Stepping Up Service

It’s Thanksgiving, so Alan and Ed decided to show a little love to some companies that have set high standards for customer service during recent encounters.  Ed talks about four companies, from various industries, that have made big impressions on him recently, and have caused him to be truly “thankful” for their service.And, as always, Alan and Ed share their Customer Service Story of the Month, with Alan’s story being about a new company he has become very thankful for, while Ed’s story is not as pleasant.

Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Let’s say you want to better understand your organization’s customer service “culture”, and you need a straightforward way to self-assess the culture and opportunities for improvement. Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions walks Alan through such an assessment for his fictional Halloween Costume business, talking through the 8 keys to changing the culture and how we should measure them.Alan and Ed also share their Customer Service Stories of the Month, with Alan’s being a particularly frustrating one this month.

Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Imagine if you had the opportunity to completely rebuild your organization’s “service culture”, defining how you are going to serve your clients and customers and the values that will be communicated at all levels.  For some new organizations, or new leaders in an existing organization, those opportunities exist.Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions talks with Alan about the five key strategies and principles to undertake if you are in a position to either build a service organization from scratch or are charged with reshaping an existing organization’s service culture.  And they conclude their discussion with their “Customer Service Stories of the Month”, as always.

Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com.This episode is sponsored by the Greater Hickory Kia Classic at Rock Barn Golf & Spa in Conover, NC. For tickets and additional information go to www.greaterhickorykiaclassic.com

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A customer of one of the largest internet providers in the nation tried to have their service disconnected… and in the process had a very frustrating “retention call” experience that he then recorded and posted for the whole Internet to hear.  Alan and Ed discuss this infamous call, and point out some of the more interesting phrases used by the retention agent and why they should be avoided.  Along with this discussion, Alan and Ed share their “Customer Service Stories of the Month”… and just as a heads up, all of this month’s stories are about bad experiences!

 

Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com.This episode is sponsored by the Greater Hickory Kia Classic at Rock Barn Golf & Spa in Conover, NC. For tickets and additional information go to www.greaterhickorykiaclassic.com

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We’ve all had those experiences where we hear that dreaded word “NO” from a customer service representative, whether we are asking for assistance in a matter or looking for a company to do something a bit outside of their normal operations.  Unfortunately, in many situations, those people we are speaking to are saying “NO” to us because their organization has not made it easy for them to say “YES”.  Alan talks with Ed about how an organization can set up an environment that enables and empowers its employees to say “YES” more often to customers.  Some of these goals are discussed in this episode, including making goals clear, modifying policies/procedures, motivating, and modeling these behaviors.

 

Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ed and Alan have always discussed the importance of listening to the “Voice of the Customer” whether through surveys, focus groups, etc.  However, effectively using that customer “voice” information takes more than just conducting the survey or gathering the data.  Ed and Alan discuss how to develop strategic approach for using customer “voice” information to improve the service your organization delivers.

Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You may think of yourself as a strong advocate for customer service in your organization … but what about that employee that is obviously not engaged in their work or in providing the best service possible? How can we motivate the “unmotivated employee”? Alan and Ed talk through four ideas to help get those employees on the right track and to help them go the “extra mile” for your customers.

Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.

Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Keep your your clients and customers happy is critical… so the idea of managing “retention” becomes very important for every business or organization.  There are many ways to use research and data to help manage and improve your customer retention, and in this episode Alan and Ed discuss several of them and some best practices for their application.  Plus, they end the episode with their traditional “Customer Service Story of the Month”.

Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Many organizations are adopting the concept of creating an "Always Culture", especially in the healthcare industry where standardized satisfaction surveys ask patients to tell us how often good customer service takes place.  The goal is to not have customer service be a light switch (turning on and off as needd), but instead for it to be an "all the time" thing.  Alan and Ed discuss how to create and maintain an "Always Culture" in your organization in this month's episode of Stepping Up Service.

For more information on creating an "Always Culture", take a look at Ed's blog post on the Customer Service Solutions web site:  http://cssamerica.com/develop-an-always-culture-21814-tow/

Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.

Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

So let's say you're wanting to enhance your organization's Customer Service Experience, and you want to do it quickly.  Sometimes the best way to get something started quickly is to adapt what others have done... even if those other organizations are from other industries.  In this episode, Ed explains to Alan how we can use organizations as "best practices", and adopt some of their practices into our own situations.  Some of the best names in the world of customer service are discussed - Zappo's, Amazon, and others - with thoughts on how we can take their experiences and find ways to make them work for us.  Alan and Ed close out the episode with their "Customer Service Stories of the Month".

Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.

Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.