CUSTOMER LOYALTY
“ WE WANT OUR TEAM MEMBERS TO HAVE THE AWARENESS TO ACT ON CUSTOMER NEEDS BY OFFERING SUGGESTIONS BEFORE THEY ARE ASKED.”
With this understanding, we must invest in their education to ensure they are equipped with the knowledge to deliver an experience our customers have never had before. Let’ s consider these statistics:
• 40 percent of employees who receive poor job training leave their positions within the first year.
• In 2016, six percent of workers said training and development is the most important workplace policy.
This gives us even more evidence that we must recruit and train our employees with premium education.
The first skill your customer service employees must have is what I call service endurance. to help me keep going even when I didn’ t want to take another call. In fact, I still do this; I have a quote by Kobe Bryan on a shelf in my office.
• Going for a brief walk outside is the best way to disconnect for a moment. Leaders of companies must acknowledge that the extra break won’ t be a cost, it will be an investment. The break will help your team members be physically and mentally prepared to deliver amazing service to every customer, every time.
2. FORESIGHT The second skill your team members
will need a high chair. Our guests shouldn’ t have to ask for this; we should anticipate this to create an effortless experience for our guests.
When it comes to employees, do your team members have the foresight to recognize that Sally, your office manager, who just received three phone calls at once and has a FedEx employee waiting for a package to be signed for, needs help? Without her having to ask?
Team members with foresight not only earn higher customer loyalty by delivering a better experience but they create comradery with their peers. If this comradery is created they are more likely
1. SERVICE ENDURANCE
With service endurance employees can deliver the same amazing customer service to the 100th customer of the day as they did to the first.
We should all have empathy for what our frontline team members go through. Speaking to customers all day can be exhausting, regardless of how great your team member might be; we should find ways to help them break through even when it’ s been a long day.
When I was a call center agent in my early 20s I would take 100 calls a day and even though I was good, there were times when I didn’ t want to take another call. I would combat exhaustion by:
• Having a stress ball at my desk that I would squeeze during tough times because it helps to release a bit of stress.
• I would post a motivational quote
“ WITH SERVICE ENDURANCE EMPLOYEES CAN DELIVER THE SAME AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE TO THE 100TH CUSTOMER OF THE DAY AS THEY DID TO THE FIRST.”
must have is foresight. This skill is vital because you want to ensure that your employees have the foresight to anticipate customers’ needs and to assist their peers and colleagues when they are inundated with too many tasks.
At Baro, one of my restaurants, one of our core values is foresight. We want our team members to have the awareness to act on customer needs by offering suggestions before they are asked – this helps create an experience customers have never had before. In my business, an example of this could be a waitress recognizing that the family of four who has a toddler with them to work together to deliver a seamless customer experience which also increases customer loyalty. 3. EMPATHY The third customer service skill was first introduced to me when I worked at 1-800-GOT-JUNK?’ s corporate office. Their core values are Passion, Integrity, Professionalism and Empathy, or PIPE for short.
Do your team members show genuine empathy for your customers? If your customer happens to mention that there was a death in their family or
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