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It’s been a while since my last post for several reasons. One, I have just been so busy with all kins of things going on and I apologize to all of you for that. The second reason is that this blog has been constantly “spammed” by a group of people trying to plug all kinds of “crap” from pornography to medicines. While I respect that everyone needs to earn a living, doing so by posting nonsense blog entries just to get a link published is just not the right way to go about it.

In any case, I am trying to get back into the swing of things and start using this blog to help people in their businesses and careers. With the current economy, this is the perfect time to upgrade skills and change the way of thinking. In fact, at my site, The Customer Service Training Institute we have published two new publications “Re-Entering The Workplace” and “Enhancing the Customer Experience” which concentrate on how to take advantage of our skills to jumpstart careers and improve customer satisfaction.

Today, the economy is pretty bad. In fact, it is the worst it has been in decades and many businesses have either been shut down or have severely cut back on expenses and workforce. Conventional wisdom says that this could hardly be considered the best time to take on a new expense or a new project. However, in this case, conventional wisdom is dead wrong.

When the economy is hard, many businesses cut back and they cut back on things that often benefit the customer. This leaves them vulnerable to having customers “taken” from them by companies that might offer more! You see, when someone is used to getting something and that something is taken away, they are not happy and just might “test the waters” and look elsewhere. If you offer something more to that customer, you stand a great chance of getting a new customer without advertising or promoting anything!

Another factor of a bad economy is that customers search out new ways of saving money or getting more benefit from every dollar. that means customers who were satisfied with doing business with one company are far more likely to look to see what esle is out there that might provide a better value for thie purchase. If you or your company can offer more to that customer, he is likely to come over to your business for their next purchase!

Finally, when business is slow, it is easier to dedicate time resources to learning or implementing something new. It is much more difficult to put anything new in place when employees are scurrying all over trying to fill orders or help customers. Take advantage of this forced downtime to prepare your business for when times get better.

The best part of a down economy is that those companies who make it through and become more efficient and more customer focused emerge stronger and more prepared to take advantage of opportunities that exist when the economy turns around. Companies who have pulled back too much and require time to “ramp up” will leave the best opportunities on the table for someone else.

Which group do YOU want to belong in?

The Customer Service Training Institute

First of all, I apologize for not posting for some time but I have been battling a host of people who keep submitting “garbage comments” on this blog and another that I run.

These posts are annoying and non sensical and come from bogus e-mail addresses. They are just bogus attempts to provide links to other sites and have nothing to do with the content being written about.

Because of this, I am being forced to stop the ability to publish comments on the articles in this blog. I am very angry about having to do this because my original intent was to create a forum where people could freely exchange ideas, thoughts, and advice pertaining to Customer Service Training. Because of these jerks and their annoying abuse, my viewers will suffer.

I am looking into ways to stop these posts and will staqrt publishing to this blog starting in January of 2009. Hopefully but that time I will find a way to enable my viewers to post without having to deal with spammers and non relevant posting.

I apologize for all of this even though I am not the cause. Have a Happy Holiday Season!

The Customer Service Training Institute

It’s been a while since my last post and I apologize for that. I found myself responding to all kinds of e-mails and questions during the last few weeks. Most of those revolved around our economy and the global downturn we are in the middle (?) of at the moment.

It is no secret that consumer confidence is way down and many businesses are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet and stay in business. While this is a serious situation, let’s keep in mind that this is not the first time this has happened. In fact, economic climates such as these are often called “corrections” and their purpose is to balance out our economy from times of excessive growth or activity.

However, these times also create opportunity for those who look ahead and take action. For example, have you ever thought what happens when a business closes or downsizes? Their customers have to look elsewhere for their goods and services! So, when one business shuts down, it presents an opportunity for others to increase their customer base, and their business.

While that might sound “cold hearted”, it is a fact that their are businesses out there that are managed very poorly. They product shoddy good, don’t treat their customers well, or just do not look for ways to make things better. They live and run for today and don’t think about tomorrow at all. Is it any wonder that by the time things go bad, they are not prepared? That they have no plan for growth or survival?

Which group are you going to be in? The one that sees opportunity or the one that whines about business conditions and does nothing to help themselves? Are you going to be the one who invests in the future or lives in the past?

Most of us just need to take a deep breath and realize that we will get through this and things will get better. How much of a loss we take is often up to us. It is never too late to change or too soon to take action. Why not dedicate today as the day YOU take definitive action on preparing yourself for what lies a head. There is no downside and a heck of an upside.

The Customer Service Training Institute

First of all, I apologize for not posting recently but I was doing a lot of travelling and training. That being said, something happened to me yesterday that made me smile and got me thinking. (Everything gets me thinking…..)

I went out for a ride yesterday on my bike and stopped in a small town. It was a small town with about 5-6 place to eat. Since it was lunch time anyway, I thought I would stop for a quick bite. I didnt know which place to go until I looked at them all and found what I thought was a great sign in the window of one place.

The sign read “If you want to talk on your cell phone while you are in a restaurant, there are a few other places in town where you can go. If you do that in here, we will not serve you.”

I thought that sign was really great because anyone who knows me knows that I dont hate cell phones, just the people that can’t seem to go 45 seconds without talking on one. In any case, I asked the restaurant people the reason for the sign.

I was told that since they were a small establishment, people talking on their phones annoyed the other patrons. It distracted them from enjoying their meals and that a few had complained about it. To provide a better experience for their customers, they instituted their “no cell phone” policy.

I had two thoughts on this. The first was that they were doing something to provide a better experience for their customers and that they should be commended for realizing the issue and dealing with it. Most places would not have reacted that way. They saw a way to make something better and it has worked for them.

The second thought was wondering how much business they lost because people were either offended or didn’t want to give up access to their phone for an hour or so. When I asked that questions, I was told that some did walk away but even more have come in since the new policy. So, the result was an increase in business after doing something to make the experience better for the customer.

Sounds like someone has a pretty good idea about customer service. See an issue and design a response. Keep an eye out for ways to create something better and opportunities will make themselves known to you. What you do with them is where your customer service knowledge comes into play.

The Customer Service Training Institute

Today we all have our expectations. Most of us are reasonable people at heart thought there are some who feel legitimately entitled to anything and everything. But, that is another topic…..

Anyway, most of us have an idea of what we feel is an appropriate response to a situation and from that idea, we judge the actual response. If it is more than what we expected, we are happy. If it is less, then we are upset.

This past week, I had just that situation. I purchased something on-line for my new motorcycle. I wasn’t thrilled about having to wait a week for it but I did and anxiously awaited the delivery day. That day I made changes to the bike in anticipation of installing my new purchase. It reminded me of waiting for something I sent away for as a kid! I must have been the last delivery of the day because at 6:30 PM my package arrived!

I eagerly opened it and found that they had sent me the wrong item. It wasn’t even close to what I ordered. It was a completely different product! Now I was upset because I had to put the bike back together without installing the new stuff. Plus, I had this other product and the hassle of returning it. Lastly, I had to try and contact the company and hope they responded. (This was an EBAY purchase)

I sent an e-mail and explained the error and asked how I could return the other product and even offerred to purchase it if a good price was offerred. I figured at least I would have to return it it and hope the right product would be shipped before I sent in the old one. (I didnt want the additonal shipping delay). I hoped they would send out the correct product and give me instruction on how to return the other product or quote me a good price to keep it. Either one would be fair in my mind.

I received an e-mail back within 2 hours (that made me happy) telling me they apologized and would send out the right product first thing in the morning. (That made me happy as well as it showed good customer service and response.) Then they told me to keep the product they sent in error! That went beyond my expectations and made me feel good about the experience even though I still had to wait another week.

If you look at it from their point of view, they would have to pay the return shipping for the product and had the hassle of sending me a refund, or sending a pre-paid shipping label. Then they would have the hassle of returning the item to stock, adjusting inventory etc. What the cost of that would have been, I don’t know. What I did kow is that their response turned a negative situation into a positve statement and experience with the company.

Can you place a solid value to that???

I didn’t think so. So, the next time you are in a situation, think about the value to you for exceedig a customer’s expectations. Sometimes it’s not as costly as you think.

The Customer Service Training Institute

For the last few weeks, I have been looking at motorcycles. I had one way back when before I got married and now, since the kids are now away at college, I thought I would start riding again. After deciding on a couple of models I would like to look at, I went from dealer to dealer comparing prices, experiences, and the machines themselves.

It was amazing how many different experiences I had. From high pressure “this price is only good for the next 5 minutes” to no pressure at all. In fact, one dealer was so nice and helpful, I would have bought my bike from him if he had it in stock. But after looking around, I decided on a particular bike and dealer. Now to research the dealer….

Anyone making a large purchase should take time to check out the dealer and most people will actually do that. Especially when you are spending thousands or ten thousands on a vehicle. Where do people go? Well, it used to be the Better Business Bureau or Consumer Affairs and those are still places everyone should go before purchasing. But today, most people go where you are reading this. To the Internet.

Here I searched under the dealer name and came up with page after page after page of warning articles, blog posts, etc. None of them were good and most were pretty strong in their condemnation of the dealership. I must say I was taken back by these comments but read all that I could find. With this information, I discovered things I should look carefully at and traps to avoid.

With a little trepidation in hand, I went to the dealer to purchase the bike. The main reason was that the dealer was just a few blocks from my house and the price was great. Had those two factors not been in play, I probably would have purchased elsewhere.

I was pleasantly surprised that I experienced none of the problems and issues written about on those articles. The salesman was nice and helpful, there was no pressure, and, so far anyway, none of the issues that I had read about. It turned out to be a very pleasent experience and I had my new bike the same day. (I put 85 miles on that night!)

The point is, people write about their experiences and may write accurate or inaccurate information. People who don’t get what they feel entitled to are more likely to fabricate stories and complaints about you. Also, comments may be months or years old after a business changes hands or personnel. It could have been one or two “bad apples” that caused the problems and the entire business suffers because of it. Whatever the reason, it can be bad for business.

The point of this is that every business should be very careful about how they deal with their customers. Don’t let customers bully you into unfair settlements but be fair and reasonable to everyone who walks through your doors or clicks on your website. In my case, I almost went somewhere else because of these comments and would have been inconvenienced for nothing.

The moral of this story? Well, as a consumer do your research. Get as much information as you can before you buy to make sure you know what you are buying, what you are using it for, and learn everything about who you are buying it from. As a business owner, make every effort to treat customers well and fairly to minimize negative publicity and commentary that might cost you business down the road. Always factor this in when you are determining whether or not it is a good idea to make an offer to the customer.

Now, I am going off to ride for a while!

The Customer Service Training Institute

If you really want to know how you stand with your customers, ask yourself why YOU would buy anything from YOUR company! Place yourself in the customer’s shoes and find out how you really stack up against the competition!

For years retail outlets have used “secret shoppers” who go around making purchases and reporting back how they were treated, the condition of the stores, the atmosphere, and many other aspect of the customer experience. Why not become your own secret shopper? It isn’t hard to do.

If you run an online business, run a search and pick out 10 competitors. Visit each site and compare their products, their policies, their site design, prices, ad copy, etc. make a trial purchase to see how their sales process flows. Write down what you like and what you dislike about each site. If they offer a customer something you don’t, write that down so you can refer back to it later.

Over the course of this exercise you willalmost definately find several things that you can add, delete, change, or enhance that will make your web based business better and more appealing to your customers. Even if this improves your conversion rate 1%, that can mean big $$$$ for you over time.

When you do this, don’t do it just once and forgt about it. Things change and in business things chage quickly! Do this exercise at least quarterly to keep up with what your competition is doing and to keep you website up to par. Even if it takes you a couple of hours to go through 10 sites from top to bottom, it is time well spent and you will also find out it saves you a LOT of money in site design fees when YOU come up with the ideas instead of someone else!

The Customer Service Training Institute

Today I spent about a half hour reading reviews on a gentleman whose on-line business was less than stellar. In fact, the guy operates a business based on fraud, deciet, and outright thievery. People who buy from him once, would never do it twice. I found the stories and accounts very interesting. But it also made me wonder how many people try the same things on a far smaller scale.

It is easy to take shortcuts, inflate product performance, make false claims, or just make promises that you don’t or can’t keep. Maybe you make outrageous claims but provide a refund number that no one answers or an e-mail no one ever checks. After all, the more you sell, and the fewer refunds you offer, the more money you make, right?

The problem with this way of doing business is that you permanently damage the one thing you have that is your most valable asset. Your reputation!

Your reputation is the most important part of your business because this is what brings new people into your store or to your website. It is what causes people to recommend you to others and helps make you business grow.

Think of how you would react if you bought something from someone and got ripped off. Would you recommend the business to others? Would you buy from them again? It is very likely you would do the opposite and do your best to let others know of your problems.

The same is said for dealing with customers. If you don’t stand behind your products, help your customers before AND after their purchase, and provide world-class assistance when problems arise, you are going to have trouble. If you misrepresent products, inflate their worth, or otherwise decieve your customers to get them to buy, you also risk losing those very same customers in the future.

The temptation to do something for immediate gain is very high, especially in this economy and with all the competition out there. We are almost forced to cut corners in order to make a sale. My advice to everyone is to make sure you do whatever it takes to protect your reputation and your business. Do what is right, not what is the easiest. Take the high road with your business and your customers. In the end, you will come out ahead.

The Customer Service Training Institute

We talk about Smart Bombs, Atomic Weapons, and all kinds of technical marvels that allow us to inflict great damage to others. All of these things I suppose are necessary to some extenet but we often overlook the most hideous and powerful weapon of them all. Words. just plain words.

It is amazing how someone can say the wrong thing and a chain reaction starts that quickly spirals out of control. A person says something, another person takes offense, and pretty soon a fight breaks out and someone is shot or stabbed and dies. Not because of a technically supperior or powerful weapon, just from a few words. Entires wars have been started or prolonged because the wrong words were spoken or the right words left unsaid. The power of the word is limitless.

The same can be said of words we use in business and with our customers. A wrong word spoken or used can great negative feeling with a customer and that customer may tell one, ten, or a thousand others. Words are powerful and need to be respected for the power they wield.

There is a saying that has been around for a long, long time. That saying is; “Think before you speak.” This is never more important than dealing with other people whether they are customers, co-workers, or others we deal with in life. Before we speak, we should always ask oursleves; “How woudlI react if this were said to me”? I know that I have said things that I meant one way and they were taken an entirely opposite way. This doesn’t mean I am a bad person, or uncaring, it just means that I chose thw rong words to say or said them at the wrong time.

If you don’t believe me, pick up any newspaper on any given day and you will find examples of stupid things said by people in various walks of life. The sports pages are full of them and so are politicians. Still don’t believe? Go ahead and pick up that newspaper. Go ahead, I’ll wait………………….

The Customer Service Training Institute

People with cataracts have a tough time seeing things clearly. Everything starts to appear cloudy and seeing mormally or clearly becomes an impossibility. Sadly, many people and companies look at their business through “Customer Service Cataracts” and this causes them to see things poorly.

It never ceases to suprise me how certain people and businesses look at their customers. They look at everything from their point of view and how things function for the business and not the customer. This is a recipe for disaster.

A certain process, procedure, or rule migh work really well for the company but be a cause of concern, or even a deal breaker, for the customer. Certain processes may fulfill all the requirements for the business but at the same time effect the customer in a very negative way. This will cause you to lose business and customers as a result.

It is important to take the time and make the effort to look at everything from two perspecitves. One perspective is from the company point of view and the other perspective is from the customer point of view. Very often looking at things from both sides will identify subtle changes that can be made so that the end result is something that is agreeable for everyone. It is sometimes very effective to have two people sit down and “play” the part of the customer and the company. This way dialogue can take place to identify potential problem areas.

It is a foolish attitude to think that the only thing that matters is the company. this attitude is danagerous because it creates an atmosphere where the customer is a second class citizen and customers will pick up on this.

Believe me, they will!

The Customer Service Training Institute