The Lost Art of Customer Service

With our increasing efforts to boost revenues, cut costs and improve gross margins, we often overlook something that doesn’t show up as a line item on a balance sheet or a profit and loss statement. It does, however, have a major impact on company results: Customer Service!

Although senior executives can lead the strategy behind customer service, the front-line employees are the real drivers. Without proper training and retraining to create a culture of great customer service, a company will fail in its strategic efforts and customers will ultimately leave for competitors.  

To improve your customer service, you must first benchmark where you are from the standpoint of your employees.  Internally, asking employees questions like:

Does a live operator answer the phone?

Do you pick up the phone before the 3rd ring?

Do you view customer complaints as opportunities?

Do you give customers compete attention when conversing?

How many days does it take you to respond to a customer?

Do you like your customers?

The answers to these questions can help you determine where you need to improve and where you can focus training initiatives. Surveying your customers on their experiences – from the on-board process to the claims process and everything in between – will give you a great understanding of the good, the bad and the ugly. This will also give insight on how your customers feel and what they want.

Generally, customers want the following:

1. Friendliness – Everyone wants to deal with someone who is friendly and has a smile on their face (even if talking over the phone – ‘smiles can be heard’)

2. Responsiveness – I recently dealt with the customer service department of a major auto manufacturer and it took four phone calls before I received a response. If we don’t respond to our customers what message are we sending them?

3. Understanding – No customer wants to be judged and we must ensure that all questions or concerns are handled with patience (even dumb ones).

4. Fairness – All customers must perceive they are being treated fairly.

5. Options – Obviously we want to solve all our customers’ problems, but if they can’t be addressed outright, some options should be offered.

6. Clear Message – If customers are asking the same questions over and over, your message must be changed.

Adjusters are constantly trained on adjudicating claims, using claims management systems and understanding new legislation, but when was the last time they were trained on Customer Service? Do your adjusters know how to deal and speak with your customers? 

With the proliferation of adjudicating claims over the phone or over email different forms of training is required. Would it be surprising to your adjusters that during phone conversations customers listen more to the tone of the adjuster they are speaking with than the actual words the adjuster is saying (14% words and 86% tone)? This human condition makes email communication even more difficult. The tone that comes from voice inflection, a softer or louder voice or speaking fast or slow is more difficult to replicate in email messages.

Today, social media makes customers more powerful than ever. They can tweet, post, email, blog, ping, text many people instantly, which makes it even more important to keep them happy and address their concerns quickly.

Customer service is truly becoming a lost art. I can’t remember the last time I had a great customer service experience, whether at the grocery store, auto repair shop, restaurant or, dare I say it, insurance company office. Imagine the impact great customer service would have on your current customers! In my opinion, no company is leading the charge in this area.