- Customer
Service Seminar Well Received
The Mass.
Marine Trades association is working hard to make your industry
and your business stronger. We have all heard the comments
that many perceive our industry to be not especially "customer
friendly". Unfortunately even some boating enthusiasts perceive
boating to be a hassle when dealing with simple repairs or
other boating necessities. We need to work hard to change
that perception if we are to continue to grow the industry.
The MMTA was very pleased to be able to bring Jonathan Williams
from the nationally acclaimed Fred Pryor Seminars group to
Boston on March 11th. Understanding the importance of serving
our customers well, over 100 industry professionals attended
the seminar to further their customer service skills.
The afternoon seminar was very informative and packed with
good information that the participants were able to take back
to their own establishments to implement immediately.
If you were unable to attend, here is a brief synopsis of
some of the most salient points we, as marine professionals,
can easily transfer to our own situations:
To Deliver Exceptional Customer Service
1. Determine who your customers are:
A. Internal customers
B. External customers
2. Determine your Customers perceptions:
A. Phone or face-to-face feedback, focus groups, surveys,
suggestions boxes, employee input
B. Ask:
(1.) What are we doing well?
(2.) What can we do better?
(3.) If there were one thing we could do differently, what
would it be?
C. Determine your Customers Expectations. Remember the "7/11
Rule"; within the first seven seconds your customers make
eleven impressions concerning your business.
3. Set Standards to meet Expectations
A. Make sure standards are specific, concise, measurable,
based on customer requirements, jointly created by staff,
and written into job descriptions.
B. Types of Standards: Quality, Quantity, Timeliness, Success,
and cost.
C. Examples of Standards: Answer phone promptly (by third
ring), Return calls in timely fashion (within 24 hours), be
emphatic (acknowledge and apologize to customer), and take
ownership of customer problems (give customer your name and
number).
4. Exceed Your Customers Expectations
A. Under-promise and over-deliver
B. Show Empathy and Care
C. Save Customers Money
D. Educate your Customer
E. Find and Solve Unmet Needs
F. Get and use Customer Feedback
5. Solve Customer Problems Professionally
A. Maintain Positive Attitude
(1.)Choose your attitude
(2.) Maintain a sense of humor
(3.) Work with a sense of purpose
(4.) Consider Customer's point of view
(5.) Focus on the positive
(6.) Recognize customer's value
B. Establish Rapport - Use Customer's name, determine and
mirror customer's style.
C. Listen Actively
D. Avoid Combative Communication
E. Communicate "Policies" with Excellence - consider reason
for policy and benefit of policy and refrain from using the
word "policy".
If we as an industry can embrace these simple, yet effective,
customer service guidelines we will all benefit. (Report by
Tom Cox)
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