The Art of Customer Service PART 2

With any art, the artist rarely starts out naturally producing work that’s commercially viable or critically acclaimed. They spend hours practicing, training, and honing their craft.
Customer service is no different. It takes management willing to continually train and staff striving for it every day, even when it doesn’t seem easy.
Last edition, I introduced the top five customer service complaints that most industries, especially tourism, are faced with, so that we could delve into those complaints with details about how to systematically handle them. More importantly, how we could train our teams to handle these complaints.
Let’s review the most common customer complaints: rude employees, promises that aren’t carried out, unresolved issues, lack of communication, and unknowledgeable employees.
- Rude employees should be made aware of the customer’s perception. If they don’t soften their approach, they may not be worth the trouble of working with your guests.
- Promises that aren’t carried out can break your reputation, and it’s hard to bounce back after that. Instead focus on training your team to be organized and committed to follow through with their word.
- Unresolved issues are the perception of bad customer service even though the issue is out of the control of your customer service representative. For example, a plate of food that was dropped in the kitchen might be grounds for the customer to take it out on the server who did not drop the plate. That server must still be educated on how to handle the situations that are out of their control.
This brings us to what’s next on our list.
LACK OF COMMUNICATION
Communication is key, and we spotlight much of our efforts at the Tourism Leadership Council on communicating effectively.
The best way I have found to teach my team how to do this is to create a script that is practiced again and again. We practice how to handle customers who are angry or disappointed. We practice salient points about the organization.  We review often so we’re all on the same page.
Create a service script that handles anger and disappointment the way you want your staff to handle it. 
Make sure the script matches your promotional materials to build a customer’s expectations that you are willing to meet or exceed.
If you don’t want to create a script, you can simply create a matrix of simple, appropriate responses to common complaints. Overall, be prepared. You would rather have a say in how your employee handles a customer opposed to that employee handling the customer with their own anger or disappointment.
UNKNOWLEDGEABLE EMPLOYEES
Lastly, we have all been victim of the unknowledgeable employee, the guy who has no idea how to answer the customer’s question.
The burden of this last complaint falls on management and staff equally. Management must train their staff on the products and services offered. And, the staff needs to keep up with the ever-changing offerings your business provides.
Every staff member impacts the guest experience. So, don't leave this to chance. At a hotel, maintenance, housekeeping, servers, and concierge can all affect a guest when they are called upon to serve.
The art of customer service should be the goal of a carefully planned and executed strategy.
This is the perfect place for leaders to focus on continuous improvement. Lay out your goals for the guest experience carefully, and fit them to your organization.
If you are large and have tiers of management, a formal plan with continuous monitoring is necessary to create a service culture in your organization.
If you are the leader of a small organization, review with your team regularly, and model the behavior you expect from your troops.
You can't expect any more of your team than what you have prepared. Train regularly, formally, informally and by example, and enjoy the rewards of repeat business and improved profits.
While you’re practicing and teaching the art of customer service, don’t forget to recognize excellence in your employees. You will love living in an environment of high morale. Remember, quality service is the result of quality leadership.

Date: 
Tuesday, March 11, 2014