Adventures in Business and CRM

Setting your business apart in today’s tough economy means companies must elevate their reliability, reduce costs, and keep accurate data on every aspect of what is happening within their business. This is especially true when it comes to Customer Service. Ultimately, meeting and exceeding customer expectations should be their main goal. Distinguishing your business among competitors, and non-competitors is  a wonderful way to bring positive attention and positive (and free) PR to any business.

While all of the above goals sound neat and do-able, for most call center and customer service managers, they seem completely out of reach and unattainable. The idea of keeping accurate data already seems impossible enough – because you must have full support from your organization heads, all the way up to the CEO, and down to the newest customer service reps and receptionists.

A well-designed performance measurement and management system is imperative when it comes to Customer Service metrics.  Having a clear understanding of what you should measure (think KPI’s), how you use the information, and when you decide to act upon the facts you are given are all issues many customer service managers and directors face today. Keeping a nicely refined system of performance measures helps you manage call volumes, determine training/staffing needs, identify missed revenue opportunities, determine a strategy’s effectiveness, and evaluate how close you are to your real goal – exceeding customer demands with every opportunity given to your staff.

I have utilized a 3-step system for many of my clients when it comes to utilizing a Performance Measurement System. This system is a powerful methodology that helps managers to plan and monitor the customer service needs of a company. This also helps management to remain flexible, and respond quickly when it comes to various situations. To do this, management needs quick and relevant information, the ability to communicate results, (whether good or bad), and insight into the root causes of various situations.

Successful measurement management should also be built upon and interrelated set of financial and non-financial metrics that are designed to provide managers and c-levels with vital information into the company’s smaller details of daily operation.

Choosing your KPI’s should be based upon the companies overall strategic goals. Keep your vision in line with the company’s business plan and mission statement. Once the objectives are identified, you can then evaluate and decide upon performance areas to measure.

1) Start with the end in mind. What do you want to accomplish with your customer service training efforts? Your answer will be unique to your business, the product or service you provide and the type of customer you serve. For example, if you run a dry cleaning business, your expectation may be that customers are greeted promptly when they come into your store, that clothing is cleaned to their specifications and that any problems or issues are resolved according to prescribed policies/practices that have been clearly communicated to customers.

If you run a consulting business your customer service expectations may include lengthy interactions with clients to clearly determine their needs, identified check-points throughout the consulting process, etc. Regardless of the specifics, the point is that you need to have a clear idea of the end results you’re looking for. Then you can use these results to help direct the focus of your customer service training efforts.

2) Define success. Employees need to have clear expectations; they want to succeed, but they need to know what success “looks like” and how you will be judging their efforts. Based on the objectives you identified, quantify as best you can measures of customer service success. Provide these measures to employees as the goals they will be charged with obtaining.

3) Communicate your expectations. Be specific. Don’t assume that employees know what you expect in terms of service. Be specific and make sure you “catch them early.” A new employee’s orientation is the time to let them know what your service expectations are.

4) Provide the tools that employees need to serve your customers. Employees need tools, and need to know how to use those tools, to serve customers effectively. For example, if employees don’t have access to e-mail they may be hampered in communicating effectively with their customers. Or, if a graphic designer doesn’t have the latest software and appropriate hardware, he or she may not be able to provide high quality or timely turnaround to clients. A cell phone may be a critical tool for a sales person who is frequently away from his or her desk.

5) Let employees know their limits. Your employees need to know your policies and practices with regard to satisfying customers and responding to complaints. The more flexibility you’re able to offer and the more clearly you communicate these guidelines, the better able employees will be to meet customer needs. Customers benefit, too, when employees are able to resolve situations “on the spot” instead of having to “talk to my manager.”

6) Gather common situations and scenarios to use as examples. Your customer service training should be “real.” Examples gathered from the real life experience if your employees can help to highlight bad/good/better/best examples of working with clients and customers. Involve employees in providing training. Enlist the aid of your most service-successful employees in training and coaching others.

7) Role play common challenging situations. Provide employees with an opportunity to “practice” their responses. Then, when a “real situation” occurs they will have a higher comfort level about their ability to respond effectively.

Encourage employees to talk to their “worst nightmare” customers. Customers who are most demanding, who complain the loudest or who are hardest to please can be a rich source of information in your customer service improvement efforts. After all, if you can please these “tough customers” you should be able to consistently delight your average customers.

Behind the complaints and the demands you’ll often find very valid points and issues that you can use to improve service. Resist the urge to “ignore” the tough customers; consider them your best resource for good information on service improvement.

9) Share failures – celebrate successes. Don’t just focus on successes. Don’t just point out failures. You need a good balance of both failure and success stories to build a strong service culture. Staff can learn from their own failures as well as the failures of others. Treat each failure not as an opportunity to “punish” staff, but as an opportunity to learn. Why did the failure occur? What could be done differently next time to avoid such a failure? What lessons might other staff learn to avoid these issues?

Similarly, take time to celebrate your successes and to share these success examples with all employees. Sometimes the best “customer service training” for staff can be a good debriefing of either a positive or negative customer situation. These debriefings can also be good opportunities for role playing.

10) The most effective training? The example you set. Your staff will watch not only how you interact with customers, but what you say about your customers. If your attitude toward customers is disparaging, this sends a very strong, negative, message to employees. Make sure you’re being a strong role model – both in word and deed.

from cms



1. Start with the end in mind. What do you want to accomplish with your customer service training efforts? Your answer will be unique to your business, the product or service you provide and the type of customer you serve. For example, if you run a dry cleaning business, your expectation may be that customers are greeted promptly when they come into your store, that clothing is cleaned to their specifications and that any problems or issues are resolved according to prescribed policies/practices that have been clearly communicated to customers.

If you run a consulting business your customer service expectations may include lengthy interactions with clients to clearly determine their needs, identified check-points throughout the consulting process, etc. Regardless of the specifics, the point is that you need to have a clear idea of the end results you’re looking for. Then you can use these results to help direct the focus of your customer service training efforts.

2. Define success. Employees need to have clear expectations; they want to succeed, but they need to know what success “looks like” and how you will be judging their efforts. Based on the objectives you identified, quantify as best you can measures of customer service success. Provide these measures to employees as the goals they will be charged with obtaining.

3. Communicate your expectations. Be specific. Don’t assume that employees know what you expect in terms of service. Be specific and make sure you “catch them early.” A new employee’s orientation is the time to let them know what your service expectations are.

4) Provide the tools that employees need to serve your customers. Employees need tools, and need to know how to use those tools, to serve customers effectively. For example, if employees don’t have access to e-mail they may be hampered in communicating effectively with their customers. Or, if a graphic designer doesn’t have the latest software and appropriate hardware, he or she may not be able to provide high quality or timely turnaround to clients. A cell phone may be a critical tool for a sales person who is frequently away from his or her desk.

5. Let employees know their limits. Your employees need to know your policies and practices with regard to satisfying customers and responding to complaints. The more flexibility you’re able to offer and the more clearly you communicate these guidelines, the better able employees will be to meet customer needs. Customers benefit, too, when employees are able to resolve situations “on the spot” instead of having to “talk to my manager.”

6) Gather common situations and scenarios to use as examples. Your customer service training should be “real.” Examples gathered from the real life experience if your employees can help to highlight bad/good/better/best examples of working with clients and customers. Involve employees in providing training. Enlist the aid of your most service-successful employees in training and coaching others.

7) Role play common challenging situations. Provide employees with an opportunity to “practice” their responses. Then, when a “real situation” occurs they will have a higher comfort level about their ability to respond effectively.

8. Encourage employees to talk to their “worst nightmare” customers. Customers who are most demanding, who complain the loudest or who are hardest to please can be a rich source of information in your customer service improvement efforts. After all, if you can please these “tough customers” you should be able to consistently delight your average customers.

Behind the complaints and the demands you’ll often find very valid points and issues that you can use to improve service. Resist the urge to “ignore” the tough customers; consider them your best resource for good information on service improvement.

9. Share failures – celebrate successes. Don’t just focus on successes. Don’t just point out failures. You need a good balance of both failure and success stories to build a strong service culture. Staff can learn from their own failures as well as the failures of others. Treat each failure not as an opportunity to “punish” staff, but as an opportunity to learn. Why did the failure occur? What could be done differently next time to avoid such a failure? What lessons might other staff learn to avoid these issues?

Similarly, take time to celebrate your successes and to share these success examples with all employees. Sometimes the best “customer service training” for staff can be a good debriefing of either a positive or negative customer situation. These debriefings can also be good opportunities for role playing.

10. The most effective training? The example you set. Your staff will watch not only how you interact with customers, but what you say about your customers. If your attitude toward customers is disparaging, this sends a very strong, negative, message to employees. Make sure you’re being a strong role model – both in word and deed.

from csm

I recently met with a client who was amazed seemingly mystified at the success stories of customer-centric companies such as Zappos.com and Chick-Fil-A. Having been a business owner himself, with over 30 years of entrepreneurial experience under his belt, he was still left puzzled by how these companies could afford to “go the extra mile” and still experience exponential growth. He attempted implementing a few “customer-centric” practices in his business, such as meticulously logging customer calls and complaints, offering gift cards to those who experienced issues, and even providing upscale drinks and refreshments at his facilities for those who were waiting on meetings and appointments.

After facilitating these little additions, he saw very little growth. He did, however, notice a few customers telling their friends about the pleasant experience, but not enough to make much of a difference when it came to his bottom line. He wondered what the issue was? Was it him? Was it his employees? Was their company culture not conducive to an insanely good customer experience?

Fast forward a few weeks, this client calls me and asks me to meet with him about his dilemma. He desperately wanted to a create a customer experience worth talking about. He thought he was doing was he was supposed to do, but very few seemed to notice. I grew excited at the opportunity to take on his challenge and find the answers that he very much needed to ensure his business’s growth.  We devised a plan of action, and the first step was to put ourselves in the customer’s shoes. Since his employees hadn’t yet met me, I decided to take a trip to his office. I almost immediately discovered why his customer experience was lacking. I took notes, and was amazed at what I found.

Undercover Mission: Pose As a Customer

I called my client’s office to make my anonymous appointment. The rep seemed rushed and passive, as she recited the boss’s new and improved script for incoming calls – she rolled though it as quickly as she could, and almost seemed lost in her work day. I could tell she most definitely wasn’t smiling. I pictured a nice girl on the other end, who simply was too busy to really focus on the task at hand. While this experience wasn’t anything out of the norm here in America, it was definitely not “word-of-mouth” worthy. Meaning, so far, I’m not impressed enough to tell all of my friends and colleagues how great this business is. I’m not feeling confident in my choice of this company either. Perhaps my information will get lost, since the person on the other line was so busy? She didn’t refer to me by my name once, so it could very easy happen, right?

As I walked into their office a day later, the receptionist also recited the new and improved script that her boss gave her for incoming clientele. It sounded dull and nonchalant, as if she really just wanted to say “hi” and leave it at that. This was followed by another client coming up to the receptionist desk, and waiting impatiently as the receptionist made her way through calls that were on hold. This really was a classic case of employees just making their way through another work-day. Nothing horrible, nothing great. This experience is just another day at the office. I am not sensing any pride in the workplace, or any sense of ownership from the people that I have encountered thus far.

As I am greeted by the person I am meeting with, he also seemed rushed and a bit eager to get it all over with. As he described his product and service offerings to me, there was very little passion in what he was saying. My impression of him was that this was a guy who was looking to get me in and get me out, and hopefully make a sale. I asked him a bit about the history of this company, and he barely knew how it was formed, let alone the specifics of why it was one of the best in it’s industry.  I was now quite intrigued. I had found so many answers to my client’s questions, I wanted to call him on the spot. However, I waited until later that night.

As I walked out of our meeting, he shook my hand, and checked his cell phone almost instantaneously. I walked past the uneaten treats in the lobby, that I noticed were out of sight from the entrance area.  There was a major factor at play here, and I’m sure you may have figured it out by now.

Customer Service Doesn’t Start with the Customer, it Starts with the Employees

Yes, it’s true! Without employees who understand the gravity of good customer service, customer service is just mediocre, at best.  As I told my client this, he had a bit of an epiphany. He had always figured that if he hired people who showed up on time and did their jobs correctly, he had a great set of employees.  We unearthed some other facts that helped him improve his experience.

1. He had great employees, with very little sense of ownership when it came to their job. His employees were working for a paycheck, not for the customer. Once you teach your employees that the customer is the boss, they start to understand how important it is to make them feel welcome.

2. Your Company Culture should be Customer-Centric. Does your mission statement revolve around the customer? If not, I’d advise revisiting this process and remembering the very people who made your business a success; the customer. While they aren’t always right, they are always worth greeting and speaking to in a genuine manner.

3. Empowering Every Employee to take Ownership of their Customer’s Experience. There are very few excuses for a bad customer experiences that are completely out of our control. Teaching employees that each customer that they speak to is literally THEIR customer, gives them a sense of accountability when dealing with customers. Empower them to make decisions up to a certain level, and try to eliminate excessive call transfers and instances where to you to put the customer on hold for too long.

4. Passion is the Key. I understand that going to the same place, sitting at the same desk, and speaking about the same things every day can become a little mundane for those working in customer service. It’s tough keeping the passion alive at times.  Companies should regularly train employees, and reward employees who created amazing customer experiences. Give examples of amazing customer experiences, and ask them about times when they’ve experienced this in their own lives. Teach them that customer service is more than a job, they are literally at the front lines of the companies efforts of remaining profitable, as customer retention is a big part of creating successful businesses.

5. Your goal isn’t to just “get by” in dealing with the customer, your goal is to strive to do something that will make them remember their experience and speak about how well they were treated when dealing with your company. Create raving fanatics for your brand.

“Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.” -WALT DISNEY

Customer service is one of those topics that many business owners and entrepreneurs love to avoid talking about in an in-depth manner. They spend so much time focusing on their product and marketing, that they often forgot that the service they are giving is often the last as well as the ‘lasting’ impression that is left of their business. First impressions are always important, but in business, last impressions are just as important as the first. There are numerous reasons why you should be focusing on customer service, but the most prominent goal should be to create an experience that leaves customers wanting to tell others about how great it was.

” To my customer. I may not have the answer, but I’ll find it. I may not have the time, but I’ll make it.” -UNKNOWN

Going that extra mile often seems fruitless for many customer service reps. Most are of the mindset that if you get the job done without encountering a raging-mad customer, then it was essentially a job “well done”. In modern business, and especially in this tough economy, we now know that this isn’t  necessarily the case. Just “getting by” with customers is now considered an archaic way of doing business. With customer-centric companies such as Apple, Zappos.com, Amazon.com, and the Ritz-Carlton coming to the forefront of modern business, they are bringing these ideals to the forefront of many business’s priorities.

“We’re just a service company that happens to sell shoes” – Tony Hsieh (Zappos.com)

So how do you get your employees to become excited about creating a customer-centric environment? The first step is to..

1. Explain to them why your are creating a customer-centric environment. Allow them to understand why their job isn’t just to create an “okay” customer experience, but one that will pleasantly surprise the customer. This is essential. By thoroughly explaining this, you allow them to become apart of the leadership that it will take to create this new company culture. It really is all about the customer, because without the customer and their good comments, there would be no ‘customer service’ department, thus, no customer service jobs!

2. Lead the Passion – Get Excited About it! This is an exciting time in business. If you have a job, and you have customers, then you have something to be very excited about! Your passion and your excitement is infectious, so stay positive, and stay adamant on creating amazing customer service.

3. Get the Support of Upper-Management at your Organization. If you’ve got top managers recognizing amazing customer service, good customer comments, and situations that were handled well, this most definitely boosts morale. Many employees feel that their good work goes un-noticed. Try to give them support from the top-down. Make sure it’s not only a customer service department effort, but an entire company effort. If you run a customer service department, ask about special incentives and rewards for specific goals. Management is generally very open to these types of ideas, and are usually excited to collaborate in setting feasible goals for customer service.

4. Embrace and Drive Change. If it doesn’t work, fix it! Einstein said it best when he described the definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.

5. Build a Positive Environment, and a Team-Mentality. Focus on working together to meeting common goals. There should be an open atmosphere, with an easy to reach supervisor at all times. Questions should be welcomed and encouraged, and management should be eager to train and grow their reps. Seeing them develop and thrive in a customer-centric way should be the reward you are seeking.

There are a million ways to motivate your employees to take ownership of customer service – how have you implemented this standard at your company? Did you encounter obstacles before you found success?

Have you ever begun a weight loss plan without owning a scale? Perhaps some of you have, but for the most part, people like to know the results of their massive sacrifice, effort, and insane workouts. If you’re anything like most of the people that I know, you’re usually checking the scale like everyday to make sure you are losing weight – only to find that you’re gaining a few pounds in between your actual weigh-in days. Generally, by the time your weigh-in day rolls around, you’re back on track in your weight loss, with a minor scare that made you work even harder to get the weight off. You know… the usual culprit …water weight.

Obsess About the How’s, Why’s and Where’s

Being obsessive over weight loss numbers can be motivating, but also quite intimidating. The same goes with looking at the cold hard facts of marketing efforts. I know a million marketers who love checking their analytics and viewing the traffic that they get to their sites. However, they almost never check the numbers that matter most – the dollars, and the percentages.

The Dollars = The Amount of Sales or Revenue

The Percentages= How many of your site leads converted into Sales or Revenue?

Without a solid system of tracking actual results, it’s nearly impossible to keep track of what’s actually working. Although I hear complaints about the extra work that it takes to track a sales pipeline, (the process a sale goes through from a lead, to an opportunity to an actually sale) this process is imperative for a any marketer to discover the true cost of their efforts and the actual Return on Investment they are realizing. Would you blindly throw dollars into a campaign if it were you own money? You’d want cold, hard facts…right? Many marketers are lax on following strict pipeline management tractics, being that they work with client money – but the trick is to spend it like it’s not only YOUR money, but as if it were your last few dollars.

A Business’s $100,000 Marketing Mistake

I once worked with a client who was trying to market their site and their offline product for over a year…all by themselves.  I meet with them at their request, as they were at their wit’s end trying to figure out how to spend less and make more money. The first thing I asked them for was their analytics data and their conversion rates – neither of which they had.  So, I asked if they had tracked their leads over the past few years..at least keeping the customer’s name, region, and referral source. Again, they hadn’t. They also didn’t have solid data as to the actual campaigns they were running, or how much they all cost during their last fiscal year. Bad news. We went back into their accounting, and found they had spent nearly $100,000, gained only $30,000 in new sales, and had absolutely NO idea which campaigns produced which sales.

This is definitely not something you want to do. All of the world’s best marketers will tell you how important utilizing a CRM is. If you think you can’t afford one, there are many cost efficient solutions out there – even a few free solutions!

What was one of the biggest realizations that you made after implementing CRM into your marketing efforts?

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