When developing a customer service strategy, the final step is to innovate and align. Where are the opportunities to get even better? How do you keep day-to-day operations and every decision aligned with your customer service vision? Learn more about two common and effective lenses to use when approaching innovation in this video from my LinkedIn Learning course “Customer Service …
The principles that guide effortless customer experiences seem basic. The truth is, it’s difficult to get customer service basics right, and many organizations don’t. While customer service catastrophes still make headlines, run-of-the-mill customer service annoyances are still maddeningly common.
In customer experience, when service is required, quality of service and access to it are inextricably associated with, and complementary to, each other. Accessibility is an enabler. When customers wait too long, they will often verbalize their criticisms when they finally do reach an employee. Valuable time is spent apologizing and delivering service takes more time. Employee burnout can increase. …
Anticipating customer expectations is essential to developing effective customer service. In fact, customer expectations ultimately define what good service means. Truly understanding your customers can help you stand out in an environment that evolves every day. So, how do you ensure customer expectations are built into your plans and direction? Let me make some recommendations: First, make sure that your …
When a strategy goes out of date, decisions become fragmented and results begin to suffer. Effective leaders know how to develop strategies that don’t go out of date. They know how to implement processes and procedures that will keep the strategy current and the business moving forward long after they’re gone. How has your strategy held up this year? Is …
What access channels should be opened up? What’s the nature of service you intend to provide? Beyond applying sound management principles, these decisions are yours to make. My overarching advice: Make your customer access strategy uniquely yours — do what’s best for your customers and your organization. Here are some examples of how customer access strategies are playing out: London-based …
In these unprecedented times, you may find yourself rethinking your organization’s strategy for serving your customers. Strategy is the bridge between your organization’s vision and mission and the specific decisions required to make them a reality. This video from the LinkedIn Learning course “Customer Service Leadership” provides a framework for developing – or reconsidering – your service strategy. Developing your …
This article from Heather Kelly at The Washington Post is a great behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of reaching customer service when call volumes are high and wait times are long. I was honored to be a resource for the article—and I’m thankful for the heroic work so many customer service professionals are doing. https://wapo.st/3cme3JX
With much of the world on lockdown due to the current COVID-19 crisis, contact centers are grappling with both increased workloads and staffing challenges. One helpful framework — now and in more normal times — is to understand the factors that affect customer tolerance for queues. There are seven, and they influence how long customers will wait in queue, how …
Does a customer access strategy sound like something that would be nice to have? Actually, it’s vital. Just ask anyone who’s part of the University of California’s Retirement Administration Service Center (UC RASC). The University of California is the world’s leading public research university system, with ten campuses, five medical centers, three national labs and a network of researchers and …
