Step One: Check
And thus our process begins. Want to know if your external customers are happy? Ask your internal customers if they are happy working in your organization. The two are intricately linked. To get happy customers you first need happy employees. To take the pulse of your employees we begin with the Customer Service Check-up. This assessment measures the satisfaction of your internal customer and provides specific direction for making positive changes in your culture through the town meetings that process the findings. Best of all, it organizes your employees into a problems solving team so that this become their initiative, not yours. For full detail on this step click here.
Step Two: Lead
Looking at your organization strategically, creating a vision for a service culture and the road map to get there is the next step. The means to accomplish this step is a two-day retreat called “Leading Empowered Teams to Service Quality” This strategic event will create a leadership team that develops, supports and facilitates a culture of service. For more detail on this management retreat click here.
Step Three: Prepare
Option A: The first step toward building a team committed to service, is to build an environment of collaboration. Internal competition never serves the customer. There is not better way to build collaboration then to have your entire organization play the game simulation “Search for the Lost Dutchman’s Goldmine.” As employees play the game they act out roles which are typical within organizations but do not serve the customer. In the debriefing of this game, they will identify the organization’s challenges and prepare action plans for improvements. This is a high energy, memorable event that teams worldwide have benefited from. For more detail on this step follow this link.
Option B: Another critical preparation steps for many teams is to explore differences in the workplace. The Discovering Diversity profile is a self-scoring assessment that is utilized as a learning tool in a workshop called “Building Bridges to Understanding.” Employees will explore their comfort in the following diversity dimensions in this session: Knowledge, Understanding, Acceptance and Behavior. A key element of a true service culture is that all people feel valued whether they are internal or external customers. For more information on this workshop and instrument follow this link.
Step Four: Teach
Our vast toolbox of customer service tools can meet a great variety of needs and industry types. We can deliver these solution for you or offer facilitator kits and (optional) train-the-trainers for internal delivery of training. To see the solutions available follow this link.
Step Five: Reinforce
- What if you could keep your investment in skill development as effective and fresh as it was the moment your employees left the classroom? Well you can! And rather inexpensively too! The Service First Video Library offers 12 short monthly films and discussion guides on twelve distinct customer service topics. Just when old habits begin to return, you have a tool to reinforce and rejuvenate the commitment to service. Click here for more details.
- Once in a while you need to breath new life and excitement into the need to be service oriented. When this happens it is time for a campaign! The Good Idea Campaign is a 30-day intense organization wide event that focuses on serving the customer better. The campaign generates hundreds of ideas for improving customer service through a creative and fun process. For more detail on the Good Idea Campaign follow this link.
Step Six: Check Again
By now you have been at this for “a while!” How is it going? Have improvements been made? Are there new issues to deal with in your organization? Having this data is very rewarding to the employees who have helped create positive changes. It is now time for you to revisit the Customer Service Check Up. This time your score will reflect your current data compared to your historical data. Additionally, you may wish to look further into the corners of the organization to see what else can be improved. Perhaps you would like a secret shopper to assess your:
- Responsiveness for connecting with web leads
- How well your organization and culture are positioned through
- the interview process with perspective employees
- What happens when a customer makes a purchase
- What your best customers really think and want
- Is your management team facilitating a culture of service
To learn more about the services we can provide give us a call.
Step Seven: Enrich
What are the developmental needs of your team? Is the sales team developing positive relationships and consistantly growing the customer base? Do employees manage themselves in the midst of change and stress without emotional outbursts or negative behaviors? Do people utilize their time effectively? There are so many skills that contribute to the customer’s impressions of the quality of your team and product. We can help you develop your team and leaders. The resources that we can provide both through our organization and our international network of consulting firms are too numerous to mention. Contact us for information regarding your specific enrichment needs.
Is it worth all the trouble? Use our calculator to find out – Click here!
