The document discusses best practices for customer service processes from various top companies. It examines practices related to recruitment and hiring, training, performance management, and incentives. Many companies use behavioral interviews, assessments, and simulations to identify candidates with strong customer service skills and orientations. Extensive training programs are also used to convey corporate culture and job responsibilities. Companies emphasize hiring the right employees who are motivated to serve customers well.

1. The Ascent Group, Inc.

2.  Many of your most loyal and skilled employees are facing
retirement
 It’s more and more difficult, and expensive, to find the right
employees
 Newer generation of employees have different wants and needs
 New technologies and the Internet are revolutionizing recruitment,
hiring, training, performance, and customer service itself
 The Customer Experience is “It” and customers are expecting more
To Be Successful, You Must Excel in the “People Processes”
"
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 2

3.  Recognizing this, the Ascent Group launched a landmark
research study in late 2009 to identify “customer service best
practices” from all industries in the “people processes” for
front-line customer service.
 Interviewed Best-in-Class Companies - recognized leaders in
customer service
 Conducted Multi-Industry Benchmarking Survey of Practices:
▪ Recruiting
▪ Hiring
▪ Training and development
▪ Disciplinary process
▪ Awards and incentives
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 3

4. FedExʼs Five Dimensions of Innovations and Performance Culture"
Engaged People Growing People
Committed
People
Collaborative Secure People
People
“A satisfied customer made this possible” is printed on every FedEx
pay envelope reflecting a true customer driven culture that recognizes
the complete dependence that FedEx has on each of its employees
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 4

5. • FedEx is driven by meeting and FedEx Continuously Monitors
exceeding its customers’ Customers’ Expectations
expectations.
• It shares its strategies and goals in The Total Customer Experience
plain and simple language. And it Customer Value Proposition Service Quality Indicator Weighting
localizes the message.
Phone call answered promptly Abandoned Calls 1
• Executives continually meet with Packages picked up as scheduled Missed Pickups 10
front line employees to both present Packages delivered on time Right day late deliveries 1
FedEx’s organization messages but
Wrong day late deliveries 5
just as importantly, to receive
information back from the people Packages not damaged Overgoods 5
who most frequently interact with Lost packages 10
FedEx’s customers.
Damaged packages 10
• A more formal form of management Billed correctly Invoice Adjustments 1
Complaints resolved promptly Missing proof of delivery 1
by walking around––a tried and true
Complaints reopened 5
method. Traces 1
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 5

6. The mission of Southwest Airlines is
dedication to the highest quality of Customer
Service delivered with a sense of warmth,
friendliness, individual pride, and Company
Spirit.
 Customers and Employees are Southwest’s top priority
 Family, Love, and the Golden Rule
 Always capitalize “C” in “Customer” and the “E” in
“Employee”.
 Paychecks are signed “From Our Customers”
 Positively Outrageous Service is stressed from day one
to all Employees.
 Every Employee recognizes the goal of excellent
Customer Service, regardless of rank.
 Humor is an essential element and employees are
“required” to be fun.
“We take the competition seriously, but we
don’t take ourselves seriously.”
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 6

7. Recruitment & Hiring
 200,000 applicants annually to fill 4,000 new positions
 System matches applicant to location and open position
 Briefing, job requirement handouts, minimum hiring form, initial group
interview, individual interviews with recruiter, supervisor, peer
 Interview team has been carefully selected and trained, committed
 Frontline involvement in hiring process builds buy-in and relationships
 3-level interview helps understand behavior and attitude
“We hire leaders for every position. Leadership has nothing to do with title. We will hire someone and teach
someone the technicalities if they are willing to learn. What we will not tolerate is a bad attitude. People know
immediately if they are not a good fit at Southwest. There is such peer pressure to maintain the culture. If you
can’t laugh at yourself and you're not touchy feely, then Southwest is probably not a good fit for you.”
Colleen Barrett, President Southwest Airlines
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 7

8. Performance & Management
 Creates a work ethic and atmosphere that emphasizes the employee and the importance of
customer service
 Actively communicates with employees - routine employee feedback focus groups, regular
meetings with management, face-to-face communication, always on a first name basis
 Encourages employees to involve families in events and visits to the workplace -- this fosters
an at-home support network that makes it enjoyable to come to work
 Employees are given general guidelines of their position and then expected and encouraged
to go outside those guidelines fearlessly -- empowered to take on the responsibility for
maintaining the high performance standards of the company
 Promotes community involvement
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 8

9.  Top hiring criteria for the retail stores:
 Customer orientation
 Attitude
 Above average literacy
 Enthusiasm
 Sales background and desire
 EVERYTHING ELSE CAN BE AND WILL BE TRAINED––”We hire based on attitude”
 Technical and product training
 Sales training
 Customer service training
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 9

10.  Gold Standards - easy-to-understand definition of service quality. Aggressively
communicated and internalized at all levels of the organization. Key to providing caring
service and memorable visits.
 Three Steps of Service:
 Warm and sincere greeting, using guest name if possible
 Anticipation and compliance with guest needs
 Fond farwell, using guest name if possible
 “The 20 Basics” specify the Ritz-Carlton service philosophy. Each day, all hotel
employees around the world discuss the same Ritz-Carlton principal - 1 of the 20,
in a 15 minute lineup. This keeps the Ritz philosophy front and center.
 Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center created in 2000 as a resource for other companies
interested in benchmarking Ritz-Carlton business practices and service philosophy.
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 10

11. Screening & Hiring
“We don’t try to convert people to meet our standards, to change their behavior or thoughts—not
everyone is cut out to be in a service business. We would rather find people who fit our needs—
those who genuinely care to serve people—and put them where they want to be.”
 Predictive instrument to assess character traits of applicants versus those demonstrated by
successful employees.
▪ Extensive questionnaire that identifies caring, conscientious and enthusiastic candidates
▪ External party screens candidates, using the Ritz behavioral model.
Employee Involvement
 Employees are vested with the latitude to “move heaven and earth” to satisfy a customer.
 If an employee discovers a problem or encounters a customer complaint, he or she owns the
problem until the customer is satisfied and the shortcoming rectified. The goal is to resolve
100% percent of complaints before guest departure.
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 11

12. Incentives & Awards
 More than 40 different awards of employee excellence
 President and senior management routinely thank individual employees for exemplary service
 90% of senior management time is spent with customers and employees
Training & Development
 Each new employee must stay at a Ritz-Carlton hotel to reinforce training, help them feel a part of the family,
and to experience the mystique.
 New employees undergo a month-long certification program that introduces them to the Ritz-Carlton service
philosophy and core values.
 Each employee receives a minimum of 310 hours of training the first year and are paired with departmental
trainers to ensure comprehension, skill, and knowledge.
 Annually, employees must complete a detailed training certification program that includes written and
practical demonstrations of the philosophical and technical aspects of the job.
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 12

13. Screening & Hiring
 Management Deployed Qwiz online assessments to streamline new agent selection process and
strengthen quality of new hires through pre-employment screening
 Tests are multiple choice, less than 20 minutes per test. Scores are automatically calculated,
candidates ranked based on assessment scores. Three tests are used:
▪ Basic skill assessment evaluates math and following written instructions
▪ Another test simulates customer conversations to test listening skills, computer skills, and
give applicants a feel for the type of calls to be handled. Also evaluates customer service
attitude, problem solving skills, and emotional intelligence under pressure and predicts
productivity
▪ Third test -- trustworthiness, conscientiousness, managing work pressure, getting along
with others, and safety orientation. Also screens the more difficult character traits such as
drug and alcohol use. Identifies high quality, conscientious, service-oriented employees by
rating courteousness, tact, cooperation, attentiveness, helpfulness, and by pointing out
people-oriented and extroverted personalities
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 13

14.  Applicants participate in all three tests during one meeting, using web-
based browser.
 Application takes them through the test bank, one test at a time.
 Each test has a tutorial and sample test that can be reviewed prior to taking the
test.
 Once test is started, system measures the score, even if candidates quit early
 Qualified candidates are then scheduled in a face-to-face interview
 Management noticed a significant improvement in performance from new
hires - cut the time to standard in half -- agents are more productive sooner
 AirTran management is impressed with the psychometric analysis and
profiling. Hard to contact previous employers and difficult to judge behavior
through interview. Removed subjectivity and helped pinpoint the right
personalities.
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 14

15.  Strong company culture that emphasizes excellence in customer service, from the
top down
 Hire the right employees, based on the propensity to serve customers, not technical
specialization
 Extensive training programs to relay corporate culture as well as job specifics
 Career and other development opportunities
 Respect for employees and customers
 Incentives and recognition programs to reward exemplary performance
 Employee involvement opportunities
 Extensive internal communications to keep employees plugged-in
 Continual improvement
 Best-in-Class companies focus on customer service at every step of the process
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 15

16. Industries Represented Countries Represented
Consumer
Products Belgium Australia
7% Financial 2% 8%
Services Canada
7% 7%
Hong Kong
Utility 2%
31% Government Philippines
5% 2%
Healthcare Spain
2% 2%
Insurance
5%
Retail
5%
Travel Services
7% 7%
Transportation
USA
5% Tech Support
77%
Teleservices Telecom 7%
(Outsourcing) 10%
2%
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 16

17. Recruitment & Performance
Training Management
Hiring
Emphasis on the Front-end (Hiring) Makes Everything Else Easier
"
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 17

18.  Companies use one of four basic
approaches to identify candidates with a
“customer service” personality
Identifying Customer Service
 13% use “behavioral” based interview Personality & Skills
questions
Interviews &
 15% report the use of “behavioral-based” Simulation
assessment
Interviews & Role
Playing
 Behavior-based interviews and testing
advantages: Testing & Interviews
 Less time hiring, reduced costs Interviews
 Reduced training costs
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
 Less attrition % Participants
 Better performance
 Reduced absenteeism
 Improved morale
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 18

19.  Most companies use pre-hire screening tools or assessments (81%)
 Fewer test “customer service” skills, only 18%
Top Pre-hire Testing & Assessment Approaches
Basic Skills/Aptitude
Customer Service Aptitude
Personality/Behavioral Fit
Telephone Pre-screen
Simulator/Role Playing
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Percent Respondents Reporting
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 19

20.  Talent Plus has worked well for
INTRUST Bank.
 The company interviewed its highest
and lowest performers to identify the
scoring range.
 Applicants are measured on six
different areas.
 Ritz-Carlton also uses Talent Plus to
assess the character traits of applicants
versus those demonstrated by
successful employees.
“It identifies areas that one excels in and areas
that need attention. We have been using Talent
Plus for about a year.”
!
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 20

21. Canadian Springs Water - Using SPAS (Service Personnel Appraisal
Software). The product has made a "huge improvement in identifying the right
candidates":
 Less time associated with screening and hiring process = reduced costs
 Greatly reduced costs for training.
 Most candidates are surviving the probation period.
 Of the candidates screened by SPAS none have self-selected out, i.e. finding
that the job was "not what they expected".
 Of the new hires in the past 8 months, several have already achieved "all star
status" in the Contact Centre — they have met or exceeded the performance of
Senior Representatives.
 Absenteeism overall has reduced by over 40%
 Morale has improved
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 21

22. MetLife’s pre-hire screening involves skills testing and
simulation to measure an applicant’s fit.
• Service Index Questionnaire measures:
• Customer Service Orientation
• Job Structure Orientation
• Work Environment Orientation
• Multi-media Call Handling Simulation measures the candidate’s ability to:
• manage the customer relationship
• provide accurate and thorough information
• key alpha-numeric data quickly and accurately
• complete calls quickly and efficiently
• The test takes about 1 hour to complete.
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 22

23. Starting Wage - Market Comparison
90% of participants pay above
average or competitive starting
Below Average
wages for entry-level
customer-facing position Above Average
Competitive
Starting Wage - Market Comparison
Unionized Companies 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
% Participants Reporting Starting Wage Competitiveness
Below Average
Above Average All unionized companies pay
competitive or above average
Competitive
wages for entry-level
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
customer-facing position.
% Participants Reporting Starting Wage Competitiveness
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 23

24.  Companies use a combination of
approaches to convey job expectations
to candidates:
 Ad and posting relay job expectations Conveying Job Expectations
 Interviews - discuss and/or provide hand- to Candidates
out to candidates
 On-site interview, with direct supervision, Simulation
and tour of work environment
Job Shadowing
 Job shadowing - candidates spend time
with front-line employee, observing, Ads/Job Posting
hands-on
 Job simulation - candidates simulate Interviews
working in the job through software/
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
hardware or simulator % Participants
 Many companies reiterate job
expectations at each step in the
recruitment process.
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 24

25. Key Attributes of a Successful
Customer-Facing Employee
Communication Skills
Take Ownership
Empathetic
Problem Solving Skills
Confident
Courteous & Pleasant
Positive Attitude
Desire to Help
Patient
Computer / Technology Skills
- 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00
Average Ranking (1 = least important)
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 25

26.  Most expect transfers to meet the “new hire” qualifications
 Nearly 10% had absolutely no requirements
Requirements for Employees Transferring Into Front-line
Same as New Hire
Solid Performance
Demonstrate Customer
Service Experience
No Requirements
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Percent Respondents Reporting
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 26

27. Recent Changes to Screening Requirements
More Customer Service
Skills Assessment
More Emphasis on "Fit"
and "Potential" than
"Experience"
More Interviews and More
Selective
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Percent Respondents Reporting
Page 27

28. Recent Improvement to the Recruitment & Hiring Process
Better Assessment Tools
Enhanced/Revised
Interview Process
More Targeted Recruitment
Online Aps
Internal Referrals
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
Percent Respondents Reporting
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 28

29. Measuring Quality of Hire
Turnover
Employee Performance
"Fall Out" Rate
Tenure
Time to Hire
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
% Participants
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 29

30.  Communicate job expectations—Match Expectations with Work Reality
 Involvement of functional management and peers in the selection and
hiring process—To build buy-in and relationships
 Hire for attitude not skill, and potential, not necessarily experience
 Behavioral-based screening tools to select candidates with key customer
service attributes—Match the Right Individual with the Right Job
 Competitive starting wages & benefits
 Emphasize the importance of Customer Service
©Copyright 2010 The Ascent Group, Inc. Page 30

31. Ascent Group Publications
 Focus
 Customer Service Operational Improvement
 Customer Service Innovation & Best Practice Discovery
 Customer Service Performance Measurement & Benchmarking
 Customer Service Market Research
 All Industries
 Business Type
 Professional Services Firm
 Management Consulting Publisher of Industry Research Journals
 No hardware, software, or technology vendor affiliations
 Company Goal
 Providing process-oriented data, information, and management
consulting to help companies improve customer service performance
and customer satisfaction, while reducing customer service cost.
 Company Background
 Incorporated in Georgia, 1989
 Offices in Athens, GA
 Certified Female Business Enterprise, State of Illinois, State of Pennsylvania, State of
New York, and Nationally through National Woman Business Owners Corporation

32. Christine Kozlosky • President • ckk@ascentgroup.com
120 River Oak Way • Athens, Georgia 30605
TEL 888.749.0001 x.2 • FAX 866.941.0005
www.ascentgroup.com
32