Archive for the ‘Customer service management’ Category
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
Great customer service and exceeding the customer’s expectations is partly about efficiency. All good customer service training should cover this important subject. And yet I think it is an interesting concept as efficiency in a customer service environment is about 2 different things and they are opposing forces.
Exceptional customer service is about efficiency
First, if you are going to describe customer service as efficient it needs to be quick. Whatever is going to be done needs to be done rapidly. However, not only must it be quick, but it also needs to be accurate or quality.
It’s all very well it being quick, but if it’s wrong or slapdash – you probably wouldn’t describe it as efficient.
And the interesting thing about these 2 issues is that they are opposing forces. To improve one is usually at the expense of the other. If you increase the speed of doing a job, you can often achieve this by letting your quality standards slip. Conversely, if it is important that you eliminate and avoid any mistakes when doing something, it normally means you do it more slowly and carefully.
Achieving exceptional customer service and exceeding customer expectations is partly about working out what the right combination of speed and quality is for your customer base and market sector. Oh, yes and it is always good to remember that you can’t please all of the people all of the time however you set your stall out !!
This topic is one that comes up on most of the interactive customer service courses we run. So whether you are in Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Northampton, Warwick, Leamington Spa, Stratford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Loughborough, Coalville, Market Harborough, Melton Mowbray, Oakham, Coventry, Birmingham or Cambridge this is a valuable business topic to address.
Tags: advice on customer service, Benchmarking customer service team, Customer Service free tips, customer service tips, customer service training, excellent customer service
Posted in Customer Service tips, Customer service management, communication skills, customer handling, customer services, free customer service training | No Comments »
Friday, July 23rd, 2010
Good customer service – it’s all about attention to detail.
Something we noticed recently. I was travelling with a friend who is a retailer through a large urban area recently in the car. I was driving, he was in the passenger seat, and I stopped at some traffic lights. On the left was a large Indian restaurant with a plate glass window. My friend turns to me and says “why would you do that?” “Why would you do what I replied?”
He pointed to the window of the restaurant and commented that it was filthy. “Why would you do that?” he persisted. His point was that there was no excuse for having such a dirty front window to the restaurant. “All they need to do ….” he reasoned was “pay someone (the 17 yr old junior) to turn up for work 5 minutes earlier in the morning, and give him a bucket of warm soapy water to wash the window. “Because if that is how they keep the front window, which you can see, what does that say about the state of the kitchen which you can’t see?” 
And it’s a good point isn’t it? Good attention to detail is about making sure all the little things are right in how you deal with your customer or client. They know that if you spend amounts of time and energy getting the little things right, chances are you’re on top of the big things too.
It stands to reason doesn’t it? So check that the customer is seeing your products and services in the way you want them to. Like the client’s reception I sat in recently in Birmingham. You sit in a souless, small area on low plastic easy chairs and you can’t help notice the very dead palm plant across from you! What impression does that give potential customers?!
Tags: advice on customer service, Customer Service free tips, customer service tips, exceeding customer expectations, excellent customer service, free customer service tips, what makes exceptional customer service
Posted in Customer Service tips, Customer service management, customer handling, customer services | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
Customer service training for your service desk is an important training topic at the moment it seems. Increasing numbers of companies are talking to us about customer service training for their after sales or service desk team.
Customer Service training for after sales is a hot topic
This is partly about making the customer enjoy the experience of dealing with you. Customers with computers, cars, fork lift trucks, floor scrubber driers have a choice of where they go to for after sales servicing. It is important they leave feeling cared for, that they’ve been treated fairly and they aren’t being ripped off.
There are many situations in your car dealership or service area that have to be handled sensitively. For instance how do you handle presenting a larger bill than the customer was expecting – in these trying times ?!
How do you also ensure that when your technician identifies some work that needs doing, this gets converted into business for your service team ? How do you avoid the person driving out and getting the work done elsewhere ? Many car dealerships are monitoring these figures now, and often conversion rates are poor. In fact less than 40% on 2 occasions we’ve been involved in recently.
Think what an increase to 50% conversion would do for your business. Talk to us if you’re serious about making a difference – with a strong desire to improve the experience your customers have of dealing with your organisation.
Finally – How do you deliver bad news ? Using positive language will make a big difference. A separate article has been added on this issue recently.
To Market runs customer service, telesales and telemarketing training in many service lead organisations including car dealers, fork lift truck dealers, industrial washer scrubber dryers, machine tool companies, computer software providers, I.T. support companies, car dealerships, agricultural machinery suppliers, motor factors, computer retailers as well as a wide range of business to business, and industrial sales organisations.
Tags: after sales, customer service training, customer service training programmes, excellent customer service, service desk
Posted in Customer Service tips, Customer service management, communication skills, customer handling | No Comments »
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
Hiring top people is expensive – training them to be top people is more cost effective. I came across the following quote while rereading the One Minute Manager, a top business book from the 1980s. The advice is still as relevant now ……
“You really have three choices as a manager. First you can hire winners. They are hard to find and they cost money. Or second, if you can’t find a winner, you can hire someone with the potential to be a winner. Then you systematically train that person to become a winner. If you are not willing to do either of the first two (and I am continually amazed at the number of managers who won’t spend the money to hire a winner or take the time to train someone to become a winner), then there is only the third choice left – prayer.” From the One Minute Manager (Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson)
The case for training is clear, develop the people you have and turn them into winners. Whether you have customer service, internal sales, telesales or telemarketing people, they must be motivated and trained to be the absolute best they can be. Not only will they be more successful for you, but they will also enjoy being successful and will be more motivated. You know it makes sense !
Training is cheaper than recruitment
Tags: customer service training, effective training, leicester, management, northampton, telemarketing training, telephone techniques, telesales team motivation, telesales training
Posted in Customer service management, Independent audit of telemarketing team, Telemarketing management, Telesales team assessment, communication skills, customer handling, customer services, sales development training, telemarketing, telephone techniques, telesales, telesales team management | No Comments »
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Travel industry sales training – holiday companies. Travel companies often have a particular interest in working with training providers who have a detailed knowledge of the travel business.
Sales training and customer service training for these companies is as important now as it has ever been. We are pleased that we secured the services of a top travel industry trainer. Alan Cook has over 25 years experience working as a trainer and most of them with travel companies. He joined us back in 2007, with a wealth of experience in the travel and leisure industry.
Alan Cook - specialist travel industry trainer
If you are looking to increase your conversion rates on the phone, to sell more, to make more bookings of your overseas, or ski or UK based holidays we know a man who can. He’s already been doing it for a number of years. Alan Cook has many years experience having worked for Thomas Cook at Peterborough, and Page and Moy a Leicester based travel company now owned by Market Harborough based travel group Travelsphere.
Contact us info@tomarket.co.uk if you are a travel industry company wanting to do more. We can help.
Expert travel industry training in Leicester, Market Harborough, Peterborough, Manchester, Brighton, London, Birmingham, York, Cambridge, Coventry, Nottingham, Derby. In-house training, coaching programmes and mentoring for customer service, telesales and sales agents for UK breaks, ski holidays, tours, cruises, chalets, escorted tours etc.
Tags: customer service coaching, customer service training, increasing sales, sales training, selling more on the phone, travel industry mentoring, travel sales training
Posted in Customer service management, Overcoming objections, Selling advice, Telesales team assessment, benchmarking customer service teams, benchmarking telesales teams, communication skills, customer handling, customer service team assessment, customer services, sales development training, telephone techniques, telesales, telesales team management | No Comments »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
Exceptional customer service and it’s really not that exceptional is it, is about effort. The businesses who do will prosper and those who don’t won’t ! It really is as simple as that.
Last week I went to a local town and was searching for a particular ordnance survey map. I visited 3 shops who sell maps. The first didn’t have the one I wanted on display. So I moved on. Shop number 2 had a small display and a lady stood behind the counter. “Do you have any others apart from these, as the one I want isn’t here ?” I asked. “No only those” she replied. “OK, when will you next have more stock in ?” I persisted. “We have a delivery every couple of months or so.” ‘Wow’ I thought, not exactly racing out of the shop then are they ?
“And can you order the ones you want ?” I followed up with. “No, not really we just get issued with this small range.” At no point did she suggest that she could order it, not did she suggest another solution. I was unimpressed.
Shop 3 also didn’t have the map, and so I returned to shop 1 and asked the busy manager if she had any more stock. She said that she didn’t but she would be seeing the rep on Wednesday. She said that she was willing to call him, if I was prepared to wait 5 minutes. I did and she went off to make the call.
The outcome ? Well she is getting one dropped off on Wednesday afternoon, so guess which shop will be getting my map business. It may only be an £8 purchase, but it’s still all about effort. Make sure that you go the extra mile, and are willing to help people. Not only will your actions solve more customer problems, and help you maximise any opportunity, but also you’ll impress them !
And in these times where there is less money going round the economy, there is more need to make sure you get more than your usual share.
This is one of many important topics we cover on our 2 day customer service masterclass courses. The venue for the next course is likely to be the East Midlands and so is ideal for any customer service, contact centre, call centre personnel in Kettering, Wellingborough, Northampton, Peterborough, Corby, Market Harborough, Lutterworth, Leicester, Loughborough and Northamptonshire. http://www.tomarket.co.uk/courses.php gives you dates of this and other courses.
Tags: customer service 2 day seminar, customer service advice, customer service tips, customer service training, customer service workshop, exceeding customer expectations, exceptional customer service training, offering great customer service
Posted in Customer service management, Forthcoming courses, communication skills, customer handling, customer service team assessment, customer services | No Comments »
Friday, July 24th, 2009
For goodness sake ! No really ! I nearly swore then !
For heaven’s sake when you’re designing your customer service process, or when you’re offering customer service yourself, for goodness sake use a bit of common sense. Of course we’re all brought up with the mantra of exceeding customer expectations, or delivering exceptional customer service and all the best practice in customer service training, but be a human too !
I walked into Sainsburys and bought just one item, a one pint of milk. So I don’t know what that weighs, around 1 1/2 lbs I guess. Because I only had one item I went to the one item till. The guy’s opening gambit line to me was “Would you like help with your packing ?” Really he did. He didn’t smile as he said it, he really meant it.
Use a bit of common sense when dealing with your customers in business, and treat them as individuals and prove that you are one too ! Think outside the square and be prepared to go beyond the process and the system. People will thank you for it and remember your great service.
Tags: advice on customer service, customer service best practice, customer service in retail shops, customer service tips, customer service training, delivering exceptional customer service, exceeding customer expectations
Posted in Customer service management, communication skills, customer handling, customer services, retail sales | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
A one day business development seminar is about to be run for business owners and is fully funded in the East of England, the Eastern Counties including Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.
If you’re a director or business owner manager of a small to medium sized business in Leicestershire in the East of England your place at this £500 one day business development seminar may qualify for full funding. So to you – not a bean ! Not one shilling !
Funded is available through Train to Gain. The seminar is titled
How to win and keep more business
So it will cover elements of sales, customer service and how to motivate your team to build better customer relationships. And of course you will pick up ideas from other people like you (who run their own businesses) so good opportunities to network too with like-minded people.
If you think you may qualify, and you’d like more details on how to improve the sales and customer service functions within your company just let us know via e-mail. You can e-mail me directly and I’ll write to you personally with more details. If you have any questions in the meantime – pick up the phone and give us a call.
This seminar is ideal for business owners, and directors within companies in Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket, Norwich, Ipswich, St Ives, Haverhill, St Albans, Stevenage, Letchworth, Baldock, Hemel Hempstead, Luton, Leighton Buzzard, as well as the wider counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire
Tags: Bury St Edmunds, business development ideas, business growth seminar, cambridge, Ely, fully funded training, funded business growth seminar, Haverhill, Hemel, how to build business workshop, Ipswich, Luton, new business development, Newmarket, St Ives, Train to Gain funded training, training for business owners
Posted in Customer service management, Field sales training, Free training, Funded training, Personal development, Selling advice, Train to Gain funding, business development, business growth, customer handling, customer services, owner managers directors, sales development training, seminar | No Comments »
Friday, May 15th, 2009
A one day business development seminar is about to be run for owner managers fully funded in the East Midlands.
If you’re a director or owner manager of a small to medium sized business in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire your place at this £500 one day business development seminar may qualify for full funding. So to you – not a bean ! Not one penny !
It is being funded by the government through Train to Gain. The seminar will be based on
How to win and keep more business
So it will cover elements of sales, customer service and how to motivate your team to build better customer relationships. And of course you will pick up ideas from other people like you (who run their own businesses) so good opportunities to network too with like-minded people.
If you think you may qualify, and you’d like more details on how to improve the sales and customer service functions within your company just let us know via e-mail. You can e-mail me directly and I’ll write to you personally with more details. If you have any questions in the meantime – pick up the phone and give us a call.
This seminar is ideal for business owners, and directors within companies in Leicester, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Loughborough, Coalville, Oakham, Rutland, Market Harborough, Wellingborough, Nottingham, Mansfield, Sutton in Ashfield, Derby, Lincoln, Newark, as well as wider parts of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire
Tags: building business, business development, business growth seminar, business growth workshop, corby, customer service training, developing new business, Funded training, funding for business growth seminar, kettering, leicester, Lincoln, new business ideas seminar, northampton, Personal development, sales training
Posted in Customer service management, Field sales training, Free training, Funded training, Personal development, Selling advice, Train to Gain funding, business development, business growth, customer handling, customer services, owner managers directors, sales development training, seminar | No Comments »
Friday, April 17th, 2009
We’re running a free building your business seminar in Rugeley, north of Birmingham on May 14th.
Andrew Seaward of To Market will be one of 3 guest speakers at this breakfast time meeting near Birimingham next month May 2009. The speakers will be covering a range of topics related to developing your business in a challenging market.
To Market specialises in telephone skills training for telesales, customer service and telemarketing. Andrew’s presentation is on ;
“How to make the telephone the most effective sales tool you have”
There will be 2 other presenters, speaking on a range of topics including an update on what help is available for businesses, and the key parts of the marketing mix including how to get the most out of your website for SME and medium sized businesses.
If this morning seminar is something you’d be interested and you’re available on Thursday 14th May we’d be keen to hear from you. It is not intended to eat into your day too much, so we’ll start early and be finished by 10 a.m. We will also give you something to eat and some coffee to get you fired up !
And the important bit is that there is no charge for attendance. You have the chance to pick up some top tips which you will easily be able to apply in your business as soon as you get back to the office.
For further details including the full schedule, timings and details of the venue, just send an e-mail to info@tomarket.co.uk. Places are limited, so book early !
Look forward to seeing you in the day. What could be more useful than a series of related top business tips for free ?!
This venue is ideal for business growth in Telford, Nuneaton, Hinckley, Lichfield, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Cannock, Tamworth and Walsall.
Tags: birmingham, Cannock, free business growth seminar, free customer service seminar, free marketing seminar birmingham, free sales growth seminar, Free telesales seminar, Hinckley, how to build business workshop, lichfield, nuneaton, Tamworth, Telford, Walsall, West Midlands
Posted in Customer service management, customer handling, customer services, free customer service training, free telephone sales training, sales development training, telesales, telesales team management | No Comments »