Looking Back, Looking Forward; Customer Service lessons from our Year-End Rituals.

Do you LOVE New Year's Eve or are you among those who HATE it?

I find most people are solidly in one camp or the other when it comes to the 'First', or, 'Last' Holiday of the year.  Either you already have your HUGE 2012 eyeglasses and your only worry is which party you are going to... or you would rather hear the sound of your Mother-in-law saying she will be staying for a few weeks than the opening notes of Auld Lang Syne.

That's not to say that people don't switch sides from fans to foes.  I know that I have both loved and hated the night over the years.  When I was young and could stay awake dancing past 10pm, I adored it, when I had no one to kiss at midnight I hated it.  When we are looking forward we tend to enjoy it more than those years when we find ourselves looking back.

This year there is a lot to look back on.  Mother Nature alone brought us such extremes; the Tsunami in Japan, severe droughts in the midwest, devastating tornadoes, and here in my home state of New Jersey a series of floods culminating in hurricane Irene, an earthquake felt from Washington D.C. to Canada and a blizzard two days before Halloween that caused more destruction than I hope to ever see again.  Yes, when I look back... well, it makes me want to look forward.  So I shall be in the LOVE camp this year (though probably still sound asleep by 12:15!)

Ever since I was a kid, I have always enjoyed the week between Christmas and New Year's, not just because it was a break from school, but I love all the year end retrospectives in magazines and on TV.  Remember Life magazine and their 'Year in Pictures' issue?  Time and Newsweek, too, and even People gives us a look back at the hijinks of the rich, famous and not-so-famous.  My family and I would take that stroll through the events of the year, remember people who had married, babies born, awards and trophies won and lost and those who had left us.  

We do the same thing in our personal lives.  As the year draws quietly to an end, we send and receive holiday greetings that include that annual photo; either of the family all decked out in matching (hideous) sweaters, new babies wearing 'Santa, I've been (mostly) good' onesies, or our pets gamely enduring reindeer antlers and Santa hats.  There are those year-end 'updates' printed out on paper with borders of Holly or leaping Elves, that recount, in often painstaking detail, every hole-in-one Uncle Jack hit, the exact weight of that monster striped bass landed by cousin Earl and just how much weight Aunt Abigail gained on her cruise to Alaska last May.

We also tend to pick up the telephone and reach out to those friends and family that we may have neglected to keep in close touch with the previous 11 months.  It's okay, we all do it.  Sometimes it's not even a matter of neglecting, or forgetting to call.  My Mom has a dear friend that she probably thinks of almost every day, but Barbel lives in Switzerland and that's an expensive call, so Mom allows herself one during the Holidays and another in the summer, otherwise they keep in touch via 'par avion'. 

But... there are those folks, whom we do love deeply, but who also treat the telephone wires like a spiders web in which they endeavor to ensnare their prey so that they can liquify our organs for leisurely consumption!  Um, sorry, got carried away there.  What I meant to say is that we all know someone who just loves to trap you on the phone and regale you with every bit of tragedy, gossip and commentary of the state of the world that has crossed their mind since last you spoke.  Or, even worse, there is always dear old great-uncle Danny who will even share all those charming tales from his service during the Korean war that you have heard 187 times before, in addition to his opinion of every politician, athlete and neighbor you have never heard of.

If your job involves customer service (and, I think we have established that most EVERY job does) you have met these people at work as well.  Whether it's that caller who just HAS to tell you her experience with every product she has ever purchased, not just from your company, but your competitors and even stores that sell completely different stuff, or the old-timer who is chewing off your ear about how much better his Edsel was than these dang new-fangled cars while you are trying to do a tune-up, or that table that just insists on showing you pictures of their daughters wedding in Vail when all you really want them to do is pay the check and go so you can seat the next party of six who look like they will be big tippers.


What to do?  What to do?  What to do?

If you have been following my Blog you know that I probably have a tangible skill, a tool for your customer service toolkit, that will enable you to handle these situations, while delivering World Class Service.  Of course I do!  As the kids say, 'I have mad skills'!  Well, I don't know if the kids are still saying that, they were...things change so fast... I am getting old... sigh.


Sorry!  Where was I?  Oh, yes, about to give you the key, the trick, the strategic step that, in every interaction, will enable you to regain control of the conversation and steer it to a smooth, graceful close without hurting Aunt Abby's feelings OR risking insulting or alienating a customer.

When you find yourself in a conversation with someone who has gone off on a merry ride, even if you are a willing participant, and it is finally time to get them to pull over and let you get back behind the wheel, you need to use the skill we call 'Recap and Next Steps'.  The way this works is pretty simple; you go back down the winding road of the conversation and find the 'point', the what-the-heck-were-we-talking-about-before-this-got-out-of-control moment.  Could be when Uncle Dan mentioned that the fresh snowfall reminded him of Christmas when he was a kid, or when that lovely couple noticed your engagement ring and told you their daughter had just gotten married, or when you customer said that she had had to return a sweater last month because it was the wrong size.  You need to go back to what the original issue was and your response to it and RECAP by restating those two elements of the conversation and then, this is super important, follow that with whatever the NEXT STEPS are going to be, either for your customer/friend/or chatty relation, and for yourself.

What's it going to sound like, you ask?  (I'm pretty sure I heard you ask)  Well, like this;

"Uncle Dan, I agree that we had more white Christmas's back in the day.  I am going to go online and see if I can find any old photo's of the Bronx from the 40's and I will send them to you in the next few days."


"Thank you so much for sharing those gorgeous pictures of your daughter's wedding.  I have written down the name of the venue and will be contacting them to see if they are available to do my wedding."


"So, twice you have received sweaters that were mislabeled. I am going to pass this information on to our quality control supervisor to make sure that they are aware of the problem."


It just goes back to the basics, people want to be heard, their issue recognized and know how it is going to be resolved.  Once you let then know you are 'on it' and what you are going to be doing, they can sit on back, relax and let you be in control of the interaction.  


All that is left is for you to 'sign off' in a World Class way...and, I KNOW you know how to do that.. but I am still gonna save that for another Blog!


I hope that you all have more fond than sorrowful memories to reflect upon as 2011 draws to an end, 

I wish you laughter to chase away the tears, 

I wish you Health, Happiness and Prosperity in 2012

and I thank you for spending a few moments of your irreplaceable time reading my blog and I hope to be able to continue entertaining you in 2012.  

Happy New Year!

A Visit from St. Nicholas, the patron Saint of Customer Service Reps

'Twas the day before Christmas, and in the call center,
The queue was filled with ranters and venters; 
As each call was completed another was there,
No time for after call work, comment fields were left bare;
The supervisors were huddled away in their cubes, 
Trying to finish the year-end reviews;
The coaches donned their headsets, jacked in with a snap,
Settled in with observation forms on which to map,
Each bit of the call from greeting through all the chatter; 
Did the rep's questions get to the heart of the matter?
Was the customer offered a coupon or code
For free shipping or replacement of product owed?
The feedback was scrawled on the forms white as snow, 
Because thorough documentation is critical, we know;
When what, to the Team's bloodshot eyes should appear,
But that consultant the manager hired early that year;
Being so close to Christmas our minds played a trick, 
Because for the life of us he looked like St. Nick;
More rapid than eagles, his responses came, 
As he picked up each incoming call and by name,
Responded to each consumer and their question or concern,
Whether they be quite happy or in a slow burn;
As we watched the Symon board, way up high on the wall, 
The call volume dropped away, dropped away 'til not one call
Was waiting so each rep was able to sit back and sigh,
Stretch, yawn, stand up and wonder just why
This person with no training on the products we sell
Was able to handle each contact so well;
Then, in a twinkling, we realized the reason,
And that is had nothing to do with the Season;
We pulled close our chairs and gathered around,
To listen to this fellow share the secrets he’d found;
He was dressed in business casual, from his head to his toes,
With a reindeer lapel pin with a flashing red nose;
A worn leather briefcase was slung over one shoulder,
He looked like every businessman, though perhaps a bit older;
His eyes, they did twinkle! His dimples were merry!
His cheeks were quite rosy, nose red like a cherry!
Why he looked so flushed we wanted to know,
Then we remembered he’d just walked in from the snow;
He said to the quality coaches, “Please do me a favor,
Instead of checking off boxes, find the pivotal behavior;
It takes each interaction from Okay to fantastic,
So that feedback is no longer reason for panic”;
To the reps he offered his Interaction Strategy,
Guaranteed to prevent calls from turning to tragedy;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
And we all knew we had nothing to dread;
He’d given us tangible tools we just knew would work,
On every single caller, even those who were jerks;
Then laying his finger on the magic button for the center,
He redirected all calls to the overflow vendor;
Then he sprang to the door, to the team gave a whistle,
And everyone flew to their cars like a missile;
We heard him exclaim, ‘ere we drove from the parking lot,
“Happy Christmas to All, Hey, don’t forget to aux out!”

This is a little gift for you; a wonderful, original arrangement of 'Let It Snow', performed by my talented friend Tim Hendrick.  I wish you and your loved ones a Joyous Holiday!

Old Fashioned Customer Service; "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

"It's a major award"

"I TRIPLE dog dare you"

"Oh... fuuudge"

"It's a clinker" 

"Meatloaf, smeatloaf, double-beatloaf."


"Bumpuses!!"

"Those icicles have been known to kill people!"


"Fragile.  That must be Italian."


If, as you read that last quote, the voice in your head pronounced it 'fra-gee-lee' then you know that I am thinking about the greatest Christmas movie ever made (OK, except for It's a Wonderful Life) A Christmas Story.  And, if you have no idea what I am talking about... where have you been?  A major cable channel runs it for 24 hours December 24 &25, that's, like TWELVE times! You've got to see it, you'll love it.


I just LOVE this movie.  It takes me back to my childhood.  No, not in the 1940's (I'm not that old, even though on cold mornings some of my joints FEEL that old).  My youthful memories take place in the 60's and 70's but so many of the events depicted in the film could have been plucked from my past.  Being bundled against the cold in so many layers I could barely move, the annual family trip to pick out the perfect tree, being excited/terrified to meet Santa, watching a friend get his tongue stuck to a pole (the police and fire department didn't come to his rescue, I'll tell you who did later) and the wonderful, glorious, festive magic of a small town Main Street all done up in lights, garland and Holiday finery, ready to provide each shopper with every item on Santa's list... plus that extra gift - Old Fashioned customer service.

When I was a kid we didn't go to 'the mall', there were no megastores, either.  There was a shopping center, but it might as well have been on the moon, it was just too far away for my Mom to pack up her three brawling bundles of joy and head out to for our Christmas shopping.  Nope, we did ALL of our shopping on Main Street, Pompton Lakes, NJ, which, in the early 1970's was the picture perfect example of small town America.  Handsome, solid buildings made of brick and mortar with sheltering awnings, freshly swept sidewalks out front, iron lamp posts, benches for a weary soul to rest,  an actual train station at one end of town and the public library with its huge evergreen all decked out in multi-colored lights at the other.  It was like Norman Rockwell himself had sketched the place, and then, for Christmas, Thomas Kincaide put the finishing touches on it.

Mom would load us into the back of the Hornet (yeah, it was green) and we'd head out for a day of shopping fun.  We'd start at Gelman's Department store, which was the biggest store in town, though small by today's standards.  It had EVERYTHING.  Mom went there especially for clothes, boring for a kid, so I would hide inside the circular racks of coats and dresses driving my sisters crazy when they couldn't find me.  Of course, sometimes I'd lose track of Mom and use my 'special trick' of getting on all fours and scanning the shoes and boots around me until I saw a familiar pair.


After Gelman's, we'd hit the Army & Navy store, record shop, toy store and card/gift boutique.  Two things stand out in my memory.  First, how the heck did Mom manage to get those presents which would show up courtesy of Santa without us seeing her purchase them (?) and, second, that every place we went the clerks and cashier knew my Mom.  They knew her name, they knew my Dad, and, creepily,  they knew me!  At the time I figured it was some weird grown-up thing, like maybe during the day when I was trapped in school all the adults were hanging out or something.  But, now that I am a 'grown-up' I realize what was really going on.  Yes, they did know each other... as customers ... and something more.  The lady in Gelman's knew my Mom because, not only did Mom shop there, the Gelman's lady banked where my Mom worked and Mom helped her balance her checkbook when she couldn't get it to prove.  The girl behind the register at the Army & Navy store had been my babysitter a few years earlier.  And the man who owned the record store was married to the lady who played the guitar for the choir at church.


We weren't just customers, we were neighbors and friends.  We all lived within a few miles of where we worked, played and gathered.  We shared bonds that made us a community and, as such, it was important that our relationships be kept strong and positive.  Not only that, but since we all knew each other, stories of rude or inattentive service would spread like wildfire.  If a merchant wasn't treating his or her customers like valued friends phones would be ringing and folks would be chatting about it on porches and over the backyard fence.  (And that's NOTHING compared to how far, wide and fast a dissatisfied customer can share their tale of woe in today's '4G' world)


Seems to me that we have lost a bit of that 'neighborly' feeling in our interactions these days.  Now we travel an hour to a favorite mall, call retailers that may be located thousands of miles away and Santa Claus even orders online without any 'human' contact at all.  Yes, we are more harried and hurried and want things to be done as quickly as possible, but there is no reason that great customer service should be a fond memory.  I just stopped at my local bank to make a deposit and, while processing my transaction, the pleasant young man behind the counter asked me if had 'any nice plans for the rest of the day'.  At first I was stunned by the question, but then I found myself telling him my plans for the entire weekend... and feeling happy, relaxed and like he cared.  The whole conversation was done by the time my receipt was printed and I left feeling connected to a member of my local community (and, for all I know he may live 40 miles away).  Making a personal connection doesn't need to be intrusive, time-consuming or complicated, it's just taking a moment to 'interact' with each customer in a unique way.

 
My best advice is to treat every  interaction as if the other person is a teacher at your child's school, a woman in your Moms bridge club or the visiting nurse who checks up on your Granddad every day.  You never know, they might be.  But, even if they aren't, even if they are someone you will never meet in a million years, if you make them feel valued  by giving them a great customer service experience you will create a bond that will result in increased loyalty.

Ralphie, the protagonist of A Christmas Story, really wants to find one gift under the tree - an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle!  Every adult he shares this dream with shoots it down (pun intended) with that iconic line "You'll shoot your eye out", including Higbee's rented St. Nick.  Doesn't matter in the end, though, because "Santa! The big man! The head honcho! The connection" (aka Dad) is the penultimate provider of World Class Service and comes through.  However, what happens when Ralphie heads out into the backyard to face off against Black Bart... well, if you don't know you'll just have to watch the movie.


(Oh, and when my pal Steven got stuck...stuck...stuck! to the pole it was Mrs. Byrd who came to his rescue with a glass of warm tap water which quickly freed my foolish friend.  He came away mostly intact, though did get to have a milkshake for supper that night.  Considering the circumstances, none of us kids were envious.)