Foundations of Customer Service (FCS240)

Session 2 Service Culture

Creating Remarkable Service

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Discussion

Page 2

Strategy
Stratos(army) Agein (lead)
Leading the troops
Plan of action to achieve a goal
Using resources efficiently

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Importance of Values
Effective organizations understand and communicate their
fundamental essence and reason for being:
They know who they are and what they are about

An organizations core values must be stable, not shifting as

conditions change.
They describe the principles the organization turns to when making its
most critical decisions.

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Importance of Vision
The vision statement describes a future state of the
organization in vivid, compelling terms that inspire all involved
to strive to achieve it.
The organizations vision is a snapshot of the future.

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Shared Vision and Buy-In

Envision the future

Encourage collaboration
Enable dialogue
Foster ownership and buy-in
Communicate widely and deeply
Live the vision
Celebrate accomplishments

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Business Objectives
Customer retention: Keeping (saves) those customers who
might have gone elsewhere but rep saved
Wallet share: Maximizing total customer spending with an
organization
Customer acquisition: Acquiring (adding) new customers,
traditionally done efforts via mass market campaigns
Overall revenue
Revenue per customer
Number or percentage of preferred customers
Employee satisfaction

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Customer Service Strategy

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Service Culture
Service environment of a group or organization, made up of
its values, beliefs, norms, rituals, and practices

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Figure 2.2 - Customer-Centric Organization

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Figure 2.3 - Elements of a Successful

Service Culture

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Service Philosophy or Mission

Mission
An organizations direction or focus that supports
day-to-day interactions with customers
Mission statement
Defines an organizations purpose or objectives
and how it will attain them
Vision statement
Communicates an organizations values and
purpose and explains what the organization
wants to be
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Employee Roles and Expectations

RUMBA: Criteria used to establish and measure employee
performance goals

Realistic
Understandable
Measurable
Believable
Attainable

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Employee Roles in Larger Retail and Service

Organizations
Qualifications and competencies required

Broad knowledge of products and service

Interpersonal communication skills
Technical expertise related to products
Positive, customer-focused, can-do attitude
Proactive and motivated
Integrity, loyalty, and strong ethics
Team spirit
Creativity

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Employee Roles in Smaller Retail and Service

Organizations
Continually update knowledge and skills
Strive to deliver a level of service equal to that of bigger
organizations
Be customer-centric

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Policies and Procedures

Respond to policy customer requests and satisfy needs
efficiently
An organizations return policy affects a customers purchase
decision
When making a commitment to the customer, establish an
environment that supports it

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Products and Services

Type and quality of products and services contribute to the
organizational culture
If customers perceive that an organization offers:
Reputable products - It will help build loyalty and positive press
Substandard products and services - It will result in adverse
consequences

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Motivators and Rewards

Self-motivation is the most effective form of motivation
Types of rewards
Compensation
Flexible time or time off
Employee recognition

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Management Support

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Figure 2.6 - Characteristics of an Effective Mentor

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Figure 2.7 - Characteristics of a Successful Protg

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Employee Empowerment
Giving decision-making and problem-resolution authority to
lower-level employees in an organization
Makes employees feel trusted, respected, and like an integral
part of the organization

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Training
Helps employees know what is expected of them and how to
fulfill those expectations
Supports customer service
Training and skill level will determine an employees worth in
the event of a downsizing

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The Value of Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

Highly satisfied customers are more likely to remain loyal to
the organization, buy more products/services, and
recommend the organization to others.
Relatively few customers contact the organization with their
questions or problems.
Research shows that customers may not voice their concerns
Particularly in Canada, it is more likely they will leave.

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The Value of Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

Increasing the accessibility of the organization to customer
inquiries and complaints can lead to increased customer
loyalty.
Soliciting customer questions and problems may increase loyalty. It is
akin to uncovering objections in the selling process.

Maintaining customer loyalty increases the organizations

profitability.

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Promoting Customer Loyalty

Most successful companies and brands mean something
special to people
Most companies struggle to achieve satisfaction; well short of
meaning
Data will never tell us how they feel and how we get the
insight to become meaningful.
Collect insight, not data listen to them!
Pay attention to the soft stuff
Think beyond customer satisfaction
Think about those we drive away
Plan to mean more to them in the future
Serve them in their chosen channel, but dont loose track of
other business goals. IE; dont cut off one channel to the
advantage of another

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Fulfilling Brand Promises to Customers

The image the organization promotes helps to set customer
expectations regarding the service they will receive.
Therefore, the call center must internalize the brand and
deliver on its promises throughout customer interactions.
Call center managers should develop cross-functional teams
to review and design business processes to ensure fulfillment
of promises.
Beginning with the hiring process and continuing through
training, monitoring, and coaching, managers should examine
these processes against the customer expectations set by the
organizations brand and promises.

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Keeping the Brand Promise

Letter to LEGO
What did we learn?

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Barriers to Serving Customers Effectively

Include:

lack of connected vision

lack of a supporting strategy
lack of investment in building skills,knowledge and leadership
lack of enabling technologies
lack of supporting operational plans and processes
lack of required investments
lack of processes for ongoing innovation

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Establishing a Service Strategy

Know the customers

Determine where the company is and where it needs to be
Continually re-evaluate the role based on daily experiences
When in doubt, approach coworkers or supervisor for
guidance

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Customer-Friendly Systems
Make service in an organization seamless to customers by
ensuring that things work properly and the customer is
satisfied
Components
Advertising
Complaint or problem resolution

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Service Delivery System

Means by which an organization effectively gets its products
and services to customers
Direct system
Customers interact directly with people

Indirect system
Customers needs are met with self-service through technology

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Direct and Indirect Service Delivery Systems

Direct Contact

Indirect Contact

Face to face

Toll-free telephone number

Bank tellers

Automated teller machines or online banking

Reservationists

Online computer, smartphone, or tablet reservations

Front desk staff

On-screen, in-room television checkout and bill viewing

Ticket takers

Ticket scanning kiosks

Customer service
representatives

Online viewing or telephone automated attendant to provide

balance or billing information

Lawyers

Telephone tip lines or e-mail

Photo developers

Self-service kiosk or Internet transmission of images

Supermarket clerks

Online ordering and delivery

Towing dispatchers

In-car navigation and notification systems

Cashiers

Self-service checkout cash registers

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Third-Party Delivery (Outsourcing/Offshoring)

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Tools for Service Measurement

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Strategies for Promoting a Positive Service Culture

Partner with customers
Explore the organizations vision
Help communicate the organizations culture and vision to
customers on a daily basis
Demonstrate ethical behavior
Identify and improve service skills
Become an expert on the organization

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Strategies for Promoting a Positive Service Culture

Demonstrate commitment
Work with the customers interest in mind
Treat vendors and suppliers as customers
Share resources
Work with and not against customers
Provide service follow-up

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Separating Average Companies from Excellent

Companies
Factors that determine excellence
Executives spend time with the customers and talking to frontline
service providers
Customer feedback is regularly asked for and acted upon
Innovation and creativity are encouraged and rewarded
Benchmarking is done with similar organizations
Technology is frequently updated and effectively used

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Separating Average Companies from Excellent

Companies
Employee training is provided on a regular basis to keep them
updated
Open communication exists between frontline employees and
all levels of management
Employees are provided with guidelines and empowered to
aim for customer satisfaction
Partnerships with customers and suppliers are common
The status quo is not acceptable

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What Customers Want

Personal recognition
Courtesy
Timely service
Professionalism
Enthusiastic service
Empathy
Patience

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