Improve My Business

background:  It’s 1979.  I’m sharing an office, and a phone, with a co-worker.  A vendor calls up for my office mate, Gary, who’s not in.  I say that he’s not there, and ask if I can take a message.  The caller asks where he is, and when he’ll be back.  I say I don’t know (to both), but again offer to take a message.  The caller says that I “should know where my boss is” and then leaves a message for Gary to call him back.  As a woman, I’m sorta used to being considered the admin help rather than the engineering staff, so it’s no biggie for me.  Gary, however, is incensed that “this jerk” assumed I was his admin (back then we called them ’secretaries’) and calls up the vendor, telling him [in no uncertain terms] that I am an engineer - just like him - and I deserve his respect - just like him.  He then goes on to say that I got better grades than he did in college, and that I was probably a better engineer.  He then “offers” to let the vendor speak to me to apologize - which of course the vendor does - profusely.  I’m more amused than anything else by the whole exchange.  As a woman, in the ’70’s workforce, it was not uncommon for folks to assume that I was in an engineering meeting to take notes, make coffee, etc. rather than to actively participate.  I knew it would get easier, as more women entered the professional/scientific/engineering ranks - and it has.  I’m rarely mistaken now.

Fast forward 30+ years later, to 2011:  I get a phone call on my business phone.  Because we have the phone roll over to the home phone after 5 pm, and this call is at 5:11 pm, my daughter answers the phone a split second before I do on a different extension.  The caller asks for “Mr. McDonald”.  [My husband, though part owner in my business, is not an active participant.]  While my daughter is getting my husband on the phone, I (on another extension) ask what this is about.  Just then, my husband answers the phone.  I again say, ‘This is a business phone and Mr. McDonald is not a part of this firm; may I ask what this is about?”  and the caller has the poor instincts, and the gall, to say, “I’m calling for Mr. McDonald - and you’re interrupting!”  [You could almost hear him muttering something derogatory about the "Little Missy" interrupting him...]

…

at which point my husband states that “MRS. McDonald owns this company, you are calling on HER business line, and I suggest that you tell HER what this call is in reference to.”   The caller half-heartedly apologizes and quickly hangs up.  Now, we’ve got caller ID and are smart enough to use reverse lookup, so we know EXACTLY which company is hiring Neanderthals.  We’re not stupid.

My message to the caller?  Get into the 21st century, bucko.  Women own companies.  Women make decisions.  We are NOT interrupting when we are inquiring about inbound sales calls - we are making decisions (including a decision to block any calls from your company).  And the fact that you’re trying to sell us something?  As Julia Roberts, in Pretty Woman, says to a sales clerk who originally refused to wait on her - “You work on commission, right?  Big mistake.  Big.  HUGE.”

Technorati Tags: Add new tag, Business, Business Relationships, communication, customer satisfaction, customer service, julia roberts, pretty woman

I recently had a very productive call with a client - they wanted to let me know, mid-project, that they would like to see a few things changed.  I was happy to receive the call, and happy to commit to make the changes.  Happy to receive, because the client cared enough about the project and our professional relationship to make it and let me know what was less than perfect to date; and happy to commit to changes because my job, aside from the technical deliverables, is to listen to the client and respond when I can.

When I talked to my team about the changes, one of them took offense that I didn’t defend our actions more strongly, stand up for us more, etc.  He ranted and raved (literally) that the client was [also] in the wrong.  I don’t think he understood the purpose of the call.  The purpose of the call was to let us know how we could serve the client better.  It was NOT to place blame or defend our position.  Let’s look at a restaurant equivalent:

ME:  “Waiter, this soup is a bit cold…”

and the response we want (and what I hope I gave the client) was

WAITER: “Sir/Ma’am, I am so sorry about that - let me fix that right away!”

what my team member seemed to want me to say was

WAITER:  “Sir/Ma’am, you’re mistaken.  Our soup chef monitors the temperature of the soup with a calibrated thermometer and assures me that it was served at the correct temperature per the International Soup Federation’s guidelines.  If you were better educated on the ISF procedures, you’d know that you received it at the correct temperature and adjust your expectations accordingly.”

Now, while the waiter in the second scenario may be technically correct [and our waiter is welcome to privately think these thoughts all they want], his tip is going to be vanishing until he can paste a sincere-looking smile on his face and ’sell’ the first scenario.

Because sometimes, it’s not about being right; it’s about being heard as a customer.

Technorati Tags: customer service

I came across this great article at MyCustomer.com on Key Attitudinal Indicators vs Key Performance Indicators, and why KAI’s may be better suited (as a leading indicator) to predict customer loyalty than KPI (a lagging indicator)… give it a read and see if you agree!  Please post your thoughts here… I’d love to hear ‘em.

Technorati Tags: customer service, KAI, KPI, organizing, predictor, process, process improvement, process monitoring, processes, quality metrics

When I ask someone what they understand what the term ‘improvement’ means, I often get back the response “make it better and faster”.  However, improvement needs to be defined up front, before the project starts in order to ensure that customer needs are met.  As an example, a call center may want to improve their customer satisfaction rating — and this may mean that we need to slow down the customer interface process in order to improve customer perception of satisfaction.  A customer will tell you that it’s annoying at best, and irritating or aggravating at worst, to be rushed off a call without having your questions answered in a way that you understand; by instructing customer service representatives to slow down, actively listen to the customer and respond accordingly, and query for any other concerns prior to terminating the call, customer satisfaction can often be improved.  This does not mean “better and faster” in this case; it only means “better”.

Technorati Tags: customer satisfaction, customer service, improvement

After you’ve gotten through the automated tree of service options (”for dept A, press 1; for dept B, press 2…) you finally get a real live person on the phone. If your employees are not ensuring that they’ve met all of your customers’ needs, you’re setting yourself up to have dissatisfied customers.

So, how can you serve your customers better and faster? By ensuring that you’ve met all their needs, not only the one that they’ve called for. As an example, I fly Continental Airlines as I think they are the best for the types of travel I do. When calling their reservation line to make a change (I book online directly but sometimes will call in to explore options), the agent calls me by name, has my reservation pulled up in front of them when they take the call, and we can get down to business right away. [Have you ever entered your 16 digit credit card into the phone, plus the expiration date, your mother's birthday, and your zip code, only to be asked all of that info again when the live operator comes on the line? Why punch all that in if it's not going to help you find my file any faster?] In addition, Continental Airlines will offer to connect me to their car rental partners, Hertz and Budget, and will even provide me with special discounted offers. And before we hang up, I can promise you that they’ll also ask if I need a hotel reservation that they can help me with. They’ve met my stated needs (a different seat assignment, or an alternate routing) and also surmised that I might need additional travel assistance when I land (car and hotel). Most importantly to me, when the operator comes on the line, they’re ready to start working with me - my reservation is up in front of them already. Other companies can take a lesson from Continental’s customer service department.

Technorati Tags: customer service, travel