big and easy customer service
DESCRIPTION
Exceptional customer service is the greatest assurance for client retention and for developing a successful "word of mouth" marketing campaign. Many venues have a solid foundation for treating customers well, but many do so without a clear philosophy and/or specific standards in place. In this session, designed for upper-level management, attendees will be introduced to a step-by-step process for implementing a universal customer service philosophy that is structured and able to be evaluated for its success. Make exceptional service a standard and an expectation in your operation.TRANSCRIPT
BIG and EASY Customer Service
ACCED-‐I Annual Conference March 23, 2014
Chuck Salem, Unique Venues
What does your door sign say?
An Example… Door Sign: Bobby’s Sport Shop, Vermillion Bay, Ontario, Canada
Hi, my name is Allan.
My home phone number is 123-‐4567. My hours are long, but if you come by and I’m closed, just call and I will come up because you, my customer,
are number 1, and it’s been that way for the 32 years that I’ve been here and, besides, I love my job!
-‐-‐Al
Jerry Fritz, Traveling the Highway to WOW Service, 1998
What does your door sign say?
Mine said… Conference Center at the University of PiFsburgh at Johnstown
Johnstown, PA, USA
Welcome to PiJ-‐Johnstown. We are sincerely glad you made the trip to our center. While you are here, you can expect truly
aJenMve service from a team of highly trained staff members. Our faciliMes are ordinary, but our service will make you feel you are at a five star resort. We try to anMcipate each and every need but someMmes we miss. So, make sure you let us know what we may be missing that makes you feel welcome and we will get that
taken care of right away. Chuck Salem, GM
Group AcKvity What does your door sign say?
The Case for Good Service ü What does good service mean to you? ü What does bad service mean to you?
The Case for Good Service ü Service Impact On Revenue
ü ParQcipants ranked service as the #1 factor for vendor trust ü 62% of B2B and 42% of B2C purchased more aUer good service ü 66% of B2B and 52% of B2C stopped purchasing aUer receiving
bad service ü 88% surveyed have been influenced by online reviews
Source: Zendesk through research conducted by Dimensional Research, Andrew Gori, April 29, 2013
The Case for Good Service
ü Responsiveness MaZers ü 69% say good services is equal to quick resoluQon
ü 72% blame poor customer service on having to explain their problems to mulQple people
Source: Zendesk through research conducted by Dimensional Research, Andrew Gori, April 29, 2013
The Case for Good Service ü Service and Customer Longevity
ü 24% conQnue on with businesses aUer a good experience for two years or more
ü 39% avoid businesses aUer a bad experience for two years or more
Source: Zendesk through research conducted by Dimensional Research, Andrew Gori, April 29, 2013
The Case for Good Service ü We’re Story Tellers
ü 95% share the bad, 87% share the good ü 54% share bad with 5 or more people ü 33% share good with 5 or more people
ü 58% are more likely to share now than 5 years ago
Source: Zendesk through research conducted by Dimensional Research, Andrew Gori, April 29, 2013
The Case for Good Service ü The Social Media Engine
ü 45% share the bad, 30% share the good via social media outlets
Source: Zendesk through research conducted by Dimensional Research, Andrew Gori, April 29, 2013
What Do Customers REALLY Want ü The Survey
ü 10,000 meeQng planners and trainers ü Conducted by the NaQonal Conference Center ü Industry experts Sarah Vining, Joan Eisenstodt, KrisQn Kurie, Lindsey Rosenthal and Lynda Poll
Source: What Do Meeting Planners and Trainers Really Want in Their Service Experience? Sarah Vining, The National Conference Center, Meeting Discoveries, 2012
What Do Customers REALLY Want ü Three things…
ü The advantage of choosing a venue that solely focuses on meeQngs and events
ü The ability to build lasQng relaQonships with the venue’s staff
ü The staff’s ability to anQcipate a planner’s needs Source: What Do Meeting Planners and Trainers Really Want in Their Service Experience? Sarah Vining, The National Conference Center, Meeting Discoveries, 2012
What Do Customers REALLY Want ü The ability to build lasQng relaQonships with the venue’s
staff ü Is the planner meeQng the management team from the start of
the planning process? ü Encourage the management team to learn more about the
planner from group history, industry contacts, talking to the planner, etc.
ü Are you and the team making reacQve or proacQve points of contact with the planner?
ü How present are you and your team during the event? ü How about the follow-‐up? Are you reviewing hits and misses?
What Do Customers REALLY Want
ü The staff’s ability to anQcipate the planner’s needs ü Do you understand the goals and objecQves of the meeQng or
conference? ü Have you taken Qme to learn about the group history…their ins,
outs and all about's? ü What are you doing to recognize the idenQfied special wants,
needs, habits and desires of the group, the planner? ü Are you cross-‐communicaQng and informaQon sharing between
the in-‐house team?
The path to truly exceptional service BEGINS
with LEADERSHIP
Build a Solid FoundaQon
ü Philosophy ü Goals and ObjecQves ü Service Promise
Build a Solid FoundaQon ü CUSTOMER SERVICE Philosophy
ü This is a bi-‐product of your overall mission ü The foundaQon by which all other aspects of developing and maintaining excellent service are built.
ü Example: Furman University AdministraQve Services
ü Lonsdale Wealth Management
Build a Solid FoundaQon ü Goals and ObjecQves
ü How are you going to get there? ü Bringing the philosophy to life ü Develop achievable and measurable goals and objecQves ü GOAL: Achieve a minimum saQsfacQon rate of 95%...
ü ObjecQve: We will….
Build a Solid FoundaQon ü Service Promise
ü What do you tell your customers they can expect from you in service?
ü What can they expect 100% of the Qme? ü What are YOUR consequences for not delivering?
ü Example…Dominoes
Personnel
ü Job DescripQons ü Hire ü Train ü Evaluate ü Recognize & Reward
Personnel
ü Job DescripQons ü Infuse service expectaQons into all job descripQons ü Maintain a minimum survey result of XX% in housekeeping saQsfacQon
ü Assist in Catering maintaining an overall quality assurance score of 95% or above through…
1. Who have you spoken with in the today’s interview process and what did you talk about?
2. Tell me about problems with the product or services you previously supported.
3. How do you respond when you don’t know the answer to a quesQon?
4. The customer is saying you are taking too long to resolve their issue, what do you do?
5. The customer is poinQng out a big problem with our product, what do you do?
6. Give an specific example of a customer that you turned around from a posiQon of unhappiness to sheer joy.
Hire Ask the right quesKons…
Source: Zendesk through research conducted by Dimensional Research, Amanda Kleha, June 25, 2012
Personnel ü Train
ü Develop a consistent introductory training module that outlines the philosophy, goals and objecQves and expectaQons
ü Develop quarterly department-‐specific staff trainings and require aZendance
ü Develop bi-‐annual all-‐staff training to build upon the needs, areas of improvement, etc.
Personnel ü Evaluate
ü Infuse customer service into the criteria for evaluaQng staff ü This is a tough one…
ü No goals and objecQves, no firm ground for evaluaQng ü No surveying, no firm ground for evaluaQng ü No clear examples to site, no firm ground for evaluaQng
ü This must remain OBJECTIVE from the supervisory standpoint.
Personnel ü Recognize and Reward
ü Total Team, Departments and Individuals ü Monetary rewards ü PTO rewards ü Luncheons, dinners or an aUernoon/evening out as a team or department
ü GiU cerQficates ü Professional development ü Employee excellence award
Be Trapeze ArQsts ü The success of the overall effort requires a a well rehearsed and executed plan ü Training ü Cross Training ü PerfecQon ü Safety Nets
Quality Assurance
ü Empowerment ü Surveying ü Innovate
Quality Assurance ü Empowerment
ü Remember…72% blame customer service on having to explain their problems to mulQple people
ü Remember…69% say good services is equal to quick resoluQon
ü Cross-‐training helps with resoluQon ü Ritz Carlton policy
Quality Assurance
SURVEYING Do you do it?
Do you do it but don’t use it? Do you just not do it?
Quality Assurance ü Ask quesQons in a non-‐biased and efficient manner ü Avoid selling in the survey
ü Our Chefs are the industry’s best and they make very aZempt to make your dining experience excepQonal. How would you rate our success in this area?
ü Instead… ü How would you rate your overall dining experience at XYZ Conference Center?
Quality Assurance ü Neutrality VS Forced Choice
ü Neutrality in general quesQoning ü Forced choice in specifics ü EXAMPLE
ü How would you rate your overall dining experience at XYZ Conference Center? ü Neutrality is acceptable
ü How would you rate the food selecQon offered at lunch? ü Forced choice is preferred
Quality Assurance ü Ask comparaQve quesQons
ü How do you rate against your compeQtors? ü How do you rate your catering experience here compared to other conference centers?
ü What conference center(s) have provided a beZer catering experience?
Quality Assurance ü Gather Demographic InformaQon
ü Ability to analyze segments and subsets of your customers
ü Geung Responses ü 10-‐15% acceptable rates ü Methods
ü Onsite surveying ü IncenQves ü Email surveys and reminders
Quality Assurance ü Take AcQon
ü Review survey results following each group ü Review by group and overall ü Share results ü AcQon Plans ü Communicate changes ü Thank the evaluators
Quality Assurance ü Innovate ü A Comprehensive Approach to Involvement
ü Generate unique ideas ü Ask everyone
ü Customers ü Employees
ü Implement ideas ü Don’t ask for the sake of asking
ü CounterproducQve ü Acknowledge and reward ideas