Common sense approach to customer service.

1. Common
Sense
Customer
Service
Marquette Golf Club

2. Michael Everett
Organizational Psychologist
Everett Decision Systems, LLC
208.451.5076
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3. Where are the four errors?
Their is four erors in this statement
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4. Consumer Psychology
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5. Do you see what I see?
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6. Do we see what they see?
• Customers’ perceptions are our reality
• Perceptions - the process of directly becoming aware
through any of the senses
• Perceptual filters - Attitudes about people and things
• Mental sets - Perceiving what we want regardless of reality
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7. Perceptions are POWERFUL
• Perceptions are the link between what we see and how we
interpret what we see
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8. We see with our eyes, but
perceive with our brains
• There is a human tendancy to beleve that what we see is
the truth
• A custumer’s mental set may alter ther vision of reality
• What is real to you may be judged “ridiculous” to
someone else
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9. Find a common ground
• It is what you need to do when perceptions are out of line
• How a customer perceives behavior or situation, depends
on a combination of their belief systems, and yours
• Where is the common ground in this picture?
• Once you meet “eye-to-eye” you will find a solution
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10. Understanding Customer Needs
• Determine customer needs
• You are the link
• Why, what, how, and where of needs
• Determine short and long terms goals (e.g. Brown Cows)
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11. Consumer Psychology
• Never underestimate the value of a first impression
• Establishing a feeling of trust will pay off big in the long run
• Reflect on customers who think you are great and try to capture
what it is that’s great and share it with all of your customers
• Build relationships with customers to maximize every interaction
they have with your organization
• Communicate with them the appreciation you have for their
business
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12. Is your Attitude showing?
• Attitudes are defined as an evaluation of
people, objects, or ideas.
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13. Attitudes are made up of three
components
• Affective - emotional reactions toward the attitude object
(e.g. another person or issue)
• Cognitive - consists of your thoughts and beliefs about
the attitude object
• Behavioral - your actions or observable behavior
toward the attitude object
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14. The thinking, feeling, and doing
of an attitude
How we do this is present in every day life?
Example: Looking to purchase new clubs
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15. The thinking, feeling, and doing
of an attitude
Affective → this club triggers some sort of
feeling, whether it be excitement, envy,
longing, curiosity, anger, whatever! – Seeing
the club elicits a feeling
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16. The thinking, feeling, and doing
of an attitude
Cognitive → this aspect of your attitude toward
the Titleist MB is the beliefs you hold about a
club’s attributes. These might include your
thoughts about the club’s swing weight,
efficiency, the length of the warranty, the feel,
etc.
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17. The thinking, feeling, and doing
of an attitude
Behavioral → this is how you act in regard to
the club. When another player uses the club,
you stare. Or, when you go the pro-shop, you
test the club, and eventually buy the clubs –
this behavior is directly related to your attitude
towards the club
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18. How are attitudes formed?
Sometimes our attitudes are based primarily on
one component alone. (The cognitive
component, affective component, or the
behavioral component)
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19. How are attitudes formed?
Cognitively - We say that an attitude is cognitively based
if it is based on the properties, characteristics, or qualities of an
attitude object.
• Developed through many different ways including:
• Past experiences
• Educationally
• Socially
• Peer
• Advertisements
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20. How are attitudes formed?
Affectively - If an attitude is based on the affective
component, then it is based on emotions, values, or
morals. Most difficult to change.
• Affectively based attitudes have certain key features in
common:
1. They do not result from a rational examination of the
issues.
2. They are not governed by logic (e.g. persuasive
arguments about the issues seldom change an
affectively based attitude)
3. They are often linked to people’s values, so that trying
to change them challenges those values
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21. How are attitudes formed?
Behavioral - A behaviorally based attitude comes from
your own observations of how you behave toward an object.
• Sometimes, we don’t know how we feel about something
until we react to it
• We determine our attitude about something based on our
self-perception.
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22. How are attitudes formed?
Attitudes are hard to change!!
• Attitudes are formed at all stages of life, the longer an
attitude is held, the harder it is to change
• Avoid trying to change an attitude, work with it instead
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23. Dealing with difficult Customers
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24. Dealing with difficult Customers
Break down barriers
• When you are confronted with an angry or dissatisfied
customer
• They want to express their feelings
• They want the problem solved
Proactive examples
• Offer a sincere apology for the inconvenience
• Let the customer vent
• Nod your head and acknowledge they are being heard
• Maintain eye contact
• DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY - YOU ARE THE SCAPEGOAT
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25. Dealing with difficult Customers
Prioritize and focus on customer needs
• Empathize with the customer
• Ask questions and learn as much as you can
• Diffuse anger if possible
• Restate what they told you in your own words
• Share information
• Agree to a solution
• Follow up
• NEVER say “I don’t know” without ending it with “but I will
find out for you.”
• NEVER say “It’s not my job.”
• Remember, sometimes it just won’t work
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26. Communication
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27. Communication
70% of the work day is spent communicating
Communication Distribution
Reading, 16%
Speaking, 30%
Writing, 9%
Listening, 45%
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28. What you say matters
How you say it matters more!
• Communication is the key to success
• Communicate clearly and effectively
• Avoid distractions
• Be aware of verbal and nonverbal behavior
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29. Is your body betraying your mouth?
Non-verbal communication -
The way in which people communicate, either intentionally
or unintentionally, without words
Includes:
• Facial cues
• Tone of voice
• Gestures
• Position and movement
• Use of touch
• Where you look (gazes)
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30. Is your body betraying your mouth?
• How do we notice emotion in others?
• How do we convey attitudes
nonverbally?
• How do we communicate personality
traits?
• How do we facilitate communication
nonverbally?
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31. Beware of nonverbal communication
• Encoding - to express or emit a nonverbal
behavior (e.g. smiling)
• Decoding - interpretation of the meaning of the
nonverbal behavior (e.g. smiling because . . .?)
• Consequences - Encoding or decoding nonverbal
communication can be dangerous
• Misinterpretations can lead to incorrect
assumptions
• Be conscientious and honest with your words,
facial expressions, and gestures
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32. Are you listening to me?
• Listening is a skill
• Practice makes perfect
• Stop, think, and be aware
• Showing a customer that you are truly
listening eases any unspoken
uncertainties
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33. Tips for effective listening
1. STOP TALKING
2. Show the speaker you want to listen
3. Remove distractions
4. Empathize with the speaker
5. Be patient
6. Ask questions
7. STOP TALKING
8. Let the other person finish speaking
9. Don’t ask excessive questions
10. Use appropriate non-verbal cues
11. Focus on what the person is saying, not your next
response
12. Don’t judge, keep an open mind
13. STOP TALKING
14. Try to understand what the other person means
15. Check your attitude at the door
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34. Ten keys to effective listening
Keys The Bad Listener The Good Listener
Seizes opportunities;
1. Find areas of interest Tunes out dry subjects ask, "What's in it for
me?"
Judges content, skips
2. Judge Content, not delivery Tunes out if delivery is poor
over delivery errors
Doesn't judge until
3. Hold your fire Tends to enter into argument comprehension is
complete
Listens for central
4. Listen for Ideas Listens for facts
themes
Takes fewer notes. Uses
5. Be flexible Takes intensive notes using only one system 4-5 different systems,
depending on speaker
Works hard, exhibits
6. Work at listening Shows no energy output. Attention is faked
active body state
Fights or avoids
distractions, tolerates
7. Resist distraction Is distracted easily
bad habits, knows how
to concentrate
Resists difficult expository material; seeks Uses heavier material as
8. Exercise your mind
light, recreational materiel exercise for the mind
Interprets color words;
9. Keep your mind open Reacts to emotional words does not get hung up on
them
Challenge, anticipates,
mentally summarizes,
10. Capitalize on the fact that
Tends to daydream with slow speakers weighs the evidence,
thought is faster than speech
listens between lines to
tone of voice.
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35. Oh yeah, that customer service stuff
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36. Key issues in customer service
Eight keys to Good Customer Service
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37. What is good customer service?
Quality in a service or product is not what you
put into it. It is what the client or customer
gets out of it.
PETER DRUCKER
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38. Who are your customers?
External Customers (Members of the general public)
• A good experience dealing with your organization will
ensure repeated use of your organization
• Identify their needs quickly and accurately
• Make customers feel valued
• Pay attention to customer complaints
• Measure their satisfaction, if possible
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39. Who are your customers?
Internal Customers (Staff)
• Trust, confidence, and understanding the common goal are key
issues to establishing an environment for great customer service
• Internal morale sets the tone of our environment that the
customer experiences
• Improve cooperation among co-workers
• Increase motivation and employee confidence.
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40. Customer Service Activity
• What was your worst customer service
experience?
• How did it affect you?
• Did you return to the establishment?
• What could they have done to make you
feel better and more taken care of?
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41. 1. Positive Attitude
“To my customer.
I may not have the answer, but I’ll find it.
I may not have the time, but I’ll make it.”
- Unknown
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42. 2. Keep Promises
“Well done is better than well said”
- Benjamin Franklin
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43. 3. Listen to your Customer
“In business you get what you want by giving
other people what they want”
- Alice MacDougal
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44. 4. Delight your Customer
“Quality in a service is not what you put into
it. It is what the client or customer gets out
of it”
- Peter Drucker
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45. 5. Trust your Customer
“Give trust, and you’ll get it double in return”
- Kees Kamies
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46. 6. Work as a Team
“None of us is as smart as all of us.”
- Ken Blanchard
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47. 7. Train
“Train, don’t strain.”
- Arthur Lydiard
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48. 8. Do it NOW!
“The longer you wait, the harder it is to
produce outstanding customer service.”
- William H. Davidow
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49. Thank you for your time and
commitment. It was greatly
appreciated!!
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