Setting Your Standard for Customer Service. Judy Kwitnieski Loudoun County Government May 21, 2015

Transcription

1 Setting Your Standard for Customer Service Judy Kwitnieski Loudoun County Government May 21, 2015

2 What does Customer Service mean today? Evolved from a strong focus on a personal approach to a greater focus on speed, consistency, and accuracy Soup Seinfeld Alphabet Soup

3 Today s Goals: During the session today, we will discuss how to: Establish customer service standards in your organization Empower and hold staff accountable for maintaining standards Measure customer service success

4 Setting Standards Burger King standards

5 Service Vision and Values What is leadership s picture of successful customer service? Are there policies and procedures to support the vision? VISION Is there commitment on what is most important in the how of service? POLICIES Are employees held accountable through performance objectives and expectations? VALUES OBJECTIVES

6 Creating a Customer Service Plan 1. Assess your organization s current customer service focus. 2. Understand your customer s requirements. 3. Create your customer service vision, values, and policies. 4. Develop standards for effectively dealing with customers. WHY CREATE A PLAN? Minimizes Stress Increases effectiveness Increases morale and job satisfaction 5. Empower and hold staff accountable. Sample Plans

7 Customer Service Assessment Exercise Culture Customer alignment Error reduction Utilization of customer data Customer Outreach Qualified and empowered staff Focus on continuous process and service improvement

8 Changing Needs of Customer Anticipating Needs and Trends Data Feedback Observations Customer Needs Expectations, Barriers, Training, Skills Process & Approach

9 Assessing Your Current Customer Service Status Important Questions to Ask (again and again) Who are my customers? What are the prevalent modes of communication? What are their needs and expectations? What do your staff consider essential customer service elements? What are the barriers to providing expected services? What is the skill level and training of staff to provide the expected level of service (what do staff already do well)? Surveys Focus Groups Meeting Conversations Data Collection

10 Processes How do you know when processes are not working? You don t get the results you want, People let you know through feedback, You observe difficulties, and/or You receive a large number of questions regarding this process. 80/20 Rule 80% of customer complaints are about the process - not the person.

11 Process Check-up Think of one customer service process you are involved in...then ask yourself? Do I understand the needs of the customer? Do I have the skills and knowledge to do this process? Am I partnering with relevant colleagues, divisions, and departments in the most effective way to share resources and knowledge to get results? If it is an effective process, what is present that makes it effective? If it is not effective, what is present that makes it not effective?

12 Vision, Policies, and Procedures VISION A vision provides a clear picture from Leadership on what excellent customer service looks like in that area (should be aligned with overall organizational vision) POLICIES & GUIDELINES Customer service guidelines and procedures provide clear written expectations around communication, professionalism, and expected service knowledge in that area (should be aligned with overall mission)

13 Customer Service Values Values are the core beliefs or principles that guide an organization s internal conduct as well as its relationship with co-workers, customers, and partners. The strength of an organization is built on values; they become the essence of the organization when they are understood and respected by all employees.

14 Operationalizing Values IF we VALUE: Daily Behaviors include: TIMELINESS Within 1 business day, respond to customer s or phone inquiries: if a complete answer is not possible, acknowledge question and let know rough time period can respond. Make sure out of office messages are on both s and phone when out; include who is the best contact while you are out. CONSISTENCY Develop FAQ sheets for common questions (i.e. taxes, pay stub, leave) Create response templates by area (Accounts Payable,etc ) for common questions and to avoid recreating responses.

15 Policies, procedures, and values are your standards IF Employees are committed and held accountable.

16 Empowering and Holding Staff Accountability Market Video

17 Empowering Employees Make them part of the process Value their experience Listen to their frustrations Solicit their ideas Sell the positive effects of consistent, effective customer service Be able to answer the WIFM questions Acknowledge that providing good service makes the whole work environment better (collaborative vs. combative) Make good customer service fun!

18 Developing a Customer Creed Consider: Your department and division s mission and goals Your area s goals and values The needs and expectations of your customers Current processes Most used modes of communication Best practices When group consistency is or is not needed The image you want to portray.

19 C arefully listen U nderstand needs S eek answers T reat with respect O ffer alternatives M ake comfortable E arn trust R esolve problems Sample Creed

20 Holding Staff Accountable Incorporate customer service expectations in the performance plan Core competencies as standard part of an employee s plan Fiscal individual or team objectives Gather relevant data regularly and share Develop standard tracking tools for important service points Let employees know how data will be gathered and share group results at meetings Assess employees consistently and seriously Make sure supervisors have consistent criteria for evaluating customer service and give it appropriate emphasis at assessment time. Pair Work Exercise

21 Measuring Success

22 Measuring Success Make success criteria part of the customer service plan Get input from staff and customers on how success should be measured Put measures in place, using benchmarks Clearly communicate measures and how they will be used in employee assessment Have both quantitative and qualitative measures Use systems to track data Use surveys Value personal stories as well

23 Wrapping it up How is your organization doing in customer service on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being excellent and 1 needs improvement? Establishing Customer Service Standards in your organization through clear vision, values, policies, and objectives. Empowering and holding staff accountable for maintaining standards Measuring customer service success

24 Thank you! Questions and success stories from the Group