Customer Service 101

“Customer is always right”, this is the phrase that we always hear in most businesses. For me, in case to case basis, this is not true. There are customers that are not right for your business or service. And in some cases, customers may tend to abuse you, and be more demanding of the service that he wanted you to deliver.  Like what happened in our previous account in IBM Global Process Services, we named it Whitney account. Whitney’s line of business is online marketing. The requirement that the account needs is a fast internet connection because they are using Citrix to connect to their servers.

We haven’t encountered any problem on this account during its first month. They have a smooth and productive operation. Then, after several months, the account experienced a lot of outages, and reported many Sev-1 incidents because of slow internet connection. The incident is repetitive and frequently happened every other week.

Since the reported problem is internet connection, we typically troubleshoot the problem by using the Speedtest.net website. And then we conduct continuous ping and use trace route to their servers. We also have a ping plotter tool to help our Network Team to trace the problem. Upon checking on our end, we do not find any problems, and we still provide the bandwidth requirement for the account. And then, we found out that the incident was caused by one of their servers. However, the client insisted that the Whitney servers are functioning properly, and they do not have problems in connecting to that server. They claimed that the problem is in our end. The client demanded for an increase in bandwidth, and since GPS cares for its clients, they gave what the client has required.  But still, the problem still persisted, and they always deny that the problem was in their end. The management has decided to close this account and be replaced by another account. Forlornly, the Whitney account lasted for about a year.

Customer Service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation. Before we can provide the best customer service to our clients, here are the first steps that you should track:

Step 1: First Impression Last

In order to entice customers, you must impress them by your credibility, as a great employee and as a great company. Make sure that you are ready to present and prove to them that you can deliver the service that they want.

Step 2: Courtesy Counts

As an adult, you are not going to receive constant praise for being courteous, but people will appreciate these behaviors. When you act courteously, you send a positive and powerful message. When you make a conscious effort to use courtesy words and phrases, they will soon become a natural part of your vocabulary and personality.

Partner for Client's Success

Step 3: Attitude is Everything

Customer service is all about human relationship – how you go about helping others to provide their needs as customers. To do this successfully requires the right attitude. That is, an attitude that is positive and sincere, thriving to give your best to assist your customers.

Step 4: Doing the Right Thing – Ethical Issues

Always be honest. Do the right thing. Do what you say you will when you say you will, and be accountable for your actions.

After taking these steps, you should consider familiarizing the Three Key Elements in Customer Service:

1. Expand Your Definition of Service

“Service” should provide the customer with more than a product or action taken on his/her behalf. It should provide satisfaction. In essence, the customer should walk away pleased at the result of the transaction – not just content but actually happy. A happy customer will continue to be a buying customer and a returning customer.

2. Who are Your Customers?

Customers, buyers and clients want to pay a fair price for quality service or products, and feel satisfied they have paid for a service/product and received what they have paid for in return. They also want someone to take care of them. They need someone to understand their needs and help answer them. They need someone to hold their hands and walk them through a process. Customer service starts with the ability to listen to the customer and find out through polite questioning what he/she needs or wants.

The other most important aspect to do is to listen to what the customer is saying. If people do not understand what is motivating the customer, they will not be successful in handling them. Do research on customers, their habits, and what they want and expect.

3. Develop a Customer Friendly Approach

One commonality among all companies or organizations that provide good service is the development of a system and attitude promoting customer friendly service.

Two critical qualities to the “Customer Friendly Approach” are communications and relationships.

And then in providing customer service you must do the following approach:

1. Respond to Clients As Soon As Possible

Check and answer your email regularly. Make sure that your phone is active, and reachable.

2. Keep Clients Updated

Make sure that your customers are well-informed about their account through reports. If you’re experiencing trouble with something, let them know right away. It shows that you’re keeping them in the loop and that you have things under control. If it’s something major, communicating your concern right away allows clients to plan for possible delays in the project’s completion.

3. Go The Extra Mile

If a client asks for you to do something that truly won’t cost you a lot in time and income, you have the option of going the extra mile and doing it for them. Not only will this result in an indebted and happy client, it can also go a long way in terms of keeping yourself in their radar for future projects.

4. Fix Your Mistakes

If you did something that didn’t end up working, you should repair it. A quick way to lose a client forever is not admitting that you are at fault and not fixing your own mistakes. You should always strive for a high-quality output; it shows that you have a high level of standards in your craftsmanship.

Not taking responsibility of your own blunders is a sure-fire way of gaining a bad business reputation. Transparency is important in any business; service work is no different.

5. Listen To Your Clients

It’s important to listen to what your clients are communicating to you. Understand what they are saying and ask for clarifications on things that might be ambiguous. Clients might be unfamiliar with certain terminologies in our profession, and what you think they mean might be different to what they actually mean.

6. Keep Your Promises

Reliability is one of the keys to any good relationship, and good customer service is no exception. If you say you’re going to do something, make sure you do it. It’s part of being a professional. If you need more time on something, you should let them know as soon as possible, not after you’ve already missed the deadline. Honoring your commitments is very important.

7. Don’t confuse clients with jargons

Try to explain whatever the problem is as best as you can without making the client feel stupid. When proposing a solution, make sure you state it in terms they understand. You could use analogies that are relevant to them.

8. Be Patient

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve exhausted my patience on my clients. But I’ve never actually showed them my agitation. If you feel like the client is overstepping their boundaries, let them know in a cordial and professional manner. You just don’t want to start yelling and cursing at the people you make a living off of. Maintain professionalism at all times.

9. Know Everything You Need To Know

You are a paid expert. Someone is giving you their hard-earned money to do something they believe you have a high level of mastery of. You need to keep yourself up-to-date with the profession and always be ready to answer questions your client needs to know. If you exhibit signs that you don’t know your craft inside out, you risk the chance of ruining your professional reputation.

10. Put Yourself in Their Shoes

If you were in their shoes and were being treated the way you’re treating them, would you enjoy that experience? If so, you’re doing a good job. If not, you probably want to get a little better. It’s important to constantly evaluate the way you communicate with others. Our profession is heavily reliant on communication skills.

We should remember that the Customer is King. In any product’s design, production, distribution and marketing, we should have one central focus at the core of all decision-making: the customer. Without them, your business will not exist. We must give our best to serve and pleased them.

IBM believes that customers are very important.  An IBMer like me is a “Partner for Client’s Success”.  When you approach a customer in a partnership, and wanting to have a long term relationship, what happens is that the services or products become a natural by-product of the relationship. Learning what the customers want from you, having an appreciation for their business needs, understanding their business challenges, really getting underneath the covers of what their businesses is about becomes part responsive how you conduct yourself, and how to win for both the customer and IBM.

Effective communication is relevant in Customer Service, and communicating with clients builds a good relationship. In effective client relationship, we should focus on fixing the customer, and not just fixing the problem. Fixing the client is much broader, it also includes fixing the problem, and it talks about miniature that the client has the right skills so that they have the right processes in place, and they have the right people to solve the problem.

Most clients experienced the IBM brand through the IBMer, and it’s not just a single IBMer, it’s actually the whole team of IBMer. With partnering with the client’s success, it’s really important what role that you are playing within the team, and to ensure that you can deliver confidently that particular role, and be consistent in delivering the attributes, and the characters in the IBM Values.