The endless number of books, seminars and workshops on achieving excellence in customer service can leave your head spinning! For me, many of my lessons in customer support came from the most unlikely cast of characters! I'll share five of my favorites with you.
Understand
All customers are unique in their needs and wants, so take the time to understand their businesses. In Finding Nemo, Nemo the clownfish asks Gill, the veteran tank fish, how many times he tried to escape. Gill responds simply, "fish weren’t meant to be in a box." And neither are your customers. By trying to stuff your customer into a service or solution that worked for another client, you are effectively limiting their potential. Your relationship should be one that helps them grow and discover new waters. Take the time to learn what offers the most potential for their success.
Listen
Winnie-the-Pooh, the loveable bear created by A. A. Milne, speaks of one the basic tenets of customer service – listening to your customers. He says: "Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That’s the problem." To truly listen is a hard task. It is even harder when you are the expert and your customer is confused, frustrated or maybe a little lost. It is easy to jump right in and share your knowledge, but a much more difficult task is to sit back and truly listen to what someone needs. You will find a much more receptive audience, and might discover you were on the wrong track entirely.
Be Patient
Not only is Pooh an excellent listener, he is patient. Often you must step back before you can be heard is the message in this Pooh quote: "If the person you are talking to doesn’t appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear." Sometimes the "fluff" in a customer’s ear is the fact they have a grievance and want to be sure their concerns are heard. Making a point can turn the best of us into a one-way channel. Accept they may not be ready to hear a solution until they have vented or shared their concerns.
Personalize
Customer service today is supported by processes, knowledge and technology, but the secret ingredient will always be the personal relationship. They make all the difference in attitude, authenticity and results – caring a lot will always make things better. We know this, because the Lorax wisely said: "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not." There's no point in doing business if the customer is just another number on your spreadsheet. You will both fail in the long run. The most rewarding relationships, and these go into the personal and romantic realms as well, are ones where each party wants the absolute best for the other.
Learn
Lastly, be open and invest in learning something from each encounter with a customer. If you reflect one your professional life over the last few months, or years, chances are you know a lot more than you did when you first started out – and undoubtedly so much of this knowledge came from your experiences one either side of the customer service door. As Mary Poppins once said: "Open different doors, you may find a you there that you never knew was yours. Anything can happen."