How to provide excellent
customer service
Svend Elkjaer
Sports Marketing Network

Svend Elkjaer
Sports Marketing Network
o Dane, handball,
o publishing, events,
o excitement, creative, bad manager,
o even worse politician,
o Bedford, event consultancy
business...
o now Norseman returned to Yorkshire
o always in the experience business

Today
o Purpose
o Process
o Payoff
Learn from holiday camps, pubs,
Disney, Starbucks and
…Ripon Cathedral!

“Follow the customer, if they
change... we change”,
Sir Terry Leahy, Chief Executive,
Tesco

“Unwelcoming clubs”…
a word from the Secretary of State
o “Let’s be honest, a lot of our clubs
have got a very unwelcoming
environment. They must develop a
more supportive environment,
making people feel more
comfortable.”
Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture,
Media and Sport (England Netball magazine)

Excellent customer service means…

Excellent customer service means…
o doing ordinary things extraordinary well
o going beyond what’s expected
o adding value and integrity to every
interaction
o being at your best with every customer
o discovering new ways to delight those you
serve
o surprising yourself with how much you
can do
o taking care of the customer like you would
take care of your grandmother

When did you last receive/see/give
excellent customer service? How did
it make you feel?
Why is it important?
Who decides what is excellent customer
service?
How long could I be standing at your
centre before somebody says ‘hello’
or ‘welcome’?

Excellent customer service…
Culture/attitude
or
skill
or
both?

Excellent customer service…
passion
or
process
or
both?

“Unless you have 100% customer
satisfaction...you must
improve”
Horst Schulz, Ritz Carlton Hotels
chief executive officer

Welcoming centres…more
customers and more money
o Focus on your customers their needs
and then work to attract and retain
them to support your centre
o Your membership and revenue will
then grow and long-term you will
have a winning centre

Why customer service matters…
o If you retain 90% of your
members/customers every year,
you’ll have lost more than one third in
year 4. You will have lost almost
60% if you retain 80% every year
o David Lloyd retains 72% per year

Retention…the £ implications
o 100 customers @ £100
Retention
Rate Year 1 2 3 4 5 Total
90% 10 9 8 7 6 40
80% 10 8 6 5 4 33
70% 10 7 5 3 2 27

Where’s your customer focus?
1. We are completely focused on our customers, and we
are aware of their different needs and we work hard
to satisfy those needs. We constantly listen to our
customers and make improvements whenever we can
and when we can't we explain why.
2. We are getting increasingly customer focused
although the whole organisation may not be as
customer-focused as we would like. We know how we
want to improve and we are working hard to get there
3. We need to focus less on internal and political issues
and more on the customer
4. We rarely talk about customers - do we really know
who they are?
5. We are a leisure centre - why are we talking about
customers?

Your mission
o Why do customers remember us?
o How do customers feel about us?
o What do customers tell their friends
about us?
o In what ways do we help one
another?

The customer profit
customer experience
minus
customer sacrifice
=
customer profit

The WHOLE experience
o Think of the whole experience of
joining your centre: (Moment
Mapping)
n Decision to attend
n Seek information
n Booking
n Transport
n Experience at your club
n Do you make them love you
n Follow up
n Ask/listen

Dirty / Clean? –
Cheap / Quality?

All the world’s a stage
o What is smart to you?
o How do you feel when you’re looking
good at and you know it?
o What impression does that make to
our guests?

The three 2s
2 seconds
2 minutes
2 hours

5 words you rarely see
in sports plans
Fun
Passion
Customer
Technology
Innovation

o If you invited me to your house you
would treat me a guest…
o If I came to your centre you would
treat me as a ………?

You have an Goodwill Bank account
with all your customers
o Make you sure make regular deposits
and that you are NEVER overdrawn

Close the loop
o There’s no point getting people
through the front door if the back
door is wide open:
n Lack of follow up
n No place for feedback
n No evaluation
From out-reach to in-reach

Getting to know you…
First visit Second visit First week
Prospect Put info in Phone call
gives database
contact info
Send
email/text
Ongoing Every 6 weeks First month
Newsletter Newcomer Follow up
Birthday card support
Prior/post
Christmas
call
card

What do people think?
o How big a percentage of your local
community know your club exists?
o How many know where you are?
o How many have been?
o What reception would they get and
would they want to come back if they
came to a game, class, function or
just to have a look?

“You cannot improve one thing by
1000% but you can improve 1000
little things by 1%”
"Coffee stains on the flip trays tell
the customer that we don't
service our engines properly"
Jan Carlzon, former Chief Executive,
Scandinavian Airlines

One-to-one marketing
Treat ALL customers as
individuals

Customer service for all…everyone
wants to be treated as an individual

Customer service for all…everyone
wants to be treated as an individual

Customer service for all…everyone
wants to be treated as an individual

Customer service for all…everyone
wants to be treated as an individual

Customer service for all…everyone
wants to be treated as an individual

Say what and how?
o Face-to-face Communication
n 55% body language
n 38% tone of voice
n 7% words used
o Telephone communication
n 82% tone of voice
n 18% words used

Remember him…
"I only ever had a few seconds to resolve a situation and
therefore using the right body language was essential. You
just have to use the appropriate behaviour for the
moment – it could be a smile, or I could be much firmer,
depending on the situation.“
Pierluigi Collina

Try and convince these two!

The customer’s view…not yours
o Passionate vs. aggressive
o Relaxed vs. indifferent/apathetic
o Smiling vs. condescending

Putting yourself in someone else’s
shoes…
Guest: “Can you see things from my
point view?”
“Well, if I was in your situation…”
NO, take your shoes of first!

How to find out what your
customers think
o Ask them and listen
n How many customers do you ask every
day?
o Create an environment where people
feel comfortable giving you feedback
– good or bad
o Thank customers who complain (at
least they bother!)

Imagine if…
o 3 things you would need from
experiencing a great Three 2s?
o How would that make you feel?

Knowing me knowing you
o Why is building rapport useful?
o How long does is take to build?
o How long does it take to lose?

Active listening (how do you feel
when no one listens to you?)
o On my way to Loughborough I…
o Barriers to active listening?

Open questions
o Solicit more than a “yes” or “no” pr
other one-word response
o Aim to get someone talking
o Are useful when you want general
questions
o Common lead-ins are what, how and
why

Closed questions
o Solicit a “yes” or “no” or other one-
word response
o Aim to limit talking or to control
direction of conversation
o Are useful when you want specific
information
o Common lead-ins are who, when, did,
which, would, are, can, have, do is,
will and may

Welcome to my centre…
It’s great here because…tell
twelve year old teenager
five-a-side football team
two unfit women in their forties

“If you are not here to serve the
customer, or support the folks
that do, what are you doing
here?”
Sam Walton, Founder, Wal-Mart
(the world’s biggest retailer)

What you can do without asking
the boss…
o Smile
o Be polite
o Follow up
What else….

Your best friend – the awkward
customer
o Can be a big drain on staff
So what can you do:
o Let the customer vent (don’t take it personally)
o Listen (actively) – repeat key points, take
notes – make customer believe you are taking
notice
o Empathise – ‘that’s awful’, stay calm, relaxed
and in control, offer two solutions and let them
choose, what can you do
o Avoid getting trapped in negativity
o Follow up

Empower people to give excellent
service
o Set a budget – both in cash and time terms
o Share best practice
o Look back at some ‘live’ examples where
people felt there not empowered
o Create a ‘no fail’ environment where people
are prepared to make mistakes and learn
from them
o Do it. The secret is in the doing

What not to say and do
o Our system is down
o I don’t know
o I tried but…
o That’s not my job
o Calm down
o No
o We’re having a staffing problem…
o We’ve been very busy…
o We can’t do that because…
o Our policy is…
o Our rules are..

What to say and do
o Thank you for your feedback
o I’ll find out
o What I can do is
o I’m sorry
o We learn from what our customers tell
us…(make sure you do)
o From what you have said we could be a lot
better
o Is there anything I can do for you right now
to win back some of your trust?

Bounce back
Two types of problems:
Predictable
get them sorted!
Surprising
empower people to show initiative
and creativity

Turn the pyramid upside down
Receptionists, instructors, life-guards etc.
Senior management

Reliable, honest promise
o Rules create robots
o Systems create consistency
o Values not procedures

“No one ever tells me anything”
“A person without information
can’t take responsibility. A
person with information can’t
help but take responsibility”
Jan Carlzon, former Chief
Executive, Scandinavian
Airlines

It would never work here…
(selling excellent customer service
internally)
o “I am an electrician, so I don’t deal
with customers”
o “I am a manager, so I don’t deal with
customers”
o “I work in sports development, so I
don’t deal with customers”
You try and run your leisure centre
without customers

o Deep down, we believe that the
problem put simply, is THEM.
They, of course, believe WE are
the problem

Where’s your customer focus?
1. We are completely focused on our customers, and we
are aware of their different needs and we work hard
to satisfy those needs. We constantly listen to our
customers and make improvements whenever we can
and when we can't we explain why.
2. We are getting increasingly customer focused
although the whole organisation may not be as
customer-focused as we would like. We know how we
want to improve and we are working hard to get there
3. We need to focus less on internal and political issues
and more on the customer
4. We rarely talk about customers - do we really know
who they are?
5. We are a leisure centre - why are we talking about
customers?

Is there anything else
o What else can I do for you today?
o How else can I be of use?
o What else might you be looking for?
o Do you have any other questions I
can answer for you?
o What else can I help you with today?

What have you done for me lately?
o Send thank you/birthday/Christmas
cards
o The ‘Passion Bell’
o More than just a leisure centre
o “We haven’t seen you for a while, are
you OK?”
o “Have you lost weight?”
o Who have received the most ‘smile-
backs’ today?

So what you are going to change?
Tomorrow
Fortnight
3 months
Now you know what’s
stopping you from doing it

“Man who doesn’t smile, should
not work in leisure centre”
Chinese proverb (from Yorkshire)

Let’s stay in touch…
Svend Elkjaer
Sports Marketing Network
5 Station Terrace
Boroughbridge, York
YO51 9BU
01423 326 660
svend@smnuk.com