How to Delight Your Customers

If you think good customer service leads directly to customer satisfaction, think again.

These days, it's all about "customer delight,” Delightful consumer experience is one so personalised that an individual's preferences and needs are taken into account.

 

This ethos is one that cannot be "installed" at a business, it must be "adopted" as an integral part of the company's culture.

A personalised approach to customer service can be broken into three steps:
• Identifying the customer
• learning about the customer
• Serving the customer.

 

 Be on Target with Your Marketing.

Stop thinking in terms of market share. Instead think of "customer share," of how much loyalty and money an individual is willing to spend on what you're selling. The goal of personalised marketing should be to boost customer share.

It's one thing to identify a loyal customer; it's another to cultivate that loyalty. To do that, you have to know your customers. Knowledge is Power. To win a customer, you've got to know this customer better than any competitor.

The bottom line is that good customer service is the bare minimum needed today Customer service that "delights" your target audience will help your business thrive and see tomorrow.

 

For more of these Join us in our Certified Service Professional (CSP) Training

 

Who Should Attend
• Customer service representatives
• Customer service officers
• Customer service executives
• Marketers
• Sales Representatives
• Business development executives
• Operations Staff
• Call coordinators and service dispatchers
• Anyone in contact with a customer

New Class Starts: June 21, 2014.
Time: 10am prompt.

Mode of Training
• Online training
• Class room training ( Lagos, Abuja & Port Harcourt only).

Duration
• Weekends (Saturdays only): 3weeks
Installments payment allowed.
Cedars&Oaks Consults Ltd. is the sole licensed partner of Service Strategies Corporation USA in Nigeria.
6B Bendel Close off Bishop Aboyade Cole Victoria Island, Lagos.
Phone: 08134099411, 08162314354
Email; info@cedarsandoaks.com
www.cedarsandoaks.com
www.servicestrategies.com

Innovating Service Experience

cedarsandoaks.com|

Get Certified. Get Noticed. Get Recognized. Get Ahead Facts:
• Certified professional are more employable; 96% of employers’ state that a certified job applicant has a greater hiring advantage than a non-certified job applicant.
• 91% of employers state that a certified professional is more likely to be considered for promotion than a non-certified professional.
• 81% of employers believe that a certified professional has greater job security than a non-certified professional.
 
Register and become a globally recognized Certified Service Professional (CSP).

Attain your certification under the world’s industry leading Service Capability & Performance (SCP) Career Certification program from Service Strategies Corporation USA.

Who Should Attend
• Customer service representatives
• Customer service officers
• Customer service executives
• Marketers
• Sales Representatives
• Business development executives
• Call coordinators and service dispatchers
• Anyone in contact with a customer

New Class Starts: June 21, 2014.
Time: 10am prompt.

Mode of Training
• Online training
• Class room training (Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt)

Duration
• Weekends (Saturdays only): 3weeks
Time:  10am-2pm.

Installments payment allowed.
Cedars&Oaks Consults Ltd. is the sole licensed partner of Service Strategies Corporation USA in Nigeria.
6B Bendel Close off Bishop Aboyade Cole Victoria Island, Lagos.
Phone: 08134099411, 08162314354
Email; info@cedarsandoaks.com

www.cedarsandoaks.com
www.servicestrategies.com

  

 
 
Certified Service Professional (CSP).

• Are you in a customer interfacing business, company or organization?
• Are you passionate about increasing the level of your customer experience?
• Do you need to reposition your career under the world’s industry leading career certification pathway?
 
Register and become a globally recognized Certified Service Professional (CSP).
Attain your certification under the world’s industry leading Service Capability & Performance (SCP) Career Certification program from Service Strategies Corporation USA.
 
Who Should Attend
• Customer service representatives
• Customer service officers
• Customer service executives
• Marketers
• Sales Representatives
• Business development executives
• Operations Staff
• Call coordinators and service dispatchers
• Anyone in contact with a customer
 
New Class Starts: June 21, 2014.
Time: 10am prompt.
 
Mode of Training
• Online training
• Class room training ( Lagos, Abuja & Port Harcourt only).

Duration
• Weekends (Saturdays only): 3weeks

Installments payment allowed.
Cedars&Oaks Consults Ltd. is the sole licensed partner of Service Strategies Corporation USA in Nigeria.
 
6B Bendel Close off Bishop Aboyade Cole Victoria Island, Lagos.
Phone: 08134099411, 08162314354
Email; info@cedarsandoaks.com
 www.cedarsandoaks.com
www.servicestrategies.com

 
 
 
 
  

Tips to delivering customer service excellence

It costs you five times as much to win a new customer than to keep a current one. But, customers are not loyal by nature and research shows that emotion influences purchase decision six times more than rationale. Connecting to your customers on an emotional level is the key to establishing a lasting relationship with your brand. You must go beyond simply delivering your product, and develop strong bonds with your customers. It is essential that you provide a unique customer experience by proactively anticipating your customers’ needs and expectations and exceeding them, every time

Tips:
•    Always Focus on Service before anything else
•    Give the Best experience possible
•    Create a unique customer experience
•    Use the Customer as a marketing vehicle
•    Always remember that you are Selling “WOW”
•    Always improve on your service
•    Always respect your customer (time and opinion)
•    Measure their satisfaction and engagement
•    Educate, encourage and use incentives on employees to deliver service
•    Differentiate your Brand from competition
•    Know your customer base (segmentation)
•    Integrate your operations processes into your customer marketing strategies
•    Understand that Customer Satisfaction is based on loyalty, identity, values, and relationships
•    Special Interactions keep customers coming back
•    Solve problems quickly and turn complainers into advocates
•    Customer Service agents must have the authority to make decisions
•    Listen to your customers; Change their attitudes, and fix their problems
•    Measure your relationships, and refine your processes, and proactively solve and prevent the same mistakes from happening again. (Continuous improvement)
•    Improve your supplier relationships, and hold them to the same standard as your customers do
•    Exceed expectations and treat customers as if you would treat a guest in your own home.
•    Spread the word – promote your brand promise by empowering your employees to act as ambassadors
•    Hire good employees from the start; study your culture, and find the right fit
•    Always remember what your corporate values and purpose are, and set mission to that goal.
•    Tell the customer the truth, and love what you do
•    Personalize your service to meet your customers’ needs
•    Listen to Customers; Take appropriate action; keep it simple
•    “The most common thing about common sense is so uncommon”
•    Leaderships should stay involved in the business, and respect employees and customers
•    5 P’s of Customer Service Excellence – Process; Product; Presentation; Price and most importantly People!

The recognition gap

Managers, take note:

Praise is rare in most workplaces and we have yet to find anyone who reports suffering from over-recognition. No wonder so many employees are disengaged.

 

Although we need and want recognition and praise, the fact is, we don't get enough -- and organizations suffer because of it.

 

Most of the time, organizations begin formal recognition programs because someone in upper management has decided that monthly or quarterly awards ceremonies will help raise employee morale. Sounds good, right? What happens is the old reliable "Employee of the Month" program.

 

For the first few months, the program might actually work. There are usually at least a couple of people who have been top performers for a long time and deserve more recognition. These stars are appropriately showered with public praise.

 

But after a while, management struggles with the inevitable question: Who should be the next Employee of the Month? Once the executives reach a compromise, a lucky manager must stand in front of the room and say a bunch of nice -- and often insincere -- things about the recipient.

 

Eventually, everyone -- regardless of merit -- gets named Employee of the Month. All their smiling photographs appear on a board in the reception area. But the whole thing is gratuitous, and everyone knows it. The one who feels the worst, of course, is the employee who receives this recognition last. Why wouldn't he? Management waited months, or maybe more than a year, to praise his "great work,”

 

Of course, some organizations do provide meaningful, deserved, and individualized recognition. Sincere and meaningful [recognition] increases the morale of any organization. Managers and employees who actively spread positive emotions, even in small doses, will see the difference immediately. And creating that difference can be inexpensive -- or even free. All it takes is a little initiative.

 

The Importance of Customer Focus

The experience a customer has in dealing with your business drives much more than the prospect of repeat business or sales growth. Typically, business believes that delivering great service will cost them too much, and so they simply deliver what they think they need to. Or worse still, they focus on the timeliness, not the quality.

 

What most businesses fail to understand is that bad service is actually more costly to your business than great service. Bad service drives much, much more than just a poor customer experience – it reduces revenue and drives up costs. It‘s the last half of the equation that so many people fail to understand.

 

The experience your business delivers is a reflection on your ability to balance the demands of customer service (volume and type of interactions) and the supply of resources and processes (effectiveness of response).

The hidden costs of bad service are:
• Rework: every error your business makes, costs money to rectify, and typically slows cash flow. Not all of those costs are measured or visible. The intangible cost is the effect on the customer
• Loss of potential business: as the level of competition increases across nearly all industries, product quality becomes less of a differentiator. If you make your service offering less attractive than your competitors, price is the most important consideration.
• Higher contacts per transaction: the number of interactions you need to have with a customer at each stage of the process adds to your costs. Minimizing the number of quality interactions not only saves you money, but improves the customer experience.
• Staff turnover: despite what some people choose to believe, most staff want to take pride in where they work. They are the ones that typically “wear the heat” for poor service and it can have a major effect on loyalty. Every time you lose a staff member you incur the costs of recruitment and training, and the hidden costs of low productivity during the initial periods, and typically lower quality as they learn their roles. These are real costs that can be avoided if you can retain your frontline staff - a key driver in retaining them is the satisfaction of their job. Few staff find responding to service failures or fixing errors particularly satisfying.

On the other hand, delivering great service delivers these savings:
• Lower cost to manage and service your client base = higher profits
• Increased customer loyalty = increased revenue and lower marketing costs
• Increased staff loyalty - low costs, better service = higher profits

It’s often a hidden opportunity, so ask yourself these questions:
• Have you looked at your business from the customer’s perspective?
• Have you looked at your business from your staff’s perspective?
• Do you have your service priorities right?
• Are you missing out on a source of competitive advantage?
• What could you do differently?

Address these issues and you’re on the road to improved profits.

Customer Service with a Smile

What would you do if you were out with your family for a very special occasion – at a 'pay through the nose' restaurant – and when your daughter politely asks for an additional chicken, the waiter replies, "one is enough for you".

Don't laugh, I know someone this happened to.

 

Customers want to be treated in the manner to which they are accustomed. The old adage, 'the customer is always right' is crucial to strengthening the business/customer relationship.

 

Here are a few tips to help give your service that top-up:

Ways to make service sparkle;
• Speak to customers – be cheerful and smile at people – frowns use 72 muscles while a smile takes 14! Where possible, call people by their name

• Listen to your customers to find out what they really want from you

• Do things the way customers want them done

• Train your staff to treat your customers in a manner that you want them to be treated

• Make sure your customer knows what product or service you provide so they know exactly what they are getting from you

• Handle customer complaints with care and concern. Make sure they feel their business is important to you. Fix up possible mistakes and let your customer know you have

• Always return phone calls to customers

• Have a policy for telephone service and make sure it's carried out by everyone in your organisation. Service involves the way the telephone is answered, the speed of response to a query and all aspects of contact with the customer

• Always turn up on time for your customers. If you are in the trades, or provide a service and you know you are going to be late delivering that service, call the customer and explain the reasons why you will be late

• Make sure you are always your customer's first choice

• Don't make promises to customers that you can't keep

• Add value. From time to time, and within budget, provide your loyal customers with extra support or rewards

• Ask your staff and your customers what kind of service they would like and try to find ways to put any of these suggestions into practice

For more of these register http://goo.gl/K7ZQAb
Website: www.cedarsandoaks.com , www.servicestrategies.com

Business Strategies

On the cards

Business cards are important. Very important.
So many businesses either don't have cards, or else use cheap and unprofessional cards, which is really quite embarrassing. If something is worth doing (and believe me, with business cards, it's worth doing!) it is worth doing right.

Having no business card means the customer has to work to seek you out – and your goal should be to make it as easy for customers. Don't expect customers to search for you in the yellow pages or online when they need your services. They just might come across your competitor and try them out and you lose them.

Value all business

Treat small orders the same as large ones. Small customers become big customers, and new customers are unlikely to give you a big order until you've proven yourself. Opinions are formed after the first transaction. Your first chance may be your last.

Constantly show your customers how much you appreciate them. This does not take you a lot of time, but it can pay big dividends for your business. Write thank you notes, send small gifts, provide frequent-buyer benefits such as discount coupons or specials, host an annual customer-appreciation dinner, get to know each customer so that you can send congratulatory notes or cards for special events, and reward those who refer new clients.

 

For more of these register http://goo.gl/K7ZQAb
Website: www.cedarsandoaks.com , www.servicestrategies.com

 

From little things, big business grows

One speaker said that small businesses should act like a big business. But if you did a lot of things that big business do then I'd be out of business. Are you just being cynical?

The speaker was right in lots of ways, but there's room for improvement in every business be it big or small. The best thing is to model your business on what you think is good about a big business and develop systems to bring those practices into your organisation.

It might be, for example, the way you answer the telephone. Make sure it's the same each time it rings, no matter who answers. Create a system so that there are no discrepancies. This creates uniformity, and a service that your clients can come to rely on and trust.

In acting like a big business, it is important that you don't lose sight of your client – pay them the attention and the respect that they deserve.

Make yourself available

It is simple things like avoiding the phone ringing more than three times that make a difference. When speaking to a customer, forget whatever else you are doing and focus completely on them. If you do need to finish something before speaking with your customer, ask if it's OK to put them on hold for a moment but make sure you don't test their patience by keeping them on hold for too long.

Customers dislike being told that someone is in a meeting, so train your staff with appropriate responses. If no one else can help, the employee should take the customer's number and advise the approximate time the person will return the call. Never ask a customer to call back, and never accept a volunteered "I'll call back later" unless the customer insists for specific reasons.

"I don't know" is another phrase that customers should never hear. So ensure all staff are informed and empowered.

If a customer can't reach you the first time they call, they might not try again. Don't let your phone just ring out. Make sure that you return your calls and emails promptly. Many customer service books recommend returning calls and answering emails within 24 hours, but this can be too slow for today's world that wants answers instantly.


 For more of these register http://goo.gl/K7ZQAb
Website: www.cedarsandoaks.com , www.servicestrategies.com
 

Your Roadmap to Career Advancement and Service Excellence.

Adopt the Global Standard for Service and Become Certified Service Professional (CSP).

Certified Service Professional (CSP) Certification course is designed for working professionals who aspire to increase their knowledge, advance their career and drive significant improvement in their service operations.

Certified Service Professional (CSP) is an internationally recognized certification issued by Service Strategies Corporation USA (www.servicestrategies.com)

In order to create customer satisfaction, you need to go beyond good customer service and exceed your customers’ expectations with exceptional service experience.

Training Outcome:

• Excellence in service experience isn’t about telling people how awesome you are, it’s about creating stories that do the talking for you.
• Transforming customer experience isn’t about fixing problems; it’s about establishing exceptional value.

·         Exceptional customer experiences yield exceptional results.

The world’s leading service and support providers use Service Strategies’ globally accepted Service Capability & Performance (SCP) Standards as a roadmap for service excellence and a benchmark measure of success.

With 20 years experience in revolutionizing Customer Experience Management, Service Strategies Corporations USA transforms Customer Experience insight into real-world action, offering employees, organisations, companies, corporations and brands the tools, education, knowledge, and thought leadership they need to become fully—and truly—customer centric through their certifications.

Our training and career development courses are what you need to reach your goals.

Register, learn and master the skills on how to transform customer pain points into new opportunities to strengthen, grow in your career and enhance brand loyalty.

Who Should Attend

·         Customer service representatives

·         Customer service officers

·         Customer service executives

·         Marketers

·         Sales Representatives

·         Business development executives

·         Operations Staff

·         Call coordinators and service dispatchers

·         Anyone in contact with a customer.

Certify Your Skills.
Attendees who successfully complete the course exams will attain certification under the industry leading Service Capability & Performance (SCP) Career Certification program.

Cedars&Oaks Consults is the sole licensee of Service Strategies Corporation certifications in Nigeria.

New Class Starts: May 17, 2014.

Time: 10am prompt.

Mode of Training

·         Online training

·         Class room training (Lagos, Port Harcourt & Abuja only).

Duration: 3weeks

·         Weekends (Saturday only)

·         Weekday class (Tuesday & Thursday)

Fee:  (Contact us)
Instalment Payment allowed.
Inclusions:

·         Great fun, knowledge packed interactive class

·         One of our BEST trainers

·         Lunch and refreshments

·         Comprehensive courseware

·         Certification Certificate 

Time: 10am

Enquiries: 08162314354, 08134099411.

Email: info@cedarsandoaks.com

Website: www.cedarsandoaks.com , www.servicestrategies.com

Can You Still Win With Service?

As companies compete in today's "new normal," many have been redefining and refocusing their branded offerings. However, in their efforts to more clearly differentiate their brand promises, they've travelled different roads.

But price-based differentiation will always prove to be a difficult challenge, as too often a company's new lower prices can be matched by others

You can no longer rely on price as the core benefit associated with its own-brand products.

We also know that, even in the "new normal," customer service still matters.

 For example, a recent survey reported that more than 60% of consumers rated customer service as important. Perhaps more impressive, the same study reported that customers will spend an average of 9% more when they feel a company provides excellent service.

 But despite the fact that great customer service is often what separates an engaged, loyal customer from one who is essentially indifferent, this survey revealed that only about a third of consumers feel they're now getting great customer service.

If customer service is so important, why not pursue it as the means to gain a sustainable competitive edge? 

Maybe, as one observer has stated, maintaining close customer relationships "takes too long and costs too much." In a world increasingly focused on short-term payoffs, patience is a rare commodity.

However, there are at least a few brave souls who are embarking down the less-travelled customer service path.

Proclaim a differentiated customer experience based not on price or product but on the place (open and airy design), the policies and processes (customer-friendly), and the people (hiring and training employees to coddle customers). 

Big banks "think customers choose the bank that pays the highest rates. They're wrong. People will choose your bank at lower rates if you can give them a better experience -- if you spoil them."

Brand differentiation based on superior service, whether in banking or retailing, requires a good deal. It requires looking at every customer encounter through the eyes of the customer and paying close attention to the "people" component which has shown to be so important.

Creating engaged customers requires the efforts and energies of engaged employees, whether they're bank tellers or supermarket clerks. These service and people factors are far more difficult for competitors to imitate. As a result, they help establish brand differentiation that endures over time.

Some have claimed that in the "new normal," it won't be "business as usual." As marketers have shifted their focus from customer acquisition to customer retention, it will take more than price and product to build a lasting and competition-resistant customer relationship. 

Register, learn and master the skills on how to transform customer pain points into new opportunities to strengthen, grow in your career and enhance brand loyalty.

Who Should Attend

·         Customer service representatives

·         Customer service officers

·         Customer service executives

·         Marketers

·         Sales Representatives

·         Business development executives

·         Operations Staff

·         Call coordinators and service dispatchers

·         Anyone in contact with a customer.

Certify Your Skills.
Attendees who successfully complete the course exams will attain certification under the industry leading Service Capability & Performance (SCP) Career Certification program.

Cedars&Oaks Consults is the sole licensee of Service Strategies Corporation certifications in Nigeria.

New Class Starts: May 17, 2014.

Time: 10am prompt.

Mode of Training

·         Online training

·         Class room training (Lagos, Port Harcourt & Abuja only).

Duration: 3weeks

·         Weekends (Saturday only)

·         Weekday class (Tuesday & Thursday)

Fee:  (Contact us)
Instalment Payment allowed.
Inclusions:

·         Great fun, knowledge packed interactive class

·         One of our BEST trainers

·         Lunch and refreshments

·         Comprehensive courseware

·         Certification Certificate

Time: 10am

Enquiries: 08162314354, 08134099411.

Email: info@cedarsandoaks.com

Website: www.cedarsandoaks.com , www.servicestrategies.com