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The Impact of the Customer Service Information Revolution

01 Apr 2013/6 Comments/in Customer Experience, Customer Service, Management, Popular/by

The impact of the information revolution in this digital age has barely begun to be felt in customer service. Advances in technology and managing technology to leverage the customer experience will transform the nature of customer service in the future.

Think of the change customer service and customer service management has seen in the last 20 years. In 1995 customers were barely getting online, dial-up speed was the best you could expect and the Internet was a novelty, something for computer geeks and little business could actually be conducted online.

Customer service automation

Today, it seems like almost everyone carries a smart phone, even my little kids are complete comfortable taking dad’s iPhone and navigating the operating system, playing games, texting, and consuming videos on demand. Consumers are more connected, more digitally experiences, and rely less on traditional sources of service. Self-service, and customized, unique service experiences are more important for today’s savvy customers.

Customer service in the Internet age

The Internet has been a revolutionary force for change. It has changed the nature of distribution of goods, distribution of services, it has changed the nature of managing systems and people. This force for change has affected markets, economies, industries, and entire professions. It has also begun to revolutionize the impact that customer service professionals can have in the customer experience customers encounter when working with your organization.

The history of customer service

Customer service used to be something that involved face-to-face interaction with a customer. It was about smiling, point out items, going with customers to find needed goods, or presenting service options. With the information revolution, more and more of the traditional customer service interactions have shifted to the digital form. Customer service interactions today for business professionals are more heavily emphasize in phone, email, and live chat customer service interactions. So does a smile matter when the customer can’t see you? Probably not, but other behaviors, word choices, and voice tone replace eye-contact, and maybe even have a greater impact on the service experience itself.

The future of customer experience

As technology continues to advance and new innovations and opportunities arise, what will you do to stay up-to-date in your deliver of exceptional customer service experiences? What trends are you seeing in your organization that will affect the future of your customer service offering. Does your customer experience strategy take into account disruptive technologies that could dramatically impact customer service? Are you on the lookout for those disruptors or will you be caught by surprise?

10 Principles of Winning Customer Experience You Can Act On Today

11 Feb 2013/2 Comments/in Customer Experience, Excellence, Popular/by

Great customer experience don’t just happen, they require vision, planning, and consistent execution in order to deliver the type of service experiences that create customer loyalty.

The principles of winning customer experiences aren’t complex. You don’t need to purchase expensive training systems or software. It just takes a decision, by you. You decide the type of service experiences your customer will have today. You control the direction and effectiveness of your people and their ability to focus on the right principles that mean real customer service action.

Winning customer service experience

10 Principles of a winning customer experience strategy

Dan Rockwell at Leadershipfreak got the ball rolling today with his 10 steps on a winner’s journey. These 10 steps will also lead you down the journey of winning customer experiences that matter to customers. These 10 principles of customer experience should be part of your customer experience management template.

1. Describe a winning customer experience. With just one word, if possible.

Probably the most difficult aspect of starting down the customer experience development road is defining a winning customer experience. We know what’s in our mind, we feel it in our heart, but translating it into words, then into actions is the initial barrier to great service.

2. Don’t worry about simplicity, focus on developing a clear customer outcomes.

Sometimes your experience process may not be simple. Depending on your organization or the needs of your customers, it may be very complex. That’s ok. The key is being able to clearly define what is a winning customer experience. There’s no limit in the number of steps, the amount of time, or the number of people that can be involved. What matters most is that you know what it is, that your people can act on it, and that your customers accept it.

3. Make winning service a series of clear destinations, not a onetime event.

There’s no single action, no one single word or phrase that will always win the customer. A winning customer experience is a process. It takes time. It takes consistent, positive action to achieve customer results. If your focus is on hitting the markers along the way, eventually you will arrive at your desired destination, that’s the nature of crafting an exceptional customer experience.

4. Win a customer today. Win another tomorrow. Win one more the day after that.

The best decision you can make is to win a customer today. Customer experience has to be focused on winning a customer for life. So much time is spent on preparing, wishing, hoping, dreaming of delivering exceptional customer experiences. But the ones who do it stop dreaming and start doing. Start today. Customer experience can make a different. Customer experience can deliver bottom-line business results.

5. Describe two winning customer experience behaviors that will win a customer today.

Start doing those two things today. If you’re already doing them, get someone else to start doing them too. You’re now not winning just one customer, but winning two. Tomorrow, pick another two behaviors to work on, then get someone else to do them too. Customer experience is active, not passive. It’s not enough to have a nice Web site or beautiful graphics. Ultimately you need to act in order to leave your customer with a good taste of what your customer experience has to offer.

6. Pick one counterproductive behavior that loses customers.

Don’t worry about two, three, or more of those behaviors. Just pick one thing your customers hate and stop doing them today. Get another team member to stop that behavior too. Repeat the process tomorrow, the day after, and the one after that. Then repeat the whole process again. Your customer experience won’t be perfect at first. It won’t be perfect the second time around. It will take many tries before you refine your customer experience to become the type that consistently creates loyal customers.

7. Build a winning customer relationship.

The next person you work with is the best one to start with. What do they need? Why do they need it? Why are they coming to you? What are their expectations? What are they concerns? What do they think is the perfect outcome? How do you typically stack up? What will keep them working with you? Is your customer experience designed around enhancing relationships? If not, you’ll need to re-think your customer experience approach in order to effectively create the type of feelings and emotions that convert customers for life.

8. Evaluate customer experience progress.

What is the typical customer experience? How many are positive? How many are negative? How are you tracking? Is your tracking getting reported? Is your reporting being used for future decisions? Are your decisions sustaining positive growth?

9. Celebrate winning customer experiences.

Pat yourself on the back. Ring a bell. Do a cheer, ok maybe just a quiet “Yes!” Are you celebrating your customer wins? Is your team celebrating winning customer experiences? Take time to point your successes in your customer experience training. This will go a long way to motivating your team members to continue working towards perfecting the customer experience process. Use customer experience quotes to encourage and set the tone to your daily service strategy.

10. Document and market your winning customer experiences.

Take the time implement a customer experience survey to give you an idea of what’s going right. Keep track of exceptional customer experiences. Publish your winning customer interactions. Share your awesome service stories. Post winning customer service on your blog. Share special customer experiences on social media. Spread the word about the great customer work getting done. Show that you mean business, your customers deserve the best, and you will deliver.

10 Principles of winning customer experiences you control

These are 10 principles of winning customer experiences that you can follow today. It doesn’t cost anything. You don’t need executive approval. You don’t need the board to vote on anything. Your manager doesn’t need to assign this. The principles are proven and effective as part of your client experience. You are in control. It’s up to you. You can improve customer experience. It’s your decision. You can do it.

And when you do, I’d love to hear about it. What’s your take on making a difference with these simple customer experience tips?

4 Manifestos for Customer Service Change Makers

28 Jan 2013/0 Comments/in Customer Experience, Excellence, Leadership, Popular/by

Change! Change! Change! We scream for changes, so why does the customer service landscape seem to always stay the same?

We all want change, yet too many of us fear change. We dream of change. We desire change. We aspire to change things. But then when it comes to it, we slink back into our comfort zones and continue doing things as they’ve always been done. Kelli Schmith’s manifesto for change makers get it right.

Be the Change in Customer Service

It’s easy to ask for change, but when the answer is: Go ahead and start, we pass on our chance and hope someone else will step up.

If customer service is to ever be the force for good in redefining the corporate/customer relationship we need to step up. We can’t wait for someone else to do it. We can no longer wait for a group of managers to come up with an idea and implement it. We have to start rounding up allies. We have to start making the changes.

Is change in the current customer service corporate environment hard? You bet. But is it impossible? It’s not.

Too much is depending on it. Competition is fierce. And one of your weapons to fight back the competitors clawing at what you’ve worked for is developing the type of customer relationship that will make loyal customers. You have to stand out. You have to change.

Change may scare. But mediocrity kills.

A manifesto is the beginning to customer service change.

A manifesto is your declaration of independence from the way customer service has always been done. Your manifesto will be your customer experience bill of rights. Inalienable rights of the customer and your customer service people. It’s a call to action. It’s a rallying cry.

So why a manifesto? Because customer service representatives everywhere have had it with policies that perpetuate bad service actions. Because your customers are fed up with the corporate chains of bad service. The people have spoken and they’ve had enough of being pushed around by corporate suits, managing by spreadsheets.

We’re at a point of no return regarding consumer and buyer leverage. They have a lot of pent up energy and are using every possible social technology to get it off their chests.

Kelli Schmith, Marketing Strategist – Dig Deep Thinker

4 Manifestos to change the world of customer service from the inside out

These standards will inspire and drive change in customer service. All are from ChangeThis.com, and are the foundation of a customer service change program.

1. The Finch Effect: How Adaptability Will Customer Service Experience

The economic downturn has changed the way people work. Customers work differently. Businesses act differently. Customer service professionals everywhere much adapt to the new landscape of how customer service needs to be done. We need to adapt. We need to recognize that service matters. Service is part of the new economy. People want service. People demand value in what they get. Hoops, red tape, bureaucracy is the path to extinction. Simple. Action. Value is the only way to survive.

2. Be the Best Customer Service Communicator in the World

Be the type of customer service person that customers demand to talk to when they contact your company. You can create a fantastic, positive customer experience because it’s not policies that make the experience. It’s your ability to connect with customers on a human level. Don’t fall back to corporate speak, the ugly communication that is stale, bland, and lifeless. You are not a corporate robot.

3. Shine: Customer Service Brain Science, Practical Customer Psychology, and the Cycle of Excellence

You can change your customers’ lives for the better. Everything you need to do it is already inside of your. The only thing that keeps us from achieving customer experience excellence is our own ability to believe that we can do it. You can be the best. You just have to choose to be the best.

4. How To Be Creative

Good ideas, alter the power balance in the customer relationship. Focus on doing good, in each customer interaction. Forget what’s been done in the past. Think of the quickest way to doing good. Your customer experience doesn’t have to be the best in the world, it just needs to be different enough to wake your customers out of their customer experience slumber. Your ability to make different decisions often outweigh the decisions themselves.

Now your turn

These four manifestos about about personal development, but I’ve given you a customer service experience spin on them. Now it’s your turn. What inspires you to deliver an exceptional customer experience? What are you doing today that you didn’t do yesterday to take your customer service experience to the next level?

Winning Customer Service

Flavio Martins

I'm and I'm on a mission to end bad service. Great customer service is easy, and successful businesses are finding that it's the real key to creating long term loyalty and success.

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