Five Ways to Capture VOC Data Without a Survey

Ugh. Not another survey.

Customers are tired of surveys. You might be tired of your own survey too. There’s even a term called survey fatigue.

Maybe your customers are getting tired of the survey you’re doing now. Perhaps you stopped doing a survey because response rates were too low. It might be that you’ve put off implementing a survey because you’re worried that customers can’t be bothered.

Voice of the Customer (VOC) data is important. You just don’t want to annoy your customers in the process. There’s got to be a better way.

Here are five ways you can capture VOC data without resorting to a survey.

1. External Review Sites

Are your customers already reviewing your business on an external review site such as Yelp or Trip Advisor? These sites can be a treasure trove of VOC data.

They can even offer a few advantages over traditional customer service surveys.

  • Customers tend to leave more detailed feedback when writing an online review. 
  • You can respond directly to reviewers and give yourself a chance to fix a problem.
  • High ratings equal free advertising that will bring in new customers.

 

2. Social Media Monitoring

If your customers are talking about you on social media, why not join the conversation? Monitoring social media for mentions of your company, product, or service is a great way to capture VOC data.

There are plenty of tools to help you do this. Brandwatch put together a great list of 10 free social media monitoring tools. 

 

3. Google Alerts

Google alerts offers an easy way to monitor the internet for mentions of your company, brand, products, or services. You can sign up to be notified automatically when key words that you specify show up in search results.

Combining methods 1 - 3 can provide your company with a comprehensive amount of VOC data. For example, let’s say someone reviews your company on Yelp, blogs about a recent experience, and then Tweets a mention of your brand. 

This is a great opportunity to interact with a customer who is talking about your brand online. You can reinforce the connection if they’re happy. Or, you can try to resolve the problem if they’re taking to the web to rant. 

 

4. Contact Type Reports

Many companies keep a record of the reasons customers contact customer service. This can captured through your CRM system, your IVR software, or even an old-fashioned tick sheet. Understanding why customers are requesting service can help you pinpoint and diagnose problems.

In many cases, this approach can work much faster than waiting for customers to fill out a survey. For example, if you notice a spike in calls related to a specific product, you can quickly investigate the problem and diagnose a root cause.

 

5. Ask Customers Directly

You don’t need a survey to get between you and an individual customer. Don’t be afraid to ask customers to share their feedback directly.

This is a great source of data since you can often ask for more detailed information than you might be able to capture in a survey. And, it also gives you a chance to make things right if the customer’s feedback involves any sort of service failure.

 

Surveys CAN Be Useful

This post provides some alternatives to customer service surveys, but that doesn’t mean surveys can’t be extremely useful ways to gather Voice of the Customer Data.

This training video on lynda.com can provide you with step-by-step guidance. You'll need a lynda.com subscription to view the entire course, but you can get a 10-day trial.

 

Want Even More VOC Ideas?

Here are a few more posts you might be interested in:

Book Review: What's Your Purple Goldfish

I always enjoy a book that’s practical. 

One book that fits this description is What’s Your Purple Goldfish?: How to Win Customers and Influence Word of Mouth, by Stan Phelps. 

Phelps defines a purple goldfish as an “unexpected surprise that’s thrown in for good measure to achieve product differentiation, drive retention, and promote word of mouth.” He argues that companies pursuing a purple goldfish strategy stand out from a sea of sameness by creating memorable experiences that customers will talk about.

The book is full of real stories and examples that illustrate each specific concept. In the spirit of practical application, I thought I’d contribute one of my own.

My wife, Sally, and I recently traveled with friends to Paso Robles, California to do some wine tasting. We made a point to visit one of our favorite wineries, Herman Story. 

Herman Story initially won us over with their outstanding wine. A purple goldfish has made us loyal fans. 

Winemaker Russell P. From likes to chat with visitors in the tasting room. Whenever we’ve been there, From has offered us a chance to taste some additional wine that wasn’t on the tasting menu. On our last trip, From poured us several wines that hadn’t even been bottled yet. He had poured them straight from the barrel just to give his guests some extra enjoyment.

It’s fun to learn about wine directly from the winemaker. It’s even more fun to taste something that hasn’t even been released yet!

Tasting a barrel sample at Herman Story.

Tasting a barrel sample at Herman Story.

What’s Your Purple Goldfish? is a fast and enjoyable read. I highly recommended it if you’re looking for ideas and inspiration for standing out in your customers’ minds.

You can purchase the book on Amazon or view this preview slide show to learn more about it.

Don't Let New Employees Get Lost on the Learning Curve

Updated May 15, 2024

Jesse stood awkwardly next to her trainer.

The trainer was ringing up customer orders. It was a busy weekday morning at the bagel shop. Jesse had just started working, there, but the trainer didn’t have much time for training.

Jesse anxiously looked over the trainer’s shoulder, trying to learn something. She felt self-conscious as customers looked at her and wondered why she wasn’t taking orders, too. 

She wanted to be useful but didn’t know how.

Jesse hadn’t yet learned much. She could wipe down tables, but all the tables were clean. She could pass out orders, but there weren’t any orders to pass out at the moment.

The chance to serve finally arrived.

A customer approached and asked her a question. The awkwardness quickly returned when Jesse realized she didn’t know the answer. She had to interrupt the store manager who was also busy cashiering.

An employee stands a bagel shop counter, waiting for customers.

Why it’s hard to be a new employee

A 2020 report found that 31 percent of retail employees receive no training. Those who do receive training often aren’t fully trained when they begin serving customers.

Minimally trained new employees don't know how to fully do their jobs. They must constantly stop and ask questions. They lack the skills, experience, and confidence to serve customers the right way.

It’s not their fault. 

Managers should be there to help. Many don’t. They feel like they’re too busy to make time for training. Helping employees like Jesse can be an afterthought.

New employees are left to fumble along.

Some eventually learn to do their jobs well. Others pick up bad habits and never realize their potential. Still others dread the feeling of awkward helplessness and quit.

It’s this place between minimal training and customer service mastery that so many employees like Jesse are needlessly lost on the learning curve.

You can prevent this by being there to help.

 

Four Critical Stages Along the Learning Curve

Noel Burch first identified four distinct stages along the learning curve. Each stage is marked by the learner’s skill level compared to how conscious they are of their skill level.

Stage 1: Unconscious Incompetence. Learners don’t know what they don’t know. For a new employee, this might be just prior to the start of a new job. Many are excited (and a little nervous) about working somewhere new.

Stage 2: Conscious Incompetence. Learners become aware of their limited skill level when they reach stage 2. This is usually marked by a corresponding drop in confidence. Jesse was in stage 2.

Stage 3: Conscious Competence. Learners can demonstrate the skill at a minimal level but haven’t achieved mastery. The newness and unfamiliarity of the skill makes them very self-conscious. Confidence is low to moderate. 

Stage 4: Unconscious Competence. Employees reach stage 4 when they can do their jobs without really thinking about the basic procedures. Confidence is generally high.

When do new hires need the most support?

Stages 2 and 3 are dangerous times for new employees. The lack of ability and confidence convinces many new hires to quit if they don’t feel supported.

Let’s look at the four stages again with typical confidence levels for each stage:

It’s critical for trainers to offer encouragement to employees during stages 2 and 3. 

Low confidence can quickly lead to disengagement if new employees don’t feel supported. Here are some critical messages that must be communicated to new employees to prevent this from happening:

  • Set clear expectations about how new hires can contribute.

  • Let them know it’s okay to make mistakes during training.

  • Commend them on the progress they’re making.

  • Proactively guide them and provide assistance.

  • Encourage them to stay on track.

The store manager and the trainer at Jesse’s bagel shop weren’t doing any of these things. They were both too busy serving customers to notice Jesse trying hard not to get lost.

Additional Resources

These resources will help you train your employees more effectively.

  1. Watch the replay of this LinkedIn Live for an in-depth discussion of the learning curve.

  2. Train your team with my Customer Service Foundations course on LinkedIn Learning. I’ve created a facilitator’s guide to help you.

  3. Keep your team sharp with my free Customer Service Tip of the Week email.

Frequently asked questions about the learning curve

Here are some additional questions you might have.

Q: What happened to Jesse?
Jesse stuck with it and eventually became a great employee.

Q: How can I tailor my training program to accommodate different learning styles and preferences among new employees?
Contrary to popular belief, learning styles don't exist. Extensive research has busted this myth. However, customer service training is generally more effective when you adopt a multi-modal approach.

Q: Are there any specific technologies or tools recommended for streamlining the onboarding process and reducing the learning curve?
You don't need any special technology. Shorten the learning curve by first creating measurable learning objectives. Discover how to quickly create effective training programs with How to Design and Deliver Training Programs.

Q: What strategies can I employ to ensure ongoing support and guidance for new employees beyond the initial onboarding period?
Employees need less guidance once they reach the unconscious competence stage. Regular feedback and coaching can help them keep their skills sharp. Give them a good example to follow by being a role model.

Why Priming is Essential to Outstanding Customer Service

Are you primed to provide outstanding service?

Are you primed to provide outstanding service?

There’s a concept in psychology called priming. According to a helpful overview from Psychology Today, priming refers to “activating particular representations or associations in memory just before carrying out an action or task.”

The theory is that the primer influences the way the action or task is carried out.

One famous priming experiment had participants create sentences from a list of scrambled words. A group of participants was given a set of words such as “old,” “bingo,” and “lonely” that primed them to think of the elderly. Another group was given a set of neutral words. The experiment found the participants who were primed to think of the elderly took more time to walk to the elevator after leaving the study than the participants who weren’t primed. 

Priming is also the core subject of Napoleon Hill’s famous self-help book, Think and Grow Rich. Originally written in 1937, Hill argued the secret to financial success was to imagine it. In other words, prime yourself to be successful and it will happen.

Can customer service employees be primed to provide either good or poor customer service? I think so.

 

Names as Primers

Word association is a powerful priming tool. This can hold true for the names employees call their customers.

Shep Hyken, author of Amaze Every Customer Every Time, recently wrote a blog post that suggested we find more positive words to refer to our customers. For instance, a gym calls its customers “members” while a hotel calls its customers “guests.” Hyken’s research shows this subtle change in language can positively influence a company’s culture. He shared the example of an Ace Hardware store that started referring to customers as “neighbors.” Employees there began viewing their customers, or neighbors, in a whole new light.

Micah Solomon, author of High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service, took it a step farther in a recent article he wrote for Forbes. Solomon argued that we shouldn’t think of customers by any name at all other than their own. Each customer is an individual and should be treated individually.

Changing what you call your customers isn’t a foolproof plan to improve service, but it does have some merits. 

Think about your own experiences where you knew a customer by name. Greeting that customer like an old friend may have primed you to provide even better service than you’d provide to someone you’ve never met before.

 

Positive and Negative Preconceptions

A 1968 study by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson found that students’ academic performance improved at a higher rate than their peers when their teachers were primed to think of them as high-achievers. This idea that positive expectations can become a self-fulfilling prophecy is known as the Pygmalion Effect. 

There’s also an opposite to the Pygmalion Effect. The Golem Effect stipulates that negative expectations can also become a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

The Pygmalion and Golem effects can be observed in a customer service setting. If we think someone will be a good customer or a big tipper they often turn out to be just that. If we think someone will be a difficult customer or skimp on a tip that often happens too.

 

Positive Visualizations

I’ve consulted with a few medical device manufacturers. One thing that struck me is the walls of their offices were decked out with pictures of patients who’ve used their devices. The emphasis was on the person, not the device itself.

My clients told me they wanted employees to think of people when they went to work each day. Their products were more than just things. For one client, their products helped people with injuries become more mobile. For another client, their products were literally used to save lives. 

The pictures of people were there to prime employees to go above and beyond.

You too can use visuals to prime yourself or your employees to deliver outstanding service. Start by creating a visual that depicts successful customer service and then spend a moment looking at that image at the start of each day. 

You can see a couple of examples in in a blog post I wrote called Learn From the Pros by Visualizing Outstanding Service. 

 

Why is Priming Primary?

In my observation, employees who intend to provide great service generally find a way to get it done. They find creative solutions to challenging problems. Angry customers don’t phase them. These employees appear to be perpetually cheerful and optimistic.

The specific intention to make their customer happy becomes a primer for great service.

Without the intention to be great, employees tend to retreat towards harmony and comfort. If a customer is easy to please then great service is a result. If the situation is difficult then a good result becomes less likely.

Scientific-types will hate this explanation because it can’t be replicated in a tightly controlled experiment. To that I say, “What’s the harm in trying?” 

Set the intention to be make your customer ecstatic and then see what happens. You can do it!

Three Roadblocks to Effective Customer Satisfaction Surveys

How would you rate your customer service survey?

How would you rate your customer service survey?

Customer service surveys are everywhere. 

A 2010 study by Vovici revealed that Americans are inundated with over 7 billion survey requests per year. That’s nearly 23 survey requests for every American. 

The intent of these surveys is to capture Voice of the Customer (VOC) information that can be used to improve service. Unfortunately, that intent is rarely realized. Some surveys are poorly designed. Others have low response rates.The worst problem is not doing anything with the data collected. 

This is a common theme among the small and medium sized business I work with. Most have some sort of survey program in place but there’s a nagging feeling that it's not very useful.

Perhaps your company is considering a customer service survey. Or, you have one already but now you’d like to make the most of it. Here are three common roadblocks you’ll need to avoid:

 

#1 Inertia

Many customer service professionals believe that a robust VOC program is important but they just don’t know how to get started. Inertia sets in. Do any of these excuses sound familiar? 

  • I don’t have time right now.
  • It’s too expensive.
  • Our customers are tired of surveys.
  • It’s just a number that senior management wants to see.
  • Surveys don’t really apply to us.

Nothing changes without action. Companies who delay implementing a VOC program could be missing out on a gold mine of information. Even worse, they might continue to run an ineffective program that wastes everyone’s time, including their customers'.

 

#2 Poor design

Customer service surveys are often little more than a pile of questions that reveal little or no insight. The surveys become longer and longer as each stakeholder thinks of things they’d like to ask. A simple transaction survey soon becomes 100 questions long. 

The net result is the survey annoys the customer while the company is left with piles of data they don’t know how to use.

 

#3 Low response rates

Poorly designed and executed survey programs often yield low response rates. It can be disheartening to go through the trouble of creating a survey and then have hardly anyone respond. Continuing the program can be difficult to justify if customers aren’t responding.

 

Solutions

I’m offering a complimentary webinar to help you avoid these roadblocks.

Designing Effective Customer Satisfaction Surveys

  • Date: Thursday, February 13
  • Time: 10 am - 11 am (PST)

You’ll learn: 

  • Simple ways to quickly create surveys on a tight budget
  • Proven techniques for writing impactful survey questions
  • Three secrets to improving your response rates

This is the first of a two-part webinar series that covers the basics of customer service surveys. The second webinar, called How to Analyze and Act on Customer Satisfaction Data, will be held on March 5.

Six Ways to Improve Customer Service Without Training

What’s the fastest way to improve customer service? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not training.

A lot of customer service managers prescribe training as a cure-all for poor service.

  • Rude employees? Train ‘em to be polite.

  • Error-prone service? Train ‘em to not make errors.

  • Crappy products? Train ‘em to convince customers the products are really good.

Don’t get me wrong. I love training.

I’ve been doing it for over 20 years. I’m a past president of my local ATD chapter, a professional organization for trainers. I volunteer to mentor people who are new to their training careers. I would train more often if I could.

It’s just that training is often the wrong solution. There are at least six solutions that are almost always faster and better.

A group of employees enjoying a fun and interactive training class.

Why customer service training fails

Customer service training typically fails when it’s not the right solution to improve service. Poor products, unfriendly policies, a lack of resources, and unhelpful managers all make serving customers difficult.

My rough calculations suggest that training is responsible for just 1 percent of customer service.

Even when training is needed, the content is often poorly delivered and there’s little to no follow-up. Employees are left to implement what they learn without any meaningful support from their manager.

Most of the customer service training I’ve seen can be classified as “smile” training.

It’s chock full of time-worn platitudes such as “friendliness is free”, “the customer is always right,” and “don’t take it personally” when an angry customer is rude to you. If you need to train an employee to smile, you’ve either hired the wrong employee or you've put a good employee in a bad environment.

There’s scant evidence that suggests this approach actually results in noticeably better service.

Customer service managers typically report a one to two week bump in motivation followed by employees gradually settling back into old habits. Meanwhile, you’re out the time and cost of the training.

Here are several reasons why many customer service training programs fail:

  • The training is generic and not focused on the specific skills employees need.

  • Employees aren’t fully empowered to implement what they learn.

  • Participants are poorly prepared to attend training.

  • There is little to no skill-building follow-up or coaching after the class.

  • The manager doesn’t model the skills taught in the workshop.

  • The training isn't aligned with clearly defined objectives.

 

How to improve customer service without training

Customer service will quickly improve when you address the root causes of poor performance. This frequently involves solutions other than training, such as providing the right resources or improving processes.

Here are six ways to improve customer service that are consistently effective.

  1. Create a customer service vision. Get everyone on the same page with a shared definition of outstanding customer service. You can use this step-by-step guide to create your own.

  2. Conduct a root-cause analysis. Investigate what’s hurting employee performance. Work with employees to identify barriers that get in the way. You can use this root cause analysis primer to help you.

  3. Fix the poor products & services. No amount of training can overcome products that don’t work, or services that routinely fall short of expectations. Analyze customer feedback to identify pain points and fix them.

  4. Involve employees in the problem-solving process. Employees often know exactly why things aren’t going well. And they’re more likely to buy-in to solutions that they help create.

  5. Remove toxic employees. Toxic employees can drag down the entire team. Removing a toxic influence can be like a breath of fresh air for the entire team that instantly produces results.

  6. Provide regular coaching and feedback. Employees need regular reminders to keep their skills sharp. Have regular team and one-on-one meetings to focus on service. You can use these tips for topics.

This list is by no means exhaustive. What would you add to the list?

 

When customer service training is the right solution

The best time to train your employees is when they lack all the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to serve customers. The key is to be specific, so rather than train employees to “handle rude customers,” hone in on the particular skills they need to be more successful such as empathizing with angry customers and refocusing on finding solutions.

Here are a few situations when customer service training makes sense makes sense.

Your team is good already. Years ago, I noticed an interesting trend with my clients. The companies that did the best after receiving training were pretty good at customer service already. They got there by having good products and services, attentive managers, and a strong customer-focused culture. The training helped to fine-tune the specific skills employees needed to take their service to the next level.

You’re growing. The larger your company becomes, the more you need to codify your tribal knowledge. This is especially important with new employees. I’ve worked with clients to formalize new hire training and cut training time by as much as 50 percent while improving performance.

You have a specific initiative. It also makes sense to provide customer service training when you’ve pinpointed a specific challenge. For example, I recently worked with a client who had developed a set of internal core values. They wanted to train their employees to deliver service in a way that aligned with those values.

Bonus Tip: If you do decide to offer your employees customer service training, make sure you first create clear learning objectives. This will help you make the training much more specific and targeted. You can learn more by reading my overview of how to create A-B-C-D learning objectives.

How to keep your New Year's resolution to improve service

There’s a small lake near my home that has a paved two-lane path around it. The path is popular with walkers, runners, and bicyclists. It surges in popularity at this time every year.

Blame it on New Year’s resolutions.

You can spot the resolutionaries. They’re attired in new outfits, uncomfortably sweating to an unfamiliar routine. A look of determination quickly gives way to exhaustion.

They’re clearly not used to this.

Most of them will disappear in two weeks. They’ll be back to their usual patterns. Maybe next year will be different. But probably not. What we do for the first few weeks in January is far less important than what we do the rest of the year.

Businesses make New Year’s resolutions too. They take the form of budgets, strategies, and plans. Like all New Year’s resolutions, they stipulate that things will be different commencing on January 1 (or the start of the fiscal year). 

Did you make a New Year's resolution to improve customer service this year? If so, research suggests your chances of success aren't so good.

Here’s how to improve your chances.

 Why Resolutions Fail

Our behavior in December has a lot to do with our general inability to keep resolutions that start in January. 

December is about excess. We eat too much. Drink a bit more than usual. Our stress levels skyrocket as we try to cram in holiday parties, shopping, and visits to relatives alongside our normal routines.

Businesses change too. Some businesses, like retail, get insanely busy. Other businesses slow down a little as large portions of their workforce take vacation.

Then, come January 1, we try to flip the switch. How can we really expect to be self-disciplined after a month like December? 

Psychologist Pauline Wallin summed it up nicely in an article: 

January 1 is not necessarily the best time to commit to lifestyle changes; there's nothing magical about that date.

Resolutions fail because we expect there to be magic. In reality, a resolution is an extreme change to our behavior. 

 

How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolution

Perhaps your company has decided to focus on customer service this year. It made a New Year’s resolution (i.e. plan) that service would be a big priority. “This is the year we’re going to take things to the next level!”

Given the high failure rate, how can you be one of the lucky few who stick with it?

The first order of business should be to avoid a revolution. That’s why resolutions fail. They’re too big a leap from what you’ve been doing.

Think evolutionary progress. Identify the next step in your journey and focus on that.

If you wanted to go running more often, a resolution would be to become a runner. That's hard to do if you're a couch potato now. Instead, you might just go for a run. And then, after going for that run, immediately plan to go for another one.

For many companies, the next step towards taking service to the next level is to define what outstanding customer service looks like. This is called a customer service vision.

Of course, there's more to it.

Katherine Milkman and Kevin Volpp recently wrote an article in the New York Times that provides five tips to help you keep your resolution. You’ll need a subscription to read it, so I’ve summed them up below in the context of improving customer service.

Step 1: Make a plan

Don’t just resolve to get better. Create a specific plan to improve service. Put due dates on each action and assign responsibilities. Then set a time to check back in.

 

Step 2: Put something you value on the line

Make the connection between improved service and business resolutions. (You may want to read what your CFO wants to know about service.)

Business plans and strategies take on more importance and urgency when they’re connected to the bottom line. They’ll also be more likely keep executives’ attention and remain a priority through the inevitable ups and downs of the year.

 

Step 3: Bundle work

I've seen a lot of customer service initiatives fail because they were treated like separate projects. Saying, "We'll create a special committee to work on service," inevitably places service as a low priority item. Sooner or later other urgent needs will bump your service initiative out of the way entirely.

A better strategy is to try to integrate your initiative into your daily work as much as possible. Perhaps you have a new product launch that’s getting a lot of attention. Bundle your service initiative with that and try to imagine how to offer the best support imaginable for that new product.

 

Step 4: Seek social support

Remember that improving customer service takes everyone’s involvement. If the Customer Service Manager is focused on service but the Operations Manager is focused on cost-control, the two will soon be butting heads if they don’t align their goals and find a way to help each other.

You must find a way to get other departments to care about customers. This short guide can help you.

This goes for frontline employees too. Scrap that harmful individual competition and give everyone a team goal to work towards.

 

Step 5: Renew interest

There are peaks and valleys in any endeavor. This makes it important to renew interest in your service resolution as intensity naturally wanes. 

Many companies struggle with customer service because they don’t talk about it enough. Talk about service in meetings. Revisit your goals. Celebrate progress. Do whatever you need to do to keep the conversation going.

 

Conclusion

How you keep your customer service resolution? One incremental step you can take right now is to subscribe to the Customer Service Tip of the Week.

It’s one tip, sent via email, once per week. Global Gurus rated it one of the best customer service training programs in the world, and it’s totally free.

You can also subscribe to this blog using the box below.

You’ll get new insights every other week that you can use to improve customer service. Subscribers also get a workbook with 10 customer service training activities you can share with your team.

7 Ways to Provide More Responsive Customer Service

It's a race to respond quickly to customers.

It's a race to respond quickly to customers.

Note: This post originally appeared on the AMA Playbook blog.

Customers expect responsive customer service. A 2012 Oracle study found that customers expect responses to Facebook and Twitter inquiries within two hours. My own 2013 study revealed customers expect a response to email within one business day. Customers often expect an immediate resolution via other channels such as chat, phone, and in-person.

Not responding quickly can be bad for business. It irritates customers, wastes time, and can ultimately lead to lost business. A 2013 Zendesk whitepaper estimated the cost of waiting one extra day to respond to a customer can increase the cost of resolving that problem by 66 percent. It’s a busy world out there, and responding to customers quickly isn’t always easy.

Here are seven things you can do to respond faster.

  1. Stop making excuses. It’s easy to excuse a delayed response because you were buried under an avalanche of work or something unexpected came up. Making excuses can also make being unresponsive a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you want to find ways to respond faster, don’t try to convince yourself that a delayed response is okay.
  2. Get a system (and use it). Our memories are notoriously poor at reminding us to return a call or send an email. (Little sticky notes on your computer are equally bad.) Get a system to organize and track customer communication, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, Microsoft Outlook, even an old-fashioned memo pad.
  3. Keep your email inbox clean. The typical email inbox is overflowing with messages. Important emails get overlooked and ultimately forgotten because the inbox is so crowded. Keep your inbox clean by making decisions about each message you receive. Respond immediately to simple inquires and create various folders to file away other messages for future reference.
  4. Manage expectations. Customers expect a rapid response, but they’re often very forgiving if they know up front it can take a little longer than normal. When things get busy, set up an automatic response to incoming email send a quick note to let people know when you’ll get back to them.
  5. Monitor all channels. Customers will often contact a company via multiple channels if one channel is unresponsive. For instance, they might Tweet about their problem if they don’t get a quick response to an email. You can avoid this by making sure you monitor all of your customer service channels on a regular basis. There are even software programs like Hootsuite that can make it easy to monitor and respond to multiple social media streams all in one place.
  6. Choose the right channel. Each of communication has distinct advantages and disadvantages, so choosing the right channel can speed things up. For example, it may be easier to schedule a phone call or a video chat with customers experiencing difficult problems rather than go back and forth via email.
  7. Align your schedule. Responsiveness often comes down adjusting your schedule to peak times. Keep track of when you receive the most phone calls, emails, and other messages? Adjust your schedule accordingly so you can put aside less urgent work during those times and respond faster.

Bonus Tip: Keep in mind that customers don’t just want a fast response – they want their problem solved as they expect responsive customer service. Try to help each customer on the first contact and you’ll gain two benefits. First, your customers will be much happier since they won’t have to contact you a second time. Second, reducing unnecessary contacts translates to a lighter workload so you can respond to people even faster.

What your CFO really needs to know about customer service

You need to show your CFO the money! 

You need to show your CFO the money! 

Let’s face it. We customer service professionals aren’t particularly good at making a business case for investing in customer service.

Improving service is a good idea. That’s established. But things get a little murkier when we start talking about dollars and cents.

When it comes to money, we often find ourselves applying the logic of the South Park’s underpants gnomes:

Phase 1: Improve Customer Service

Phase 2: ?

Phase 3: Profit

Unfortunately, its Phase 2 that CFOs really care about. It’s where we prove whether or not money spent on improving customer service is a profitable investment.

What we need is a framework. Something that can show our CFOs how investing in customer service is a wise business decision.


Costs of Failure vs. Costs of Control

Way back in 1956, Armand V. Feigenbaum described a process called Total Quality Control in an article published in the Harvard Business Review. Feigenbaum’s framework was innovative at the time because it showed that investing in a quality product or service could save money in the long run. 

The Total Quality Control framework differentiates between costs associated with failure and costs associated with controlling quality (detecting or preventing failure).

When applied to customer service, Feigenbaum’s framework can make a nifty business case that your CFO will love. 

 

Step 1: Identify Failure Costs

Start by identifying the real costs associated with service failures. Here are some examples of failure costs:

  • Customer contacts (calls, emails, etc.). 
  • Discounts given to compensate for service failures
  • Product or service replacement costs
  • Cost of repairs or product service
  • Lost business

 

Step 2: Identify Control Costs

The next step is to identify the costs associated with controlling quality. Feigenbaum breaks these down into two categories: costs associated with detecting failures and costs associated with preventing failures.

Examples of detection costs:

  • Quality monitoring
  • Product inspection and testing
  • Customer service surveys
  • Mystery shoppers

Examples of prevention costs:

  • Training employees
  • Hiring more customer service representatives
  • Product design
  • Technology investments

 

Step 3: Identify the business case

You can make a credible business case for improving service if you can demonstrate that investments in detecting and preventing service failures will result in a net savings.

Here’s a simple example:

A small online retailer was concerned about losing sales due to poor customer service. Customers would call in with detailed product questions if they couldn’t find the answer online. This was an opportunity for the customer service representative to close the sale and prevent the customer taking their business elsewhere.

An analysis revealed the problem was staffing. The tiny customer service department would get overwhelmed with phone calls. The customer service reps would rush through each call to get to the next person, which made it harder for them to close sales.

Money is tight in a small company. A cost-benefit analysis was required to see if hiring a new customer service rep made business sense. 

The Director of Operations and CFO got together and came up with these estimates:

  • Failure cost: $124,800 per year in lost sales
  • Prevention cost: $39,000 the annual cost of adding one additional customer service rep

That was the business case. Spending an extra $39,000 would earn an additional $124,800. 

The retailer decided to hire a new customer service representative based on this analysis. Just one month after hiring a new employee, the results justified the move. Sales were already on pace to increase by nearly $150,000 as a direct result of hiring the new employee.

The Partner Technique

You'll have better luck serving angry customers if you make them feel like you're on their side. This is called the Partner Technique.

Here are some examples of using partner behaviors:

  • Shift your body language so you're both facing the problem together

  • Listen carefully to customers so they feel heard

  • Use collaborative words like "We" and "Let's"

It's hard to be upset at someone who wants to help us. Most customers naturally calm down when they realize you are listening to their issue and trying to be helpful. 

One final note: Being on the customer's side doesn't necessarily mean you aren't on your company's side. It just means that you are making an effort to understand your customer and help them succeed.