audio

Have a good look at the image on screen,  Say what you see….it’s a plain stick of seaside rock.

Moving on to the next image…again, say what you see…this time, it’s a stick of rock, but you know where it’s from – it’s Blackpool.  And of course, the clever thing is, that wherever you bite or break into the stick of rock, the name ‘Blackpool’ will still be there.  A company with excellent customer service is just like that.  Wherever you break into the company as a customer – whoever you are working with, whoever you're talking to, you’ll always get excellent.  Just like the rock, the identity of excellence is always there.  Always,  And, from everyone.

Have a look at this next image, and say what you see…it looks like another stick of rock, but it isn’t.  It’s a baton.  A relay baton.  And excellent customer service is like this.  Have a look at the next slide...

Just like with a baton in this image, excellence is passed on, from staff member to staff member, so the customer – as the baton – gets supreme service all  the way through their customer journey.  Next slide...

Now what do you see… It’s a single, golden thread.  Now move on to the final image.

In this image, the circles represent individual staff in the organisation, and the ‘thread’ – the golden line – in the picture represents the customer journey – where the service, and therefore the journey – is golden throughout.

Everything is connected, through excellence…

audio

When I was 14 I went on a school ski-ing trip.  (The photo isn’t me, but it’s about the right age).  I was a novice, and started to go down the slope too fast, with no idea of how to stop.  Eventually my skis ran into a heap of snow, and I was catapulted over the top, landing face down.  A skier came to see if I was alright, and another, close behind, picked up something from the snow.  It was the front half of my ski.

In those days, the ski was wooden, and my boot was fastened into a metal clip that was supposed to spring open on any impact.  Unfortunately my clasp had frozen solid, and as a result, the ski snapped in two.  Here’s the point though.  It  should have been my shin, or my ankle.  Both should have been a weaker link that the wooden ski(with it’s sides riveted to a thin strip of metal.)  Fortunately, and pre-figuring Anne Robinson, on this occasion I was not the weakest link…

The moral of the story is this: in terms of customer service excellence, the whole company, and its reputation, rests on its weakest link.  Consider the worst service you’ve had as a customer.  Which of these two options is your more typical thought: 1) oh well, someone’s just having a bad day, I’m sure they’re great most of the time, and everyone else in the company will be brilliant..or 2) this is a rubbish company…  and when, as is likely, you tell friends and relatives about your terrible service, do you say “I had a shocking experience today from someone who works for X’ or “I had a shocking experience today from X”.  And the take away message: never be the weakest link…take away this thought.  For every customer you interact with, the reputation of the company is resting on YOU!  Have a look at the video ‘Mr Smith’ in the 'want more' section and consider how this brilliant customer service example could be ruined by a ‘weakest link’ anywhere in the process….

audio 1

Both case studies present you with a dilemma, each involving a customer whose situation conflicts with other work priorities.  What would you do?

For the first case, you are on your way to an important meeting.  It starts promptly in 10 minutes, and you are 5 minutes away, on foot.  You are introducing the first item on the agenda.  You turn a corner, and see a young woman struggling to take a twin buggy, with very young twins on board, up a flight of stairs.  You can see the lift is out of order.  What do you do?

For the second case, you are at a tenant’s home, completing a repair, and you’ll be finished in 5 minutes.  You have a tight schedule, and should leave the job within the next 10 minutes to get to your next appointment on time.  However you can see that the tenant, an elderly man, seems agitated.  You ask if he is ok, and he bursts into tears.  What do you do?

audio 2

Case File suggestions.

For the first case, we suggest you help the woman up the stairs as a priority, and either walk quickly to the meeting, and if you are late, apologise, or perhaps phone ahead.  We suggest this because this is world class customer service: the woman needs help, it's not her fault the lifts are out of order, and you are the obvious person to assist.  Anything less than helping will not be good for customer service or the company's reputation.  And even if you are late, a customer-focused organisation would understand, and bring your item up at the next best opportunity.  To put it simply, there is more flexibility in your meeting, than in helping the customer.  And you can always make a decision by asking yourself this question: if this were my sister/mother, what would I want the organisation's staff member to do?

For the second case, we suggest you spend immediate time supporting the tenant, using your customer care skills outlined in the relevant pod elsewhere.  Then take the action that seems most appropriate (eg contact the support team or a suggested neighbour or relative) and let your scheduler know you might be late to the next job, by how much, and why.  And if necessary, stay with the tenant until support arrives. Again  suppose this were your mum or dad - what would you want for them?  Bear in mind that customer service is also reputation management: in this situation, as in case 1, you have the opportunity not only to help a customer, but to build or wreck your company's reputation.