Building a Strong Customer Service Team - The Six Attitudes That Create Outstanding Service

In the final analysis, great service teams are a direct result of projecting the right attitudes toward the customer. Every management team who understands this will consistently provide an exceptional service experience to their customers. This is because when everything is said and done, the only real memory that customers will take with them is how they were treated by the people who had served them. Let's briefly look at the six essential attitudes and how they affect the perception that others will have of our service:

1. The Attitude of Friendliness

Customers first and foremost measure our service by the friendliness shown.

As a customer service representative, we have the perfect occasion to show goodwill to those who make contact with us. It gives us a great opportunity to be friendly. I believe this attitude alone can change an entire organization if people simply understood the powerful attraction that kindness brings. I am convinced that if more customer service representatives projected a little more kindness to each customer, the customer would walk away feeling that the service was outstanding. Why do I say this? Because customers as a whole do not expect it!

I am always puzzled when doing business with a company that lacks in this area. The first thought that comes to mind is why any organization would put employees out in front who project an unfriendly attitude toward others. This not only makes customers feel uncomfortable, but also gives them a legitimate reason not to return in the future.

It is important to remember that the first guiding principle in providing great service is to understand that our job is to simply meet the requests of the customer in the friendliest manner. We are given the job of taking care of whatever need the customer may have at the moment. Since this is the first commandment of customer service, it seems only logical that we would want the service to be as pleasant as possible.

2. The Attitude of Enthusiasm

Serving with enthusiasm adds to the customer's overall experience.

When we are excited to serve, we will not only excel as customer service representatives but will have people talking about our great service. I am convinced that without enthusiasm customer service becomes more of a duty to perform. No other attitude can make us more passionate about serving. When we are not excited about serving others, we somehow begin to lose our balance in providing our customers with excellent service.

Being enthused makes others take notice and will consistently deliver better service to our customers. They walk away and feel that the service was outstanding simply because of our eagerness to serve them.

When customers decide to make a purchase on a product or service, they are usually excited about the prospects of acquiring it. We as customer service representatives need to realize that our enthusiasm will increase their enthusiasm as well. When we are excited for them, they in turn become more excited about the purchase.

3. The Attitude of Caring

Loyalty occurs when customers sense that we genuinely care.

Of all attitudes in existence, none is more powerful than the attitude of caring about others. This attitude alone will determine the outcome of every relationship in life. It far outweighs any other attitude simply because it is the cornerstone by which every other attitude will manifest itself. No other attitude will determine our fate quite like how much we care for others.

Customers will also quickly take notice of our sincere desire to serve them when we care about their needs. Loyalty also begins to happen when our customers sense that meeting their needs is more important than simply making a sale. They will also be more attracted to us because they will sense that we truly care about their service experience. Without having to say anything, they will quickly sense by our actions that we can be trusted and will do whatever it takes to meet their immediate needs.

On the other hand, customers will sense when we do not care about meeting their needs. Whether we care or not will be projected in various ways to them. This attitude is difficult to hide because of the many signs that eventually come out.

4. The Attitude of Respect

Giving respect shows our willingness to serve others.

There is no attitude quite as appealing as when we genuinely communicate our respect. It not only validates others, but also gives them a sense of dignity. When we encounter a person who is respectful toward us, we tend to straighten up and present our best selves to them. This is the beauty and benefit of showing respect. It allows us to bring out the best in people.

As service representatives, when we show our customers respect, we are conveying a willingness to serve them. This attitude also gives our customers a sense of honor because of the high regard that is communicated through respect. It gives our customers a feeling that we admire and appreciate that they have decided to do business with us.

The mentality that every service representative should have is one where he or she views the customer as essential to the overall success of the business. When we look at customers as the ones who will help to make our business successful, our attitude toward them will begin to change in a more positive manner. The key in winning loyalty starts with respect.

5. The Attitude of Encouragement

Encouragement creates a positive environment for both the customer and the company.

When we truly begin to appreciate what encouragement can do for people, we will want to do it more often. A positive word can lift people up and help them to become their best. When we are serving customers, our words (along with the tone of our voice) can make all the difference in how they perceive our service.

The service superstars have a way of communicating in a pleasant tone of voice. Their encouraging attitude and kind words instantly give customers the confidence that they are looking out for their best interest.

But what about those experiences where the service was marked with a customer service representative who showed no signs of encouragement? I can recall experiences where there would be no friendly greeting or welcoming smile offered. If anything, it felt as if I was intruding on their time. There would be no positive sign of encouragement on their part. As a customer I wanted to leave as soon as possible. Looking back, I can see that these not so pleasant customer service experiences were caused by a person who simply lacked a supportive attitude.

6. The Attitude of Thankfulness

Customers who feel appreciated will rate our service higher.

I remember coming across a story about a young man who had been fired from an ice cream parlor. One of his duties was to say thank you whenever he handed an ice cream cone to a customer. The owner of the parlor understood the power of appreciation and made it a part of the job description for each employee who served ice cream. The owner finally had to let the young man go because of his forgetfulness to say thank you.

I relate this story because I am convinced that customers will always rate our service higher if we show them our appreciation in having done business with us. I am also convinced that the organization that consistently shows appreciation will have an advantage over other similar businesses.

We must remember that in today's economy one company can practically match another company's product. What can separate us from the pack is the service and the appreciation that we show. The power of appreciation can never be underestimated. We need to understand that everyone enjoys being appreciated. This is why having an attitude of thankfulness is so beneficial if we want to become customer service superstars and project a strong service team.

By learning to implement these six attitudes into our customer service training, we will soon find our customers telling others about the great service that we provide!

Cary Cavitt is a professional customer service speaker and has personally served over 100,000 customers during the last 30 years. He has authored several books on the subject including Winning the Customer, Service Starts With a Smile, Customer Service Superstars, Five-Star Service, and Luxury Service. Cary is also available as a keynote speaker and for onsite seminars throughout the United States. Select from the 2-hour, 1/2 Day, and Full-Day customer service workshops. Look for more customer service articles and Service That Attracts Seminars at http://www.carycavittconsulting.com

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Improve on Your Customer Service - The 5 Outstanding Qualities of a Service Superstar

Every once in a while we will cross paths with what I refer to as a customer service superstar. They are like diamonds in the rough. We never know when we will be served by one of these superstars. They are dispersed throughout the marketplace and look normal on the outside. But take a closer look and we will soon discover that these people are a breed apart from your average everyday customer service representative.

What is the secret that makes these customer service superstars win us over? What is their key in consistently giving each customer an outstanding service experience? One of the first and foremost secrets in their winning ways is that these superstars make their customers feel valued. These people simply treat each customer as if he or she was the most important person on the planet. Customers walk away feeling as if they were the owner of the organization.

Customers soon recognize that these special people are living a life focused on others. This in turn makes each customer walk away feeling that the service was more than simply following a job description in order to receive a paycheck. If customer service superstars were to wear a tee shirt, the caption on the front would simply read, "It's not about me."

These customer service superstars are the best because they also understand the mindset of the customer. They are sensitive to the needs and feelings of what customers think as they walk through the door. These superstars have a way of understanding the customer and making their experience as enjoyable as possible. By understanding the customer's point of view, they also begin to capture new ways to make the service experience more pleasant. Let's now look at the five qualities that define these customer service superstars:

1. Superstars maintain a positive personality

The secret in offering great service is to stay away from an uninviting attitude. Having a positive attitude is a major key in providing each customer with a great service experience. These will always go together. Customers will want to return simply because of the attraction that a positive attitude creates. These customers will also want to return and tell others because of the positive memory of the service being offered. By being positive, these superstars make their customers feel welcomed and accepted.

Remember that the perception in the customer's mind is what really matters. If a customer feels that their service experience was below average, then it was below average. In reality we are in the customer perception business. This is why it is paramount that we periodically take an attitude check and maintain a positive atmosphere for our customers.

2. The superstars are enthused about serving

The poor service experiences that we remember are typically the result of being served by a person who lacked enthusiasm. This perception that the person was not excited to assist us made the overall experience below average. But our perception takes a complete turn when we feel that the person serving us was enthused during the whole process. It is important to remember that the secret is to show our customers that we want to assist them. One easy way to achieve this is to be enthusiastic about giving them our best service. This important key will instantly make customers walk away feeling that the service was outstanding.

3. The superstars know how to respond quickly

Because we live in a fast-paced society, our customers expect to be given quick and efficient service. Without this efficiency, the customer will more than likely walk away and remember the service as average. The goal should be to show that we respect our customers by simply respecting their time. The perception of the service will then automatically improve as a result of being quick and efficient during each transaction. Customers will then walk away not only feeling respected, but will more than likely rate us higher because of the efficiency of the service provided.

We will always appreciate service where we feel that the person serving us respected our time. The best memories of five-star service will consistently convey efficiency during the transaction. The service representative gave the impression that our time was valuable and swiftly took great care to quickly meet our needs. Remember this little gem and your customers will walk away and remember the service as being outstanding!

4. The superstars strive to be their best

Another feature of customer service superstars is their ability to excel in their chosen profession. They desire to be their best on the job by giving their customers outstanding service. Their work ethic stands out because of the motivation to perform at a higher level. These superstars do not need to be motivated from the outside. Their inspiration is driven from within.

It is a pleasure when I get the rare opportunity of being served by one of these customer service superstars. They always give the impression that they genuinely enjoy serving me. I leave with the impression that they truly enjoy their position. These experiences are a result of a person who simply gave 100% on the job.

5. The superstars are attentive

Comparable to being efficient with our customers, giving them attention also expresses that we care. By simply being attentive, we are telling our customers that they are important and deserve to be treated with respect. The power of giving attention is that it also conveys a certain level of respect. We must also remember that most customers enjoy playing this role because of the anticipated attention that they are hoping to receive.

Teach these five excellent traits into your training and begin to see your service improve instantly. Your team will begin to outshine the competition and your customers will also become your best advertisers simply because of the exceptional service received.

Cary Cavitt is a professional customer service speaker and has written several books on the topic, including Customer Service Superstars. He is available as a keynote speaker and for onsite seminars throughout the United States. Look for more customer service articles and authored customer service books at http://www.carycavittconsulting.com

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Motivate Team for Outstanding Customer Service: Six Secrets of Customer Service Motivation

Providing outstanding customer service is one of the most rewarding yet challenging activities within your organization. Exceptional organizations that provide outstanding customer service will experience the following benefits:

Increased customer satisfaction
Increased revenues
Increased repeat and referral customer traffic
Less employee turnover
Increased profits
So how do we support and motivate our customer service team to give outstanding customer service? The following are six secrets to motivate your customer service team to give exceptional customer service to your customers:

1. Provide Ongoing Learning - It's important that you not only provide training on organizational policies and technology, but also how to handle customers. Create an ongoing system for training and feedback. Request continuous feedback and have the "courage to listen" to your customer service team's responses. Your customer service team members, because they are on the frontline, can provide you with excellent information on how to service your customer. Market conditions are changing all the time and the one piece of information your customer service team can share with you can make the difference between success and failure. After receiving the information from your customer service rep, if necessary, provide the training to your customer service team so that they can provide outstanding customer service.

2. Adjust the Attitude - Constantly work on your own attitude and your team's attitude to providing outstanding customer service. As a customer service leader, always be aware of the tone you set and how your customer service team will be motivated by your attitude. If you are upbeat, your team will follow the lead and provide outstanding customer service. If you have a negative attitude, your customer service team will follow your lead and communicate this negative attitude to the customers they serve.

Work with your customer service team members to create a positive attitude in the following ways:

Look at every customer service experience as a learning experience that is preparing them for future opportunities.
Put your team in the customer's shoes to understand the customer's "pain" and create empathy for outstanding customer service solutions
Have your customer service team take on the persona of a positive individual they admire to help them through a difficult customer service situation.
Create "positive triggers" to remind your customer service team why it is important to give outstanding service. Your trigger could be as simple as a family picture or a picture of an item (new car, home, etc.) that is important to you.

3. Give Incentives - Motivate your customer service team by giving incentives based on meeting your organization's mission, goals, and values. Be timely, fair, and public with your incentives. Also, when putting together an incentive program, ask your customer service team what they would like as incentives. Many times organizations will invest thousands of dollars on incentives which are not the ones their customer service team wants. Just ask!

4. Show Appreciation - Appreciate to motivate your customer service team as much as possible. Remember, many times they are facing very challenging customer service situations everyday. Keep them motivated by sharing your appreciation in a timely, sincere, fair, and encouraging way. For more detail on this, go to my article, Appreciate to Motivate, on my website. By consistently showing appreciation, you will motivate your customer service team to excel when it is most difficult for them to do so.

5. Support Outstanding Customer Service - Support and motivate your customer service team in a number of ways. You can support and motivate your customer service team by making sure the technology supports them and the customers. For example, I recently called my internet broadband company about a mistake on a bill. The automated system disconnected my call five times before I finally spoke with a customer service representative; and I told him that he must experience many upset customers if they experience the same. The customer service representative agreed and said it made his job very difficult.

Support your customer service team by "cheer leading" their concerns to upper management. Champion their concerns to upper management and let your customer service team know the progress of each concern.

6. Keep High Standards - Motivate your customer service team by keeping standards high for customer service. When your organization is facing challenging times, it is very tempting to lower standards. That's the last action you should take. By lowering standards, you decrease customer satisfaction, increase customer service turnover, and muddy your organization's name in the marketplace.

Apply these customer service motivation secrets with your customer service team and you will have highly motivated customer service teams and happy customers, and your organization's bottom line will increase.

Ed Sykes is a highly sought after expert, author, professional speaker, and success coach in the areas of leadership, motivation, stress management, customer service, and team building. You can e-mail him at mailto:esykes@thesykesgrp.com, or call him at (757) 427-7032. Go to his web site, http://www.thesykesgrp.com, and signup for the newsletter, OnPoint, and receive either free ebook, "Empowerment and Stress Secrets for the Busy Professional," or "Secrets of Outstanding Customer Service."

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