KLC Newsletter

Biz Sense Media

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Newsletter: June 2011

A Focus on Your Customer Service Will Help You Ride the Challenging Economy

With the less–than–sanguine news about the state of the economy and its impact on business, we have re–surfaced a piece we wrote some time back on customer service. Originally, this article presented customer service as a key differentiation strategy. Well – it is, and ideally to propel your growth; however, considering the current economics, we strongly believe it is a key to your sustainability.

Every business owner and organization knows if they want to attract and retain more loyal customers, they need to provide high–quality customer service. That's why organizations today focus heavily on communicating how valuable their customers are to the organization. Now, the question is... How much do you truly demonstrate that value your customers?

Most have experienced the expression of being “a valued customer”, yet in many cases, you didn't feel valued at all! For example, you call a company for either customer service or to order one of their products and you enter into the electronic triage system only to be put on hold. You're told: please stay on the line, your call is important to us. Sometimes we dutifully follow the electronic request, and we wait, and even wait longer. Other times we hang up in pure frustration. Other times, you leave a message or send an email, and may still be waiting for the response!

Or, you’ve been asked to complete a customer satisfaction questionnaire, and told that your comments are "very important to us". Really?

How maddening it is when you have taken the time to complete such surveys after receiving poor service, spelling out in detail what the issue was and why you were dissatisfied, only to receive no acknowledgement of your issue or concern? Or, when you’ve requested a response to a specific question...

Perception, as we have heard endless times, is reality. The reality here is that you won't go back or use them in the future. And likely, you will tell your friends!

We believe that providing excellent customer service should be an obsession as a sustainability strategy in the midst of the lingering recession.

Tips That Will Help You Differentiate Your Customer Service

  • Have a real, live person answer all of your calls. If you cannot have someone answer all your calls, subscribe to a voice message service and include a message that you will return all calls within one business day – and do it. If it is late in the day, it can acceptable to wait till the next business morning. Remember, the message and perception in timing/promptness is, "you count"–– you are important and a priority to me. A lagging response equals interpretation of non–responsiveness, and you cannot risk this today.
  • Return emails within one business day (two days maximum).
  • Learn to be comfortable introducing yourself by your full name. When meeting in person, look at people directly in the eye, especially when you first meet them and insure you know how to give and reciprocate a firm handshake. Ask them sincere questions of interest to learn more about them, their challenges, needs and goals.
  • Insure you clearly understand the customer or prospects need and priorities. Do this by listening sincerely and asking clarifying questions. Listen FIRST and actively listen more than you talk. Ask questions to clarify your understanding of your prospect's motivation to buy – but do so respectfully and carefully.
  • Keep agreements you make to the prospect AND your current customers. A huge mistake is to take current customers for granted. When you say you will do something, do it when you said you would do it. And emergencies should be the only exception. Don't expect the customer to understand that you are busy or short staffed. They won't and they shouldn't have to.
  • Eliminate negative surprises for your customer. If there is a problem, acknowledge it quickly, apologize if appropriate and do your best to fix the problem to your customer's satisfaction.
  • Always have your clients' and prospects' best interest in mind. Think of ways you can help them improve their needs to be in the forefront.
  • Think of the long–term sale. That means go slow, don't push now to sell or attempt to up–sell. Think of the longer–term relationship and resulting opportunities forthcoming.
  • Warning– Flirting and fawning are forms of overselling (as well as demeaning) yourself. Realize how unprofessional and damaging these behaviors are with your customers and prospects. Repute counts!

Sure ––this is obvious and good business practice. Yet, indeed, it is not consistently happening in many businesses. You need to capture the attention of your future customers and keep your current customers... Without consistent excellent customer care, customer loyalty is improbable, especially in this economy where buyers are more and more cautious. So, notable customer service represents a key differentiator, which is a key strategy to not only grow your business, but these days, to keep you in it!

Healthcare Corner

State of Reform and Wellness

State of Reform

If you’ve been around healthcare for more than ten years, you’ve seen it before, and you’re seeing it again with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – resistance. The Affordable Care Act was passed in March 2010, and a mere one year later we have seen its constitutionality challenged in court, in early 2011 the House voted to repeal the Act, Paul Ryan (R–Wisconsin), introduced legislation to “encourage accountable care through a premium support model”, states are lagging in passing exchange legislation to set up health insurance exchanges, and the hospital and physician community are pushing back on an initiative to create a new organizations (Accountable Care Organizations) for Medicare patients. Moving a trillion dollar industry is challenging at best. With a Presidential election coming up, one thing we can be sure of, health care will be a prominent topic for discussion.

Wellness

The one thing we cannot afford to do as consumers of healthcare is to wait for our legislators to resolve this issue and for health care practitioners to readily accept the resolution. As much of a crisis as we are in (i.e. cost, quality, safety, efficiency), it is not enough to drive change right now. Our job is to do it ourselves.

We often hear that the common causes of illness are: stress, poor nutrition, obesity, smoking and not enough physical activity. One way to think about this is not controlling stress, not eating well, smoking (primary or second hand) and little to no physical activity causes you to become ill, and it is at this point you enter an expensive healthcare system.

From a lifestyle perspective – you limit your activity and shorten your life span. From a business perspective, you reduce productivity and generate higher expenses for the business (days lost from work, healthcare benefits costs).

There are no easy solutions here, unfortunately. But if you are concerned, and we believe you should be, consider doing the following:

  • Learn how to meditate
  • Find a nutritionist and learn how to eat well
  • Increase your physical activity
  • Practice yoga, tai chi, qi gong, dance or other movement (balance, stretch and strength based) focused activities
  • Stop smoking if you currently smoke
  • Find a chiropractor who believes in wellness care or a holistic medicine provider

We are not talking about consuming hours in your day, we are talking about lifestyle changes that can have a significant impact on you and your business. If you run a business, consider building a wellness program for your employees. It will pay great dividends.

Talent Management Corner

How to Gracefully and Respectfully Reject a Candidate

Rejection hurts, especially when you are the one receiving the news. It’s sometimes even more difficult when you are the one delivering it. There are several things an employer can do to ease the blow to a candidate that is no longer being considered for a position.

Some rejections are obvious to both the employer and the applicant, however, some can be a bit tricky when qualifications are closely matched and you are at the end of an interview process. First and foremost, always protect your brand, especially through potential candidates. You want candidates to have a positive impression of your company even after failing the interview process and ideally to send you referrals.

Strive to be an employer of choice even after a rejection.

In order to make the interview process smooth for both your current and potential employees, you must make sure interviewers are trained on how to handle an interview, legally and socially. Never raise false hope and mislead a candidate by being too friendly. Discussing hobbies, family and gossip can tread on illegal ground and lead to anger upon rejection. Without proper coaching and understanding the laws respective to recruitment and hiring, you could potentially make your company vulnerable to discrimination law suits.

Make sure you have a process in place. Establish who has the authority to determine rejections. Notify a candidate immediately once they are no longer being considered and let them know exactly why you have made your decision. They will respect you for it. Lead with an honest compliment and solid feedback while airing on the side of confidentiality.

Document everything.

Unfortunately, many companies do not reject candidates, they just ignore them. This is usually never a good way to handle a process and potentially damaging to a company’s image. Sending an email can be cold and impersonal. Always give someone the respect of a phone call, especially if they have had a face to face interview. Deliver the news kindly, accurately and truthfully, you never know who they are connected to.