The Many Faces of Customer Service

I have had many requests over the years for customer service training.  We pride ourselves in our ability to tailor every training program to meet the specific needs of our clients.  I spend the time needed up front during the assessment stage to ensure I clearly understand the objectives and desired outcomes from the program.

Several years ago we delivered customer service training to a local funeral home.  Initially it was for the people who interacted with the families of the deceased.  The pilot was so successful that they decided to roll it out company wide.  This included delivering to the grave diggers.  I remember calling David (the alliance partner who delivered this program) one day and he said he was on his way to visit the grave diggers to have a better understanding of their jobs and how they interact with the customers.  The program was a huge success years later they have experienced sustained changes in how they interact with their customers.

I was called by an existing client who has results from a customer service survey they wanted to discuss with me.  The survey results revealed that for the most part the customers were happy with the service they received.  There were however, several comments made about the way the truck drivers interacted with their staff.  Comments were made that the language, tone and sometimes tardiness of drivers were frustrating.  I immediately connected them to David and together they designed a program that not only addressed all the concerns of their customers, it also included a number of ways to take all their customer service initiatives to a new level.  When I spoke with the VP of Human Resources recently she was excited by the participation and the feedback she received.  Management is committed that this level of service is maintained and they are very optimistic that the next survey will deliver much more favorable results.

Often when we think of customer service, we just think of our external customers.  I have a client who was concerned about the way the employees interacted with each other, in particular the accounting department.  She shared with me that she constantly got complaints from other departments on the way the accounting staff treated and reacted to the other departments.  She was not sure what to do about it.  I suggested she provide the members of the accounting team with customer service training from the perspective of working with internal customers.  At first she wasn’t sure.  I introduced her to David and he outlined what a program like this would look like and shared the success he had had in the past.  She was then clear this was the way to address the issue.  I spoke with her several months after the program had been delivered and she said she had received positive feedback from, both, the other employees and the members of the accounting department.  Having the tools to handle the sometimes difficult conversations made all the difference.

These experiences confirm for me that everyone is in customer service, no matter what job or role in the organization.

 By Cindy Stradling CPC, CSP

From Manager to Coach

One of the many things I love about the training and development world is being given the opportunity to contribute to another person’s development.  Recently I was in a meeting with a client and she was explaining to me that they were having difficulty getting their account reps to embrace a new attitude towards selling.

This company historically had not expected their account representatives to do any sales activities, simply manage the accounts and provide great customer service.  Several years ago that changed and president felt they were missing huge opportunities by not having the account reps letting their clients know of their many offerings and the other options available to them.

The client explained to me that when they decided to make this change they provided the account reps with a sales training program.  This program was delivered by a gentleman who was very familiar in their industry and was able to customize a program that was most applicable (someone not in our alliance).  She shared the information from the program and it was an excellent design.  She said nothing had changed since the training and the senior folks were frustrated.  She asked me if I had any suggestions.

The first I wanted to know was if the managers had attended the training with the reps.  She said yes they had so they would be familiar with what was covered in the program.  Then I asked her if the managers changed anything about the way they managed the account reps.  She said not that she knew of.

I shared with her that I thought there is a big difference in managing a group of managers and managing a group of sales people.  I suggested the managers needed to change how they interacted with their account reps and be clear on the new expectations.  I suggested that they learn a sales coaching model that would help them interact differently, ask different questions and set the parameters around metrics and accountability.  She thought it was a great idea.

We did a one day Manager as Sales Coach program to provide the managers with a general overview and some coaching tools.  This session was followed up with six telephone training sessions to role play, conduct actual coaching sessions and to focus on specific areas needed to support them becoming powerful coaches (i.e. listening, asking questions).  While most of the managers have embraced the coaching mindset, a few are still skeptical. 

During the last call one manager shared that he had actively started to use some of the new tools and happily reported it was slowly making a difference.  I debriefed the others and they too were experimenting with their new tools.  We have three phone sessions left and I am confident the managers will transition into becoming effective sales managers.  It is often slow to transition from old ways of doing things, the key is to stay committed to the results you want and take necessary actions required to get there.

By Cindy Stradling CPC, CSP

Coaching for Accelerated Results

by Cindy Stradling CSP, CPC

As a coach I work with many people who are employed in a variety of jobs.  I coach salespeople, entrepreneurs, executives, managers and homemakers.  Everyone’s situation is unique and yet similar.  The people I work with have one thing in common, they have areas of their lives that do not work as well as they would like.  I love working with people as they create their goals and work week by week to achieve them.  Sometimes there is a misconception initially where the coachee thinks the coach is going to tell them what to do.  I explain to them that in coaching, the coach asks questions so the coachee can arrive at their own conclusions and discover their own insights.  The real coaching is in holding the coachee accountable to produce the results they say they want in their lives, even when they don’t feel like doing the work they committed to.  I have included below an outline of what coaching is, what it isn’t and the roles and commitments of both the coach and the coachee.

What is a Coach?

Professionals in all sectors require a coach for many reasons.  One-on-one coaching is a powerful way to support people to provide objective analysis, constructive support and accountability so they can achieve the goals they set for themselves.

Your coach is your champion and provides a structure to hold you accountable to do what you say you are going to do even when you don’t feel like it.  In other words support you to “Plan your work and Work your Plan.”

What a coach does:

• Mirroring-reflecting back
• Listening without judgment and beyond what they say (listen from the place of their commitment)
• Ask hard powerful reflective questions to help the client gain clarity
• Hold client accountable by telling the truth and by endorsing and validating them
• Create a safe environment
• Help client identify strengths and possible blind spots
• Partner with the client – celebrate their successes
• Conduct all interactions with complete confidentiality
• Does not council (i.e. legal)

What the client does:

• Set goals and be goal oriented
• Does the assigned homework and projects
• Honest and tells the truth
• Willingness to be coachable and move forward with their commitments
• Prep-work – Coaching Call Prep Form
• Willingness to move through fears and be open to change
• Commitment to the process

Commitments of the Coaching Program

 My commitment as your personal coach: I will exercise the highest degree of professionalism, integrity and honesty.  I am committed to your success.  I at all times with maintain the highest ethical standards and diligently respect your confidentiality.

Your commitment as my Client:  I request that you also bring a high degree of professionalism, integrity and honesty to your coaching sessions.  I request that you be open to new possibilities, fresh ideas and unique ways of approaching solutions.  I request that you be accountable and committed to producing your results.  Foremost, be prepared to have fun and enjoy the coaching.

Getting the Most from Your Coach

• Lead our session, know what you want.  The Coaching Call Prep Form is designed to assist you to do so.(sent in a separate file along with this agreement)
• I am professionally trained to help you discover your own answers; I do not tell you what to do.  Use me as a resource, not as an answer.  Said another way, I will support you with all of the resources, training and experience I have, but ultimately only you are responsible for getting the results you want.
• Enjoy our calls, personal and professional development is fun.
• Be fully human and communicate authentically, I respect your needs.
• Make sure you are fully heard and have the courage to express yourself.
• Double your level of willingness.
• Be prepared to be challenged, raise your standards, redesign your time, remove all sources of stress from your life, change your behaviors and discover more about yourself.

Why Managers Keep their Eyes Shut so Tightly

by Sharone Bar-David

By the time George missed the big deadline, his manager, Juliana, had already gone through several months of pretending there was no problem. Her longstanding positive relationship with George prevented her from addressing the decline in the quality of his work, his lateness and withdrawal.  Now, faced with a problem to which she couldn’t turn a blind eye, Juliana cringed at the idea of having to take action.

Much like Juliana, many managers avoid dealing with performance problems.  Unfortunately, the HR professionals who support them are often slow to diagnose the problem and to provide timely assistance.

When the performance of a long-time employee or one with a solid track record declines, many managers fall right into the Procrastination Trap. Other times, they procrastinate because they know the employee is struggling with difficult personal circumstances.  Or because they have a personal relationship with the person.  Or because they fear that they’ll endanger the employee’s future.  Or they worry about damaging their relationship with him or her.  Or they’re paralyzed by the fear of handling the conversation in an unskilled way.

Meanwhile, things on the ground get worse.  The performance deteriorates further, other team members begin questioning the manager’s leadership and customer service suffers.

If I’m Good, I Shouldn’t be Bad

Most of us think of ourselves as good, decent human beings, and managers are no exception.  The possibility of confronting performance issues triggers a debilitating unconscious conflict.  Somewhere deep within, the matter gets translated into: “If I can do this to a fellow human being, it means I’m a bad person”.  Once this happens, anxiety and avoidance kick in.

Like Juliana, managers will unconsciously invent a host of excuses that will justify not dealing with the performance problem.  These excuses alleviate their discomfort and allow them to maintain their internal sense of decency.  They ignore changes in the employee’s performance while telling themselves that ‘it will pass’ or that ‘it isn’t really all that serious’.  Or they persuade themselves that they have more pressing priorities.

Beyond Procrastination

Let’s face it, dealing with performance issues is right up there on any manager’s list of ‘most despised tasks’.  And it can be pretty lonely out in the battlefield. True, most organizations offer clear processes for progressive discipline.  But they fall short on providing their leaders with essential strategies for assessing and intervening before things get really bad.  Managers are left to figure it our on their own, with scarce tools on which to rely.  A good managers’ training program can provide a solid framework, skills and confidence that will help managers stop procrastinating.  In addition to training, HR professionals can provide support by offering managers the following guidance:

1. Action is more helpful than procrastination.  Become present to the paradox inherent in the fact that your procrastination is not helpful to the employee, in fact it is harmful.  If you don’t act and things become worse, you might eventually have to take more drastic measures.  By intervening early, you are respectfully providing the person with the opportunity to self-correct.
2. Record.  Take detailed notes pertaining to the problem behaviours.  These notes will allow you see reality more clearly and help you determine if, how and when to intervene.  Make sure to record observations (things a video camera would capture), not some form of unqualified diagnosis.  For example, don’t record “George was defensive”.  Instead, record “when Mary inquired about a late report, George yelled at her”.  This way, when you raise the issue with the employee, you’re equipped with real data, rather than a ‘diagnoses’ that might induce a defensive response and make you an even worse procrastinator.  After all, if you tell George that he had been “aggressive and uncooperative” you can pretty much bet that he will become aggressive and uncooperative before your very eyes.
3. Consult.  Get another person’s perspective.  In addition to HR, people such as your own manager or a seasoned colleague will readily share their experience and help you gain clarity and confidence.
4. Acquire skills.  Dealing with performance issues is part of one’s developmental journey as a leader.  You need to get good at this, no matter how uncomfortable it may seem.  Read, role-play with someone, or pursue training – do whatever works for you.
5. Have a solid plan for the conversation with the employee.  At the very least, your plan should include the following elements:

• Clarity about the desired outcome – usually it should be “arrive at an agreed-upon plan that will get George’s performance back on track”.
  • A clear structure that you can rely on when things become tense or you feel you own anxiety rising
  • A detailed list of the performance problems, articulated in video-camera terms
  • Familiarity with the resources available to assist the person
  • A willingness to listen and truly engage in dialogue

Taking action early will prevent things from getting worse and empowers a shift from a position of reactivate management to one of supportive leadership.  This will prevent much angst on all fronts and allow for issues to be resolved smoothly and effectively.