Customer+Service+Excellence

=EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE:=

==="Great Customer Service doesn't just happen, you need to create it! The evaluation of current customer service and the processes of creating change to meet further expectations are the focus of every Fortune 500 company... How do you compare? Compete? Is your business too small to worry about Customer Service? If your are in business you know that every customer counts, therefore you are never too small to pay attention to these details. The how of evaluation and implementing changes is broken down into bite size pieces, in take away formats for you to use in your business. " ===

The Basics of Customer Service:

What is GOOD Customer Service? What is BAD Customer Service? What is EXCELLENT Customer Service?

WHO is our customer? Internal/External, Long term relationships, singular moments.

What is our service? What are we really selling?

What are the expectations our customers have? Are we meeting, failing or exceeding?

How, where, when are our customer's communicating with us? How do we respond?

How do we measure?

Mystery Shoppers and their industry.

This is a tool to be used when you really need to have an entirely external view of your business. The process is fairly simple and the delivery is up to you. What level of qualitative and quantitative data is actually useful for you and your organisation, is probably the best way to approach these companies. I have found five different businesses that will measure and return to you reports about your business. They are listed below in no particular order.

Retail Reality... [|http://www.retailreality.com.au] Mystery Shopper... [|http://www.mysteryshopping.com.au] KPI Retail Services... [|http://www.kpirs.com.au] Shop Angels... []

A look at the reporting that Shop Angels deliver...

Mystery Customer... [|http://www.mysterycustomer.com.au]

Each of these businesses consider themselves National. Some only want to deal with big business with many premises. I left a little message at each of these websites, to see what they could really do for the East Gippsland SME. The response so far has been only from Mystery Customer, the file they sent me is above. Shop Angels also responded, one of the files is an overview, the other is a look at the reporting that they sent me are inserted there as well. Which ever company you use, It is the measurement over time that can garnish the really useful results. consider a 3-6 times a year investment perhaps.

Survey's/ Focus groups/ asking questions.

How do we deal with the customer complaint? What is the most likely thing a customer in Australia will do in reaction to bad customer service? How can we be supported to support our customers?

How would you rate your current service?

What would be the most excellent service you could provide?

What is the SOURCE of Excellent Customer Service? Where does it live? How can we create a business culture that is truly supportive of the Excellence we wish our business to express. As the owner of the business, there is a vision, an intention, hopefully a Passion for what it is that your business does. When that passion is clearly communicate to any staff that are working for the business we can enroll our staff at this passion level, which in turn becomes a real Source of Excellent Customer Service!

This tool, the Service Blueprint is designed to open up the individual moments of service. As we get a real chance to evaluate any service at this level we can

**The Service Blueprint:**

 * Physical Evidence**

For each customer action, and every moment of truth, the physical evidence that customers come in contact with is described at the very top of the service blueprint. These are all the tangibles that customers are exposed to that can influence their quality perceptions.


 * Customer Actions**

This component contains all of the steps that customers take as part of the service delivery process. This element is always on top of the service blueprint.


 * Onstage / Visible Contact Employee Actions**

This element is separated from the customer actions by a ‘line of interaction’. These actions are face-to-face actions between employees and customers.


 * Backstage / Invisible Contact Employee Actions**

The ‘line of visibility’ separates the Onstage from the Backstage actions. Everything that appears above the line of visibility can be seen by the customers, while everything under the line of visibility is invisible for the customers. A very good example of an action in this element, is a telephone call; this is an action between an employee and a customer, but they don’t see each other.


 * Support Processes**

The ‘internal line of interaction’ separates the contact employees from the support processes. These are all the activities carried out by individuals and units within the company who are not contact employees. These activities need to happen in order for the service to be delivered.



This example is for the restruant.




 * The prep of food could be consider the Backstage or the support processes, depends on where the focus for the service blueprint actually is.**

The process of structuring a blueprint involves six steps:
 * Building a blueprint**


 * The identification of the service process, that is supposed to be blueprinted
 * The identification of the customer segment or the customers that are supposed to experience the service
 * Picturing the service from the customer’s perspective
 * Picturing the actions of the contact employee (onstage and backstage), and/or technology actions
 * Linking the contact activities to the needed support functions
 * Adding the evidence of service for every customer action step

Where are the blocks, where are the flow's? What can be built to serve ALL... Checking in with the emotional states of the customer and the staff providing the service.

Building a Howlback, not a treadmill. Throughout the blueprint there are moments when one simply has to do the work, but within them, there is an opportunity to become more engaged in the process and the result... more opportunity to care, about your work, about the business you are a part of. In return for caring more, there is satisfaction in a job well done, as well as seeing the business you are a part of, grow!

One of the most powerful places to fuel your Howlback is from a Customer Charter... a deep commitment, made by you AND your staff to your customer in terms that make real sense to you ALL, you as the business vision holder, your employee's as those that deliver your vision and your customers, those that are buying your vision, even extending the charter to enroll the customer in the vision furthering the intent towards Excellent Customer Service.

The Charter may vary widely in its format. If the business has a published mission or vision statement, this would be appropriate to include. As a minimum, it should include a description of the businesses general objectives, a list of services provided, some points covering what customers can expect from this business, and a section on how customers can help in having their needs met.



These two charters are just a couple of examples to the process that is building your own Charter. Note the moment to brand, the dot points, the types of commitments made in these statement.

As you build your own Customer Service Charters, feel free to share them here!!

There is an understanding of a place called FLOW, the effortless doing without doing, that is in direct relation to the skills one has and the challenges that are encounters. There is great understanding of the definition of the task being a big part of what one needs to access this state of FLOW... SO, when we are creating a place for the employee to do the work at hand we can understand that by clearly defining the task, recognising the places of skill and challenge, we can support the process of truly flourishing, THUS greater enjoyment, THUS greater customer service. When anyone is enjoying what they are doing, tis much easier to be friendly, courteous and respectful.