customer satisfaction survey | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 10

Acting on the Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service - 11/19/24


In last week’s tip, we shared 5 Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service.  This week, let’s address what “taking action” looks like on those key principles.  If last week was about what to do and WHY, this week is about the HOW. Engage with Interest: To engage with interest, proactively Read more

Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service - 11/12/24


It’s hard to know every procedure, every policy, every technique possible to handle every situation correctly.  After all, maybe our procedures are standard, but our customers are not.  Maybe our policies stay pretty consistent, but our customers’ needs and issues, their attitudes and actions can change from customer to Read more

From a Simple Question to an Exceptional Experience - 11/5/24


Phyllis loves her job.  It’s not just because she loves being a customer service representative, not just because she really likes her co-workers, and not just because she enjoys her company.  It’s because she really appreciates her customers, as well. A customer had ordered a register book off the company Read more

Fix One Problem without Creating Another - 10/29/24


If you’ve ever had an issue with your dishwasher, this will sound familiar.  I’ve dealt with so many dishwashers over the years, and they always seem to have some kind of an issue.  Maybe it’s because of the mix of water and technology, but for whatever reason, these never Read more

Delight Your Customers - 10/22/24


Buddy the Bug Man was different.  His company was new, and the only reason why Janet tried him out was that the service she had used for years just wasn’t working.  Whether it was mosquitoes in the yard, ants in the kitchen, or cockroaches flying through on their way Read more

A More Complete Definition of Responsiveness - 10/15/24


I was purchasing something recently that was being custom-developed.  At one point, the company’s employee and I had a good 20 e-mails going back and forth - 10 from each of us.  Unfortunately, I broke my own rule, and I did not pick up the phone after 2 or Read more

Have a Game Plan to Address Their Anxiety - 10/8/24


It seems like we all get deliveries - whether it is UPS, USPS, FedEx, Amazon, the local courier, or all the above.  We order.  They deliver.  Or do they? It’s times like these, when we’re expecting that package, that item that we’re looking forward to or need urgently or are Read more

How Persistence Saved the Day - 10/1/24


Sherrie saw the customer walk into her store holding his cell phone, and Sherrie immediately knew that was William.  She had spoken to William on the phone about an hour ago, he said he would be at Sherrie’s cell phone store in less than an hour, and there he Read more

Notice the Little Changes - 9/24/24


“My, how times have changed.” Yes, times have changed.  As a matter of fact, one of the biggest reasons why an organization’s customer service deteriorates is that times have changed…customers have changed…and the company has not… If we think about customer service delivery today v. decades ago, changes in technology alone Read more

Don’t Hurry…Be Quick - 9/17/24


No, this is not a take off on the Bobby McFerrin song:  Don’t Worry Be Happy. It’s actually a take off on the John Wooden quote:  Be quick, but don’t hurry. When I read Wooden’s book with this title, I liked the concept, and not just because John Wooden was a Read more

BRE and Beyond…Act on What You Know Makes Customers Happy

Posted on in Business Advice, Government Please leave a comment

Fix what customers don’t like, but also give customers more of what they do like.

Continuous improvement in customer service is not all about root cause analysis and process improvement. Much of it is about doing more of what already satisfies the customer.

In the article Survey: Oshkosh good for business as CEOs cite better economic outlook, the local economic development organization reports results of a survey of local businesses. When economic development organizations have a Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) component, it’s because they want to retain those industries and those jobs (and those fees and taxes, etc.) locally. So surveys are conducted on businesses just like retailers conduct surveys with customers.

The Oshkosh article notes changes made as a result of the survey to help businesses become more accessible to customers and to plan for infrastructure changes. But one of the great things about BRE surveys or any surveys for that matter is that the survey organization also learns what the customer (or in the case, the business) likes – they like talking about their facilities or products, oftentimes they like the personal relationship with BRE organizations, they like help with facilitation of difficult permitting processes, they like the access to qualified technical personnel locally. And BRE organizations that are great at what they do, use the information on what makes customers happy to their benefit.

If the industry likes to share information about their facilities and products, find forums to allow them to present about themselves. If they like the relationships with the BRE staff, create Touch Point Plans for ongoing relationship-building. If the business likes help with permitting processes, create an issue-resolution process in partnership with the local code enforcement agency. If they like the access to qualified technical personnel, ensure businesses are establishing relationships with local providers of technical staff, with community colleges, and even some high schools.

Whether it’s for a BRE organization or a private business, research to uncover customer likes is important. Sometimes capitalizing on what already makes them happy is as important as fixing those things that bring frustration.

Act on what makes customers happy.

Interested in CSS’ Government Services? Check out:

http://cssamerica.com/cssgovt.htm

http://cssamerica.com/cssbrenews.htm

http://cssamerica.com/cssbresurvey.htm


Satisfy Patients or Payments Suffer

Posted on in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

“Sure I’m not sick anymore, but the food was lousy!”

Huh? Why do people go to the hospital? You would think it would be to get their broken arm healed, their sickness cured, their ailment addressed, wouldn’t you? Well you would be correct, but when patients go to hospitals, they often assume that they’ll get good clinical care. So what ends up driving their opinions of the experience is often everything BUT the clinical care.

In the article Stakes high for hospital service, Detroit-based Henry Ford health system is highlighted because of their efforts to improve patient satisfaction. The Federal Government is implementing a patient satisfaction evaluation system for healthcare providers (primarily hospitals at this point) where reimbursement will be based in part on patient satisfaction ratings. So when you don’t satisfy patients, your payments are going to suffer.

We work with hospitals, helping them create and execute 90 day action plans that focus on recognizing progress and addressing issues on an ongoing basis. The Henry Ford hospitals have gone to the point of creating “fine dining restaurant”-type menus and even creating loyalty programs for their emergency departments.

But what we find in our work with hospitals and what Henry Ford confirms is that so much of patient satisfaction comes down to whether or not employees and physicians convey they care about the patient. Is customer service part of the culture? Does the hospital care more about the patient they’re serving or the x-ray they’re taking? Are staff patient with patients, or is it more about the task than the customer?

Beyond any program you provide to your clients, first think about how you can get your employees to convey that they care for the customer. Your financial success depends on it.

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/


Don’t Let the CRM Tail Wag the Dog

Posted on in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Lacking a strategy on how to retain customers, many businesses look at their cool new CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system and go down the wrong path.

You mean we can setup the system to e-mail the customers? Great! Our retention plan is to blast our customers with e-mail marketing messages!!

You mean we can pull in fields from the sales module and use those with our current customers? Great! Let’s figure out what fields those are so we can make sure we get that information…so that we can have that information…so that we can look at that information…and we can manage our customer relationships!

You mean there are standard surveys and dashboards that we can use? Great! We’ll use those survey questions and those dashboards to manage our customer relationships!

Now what’s wrong with all these scenarios? Hopefully you’ve guessed it. The company is devising a Touch Point Plan based on a computer system’s feature. The company is determining what intelligence to acquire based only on what the system gives them. The company is surveying and managing through standard reports from a system.

The system is creating, executing, and managing the strategy. The tail is wagging the dog.

Instead, companies should determine their own retention and growth plans with existing customers, and determine how to leverage the CRM system to help when needed. Companies should determine what intelligence to gather, how to gather, and – actually as the starting point – what they’re going to do with that intelligence. Companies should determine how they want to analyze it; then get the system to do what it needs to do for them.

Systems are generally built generically – for broad application.

Your business is built SPECIFICALLY – for your customers. Lead your systems; don’t let them lead you.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/


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