8 Golden rules of Customer Service

1) Answer your phone.

If you are unable to answer the phone at the moment, be sure to return
the person‘s call at a more convenient time. People who call want to talk
to a live person, not a “fake recorded robot”. (voice mail or answering
machine)

2) Do not make promises unless you WILL keep them.

Reliability is one of the keys to any good relationship, and good customer
service is no exception. Otherwise, do not say it. The same rule applies to
client appointments, deadlines, etc... Think before you give any promise –
because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one. It also gives
a bad impression of the organization.

3) Listen to your customers.

Is there anything more exasperating than telling someone what you want
or what your problem is and then discovering that that person hasn’t been
paying attention and needs to have it explained again? From a customer’s
point of view, I doubt it. Let your customer talk and show him that you are
listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to
solve the problem.

4) Deal with complaints.

No one likes hearing complaints, and many of us have developed a reflex

shrug, saying, “You can’t please all the people all the time”. Maybe not,
but if you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please
this one person this one time - and position the church to reap the
benefits of good customer service.

5) Be helpful - even if there’s no immediate profit in it.

Imagine that you pop into a local watch shop because you lost the small
piece that clips the pieces of your watch band together. You explain the
problem, and the proprietor says that he thinks he might have one lying
around. He finds it, attaches it to your watch band – and charges you
nothing! Where do you think you’ll go when you need a new watch band
or even a new watch? And how many people do you think you’ll tell this
story to? And you had better believe it; this also applies to the church.

6) ALWAYS be helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable.

The customers and visitors love this bit as it makes them feel special.

7) Take the extra step.

They may not say so to you, but people notice when people make an extra
effort and they will tell other people.
8) Throw in something extra.

Don’t think that a gesture has to be large or excessive to be effective.

Throwing something extra delights the customers! Always remember our
greatest asset is people.

Ten Ways to Improve Your Interpersonal Skills

The importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace and indeed in life
generally cannot be overemphasized. How you are perceived by your
manager and coworkers plays a large role in things as minor as your day-
to-day happiness at the office and as major as the future of your career.
No matter how hard you work or how many brilliant ideas you may have, if
you can’t connect with the people who work around you, your professional
life will suffer. The good news is that there are several concrete things
that one could do to improve on this all-important skill:

Try these 10 helpful tips for improving your interpersonal skills:

1. Smile. Few people want to be around someone who is

always down in the dumps. Do your best to be friendly and
upbeat with your coworkers. Maintain a positive, cheerful
attitude about work and about life. Smile often. The positive
energy you radiate will draw others to you.
2. Be appreciative. Find one positive thing about everyone
you work with and let them hear it. Be generous with praise and
kind words of encouragement. Say thank you when someone
helps you. Make colleagues feel welcome when they call or stop
by your office. If you let others know that they are appreciated,
they’ll want to give you their best.
3. Pay attention to others. Observe what’s going on in other
people’s lives. Acknowledge their happy milestones, and
express concern and sympathy for difficult situations such as an
illness or death. Make eye contact and address people by their
first names. Ask for other peoples’ opinions.
4. Practice active listening. To actively listen is to
demonstrate that you intend to hear and understand another’s
point of view. It means restating, in your own words, what the
other person has said. In this way, you know that you
understood their meaning and they know that your responses
are more than lip service. Your coworkers will appreciate
knowing that you really do listen to what they have to say.
5. Bring people together. Create an environment that
encourages others to work together. Treat everyone equally,
and don't play favorites. Avoid talking about others behind their
backs. Follow up on other people's suggestions or requests.
When you make a statement or announcement, check to see
that you have been understood. If folks see you as someone
solid and fair, they will grow to trust you.
6. Resolve conflicts. Take a step beyond simply bringing
people together, and become someone who resolves conflicts
when they arise. Learn how to be an effective mediator. If
coworkers bicker over personal or professional disagreements,
arrange to sit down with both parties and help sort out their
differences. By taking on such a leadership role, you will garner
respect and admiration from those around you.
7. Communicate clearly. Pay close attention to both what you
say and how you say it. A clear and effective communicator
avoids misunderstandings with coworkers, collegues, and
associates. Verbal eloquence projects an image of intelligence
and maturity, no matter what your age. If you tend to blurt out
anything that comes to mind, people won’t put much weight on
your words or opinions.
8. Humor them. Don’t be afraid to be funny or clever. Most
people are drawn to a person that can make them laugh. Use
your sense of humor as an effective tool to lower barriers and
gain people’s affection.
9. See it from their side. Empathy means being able to put
yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand how they feel.
Try to view situations and responses from another person’s
perspective. This can be accomplished through staying in touch
with your own emotions; those who are cut off from their own
feelings are often unable to empathize with others.
10. Don't complain. There is nothing worse than a
chronic complainer or whiner. If you simply have to vent about
something, save it for your diary. If you must verbalize your
grievances, vent to your personal friends and family, and keep it
short. Spare those around you, or else you’ll get a bad
reputation.
“Profile of a Successful Professional”

i) Successful professionals have respect for themselves and their

profession.

ii) They have a genuine interest in serving the needs of others,

as well as good team-worker abilities.

iii) They demonstrate a positive attitude toward the customers,

peers, supervisors, public, and management.

iv) They represent their company to other agencies and citizens

with a courteous, helpful and business-like attitude in all
work and personal contact.

v) They retain emotional control, honesty and productivity, even

when under pressure from personal problems, requirements of
supervisors or other sources.

vi) They demonstrate professionalism in the performance of job

tasks. They have the ability to handle both task-oriented duties
and people-oriented duties, as well as an above-average ability
to do more than one thing at a time and remain focused under
stress.

vii) They have a strong sense of their limitations: they know

they can’t solve every problem, yet they do the best they can
with what they have.

viii) They are punctual to work and all functions.

ix) They have a strong desire to learn new techniques to perfect

their job skills.

x) They have a high degree of self-discipline to organize and

prioritize each day’s job duties and a good ability to prioritize
events and information effectively.

xi) They act decisively, using good judgment (common sense)

and make decisions without analysis paralysis or tunnel
vision.

xii)They have confidence in their abilities and the self-reliance to

take initiative when required.

xiii) They accept responsibility for their actions.

xiv) They can accept criticism.

xv)They recognize and admit their faults and/or mistakes without

blaming others.

xvi) They do not engage in harmful gossip or other negative

behavior and strive to discourage it in others.

xvii) They have respect for private, confidential information.

xviii) They strive to project a professional image in their

appearance and demeanor.

xix) They use an appropriate tone/manner of speech in all oral

communications, realizing excessive cursing or other
inappropriate language only serves to diminish their
credibility in the eyes of others.

xx)Their personal grooming is good and their clothing is neat,

clean and properly worn.