Your vocal tone on the phone gives away far more about you than you will ever realise. Of course it is all the other person has to go on. They will build up a mental picture of you by your voice and of course what you say. This extends to all manner of other things. They’ll get an idea about how tall you are, the colour of your hair, what your body shape is like, how old you are, even how attractive you are ! All from your voice !

There will be a newly issued audio CD early next year about the use of Expression, Energy and Emphasis. This has proved challenging to develop as most of the work To Market does on customer service and telesales training on this topic has to be carried out in a very interactive way. It also makes it stick ! Follow the link to http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_list.asp?Section=TELEPHONE%20COMMUNICATION%20SKILLS

Most of you who have been through this section of the course will remember the grey person, the red person plus of course pink & fluffy and the brown man ! So make sure that you are totally focused when you’re on the phone to your customers and prospects on what is going on in your head. If you’re having a bad day, or you are preoccupied with things outside of work, chances are this emotional leakage will be picked up by the stranger at the end of the line.

A few people have been asking us recently if we have an audio CD available yet on To Market’s customer service module which is titled Pacifics www.tomarket.co.uk The answer is that it will be added early next year in 2009. You will be able to find it in the http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_list.asp?Section=CUSTOMER%20SERVICE%20SKILLS section.

But the whole idea here is to offer tips so what is today’s tip ? Today’s top tip is to consider what is really important to you when you’re a customer and you’re at the cinema, at a restaurant, in Currys or Sainsbury or wherever. And if you’re reading this as the head of a customer service team, set up a short session with your team in an office with a flipchart. Simply put up 2 lists side by side and ask the team to talk about the things they like and dislike about how they’re treated when they’re customers. Chances are you’ll have a lively discussion and people will tell you about how they’ve got on recently with Orange, Virgin mobile, Sky or whoever.

If you simply write up the things these businesses are doing well and badly, you’ll have a great template for the customer service YOU should be offering YOUR customers ! Because of course, the things you like and dislike will be exactly the same things your customers like and dislike. Â

During To Market’s customer service training courses, one of the sessions features asking the delegates what THEY like and dislike about customer service when they are a customer. After all they’re the professionals and they ought to know !

Collecting all these ideas over the last few years, they’ve now been distilled down into over 100 tips, which fit into 10 key categories. These have then been used as the basis for the 3 pack audio set on customer service available through us at http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=17

And the key point - the main thing - the most important element of customer service - the very single thing you most need to remember is ………………………… (trumpet fanfare)

 

KEEP YOUR CUSTOMER INFORMED.

If you’re looking into something for them, or you’ve got their product in for repair, or they’re waiting for an answer from you, make sure you set yourself a time limit for when you’ll get back to them. And then make sure you do it. You’ll find they appreciate it - always !

Because although you know you’ve not forgotten them and that you’re still waiting on an answer from Pete or Sarah or whoever, they don’t know that. They may assume you’ve forgotten, or more importantly they simply won’t know what to think.

So keep them informed at least daily if that is appropriate.

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Of course management of teams should be about using a mix of intuitive observations as well as raw statistics. The intuitive bit you get from the well established principle of MBWA - management by walking about. The quantitative bit is fairly straightforward and is based around just 4 key criteria. And if you ensure you look at each of these 4 numbers daily for each of your team, and in depth monthly you will find you’ve got a handle on what you need to know. The CD http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=26 explains this in more detail : how to set it up, what to measure and the short cuts and tricks to help you stay one step ahead of the team.

The 4 key measures are ;

1.  How many outbound dials they make per hour (over a given period) 

2. How many decision-makers they speak to per hour

3. How many of these decision-makers they convert into the desired outcome (sale, appointment etc.)

4. How many sales/appointments they make per hour

Understanding these numbers will help you with target setting for your team, and it will help you understand each person’s performance profile better (because not every person achieves their results in the same way.) It will also know what to address if somebody is off target and how best to help them

How many times do people try and sell to you either on the phone or face to face by dominating the conversation and trying to do all the talking ? It seems to me that sales people are often trained to simply benefit sell. And yes of course benefit statements ARE very useful.

But actually if you’re selling to a human (and of course you always are) it works much better to engage them in a 2 way conversation. If you get them involved, they will open up more readily and you will find out more.

So as a rule of thumb I think good selling is about 50% talking, 50% listening. Stray too far from this ratio at your peril ! Listening is an underrated part of the communication process. It is part of all the 2 day customer service training and telesales and telemarketing training that To Market carries out. There will be an audio CD available soon on the important topic of LISTENING SKILLS, follow this link to see the present range on communication skills topics http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_list.asp?Section=TELEPHONE%20COMMUNICATION%20SKILLS�

We’ve all noticed I’m sure that money is in limited supply. So it seems as a result many people have been contacting us recently to buy the training CDs we have available on the topics of customer service, telesales, telemarketing, PR and goal setting.

They are saying things to us like “we want to carry on investing in the team, but we don’t have much budget at the moment.” So they opt for the CDs which are only £17.99 as a way of keeping up with best practice while not breaking the bank. If this is your situation too, we’re keen to support you.

And all the CDs come with a 7 day money back guarantee. So if you buy them via PayPal online and you don’t think they’re useful, we will refund your money. Furthermore if you go ahead and commission any training with To Market to be completed before 31st March 2009, anything you’ve spent on the audio CDs will be refunded ! You can’t say fairer than that !  Â

I worked with Steve Ponsonby on a transport and distribution customer service course which took place in Nottingham.  

He gives some good advice on trusting your customer, and how one supplier has turned this to their advantage.   “In my local pub, when people order food at the bar, the landlord will say “don’t pay me now, run a tab and pay me at the end of the evening, and you don’t have to leave any debit / credit card details with me.” This serves two purposes.

1) the diner thinks that he is being trusted and can enjoy his meal

2) the landlord thinks that he may be able to persuade them to have a dessert, so increasing the bill !”  

Good and effective customer service is partly about treating the customer with respect as we cover on the green and red list exercise which is featured in the Fundamentals of Communication CD product http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=20Â

Katrina attended a customer service course with us in Cambridge, and has written to give us the following story. It tells of how a company needs to be responsive. It is important that you follow up by calling customers back quickly, and don’t accuse them of lying.   

We cover the importance of the customer is king on CD 2 in the set on exceptional customer service. http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=8    

Her story is as follows ; “Back in March I needed to fill up my home oil tank and so rang the company and asked for the cost of 700litres. I was told £360. I told them to go ahead & fill it up at which point they took my card details and put through the transaction.  

Two weeks later I was internet banking and I saw they had taken the money from my account for a total of £385!   I rang them and the girl kept saying that they had put in 750L like I asked. I told her to look at her notes as I have never, as yet put in 750 but always 700L. Basically she wasn’t having it and said she’d look into it on Monday and call me back.  

By 1pm on Monday I had heard nothing so I rang up. I spoke to a different person who was much more helpful and friendly. I explained that the invoice they put through the door stated £360 inc vat for 700L which is what I had asked for, but that I had since noticed further down this invoice, the delivery man had stamped it saying 750L. I then asked her what right they have to put oil in my tank that had not been ask for, take unauthorised money from my bank without my say so, and what guarantees have I got that I got that with the extra 50L that the chap hadn’t filled up a can near my oil tank for himself?  I also said that it is basically stealing and they have breached data protection (I was told this by my bank!). I told her that the oil delivery man should pay the £25 as he was not looking what he was doing.  She apologised profusely and said that as a gesture of goodwill for the mistake made, they would leave the extra oil in the tank and refund my £25.  

Had this lady not have been this understanding my bank had told me I could have taken this further through them. The first girl really was convinced I had ask for 750L even though so obviously my invoice said differently and she was not willing to look into it further. If I had not got this refund I would never have used this company again! Thankfully it turned out ok.  

This is a good story and it outlines some principles we should all stick to!�

This is a great tip from Laura Carr, a client in Derby. I’m always blown away by stories and personal experiences where the individual in the company goes that little bit further - and does things you never expected. That really is exceptional customer service. So take this tip and think about how you and your company can ensure you exceed customer expectations. This is one of the topics covered on our 3 customer service CDs  http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=9

Meanwhile this is what Laura submitted ;

“Hi Andrew. Once I had problems with my mobile phone - as we all have I am sure! I called the T-Mobile help line and they were trying their best to help me.  I was at work and I did not have some of the information I needed at the time, so the chap checked what time I would get home and said he would call me then.  He gave me a time slot and sure enough he stuck to it.  I received the call on my home number at the time he’d said.   I was very impressed!   The key I think here is that you should always leave the customer with a positive expectation and ensure you stick to it.”

Wise words Laura !

The following tip comes from Amy Roberts who I worked with on a telesales training course earlier this year in Leicester. She wrote ;

“One tip I would suggest - At the end of the conversation repeat back what has been discussed and what both of you need to do - Then follow it up with an email, this reduces confusion and means you both know what is expected of each other.”

This is sound advice as it helps you manage customer expectations. You both need to be clear what will happen next and when. This advice applies equally to telemarketing, telesales and customer service roles. 

There will be a CD launched soon covering the basics of professional telephone behaviour, there are also 3 audio CDs on customer service http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_list.asp?Section=CUSTOMER%20SERVICE%20SKILLS