High Altitude Customer Service. Jim Proce Assistant City Manager City of Rowlett, Texas October 2014

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1 High Altitude Customer Service Jim Proce Assistant City Manager City of Rowlett, Texas October 2014

2 Have Fun Learn Something Change Processes & Culture Execute & Succeed Agenda

3 Checkpoint Have you read the article? Or other articles on this topic? Does your organization have customer service standards or values? Have you shared your views on customer service with others? Do you have any questions or concerns? Are you willing to make changes to improve your processes? What do you expect to get out of this discussion today?

4 Learning Objectives 1. Implement successful customer service practices and philosophies in their organizations 2. Change organizational culture to embrace positive customer outcomes even in bad situations 3. Learn how to say NO, successfully, repeatedly, and often, and still remain employed

5 Myths About Customers MYTH: THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT! NOT!!!!! TRUTH: The customer is not always right! REALITY: But the customer is ALWAYS IMPORTANT

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7 When does stupid occur in your life? Certainly you have observed encountered experienced or practiced stupid in your life! What was the result? Frustration Anger Changes in future behavior Dissatisfaction Stupid

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10 Generally citizens have the perception that government is broken. Would you agree or not? What about where you work? Whose job is it to fix it? Then why don t you fix it?

11 To prove your process To prove your value Stupid is opportunity

12 Stuff you should not do (aka stupid rules) Don t do stupid; Don t let others do stupid; Stupid is bad. Don t assume people understand the situation if they did understand they would likely not be calling you. Don t pass the buck... If may come back and the bite is worse the second time. Don t blind forward phone calls... Ever someone may return the favor Don t provide false hopes no means NO Don t treat the symptoms fix the cause Don t punt to the boss don t reverse delegate upwards If you are the boss don t hijack the problem validating bad behavior

13 Epidemics? 3-11 rule of thumb Social media Guilty until proven innocent Righting the wrong is futile

14 Stuff you should do EPIDEMICS: Focus your efforts toward something directly positive KNOWLEDGE: Know your roles RESPONSIBILITY: Customer Service is everyone s job ATTITUDE: Always show concern, make time, care, have interest, and be sincere COMMUNICATION: Be tactful, transparent, appropriate, accurate, timely, informative, reassuring, sincere empathetic and most of all HONEST BEHAVIORS: be caring, supportive, encouraging, and positive SPEED: Assess the needs of the customer QUICKLY RESOLUTION: Offer solutions DELEGATE: Empower employees; empower the staff FLIP IT OVER: Empathize with customers, see their point of view, EMOTION: Manage your emotions and reactions, it is not personal, so be nice, always

15 Milo Rules! (how to say no...) Provide quick answers (timely responses) even if the answer is NO Share what ever info you have even if it gets you yelled at Explain things explicitly in common terms most people have tunnel vision and are looking at their own perspective only Do relentless follow up always do what I say I will do If all else fails SMILE even if it hurts inside

16 Managing Customer Expectations What do you do when customers are dissatisfied? Who is responsible for addressing their concerns? Do you have the right tools to take care of the issue?

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18 Active Shooter Strategy Seriously Have a plan or strategy before going in Be truthful and factual Don t provide false promises Maintain eye contact at all times Let them talk through their issues Empathy Acknowledge their perspective Use open ended questions Don t ever be aggressive Don t agitate them if they are angry Avoid sudden movements or threatening behavior What is their expectation for resolution Compliments of Chad Caldwell at the Rowlett Police Department

19 Convincing Your Staff to Climb the Ladder Create value statements with staff involvement Employ strategic thinking, questioning everything Channel 5, 8, 11 test Mom test Stupid test I borrowed these from a friend in Florida.

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22 Ask yourselves these questions to see where your organization stands When was the last time our organization reviewed our customer service practices? How do we ask our customers what they think of our organization and our service to them? Aside from our own organization, what is our favorite store? And why? What can we borrow form those values? Has excellent customer service become expected of our organization and its culture? Really? Or is just lip service? When was the last time we got pleasantly surprised by an organization? And what can we take away from that experience and use in our organization? Do all of us know all of the facets of the business of our organization? And should we expect all of our employees to know our business, how it works, and who does what? What incentives do our customers have to want to be part of our mailing lists, listserves, and public notification systems? What is unique with the way we treat our customers BEFORE something goes wrong? How can we make our customer experience unforgettable? Who is in charge of customer relationships AFTER the experience? Is there any follow up at all? What are the key performance indicators that we can demand from our customer service staff?

23 High Altitude Customer Service What to do Milo Rules What not to do How to handle dissatisfied customers Active Shooter Strategy Convincing your staff Assess your organization Have fun, learn, change, execute Wrapping it up

24 Homework 1. Read the article 2. Write down any questions and feel free to contact me 3. Argue any points you disagree with 4. Share the article with others 5. Engage your community

25 Questions? QUOTE to take with you: Retired Lt. Colonel Harry Glaze and former Public Works Director of Lee County FL said, The public is never an interruption to your work; the public is your work and if you don t think so you are in the wrong business.