information. If you do so, again offer to assist or suggest some other alternative, if one is available. S T KNOWLEDGE CHECK O 1. What are some of the advantages of conducting V service via the telephone? E 2. List some effective communication techniques when talking to cusR tomers over the telephone. , 3. How can you create a positive image over the telephone? 4. What are some strategies for delivering effective telephone service? 5. When transferring a call, what should you remember to do? C 6. List several ways to use voice mail effectively. A 7. What elements should an effectively taken message R over the telephone contain? O L 2 3 Small businesses can benefit from technology in ways similar to larger organizations. Even though many may not have the human resources and1finances to have their own call centers and internal support staff members, they have 3 options for applying technology to their day-to-day operations. The Internet has provided a tremendous resource T businesses to look like that allows even single-person or small family-run, home-based much larger organizations. By setting up a professional-looking S website and arranging Small Business Perspective to accept credit cards and/or PayPal as cash transaction systems, they can now participate in e-commerce activities. To get an idea of how this might appear online, visit the website www.presentationresources.net. This family-run e-commerce business has operated since the mid-1990s with over 1,000 items offered online and thousands of customers all over the world. Internally, tracking of revenue and expenses is handled with an off-the-shelf accounting software package. When there is a need for specialized services, such as printing, shipping and freight, legal, or graphic design, the owner simply contacts professionals who specialize in those areas. By setting up contracting arrangements with third-party organizations, small businesses can look like major players in the business world. For example, my former online company, Creative Presentation Resources, Inc., offered many large and electronic items that would (continued) 357 358 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships require a lot of warehouse space and tie up large amounts of revenue if they were stocked internally. Instead, special orders were handled through established business accounts with major manufacturers and distributors who drop-shipped the items ordered by customers around the world when they are ordered via the website, telephone, or fax. When orders arrived, they were processed and a purchase order faxed to the supplier, who in turn shipped the item and invoiced the author’s company. That company in turn invoiced or collected payment from the customer who placed the order. There are many small businesses using this process all over the world. According to an article on the U.S. Small Business Administration website, Forrester Research, Inc. estimates that 47.3 million North American households have online access and 43.9 percent have browsed online. Of that 43.9 percent, 65 percent have made purchases. By 2014, the research firm estimates that U.S. online retail sales will grow to $250 billion, up from $155 billion in 2009.10 The key to successful e-commerce for a small business is to plan before getting involved. There are many elements that must be considered (e.g., website design, maintenance, and support; merchandise types and sources; marketing; distribution; S payment processing; and staffing). To be successful, small businesses need a highT quality computer system with a quality printer, fax machine, telephone, answering Onumber is also valuable and sends a subliminal machine, and copier. A toll-free message that the company is larger and more professional. V Impact on Service E Based on personal experience and what you just read, list three to five small businesses R with which you had business dealings within the past month, then answer the follow, ing questions about them: 1. What are some of the types of technology that you have witnessed these businesses using to serve their customers? C 2. How successful were their employees in using the technology provided to them to service customers? ExplainAand give examples. 3. In what ways has technology R hindered one or more of these companies from delivering effective customer service? Explain. O 4. How could these companies improve service with new, different, or upgraded technology? L Key Terms applications or apps automated attendants automated computer telephone interviews automatic call distribution (ACD) system automatic number identification (ANI) system blind transfer bloggers blogs chat support 2 3 1 3 T cloud computing computer telephony Sintegration (CTI) customer relationship management (CRM) software electronic mail (e-mail) emoticons (emotional icons) Facebook facsimile (fax) machine fax on demand fee-based 900 numbers help desk ® instant messaging intelligent callback technology interactive kiosks or digital displays interactive voice response (IVR) system Internet callback technology Internet telephony media blending offshoring online information fulfillment system outsourcing CHAPTER 9 Pinterest podcasts posts predictive dialing system QR code (Quick Response Code) robocall screen pop-ups smartphones social media spamming or spam speech or voice recognition tablets Telephone Typewriter system (TTY) text messaging or texting tweet Twitter Customer Service via Technology 359 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) voice response unit (VRU) websites Wi-Fi wikis YouTube Summary S Delivering customer service via technology can be an effective and efficient approach to use to achieve total T customer satisfaction. However, you must continually O upgrade your personal technology knowledge and skills, practice their application, and consciously evaluate the V approach and techniques you use to provide service. E In the quality-oriented organizational cultures now developing in the United States and in many other R countries, service will make the difference between sur, vival and failure for individuals and organizations. You are the front line, and you are often the first and only contact a customer will have with your company. Learn C A R Review Questions O L 1. In what ways can technology play a role in the delivery of effective customer service? Explain. as much as you can about the technology that your organization has available to it for service delivery. Strive to use that technology to its fullest potential, but do not forget that you and your peers ultimately determine whether expectations are met in the eyes of your customer. Whether a company is large or small, technology can help make them successful when properly utilized. Smart and successful managers stay current of trends in society and act quickly to implement strategies that incorporate technology to address evolving customer needs. 6. What information should you always get when taking telephone messages? 2. What are some advantages of using technology for 2 service delivery? 7. When transferring calls, what should you avoid and why? 3 3. What are some disadvantages of using technology for service delivery? 1 8. When you leave a message on voice mail, what information should you give? 4. What are some of the communication skills for 3 success? 9. What is telephone tag, and how can it be avoided or reduced? T 5. How can you project a more positive image over the telephone? S Search It Out 10. How are small businesses benefitting from today’s technology? www.mhhe.com/customerservice 1. Search the Internet for Customer Service Technology a. Visit www.youtube.com and search the phrase “customer service.” Identify and download one example each of a positive and a negative customer service experience that you can share with the class. b. Search the Internet for sites that deal with customer service and the technology used to deliver quality customer service. Also, look for the websites and organizations that focus on the technology and people involved in the delivery of customer service. Be prepared to share what you find with the class. 360 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships c. Search the Internet for additional information about one of the technologies addressed in sections LO 9-2 and LO 9-3 of this chapter. Report your findings to your classmates. 2. Additional Resources d. Search the Internet for books and other publications that focus on customer service and technology. Develop a bibliographic listing of at least seven to Search the website for this textbook, www.mhhe.com/ customerservice, for additional activities, reference materials, and support materials. ten publications, make copies of the list, and share it with your classmates. Collaborative Learning Activity Practice Customer Service with Your Team Members Get together in teams of three members each. One person will take the role of a customer service provider, one will be a customer, and one will be the observer. Use the following scenarios to practice the skills you have learned in this chapter. Incorporate other communication skills covered in previous chapters as you deal with your “customer.” Use three of the four scenarios so that each person in a group has a chance to play each of the three roles. Depending on the scenario, you might use copies of Worksheet 9.2 (see www.mhhe.com/ customerservice) to plan your call. Scenario 1 You are a customer service representative in a customer contact center that provides service to customers who have purchased small appliances from your company. A customer is calling to complain that she purchased a waffle iron from one of your outlet stores two weeks ago and it no longer works. She is upset because her in-laws and family are arriving in two days for an extended visit and they love her “special” waffles. Scenario 2 You are a customer care specialist for a company that provides answers to travel-related questions for a national membership warehouse retail store. A customer calls to find out about the types of travel-related discounts for which he qualifies through his membership. Scenario 3 You are a telemarketing sales representative for a company that sells water filtration systems. You are calling S customers who purchased a filtration system 7 current to T 10 years ago to inform them of your new Oasis line of filters, which is better than any other system on the O You can offer them market. •V A 30-day money-back guarantee. •E Billing by all major credit cards or invoice. •R A one-year limited warranty on the system that replaces all defective parts but does not cover labor. , • If they find a less expensive offer for the same product, a refund for the difference and an additional 50 percent of the difference. C A Scenario 4 This R scenario has two parts. In Part 1, you are a mechanic in an automotive repair shop. You answer a O phone call from an irate customer calling to complain about L what he perceives is an inflated billing charge for a recent air-conditioner repair. He is asking for your manager, who is at lunch and won’t be back for 45 min2 You take the incoming call, using the message-taking utes. format 3 covered in this chapter. In Part 2, you are the manager. You have just returned from lunch and find a 1 message from the irate customer described in Part 1 and must call the customer. Use Worksheet 9.3 (see 3 www.mhhe.com/customerservice) to plan your return Tbased on the message you received. call S Face to Face Telephone Techniques at Staff-Temps Background Staff-Temps International is a temporary employment agency based in Chicago, Illinois. It has six full-time and three part-time employment counselors. The office is part of a national chain owned by Yamaguchi Enterprises Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo. The chain annually places over 100,000 temporary employees in a variety of businesses and offices. Most of Staff-Temps’ contacts are made by telephone; therefore, greater emphasis is placed on selecting and training employees who have a good phone presence. Each employee is required to meet certain standards of quality in dealing with customers on the telephone. To ensure that these standards are applied uniformly, an CHAPTER 9 outside quality control company (Morrison and Lewis) is used to make “phantom calls” to staff members. In these calls, Morrison and Lewis staff pretend to be potential clients seeking information. Employee–customer calls are also randomly taped. Through the calls and tapes, levels of customer service are measured. Customer Service via Technology 361 You: Staff-Temps. Chris speaking. Aretha: Chris, what’s going on? You told me when I called first thing this morning that you would find out why my temp didn’t show up today and would call me back. I’ve left messages all day and haven’t heard a thing! We’ve got a major deadline to meet for a very important client, and I can’t get the work done. My boss has been in here every half hour checking on this. What is going on? Answer a ringing telephone within three rings. Smile as you speak. You: Aretha, I’m sorry. I just got in from lunch and haven’t been able to get back to you. Use a standard salutation (good morning, afternoon, or evening). Aretha: Just got back from lunch! It’s after 2:30! It must be nice to have the luxury of a long lunch break. I didn’t even get to eat lunch today! You: Listen, Aretha, I couldn’t help . . . (obviously anxious and raising your voice). Aretha: Don’t you “listen” me! I’m the customer, and if you can’t handle my needs, I know someone else who can. If I don’t hear from you within the next half hour, I don’t ever want to hear from you again! Goodbye! Your Role Your name is Chris Walker. As an employment counselor with Staff-Temps, you are aware of the customer service standards, which include the following: S T O Offer to assist the customer (“How may I assist you?”). On the way back to the office after lunch, you were V involved in a minor automobile accident. Even though it E was not your fault, you are concerned that your insurance may be canceled since you had another accident R and got a speeding ticket earlier this year. Because of , the accident, you were an hour late in returning from Give your name and the name of your department and company. lunch. Upon your arrival, the receptionist handed you six messages from vendors and customers. Two of the C messages were from Aretha Washington, human reA sources director for an electronics manufacturing firm that has been a good client for over two years. The two R of you had spoken earlier in the day. O As you walked into your office, the telephone started to ring. By the time you took your coat off and got to L your desk, the phone had rung five or six times. When you answered, you heard Aretha’s voice on the line. Her tone told you that she was upset. This was the 2 conversation: 3 1 Planning to Serve 3 T To get a better idea of how well your own organization S uses technology to serve customers, use the following checklist to ensure that you and the organization are delivering the best possible service to customers, using technology effectively, and sending a positive image to others. Call your own organizational (office) telephone number, or choose any large company or government agency from the phone book, to determine • How many times the telephone rings before being routed to another person or voice mail. (Four rings should be the maximum unless your organization has another standard.) [Slamming receiver down.] Critical Thinking Questions 1. How well was this customer call handled? Explain. 2. What should you have done differently? 3. Do you believe that Aretha was justified in how she treated you? Explain. 4. How do personal problems or priorities sometimes affect customer service? • If the “O” (operator) option is chosen, does the call go to a live person at another number? In other words, do you have service coverage when you are away from your telephone? If you choose the voice mail option, is your outgoing message • Upbeat and friendly? • Concise? • In compliance with organizational guidelines for voice messages? If no standards exist, does your message comply with the suggested message format in this chapter? 362 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships E-mail yourself to determine • If the message is delivered properly to your mailbox. • If your “out of office” message is sent automatically (assuming that you have this option on your system and have activated it)? For example, a response might be generated that tells correspondents that “I’ll be out of the office from (date) until (date), but I will be checking my e-mail during that period and will respond as soon as possible.” Examine your fax cover sheets (if used) to ensure that excessive information and graphics (e.g., bulky logos or icons) have been removed and that your name and phone number are provided. Quick Preview Answers 1. T 4. F 7. T 2. F 5. F 8. T 3. T 6. T 9. T Ethical Dilemma Summary Ethical Dilemma 9.1 Possible Answers 1. Is there anything wrong with how the employee is handling this situation? Explain. Your co-worker is obviously frustrated and “blowing off steam,” which is a human reaction when we feel wronged. However, the manner in which he is doing it is unprofessional and disloyal and potentially could cause harm to the organization in terms of financial and reputation losses (and indirectly to you and other employees). 2. What action, if any, should you take? If you know the employee well, you might meet with him and share that you and others overheard his remarks. Empathize, but also share your concerns that his discussing the situation in front of you and other employees is making you uneasy. Additionally, you might mention that while the situation may seem unfair, the reality is that organizations (and employees) make decisions all the time that potentially have a negative impact on the other. Often there are overriding business issues driving management’s decisions to which employees are not privy in such cases. Caution your co-worker that what he is doing is also seemingly unprofessional and could even have serious consequences for him professionally and legally. Based on the reaction you get from your co-worker, you may want to consider escalating the situation to your supervisor and sharing what happened. 10. F S 11. T T O V E R , 12. T 14. T 13. T 15. F Ethical Dilemma 9.2 Possible Answers 1.CAre there any potential legal problems with this policy? If so, what might they be? AThe National Do-Not-Call Registry is managed by Rthe Federal Trade Commission (the consumer proOtection agency in the United States) and applies to any plan, program, or campaign selling goods or serLvices through interstate phone calls. This includes telemarketers who solicit consumers, often on behalf of third-party sellers. It also includes sellers who 2provide, offer to provide, or arrange to provide goods 3or services to consumers in exchange for payment. The National Do-Not-Call Registry does not 1limit calls by political organizations, charities, or 3telephone surveyors. Under the law, a telemarketer or seller may call Ta consumer with whom it has an established busiSness relationship for up to 18 months after the consumer’s last purchase, delivery, or payment—even if the consumer’s number is on the National DoNot-Call Registry. In addition, a company may call a consumer for up to three months after the consumer makes an inquiry or submits an application to the company. And if a consumer has given a company written permission, the company may call even if the consumer’s number is on the National Do-Not-Call Registry. If a consumer asks a company not to call, the company may not call, even if there is an established CHAPTER 9 business relationship. Indeed, a company may not call a consumer—regardless of whether the consumer’s number is on the registry—if the consumer has asked to be put on the company’s own do-not-call list. Since 2005, telemarketers and sellers have been required to search the registry at least once every 31 days and drop from their call lists the phone numbers of consumers who have registered. A consumer who receives a telemarketing call despite being on the registry will be able to file a complaint with the FTC, either online or by calling a toll-free number. Violators could be fined up to $16,000 per incident. S T O V E R , C A R O L 2 3 1 3 T S Customer Service via Technology 363 2. Are there any ethical issues here? Explain. Yes, if you know that the supervisor is asking you to violate a federal law, you have to decide whether to participate in the illegal activity or to take some type of action. 3. What should you do in this situation? Ethically, you have to decide whether you want to escalate your concerns about calling people illegally to your supervisor’s boss, report the company to the FTC, and/or resign from the company. Encouraging Customer Loyalty You don’t earn loyalty in a day. You earn loyalty day-by-day. —JEFFREY GITOMER 10 CHAPTER S T O V E R , C A R O L 2 3 1 3 T S 364 LEARNING OUTCOMES 10-5 Describe the provider’s responsibility for establishing and maintaining positive customer relationships. After completing this chapter, you will be able to: 10-1 Establish and maintain trust with customers. 10-6 Identify strategies that can be used to make customers feel like they are number one. 10-2 Relate the role of customer and brand loyalty to organizational success. 10-7 Discuss strategies that can enhance customer satisfaction. 10-3 Explain customer relationship management and explain its importance to quality service. 10-4 Develop the service provider characteristics that will enhance customer loyalty. 10-8 Define quality service. To assist you with the content of this chapter, we have added additional review questions, activities, and other valuable resource material at www.mhhe.com/ customerservice. S IN THE REAL WORLD SHIPPING—UNITED PARCEL SERVICE OF AMERICA, INC. (UPS) T O growth for many companies, this service was susUnited Parcel Service (commonly referred to as UPS) is an AmerV interrupted pended but later returned and provides a key element of the ican success story that started in 1907 when two teenagers E UPS delivery process today. This process continues today with a (Claude Ryan and Jin Casey) started The American Messenger Service out of a basement in Seattle, Washington. From the beR fleet of UPS airplanes and allows them to deliver packages worldwide. ginning, their goal was to provide professional, reliable, and , From the 1950s through the mid-1970s, UPS fought a series courteous message and parcel delivery services. Since telephones and automobiles were not yet well established, they hired other teens to deliver messages and products such as drug C prescriptions to customers via bicycle and on foot. Their ethics vision has carried through and today the company has become A a leader in global supply chain management. R As telephone and motorized vehicles began to become more prevalent, the founders realized a need to expand and improve O their methods to remain competitive. To do this, they merged L with a company that had motorcycles and one car, specialized in delivering orders from grocery and drug stores, and changed their name to Merchants Parcel Delivery. At this time they 2 started a process which is used to this day—products going to 3 the same neighborhood were grouped onto one vehicle to enhance speed of delivery and efficiency. 1 By 1919, the company had established credibility and convinced numerous companies to turn over their parcel services 3 to them. The owners changed the name of the organization to T United Parcel Service and at the same time painted all their veS hicles brown, due to the stately message that this color communicated. Around the same time, they acquired a company that provided delivery of products from manufacturers to the public and became a “common carrier,” much like the U.S. Postal Service. This allowed them to deliver to both commercial and private addresses. As technology improved, the company introduced the conveyor belt inside its warehouse facilities to improve speed and efficiency in moving packages to their trucks. Such enhancements allowed the company to continue to grow and they started using private airplanes to deliver parcels to their expanded geographic locations. When the Great Depression of legal battles with the U.S. Department of Commerce to gain access and to provide common delivery services throughout the United States. In 1975, they became the first package delivery company to serve all addresses in the 48 contiguous states. This opened the way for competing companies to do likewise. Around the same time they started their first international delivery services to Canada. To ensure on-time delivery of packages as the airline industry began to deregulate, UPS also began acquiring planes for its own fleet. The UPS of today is a mega-organization that delivers over 15 million packages and documents in 200 countries and territories every day. To increase efficiency, the corporate headquarters moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Part of that move was to focus on evolving technology to enhance package tracking and delivery services. In addition to UPS.com, the organization uses webbased shipping and tracking systems such as WorldShip, Quantum View, and CampusShip. These leading-edge technologies provide efficient customer tools to process, track, and manage packages. Other technological innovations included the development of proprietary handheld Delivery Information Acquisition Devices (DIAD) that each driver carries to capture delivery information, customer signatures, and stay in touch with the UPS network. This handy tool provides quicker delivery confirmation, and allows the drivers to get pickup schedule change updates, monitor traffic patterns, and receive other important information. To capitalize on emerging financial opportunities in recent years, UPS has acquired transportation and distribution operations www.ups.com 365 366 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships to allow delivery of larger shipments via land, air, and sea to supply-chain management and financial business services. The company went public, offering stock in 1999. Since then, UPS has acquired more than 40 companies, including industry leaders in trucking and air freight, retail shipping and business services, customs brokerage, and finance and international trade services. Its focus on the environment and reduction of expenditure of paper and natural resources has escalated in an effort to reduce pollution and ensure the viability of the world in the future. 1. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are the result of effective product and service delivery, resolution of problems, and elimination of dissatisfaction. Think About It 4. Customers usually decide to purchase or repurchase from a supplier on the basis of the quality and performance of the products and services. 2. The number of customers with major problems who continue to do business with an organization if their complaint is resolved is about 9 percent. 3. One way to take responsibility for customer relationships is to personalize your approach when dealing with customers. 1. What do you personally know about UPS and how does this impact your perspective of the company as a current or potential customer? 2. From a customer perspective, why do you think some companies like UPS have survived and flourished when competitors have not done as well? 3. What role do you think management decisions to improve services since its inception have played in impacting customer service from UPS? Explain. 4. What positive aspects about the company do you think help contribute to its worldwide success and reputation? Explain. 5. Would you like to work for a company like UPS? Why or why not? Quick Preview Before reviewing the chapter content, respond to the following questions by placing a “T” for true or an “F” for false on the rules. Use any questions you miss as a checklist of material to which you will pay particular attention as you read through the chapter. For those you get right, congratulate yourself, but review the sections they address in order to learn additional details about the topic. S T O V E R , C A R O L 5. Many customers return to organizations because of relationships established with employees even though comparable products and services are available elsewhere. 6. As customers develop long-term relationships with an organization, they tend to become more tolerant of poor service. 7. Projecting an enthusiastic “I’m happy to serve you” attitude is one way to have a positive effect on customer relationships. 8. Customers usually exhibit six common needs that must be addressed by service providers in order to ensure customer loyalty. 9. Using a customer’s name is a good way to personalize your relationship with a customer. 10. Trust is not a major concern for most customers. 11. Handling complaints quickly and effectively is a good strategy for aiding customer retention. 12. An important step often overlooked in dealing with customers is follow-up. 2 3 1 3 T Role S Answers to Quick Preview can be found at the end of the chapter. LO 10-1 The of Trust C O N C E P T Trust is the most important criterion for a relationship. Trust depends on many factors. Communicating effectively, keeping your word, caring, and trusting your customers are some of these factors. trust Key element in cementing interpersonal relationships. Trust is at the heart of any relationship, especially when there is an exchange of money for products or services. For a customer to hand over his or her hard-earned cash to you and your organization typically takes a bit of persuasion through advertising or word-of-mouth endorsements from previous customers. All of this is developed by an ongoing investment of time, effort, and money from your organization and commitment and initiative from each service provider. CHAPTER 10 Encouraging Customer Loyalty 367 For trust to start and grow, your customers must believe several things about you and your organization: 1. You and the organization have the customer’s best interests in mind before, during, and after the transaction. 2. You and the organization are honest and forthcoming with customers and your goal is to deliver the best products and services possible in a timely manner and at a fair price. 3. You have quality products and services that are backed by a guarantee that should something go wrong, it will be quickly and earnestly taken care of. For customers to continue doing business with you, they must trust you and your organization. The thing about trust is that it has to be earned, and that does not happen overnight. Only through continued positive efS can you demonstrate to forts on the part of everyone in your organization customers that you are worthy of their trust andTthereby positively affect customer retention. Through actions and deeds, you must deliver quality O products, services, and information that satisfy the needs of your customV ers. Every touch point with a customer is an opportunity for you and your organization to influence customer loyalty. E Even when you win trust and achieve customer satisfaction, the cusR tomer relationship is very fragile. It is easy to destroy trust quickly; an in, to follow through on a appropriate tone, a missed appointment, failure promise, a lie, and a misleading statement or information to a customer are just some of the ways you can sabotage this relationship. The good news for North American businesses C is that as the economic recession has started to show signs of slowing downA and reversing, customer satisfaction levels for a number of industries have R begun a slow movement toward improvement on the University of Michigan American Customer SerO so, there is still a long vice Index (ACSI) scale of 100 possible points. Even L the world as consumers way to full recovery in the United States and around begin to again trust the government and economic systems that let so many down and resulted in grave financial consequences around the world. 2 to more capital due to While organizations are starting to gain access loosening of restrictions on lending and other economic factors, the average 3 consumer has yet to experience higher income flows or levels of disposable 1 income. Many are still unemployed or underemployed. Still, recent reports 3 are that the housing industry is starting to rebound to a point where houses are in higher demand and people are actually T getting into cash bidding wars and paying as much as $100,000 over the asking price in some S geographic locations. This is putting money into people’s pockets, and, as a result, other areas of the economy (e.g., automotive, home goods, and clothing) are also starting the road to recovery. Part of the trust equation is gaining consumer satisfaction with products and services offered by a provider. One UK consumer study on the topic found “Retailers that satisfy consumer demands online are likely to see more return business, and even offline sales, as a result. . . . Of the 10,000 respondents to the survey nearly two-thirds (62%) said they were more likely to return to a retailer’s website if they were satisfied with their service. Furthermore, 42% said they would be more likely to make an offline purchase from that retailer.”1 customer satisfaction A marketing term that is used to describe how well an organization is doing in providing products and services that meet or exceed a customer’s needs and expectations. 368 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships The following list illustrates changes in the customer satisfaction rates of various industries:2 Airlines Apparel Automobiles and light vehicles Banks Credit unions Department and discount stores Full-service restaurants Hospitals Internet service providers Major appliances S Personal computers Subscription television services T Wireless telephone service O U.S. Postal Service V 67% 79 84 77 82 77 80 78 67 81 80 68 72 75 To gain and maintain trust, you and the organization must actively work E toward incorporating the values and beliefs into daily actions. Failure to do so can send a message thatRyou are not trustworthy or that you act according to a double standard of, saying one thing but doing another. You must exhibit trustworthiness in words and actions, for although it takes a long time to gain trust, it can be lost in seconds. Once trust is gone, Ccorrect the situation through a sound service if you do not act quickly to recovery initiative, you may A never regain total customer confidence. One way that consumers are turned off from a trust standpoint is R through a loss of confidence that follows a breakdown in an organization’s O processes. Often glitches occur that result manufacturing and distribution in recalls of products, which L can immediately take away most or all of the consumer confidence in the safety and/or reliability of products they have used regularly for years. 2 3 Examples of product and service breakdowns can be found in virtually any industry. Here are some of the more prominent1ones that have caused severe financial and trust issues for companies in the past: 3 Company Product Year Issue(s) T Johnson & Tylenol 1982 Poison in product/death/ S Johnson illness of consumers Bi Mar Foods Hot dogs 1998 Consumer deaths Sam’s Clubs Beef 2007 E. coli illnesses Mattel Toys Various Chinese-made toys 2007 Small magnets/lead paint Toyota Multiple brands 2009 Sticking accelerator Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats cereal 2012 Metal shavings in product Trader Joe’s Peanut butter 2012 Salmonella outbreak Boeing B787 Dreamliner 2013 Battery fires CHAPTER 10 Encouraging Customer Loyalty 369 These continued recalls, and those of many consumer products in the past (e.g., toy, tire, car, and dishwasher manufacturers that produce products that cause death, injury, and product loss to users), are causing a lot of uneasiness and distrust of many manufacturers. Some companies (e.g., Johnson & Johnson) immediately took steps to recall affected products, even if they did not know whether they were at fault, while others (Toyota) delayed recalls and denied liability until forced to take action by safety organizations and consumers. Obviously, the manner in which a company handles such situations has a potentially lasting positive or negative impact on S consumer confidence and trust in the future. In addition to loss of consumer confidence T and trust, there is also the potential for huge O financial loss as a result of a recall. As an example of the cost of just one recall, in 2010 when V the egg industry issued a recall of eggs due to a EDisplaying caring and respect for customers is essential. What are salmonella outbreak, “The US recall involved some ways you can go “above and beyond” when providing R almost half a billion eggs through 11 states. It is customer service? estimated that the $0.40 per dozen decrease, be- , tween the projected benchmark price and actual realization, cost the generic shell-egg industry over $100 million in September 2010 alone.”3 C There are numerous things that you can do to personally help build trust with your customers in recall situations and when A minor service breakdowns occur. Some potential trust-building success strategies R are discussed below. COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY AND CONVINCINGLY O L If you cannot articulate or clearly explain (verbally and in writing) information in a manner that customers can comprehend and act upon, they 2 will not believe in you. You must provide more than facts and figures; you 3 must send a message of sincerity, knowledge, and honesty. Never forget that customer–provider relationships are based1on personal interactions, not on policy and procedures. 3 As you communicate, project your feelings and emotions by being posiT tive and enthusiastic. Let customers know that you are human and apS customers informed. proachable. Also, communicate frequently and keep This is especially important when a problem has occurred or they are awaiting a product or service that has been delayed. If you fail to update them regularly, they may become frustrated and believe that you are lying or trying to hide something from them. The result of such perceptions is that they might cancel their order, complain, take their business elsewhere, and tell others about their disappointing experience. DISPLAY CARING AND CONCERN Emphasize to your customers that you have their best interests at heart. Work to demonstrate that you are willing to assist in satisfying their needs. Customer Service Success Tip Always act in the best interest of your customers. Listen to them, ask questions, anticipate their needs, deliver what you promise, and exhibit high levels of professionalism in everything that you do whether your customers are present or not. 370 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships WORK IT OUT 10.1 Preventing Customer Defection Working in groups of three to five members, create a list of industries or companies that you know of that offer incentives to new customers, seemingly at the expense of existing ones. Discuss the impact that such policies have on existing customer loyalty. Also, talk about actions that customers might take as a result of such initiatives and how you as a front-line service provider might help stem such behavior. Present your conclusions to the rest of the group. S Asking questions that uncover T their needs and then taking positive action to satisfy them can do this. It can also be accomplished through passionate O efforts to solve problems. Remember that their problem is your problem. V send a message that customers are not reToo often, service providers ally that important. This can E happen when service providers adopt a “next” mentality and treat customers as if they were numbers, not people. For R example, think about the difference wording can make. Which of the following sends a more caring message to a group of customers standing in line , as they wait for service? 1. A provider calls out “Next.” C 2. A provider looks over to the next person in line, smiles, and motions the A person over with a waving hand gesture while saying, “May I help the next person in line?” R O L If you chose number 2, you are on your way to providing caring service. BE FAIR 2 customers (internal and external) with respect Make sure that you treat all and consistency. For example, 3 if you give special discounts to established or return customers while other 1 customers are present, do so discreetly. Failure to exercise discretion in these cases could cause other customers to be offended3because they perceive “preferential treatment” and they T might take their business elsewhere. Similarly, if your organization offers special incentives to attract Street Talk S new customers that are not offered to current customCustomers remain loyal to companies that make ers, the latter may resent this practice and feel that them feel they made a smart decision to engage even though they have demonstrated brand loyalty, they with that particular organization. You can help reinare not valued. As a result, they may search out comforce this idea about your organization with your petitors who provide them incentives to come aboard as customers by using complimentary words, thanking a customer. them for their business, and pointing out how your People like to feel that they are special. If a customer company values them as important and special. believes that another customer is getting something STACEY OLIVER-KNAPPE Owner, The Customer Service Gurus LLC that he or she is not, you could have problems. Such perceptions might even lead to legal action if customers perceive that your actions are discriminatory. CHAPTER 10 Encouraging Customer Loyalty ADMIT ERRORS OR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE You are human and are expected to make mistakes. The key is to recover from errors by apologizing, accepting responsibility, and then quickly and appropriately solving the problem or getting the necessary information. One of the biggest mistakes any service provider can make is to deny accountability in dealing with a customer. When you or your organization, or the products or services it sells, cause customer inconvenience, loss, or dissatisfaction, take responsibility immediately, apologize, and work toward an acceptable resolution with the customer. To do otherwise is courting disaster. In some cases, even if a customer incorrectly perceives that you contributed to his or her dissatisfaction or loss, it may be wise to take responsibility and implement a service recovery initiative. S T O and you have hopes of You work as a pharmacy technician at a major drugstore chain one day being selected for the company’s management training program after graduatV ing from college. A patient calls to complain that the medication she wasE given causes headaches when she takes it and the symptoms for which it was prescribed R are not going away. You instruct her to stop by the pharmacy at her convenience and to bring the prescrip, it to her doctor’s pretion with her. Once the pharmacist sees the pills and compares Ethical Dilemma 10.1 scription, he realizes that the patient was given the wrong medication. The pharmacist instructs you to tell the patient that he will call the doctor to get a new prescription, but he actually just refills the original prescription and givesCit to her. 1. What would you say or do to the pharmacist? Explain.A 2. Should you notify anyone else about the incident? Explain. R 3. What do you do or say to the patient? Explain. O L How do such instances potentially affect customer loyalty? 4. What are the ethical issues here and how would you deal with them? 5. 2 A story about the power of such action has been 3 circulated for years. It involves the highly successful department store1Nordstrom. As the story goes, a disgruntled customer brought a used car tire into a Nordstrom’s 3 discussion, the manstore and complained that it was defective. After some ager looked at the customer’s receipt and cheerfully T accepted the tire and refunded the customer’s money. This may not seem too unusual, except S that Nordstrom does not sell automobile tires! So, why would the manager take such an extreme action? Think about the word-of-mouth publicity (how many people in your class now know this story from just reading it?) and the customer loyalty that likely resulted from it. Whether the event actually took place or someone made it up is irrelevant. The point is that taking unusual actions to solve ordinary customer problems can pay dividends long into the future. In another classic example of taking responsibility for a problem, in 1982 an unknown person or group contaminated bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol with cyanide. Seven people used the product and died. Upon finding out about the situation, the parent company (Johnson & Johnson) immediately 371 372 PART THREE Building and Maintaining Relationships called a press conference to announce the total recall of the product from store shelves (approximately 264,000 bottles). Johnson & Johnson started a major media campaign to reassure the public that its other products were safe. The company also helped lead the way in developing tamper-resistant packaging. The cost—millions. The result—walk into any store that sells over-the-counter drug products and look for Extra-Strength Tylenol. Tylenol is right there with all its competitors and is a strong seller. How did Johnson & Johnson pull this off? The actions of the company in taking responsibility for a situation that was not of its making communicated strong values and concern for public safety, and the public remained loyal as a result. Other companies have not fared so well in the face of adversity. For example, think about the Exxon oil tanker Valdez, which spilled more than 200,000 gallons of crude oil along the Alaska coastline in 1989. The fishing and associated industries in the region were devastated and many people S ways as a result. This disaster caused maand animals suffered in various jor environmental as well as T financial losses in the millions of dollars. This does not include the almost $3 billion Exxon has spent cleaning up the enO vironmental damage and paying legal settlements. Similarly, when the V oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico exploded British Petroleum (BP)–owned in 2010, killing several workers E and pumping 4.9 million gallons of oil and gas into the water, outrage was swift and people were unforgiving of BP. R That spill resulted in the following action: “The United States Department of , charges with BP pleading guilty to 11 counts Justice settled federal criminal of manslaughter, two misdemeanors, and a felony count of lying to Congress. BP also agreed to four years of government monitoring of its safety practices C and ethics, and the Environmental Protection Agency announced that BP A from new contracts with the US government. would be temporarily banned BP and the Department ofR Justice agreed to a record-setting $4.525 billion in fines and other payments. As of February 2013, criminal and civil settleO fund had cost the company $42.2 billion.”4 ments and payments to a trust L In both oil spills, the companies were slow to react and did not initially take responsibility. As a result, both organizations are still the object of litigation and jokes today. From a trust standpoint, people harbor resent2 in protest, many will still not patronize Exxon ment over the incidents and, and BP gas stations. 3 Why companies make such 1 bad decisions related to quickly taking responsibility for and dealing with problem situations is a mystery. It likely 3 apathy and poor judgment that starts at the comes down to a culture of highest level of the organization. When employees are not empowered to T make decisions that help customers or are not held accountable for their S actions, they often make bad choices when dealing with customers. In some instances, this is out of lack of concern or training, or possibly fear. In light of the costs associated with procuring new customers and keeping current ones, Forrester Research found that when service providers exceed customer expections in solving problems, loyalty levels rise. However, when customer expectations are not met, loyalty is eroded. To expand on this, Forrester’s study of North American consumers found • Eighty-one percent of respondents who said a company’s problem resolution experience far exceeded their expectations also said that they’re very likely to do business with that company again. Only 5% of those CHAPTER 10 Encouraging Customer Loyalty who said problem resolution experiences fell far below expectations said that they’re very likely to do business with the same company again. • Sixty-five percent of respondents who said that problem resolution experiences far exceeded their expectations also said that they’re very likely to tell someone about the experience. Even more—71%—of those who said that their experiences fell far below expectations said that they’re very likely to tell someone.5 In an era of strong competition and product and service availability worldwide, failure to work proactively to resolve issues quickly and efficiently makes little fiscal sense and does nothing to stimulate and maintain customer loyalty. This is why every service provider should be trained and take responsibility for identifying and handling customer problems effectively. S T TRUST YOUR CUSTOMERS O your organization) off.” Most customers are not out to ...
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