≡ BUSINESS PHONE ETIQUETTE ≡

If we were to put a group of random professionals in a room and asked them what their top three business pet peeves are surely the unreturned phone call would be in their short list.

Ironic, since the telephone was created with the hope of improving communication, not making it more frustrating.

"An amazing invention-but who would ever want to use one?" --Rutherford B. Hayes, after making his first phone call upon its invention

Personally, the unreturned phone call is in my top three most disliked habits when dealing with people in a personal or professional level. Although, I am the first to say mea culpa for my own behavior which can, at times, be less than exemplary. But this behavioral flaw is constantly under my radar and I am working on improving. I find that one of the best potions against the forgotten call is keeping each other accountable in the office, forming unofficial alliances if you will.

"People who are funny and smart and return phone calls get much better press than people who are just funny and smart." --Howard Simons

One of the cloudy areas, where phone call responsibility often gets lost, is the confusing way in which we sometimes approach the "I'll call you/you'll call me?" moment. This could be because we are rushed, experience pangs of first-date-nerves, or simply have our heads already in the next meeting. So, just like one is to be in the moment when first meeting someone, one must remain in the moment until the time comes to bid farewell. This means, setting clear expectations of who will call whom and by what time/date. Don't be wishy-washy about this and take control of the situation by recapping when necessary.

You can hit all the right buttons during a business meeting. Be concise, focused, engaging. charming, cool, calm and collected, but if you don't follow up as promised an uphill battle awaits you. Don't undermine yourself.

"If The Phone Doesn't Ring, It's Me."--Jimmy Buffet

It is said that people will forget many things about you, your clothes, your hair, even your handshake, but they will always remember how you made them feel. At the risk of walking the slippery high-rope of the Feelings Territory, while momentarily stepping away from Manly Man County, I'll be the first to say it: an unreturned phone call can make others feel disrespected and under appreciated. This, needless to say, won't make things easier the next time you are trying to close a deal with said individual & it surely won't get you unsolicited recommendations. So make life easier for you, and others, and don't be a Parrothead, or at least not when it comes to business.

"The telephone is a good way to talk to people without having to offer them a drink."--Fran Lebowitz

Lastly, when you are returning that call as promised, remember to not get distracted with other office issues. Act, that is talk and listen, as if the call's recipient was there with you. In other words, act as if you could offer them a drink. Body language can be read on the phone almost as much as in person, and it is just as impactful. I think we all can use that reminder, so perhaps this is as good a time as ever to refresh your team's memory about making those call backs, not being a parrot head, and having that metaphorical drink ready to be offered during their next call.

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What Customer Experience Do You Offer that People Would Pay Double?

The title to this article is a question.  This article is full of questions related to the customer experience. I hope you take the time to read them, answer them, and if necessary, act on the answers.

Here’s a hypothetical situation.  Let’s assume you are a successful business.  (Okay, let’s hope that last sentence isn’t hypothetical.)  Customers are buying your products and/or services.  You have a good company with good people and you are doing well.  The big difference is that you charge double what your closest competitor does.

That’s right, you charge twice what your competitor does, but you are still successful.  You keep your old customers and continue to get new ones.  (Remember, I said this was hypothetical.)  Why and how could this be?

If this were the case, what are you doing that people are willing to pay twice as much for?  What level of customer service are your customers receiving?  How fast are the customers’ phone calls returned?  How quickly are orders being fulfilled?  How long do customers that are calling in for technical support have to wait on hold?  I could go on and on with this line of questioning.

Maybe you are already perfect in all of the areas just mentioned.  So, here is another question: What else are you going to do differently?  After all, you have to earn that extra revenue, otherwise you are just like everyone else selling what you sell; basically a commodity.

The bottom line is that if you had all of that extra revenue, and more important, the margin to work with, I bet many of you who are reading this article would have some impressive answers.

Enough with the hypotheticals – the reality is that you aren’t charging double.   But, if you were, and business was strong, what would be the reason?

The truth is that none of what is mentioned above would cause your price to double.  As a matter of fact, it probably wouldn’t cost much more to do any of the above.

Imagine if you treated your customers as if they were paying twice as much – and giving the customer service that goes along with paying that premium price – but you were still charging a competitive rate.  Not the lowest price, but not necessarily the highest price either.

So why aren’t you doing it?  Why aren’t you providing that value added service, that doesn’t cost much, if anything more, to deliver?

For some of you, these questions validate your efforts.  For the rest, it’s time to start answering the above questions.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional  speaker and New York Times   bestselling business author.

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Want to Make Some Easy Money?Eliminate Waste and Reduce Costs

By John Tschohl  

What would you say if I were to hand you a check for $25,000? $250,000?

Before you get too excited, I’m not going to do that, but I am going to tell you how you can find that kind of money and add it to your bottom line. No, it’s not by terminating employees or instituting pay cuts, two methods companies throughout the world are using in an effort to survive the drastic downturn in the economy.

If you want to cut costs and save thousands, if not millions, of dollars each year, the most effective method—and one that will have long-term benefits—is to do so by eliminating waste, not people. How do you do that? Simple: Ask your employees.

There is waste in every organization. The challenge is to identify that waste and then eliminate it. Your employees are the experts. They see where the waste is—in time, procedures, and materials—throughout the organization. You need to ask them to identify that waste and to make suggestions on how to eliminate it. When you do, you will build morale by making those employees feel like you value their ideas—and you will improve your bottom line.

Many employee suggestion programs fail for one major reason:
Executives are only interested in ideas that will save the company $100,000 to $1 million. They fail to identify the low-hanging fruit, the small savings that quickly add up to big money. Let me give you an example. My company, the Service Quality Institute, offers a program called BAD—Buck a Day—that asks each employee to identify a way to save just $1 a day. It has been used successfully during the past 30 years by 3,000 companies throughout the world.

Right now you are probably thinking, “Why in the world would I go to the trouble of instituting a cost-savings campaign if it’s only going to result in savings of $1 a day?” I’ll tell you why—because that $1 a day adds up to a lot of money, money that can make a huge difference in your bottom line.

Consider this: There are 250 working days in a year. If you have 1,000 employees and they each identify a way to save $1 a day, you are looking at a yearly savings of $250,000. If your company has 100 employees, your annual savings would be a respectable $25,000.

If you doubt the impact of cost reduction and waste elimination, look at service leaders like Amazon, Costco, Wal-mart, and Southwest Airlines. They are successful for many reasons, including their ability to reduce costs at every level of their organizations. Then they pass those savings on to customers through reduced prices. The result? Increased market share and increased profits.
 

When it comes to instituting an employee suggestion program that will be successful, I have some suggestions of my own that I’d like to share with you:

1. Keep it short. A short campaign keeps enthusiasm high.
 

2. Make it fun.  Dry, dull campaigns get little attention, which means they get few results. On the other hand, when you incorporate fun and humor, employees become more involved.

3. Build it on recognition. You don’t have to offer monetary rewards or trips to Las Vegas to get employees to participate. Recognition is a much stronger motivator than money. Recognize employees in a timely manner through public praise. That might include an article and photograph in the company magazine or a simple pizza party.

4. Involve everyone. The backbone of a successful employee suggestion program is to get all employees involved. That means everyone from frontline employees to executives. The idea is to get everyone to consider his or her job and ask, “Is there a better, less-expensive way to do this?”

5. Implement ideas quickly. Nothing will kill a suggestion program faster than a long lag time in implementing employees’ suggestions. If you don’t implement ideas quickly, employees will lose interest—and faith—in what you are trying to accomplish.
   

In today’s dismal economy, if you want to survive and grow, you must look for ways to dramatically eliminate waste and reduce costs. Ask your employees to help you and you will be amazed at the results.

Contact Shoppers, Inc. at www.insightyoucanuse.com for information on cost reduction programs.

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The Impending Customer Service Empowerment Revolution – Are You Ready

The Wall Street Journal had a Review published on Saturday, entitled “The Customer As A God“, that lays out a view of the future where customers are totally empowered.  I encourage you to check out the article.  Then ask yourself whether your organization treats your customers as if they are cattle.  If you have a ‘herd’ or ‘target’ mentality or point of view on your customers or the audiences that you serve, you may be in danger of becoming a dinosaur.  The way to prepare and ensure the future viability of your organization is through building a customer-centered organization, where customer service is the name of the game.

Too few firms understand how important customer service and empowerment is. The four main cell phone carriers are not role models for customer service. Their monopoly attitude limits their ability to respond to customers with the focus they need.

The problem with empowerment is many employees are reluctant to use it knowing in their heart they will get fired. CEO’s of organizations would love employees to be empowered.  The bad news is no one has trained anyone on empowerment and most organizations are loaded with rules, policies, and procedures. Many of them dumb.  Customer driven organizations understand first they are in customer service not in retail, banking, health care etc. Then they develop an empowered customer driven work force

Empowerment is the only way for any organization to separate itself from the pack. It takes across the world almost 2 miracles at the same time to get employees to make empowered decisions. Over happy customers reward you with unlimited revenue.

John Tschohl

President

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STRETCHING YOURSELF

I hadn't run more than three miles in twenty years. In fact I walk more often than I run. But last week I decided to join my friends Dan and Chris for a 5 mile run through the battlefields of Gettysburg while spending time at an FCA lacrosse camp with my daughter.

Dan, who runs marathons, and Chris, a former college athlete, ran the first two days without me. But on the third day I was inspired to join them.

It seemed like a good idea in theory but after the first mile I wasn't feeling very positive about my decision. At the three mile mark I wanted to stop running but knew it wasn't an option. I had to give everything I had.

As we ran the last two miles, mostly uphill, I felt like I was going to pass out but with Dan and Chris' amazing encouragement I kept going and made it to the finish line.

I felt an incredible sense of accomplishment all day but that's not the point of this message.

What happened two days later is the reason why I'm writing this. I ran three miles by myself and it was a piece of cake.

What I thought was once hard was now easy because I had stretched myself.

We don't like to stretch ourselves because it's painful and uncomfortable but it is through discomfort and stretching that we become stronger and grow.

When we stretch ourselves we look back and realize that it is our challenges, not our comforts, that make us stronger, wiser and better.

So what area of your life do you need to stretch?

Not everyone should go run five miles. But you can stretch yourself by taking on a new project at work. You can stretch your mind by reading more books. You can stretch your heart by giving more to a charity. You can stretch your relationships at home. You can stretch yourself mentally, physically and spiritually by challenging yourself to do the hard things that make life ultimately easier.

-Jon Gordon

How will you stretch yourself? We invite you to share and inspire others with your comments on our blog and Facebook page.

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CUSTOMER SERVICE & PLUMBING

By Kathy Shook

Driving through the countryside last week, I noticed a church sign…you know those marquees where the pastors put up a bible verse of the week or cute quote.  The one I passed was:  “Be a fountain, not a drain.”

Consider the definitions of these two words…

Fountain:  Source; often of liquid.  Similar words include: bubbler, cause, gush, inception, inspiration, mainspring, mine, origin, play, provenance, pump, reservoir, root, spout, spray, spring, stream, well, wellhead, wellspring.

All these words conjure positive feelings, right?  Whether it’s just softly bubbling or gushing, a “fountain” gives you a sense of growth, calm and happiness.  Think about some of the “fountain” sayings we have:  a fountain of knowledge, of youth, of happiness, throw a penny into the fountain for luck, etc.

Drain:  Channel through which liquid runs off.  Similar words include:  cesspool, (yikes!) outlet, pipe, sewer, sink, blackmail, confiscate, deplete, exhaust, leech, squeeze, steal, strong-arm.

Again, these are words that conjure certain pictures and feelings…but not positive ones.  Drain equates to decline in nearly every usage of the word.  Drain of strength, drain on society, down the drain, brain drain, etc.

Obviously, the two words are opposites...whether you are talking about how they relate to water or to anything else in life.

It made me think about my customer service experiences.  You know, you get the person who just isn’t interested in helping you…having to deal with their bored attitude, lack of knowledge or just plain doesn’t get you what you need.  They DO drain me…when I leave the store, I have that feeling of being put through the wringer and my attitude goes downhill, too. Oh, I can’t wait to share my awful experience with the next few people I talk to!

But once in a while, I get help from a person who is warm, smiling, and helpful.  They do more than I needed/expected when I walked in the door.  They ARE a fountain…they radiate helpfulness, care and concern for me from the very beginning.

When we go to work, or deal with anyone else in our lives, let’s try to be that fountain…maybe not always a gusher, but at least a person who radiates warmth, smiles and a good attitude.  Greet our customers, offer help, do more than they expect—don’t just point them in the right direction, take them there.  Don’t just transfer them and hang up, make sure they get through.  Challenge yourself to be a fountain…let your bubbling touch each customer in a positive manner.  Make them become “fountains” too, by leaving you with a better feeling than when they came in.  You know, smiles, friendliness and warmth?  They are all contagious!

Leave the drains for the plumbers…even if it’s a bad day, shake it off and focus on being upbeat and helpful and smiling…and that bad day just might stop draining you.

So I ask you now:  Are you a fountain…or a drain?

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