“It’s not that we ever even say we’re customer-centric. We don’t have to. What we say is we’re going to the right thing, we’re going to try as hard as we can, and that just spills over into the way we treat our customers.” – Ted Hoy
It is a given that companies need their customers and for customers to remain, companies need to ensure that the customer service employees are top class. These customer facing employees need regular training and coaching to ensure that they treat the customers with care and the attention they deserve. However, customer focus training encompasses a lot more than just developing the capabilities and skills of the customer service representatives in order to raise the standards of service. The fact is that investing only in the development of the customer facing staff is only a small part of the entire gamut of customer focus training. When a customer contacts a company, they would probably go through many contact points and interfaces and at least 8 out of 10 customers will not continue the association if they are shoddily treated and at 7 out of 10 customers would gladly pay a bit more at another company that they believe will not only provide great products but will back it up by stellar customer service.
It has been rightly said that customer service is not the responsibility of one department but of the entire company. This is why customer focus training differs from customer service training. Anyone who has worked or continues to work in the customer facing realm of customer focus will tell you that meeting the high levels of service expectations is extremely hard. It is hardly ever because they are not trying their best but is a combination of reasons. These customer service representatives deal with lack of – support, understanding and a sense of urgency – from other departments from whom they would need information or other kinds of help. This is because these departments are not coached about the priorities of the customer facing team and often their own urgencies that are not connected directly with the customer override those of the frontline team. In addition, they are also ‘bound’ by rules, policies and processes that are largely company focused and do not allow them the leeway to help the customers with the speed and efficiency that they can or are expected to do by the customers. The company they represent seems to be keener on enforcing rules rather than empowering them to reduce customer effort and serve the customer more efficiently.
The situation mentioned clearly indicates that customer focus training is the need of the hour. With customer focus training, not only will the customer service department better understand their responsibilities, but the other departments of the company too would be aligned and in tune with what is required to ensure that the customer always receives the highest standards of service. Each member of the company would be better placed to understand that even indirectly what they do impacts their customers and as a result the company too. Customer focus training lends clarity to each person as to how their role is vital in ensuring that the customer always has memorable experiences when dealing with the company. They would be focused on what they need to do in order to contribute to successful customer service which in turn would help the company become and remain profitable.
Customer focus training for each person in the company makes customer service all-pervading. It reduces the lack of or breakdown in communication and enhances teamwork and collaboration and allows each department to appreciate the challenges and obstacles faced by the other. This includes an understanding, of the issues of other departments on the part of the customer service team as well. The whole process of customer service must be and remain a joint effort and customer focus training helps a company to achieve this level of company-wide collaboration.
Companies often tend to remain stuck in ‘traditional approaches’ because they worked well which in turn allows the managers and senior leaders to believe that making any changes to these ‘tried and tested’ methods will not work. Rather than focusing on what the customer will appreciate and value, they expect the customer service teams to interface with customers based on rigid practices and processes. Very often this rigidity is what stands in the way of providing the best level of customer service. For example – a friend’s father became very seriously ill and she needed to fly down to visit him in hospital. Post making the round trip reservation on a popular travel site, she went to visit him. Everyone soon realized that her father was breathing his last and so the return trip required cancellation. She made the cancellation but in her grief and confusion selected an option which she believed would allow her to receive the refund. After her father passed on, she returned and contacted the company for the refund. To her shock she was rudely told that the money could only be used for another ticket and would not be refunded. She patiently explained her situation and requested for the amount to be reversed since she needed the cash – the ‘refund department’ person remained unmoved and stuck to the rules that the company had and did not display even empathy for the situation. She swore off the company and has since never given them any more business. The point here is that if this person understood what customer service was about and the company was more aligned to customer focus it would not have been hard to give the customer what she needed most at the time.
The impression the customer is left with, when situations like the above happen is that the company lacks values and is not committed to the customer’s satisfaction and happiness. With customer focus training, each person in the company will understand the true meaning of customer ‘service’ and would not let the boundaries of rules define how they serve the customer. Rules are meant as a guideline but if they become encumbrances in serving the very people because of whom the company is in existence, it would be time to re-look at them and also reward those employees who continually strive and reach out to the customers in the spirit of customer service excellence. Customer focus training enables a company to become stronger in their resolve to provide great customer service and also inculcates a culture that not only enables customers to feel loyal to the company but also empowers each employee to give their best for the customer.
The main purpose of any company is to become and remain profitable but this is only possible through consistent business from its customers. Customer focus training builds an environment that remains attuned to the needs and expectations of the customers and each person is aware of what they need to do in order to achieve customer delight and then sustain it. Also customer focus training enables the company to remain aligned with their own goals – remain successful and profitable while creating a customer base that is loyal and willing to be your company’s advocates by telling others about your great service and products. Customer brand ambassadors are more effective than any other form of marketing and promotion a company can ever do – prospective customers tend to believe other customers more than they would any company’s self-promotion.
Customer focus training also builds and enhances competence and encourages companies to provide an environment that will encourage its employees to optimize the use of their skills and knowledge and also work towards enhancing their strengths. When everyone is striving to get better the company will enhance its capabilities in all aspects, with customer service being the most important. The fact about customer focus training is that it acts as a proactive measure to ensure that customer service reaches its optimum level since everyone is pointed in the same direction. It requires commitment and passion on the part of the company and must be consistent, on-going and relentless. Customer focus training is a process – everyone must understand, follow and put it into practice every day and in every work situation.
