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Are You Satisfying Your Customers?


The latest report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (Michigan School of Business) reports the following:

Customer dissatisfaction with the quality goods and services offered in the marketplace is more than a nuisance. The US economy is heavily dependent on increases in consumer spending. Such increases are hard to come by when consumers become less satisfied. The ACSI fell dramatically in the fourth quarter of 2004. The Index now stands at 73.6 - dropping nearly 1% compared with the third quarter. One would have to go back almost seven years to find an equivalent decline.

While high levels of customer satisfaction typically lead to company growth, it is not always the case that business growth leads to satisfied customers. In many cases, the opposite is true.

What's interesting with this study is that since 1995 customer service has consistently not made the grade, and services continue to top the list in terms of customer dissatisfaction. Remember we're all in the service business!

Taken even further, growing customer dissatisfaction with contact center service levels is boosting the use of IVRs as 20% of customers opt for self service channels over live agents. That's 1 in 5 customers bypassing the human because of poor service. (CRM Today, 2/18/05).

Most of us know the impact and cost of repeat calls, bad call experiences, poor service, (if you don't go to http://www.human-technologies.com/newsletter_archive.html). What can you do starting right now?

First, how and what are you measuring for customer satisfaction? Measurement systems must not only be in step with the customer's preferred communication channel, but the effectiveness of service delivery should be immediate.

What does this mean? If the interaction is via phone, a survey should be via phone, not by a subsequent email. Are you actually asking the customer for feedback on their experience-what is now jargoned as 'the voice of the customer?' Merely using metrics will give you guidelines, but could be false security. Go to the source. Ask your customers!

Second, according to the third National Complaints Culture Survey unhappy customers are growing increasingly frustrated with the way their complaints are being handled, and hard-pressed call center staff are being hindered by a lack of training and support from their employers.

Since calls coming into an organization are escalated before they're even answered-if I could successfully find my answers through the website, self service, VRU, IVR, etc. I wouldn't need to talk to a human-so employees need more tools than ever before to diffuse what is being presented to them such that they can move the customer onto a more productive interaction, and close the call.

Where will they find these tools? The simple answer is with customer centric training. Off the shelf, generic, or outdated training is like trying to put a round peg in a square hole. Today's training modules must be customized to the customer, not the statistics, and training must be presented ongoingly. It must be highly interactive, current, and robust with role playing opportunities.

Remember, training is a process, not an event

ROSANNE D'AUSILIO, Ph.D., industrial psychologist, President of Human Technologies Global, Inc., specializes in human performance management for contact centers, providing needs analyses, instructional design, and customized, live, world class customer service skills trainings. Also offered: agent/facilitator certification through Purdue University's Center for Customer Driven Quality.

Known as 'the practical champion of the human, she authors the best-sellers, Wake Up Your Call Center: Humanize Your Interaction Hub, 4th edition (hot off the press), and Customer Service and The Human Experience. Reach her at Rosanne@human-technologies.com, sign up for her complimentary monthly e-newsletter in its 7th year, and check out her new virtual store.


MORE RESOURCES:

Customer Service - Google News

JD Power praises customer service by Verizon Wireless and Virgin Mobile, but ... - Going Cellular


JD Power praises customer service by Verizon Wireless and Virgin Mobile, but ...
Going Cellular
JD Power and Associates released their annual customer care rankings this month and the dubbed winners were Verizon Wireless (for contract service) and Virgin Mobile (for non-contract providers). Even more interesting is that it would appear that ...

and more »

TD Waterhouse, Desjardins Bank and Steinbach Credit Union Named Top Customer ... - San Francisco Chronicle (press release)


TD Waterhouse, Desjardins Bank and Steinbach Credit Union Named Top Customer ...
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
It remains clear that the banking and credit union industries, who consistently preach customer service, are clearly in disarray when servicing its general email inbox" added LaCoste. Surviscor has four response level standards, platinum, gold, ...

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Healdsburg Customer Services Get Thumbs Up - Patch.com


Healdsburg Customer Services Get Thumbs Up
Patch.com
"The presentation was part of our Pride in Public Service campaign," Pettus said. "We want to inform the City Council and public of the high level of service provided by city employees." The Customer Service survey evaluates employees in all ...

Women like customer service at Scholfield Honda - Kansas.com


Women like customer service at Scholfield Honda
Kansas.com
His Scholfield Honda has been recognized a couple of times recently for offering great customer service to women. On Wednesday, Forbes wrote about a survey that WomenCertified conducted last fall for Dealer Magazine, which Scholfield calls one of the ...

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Acura of Las Vegas earns marks for customer service - Las Vegas Review-Journal


Acura of Las Vegas earns marks for customer service
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Celebrating Acura of Las Vegas' strong numbers in the Customer Service Index are, from left, Brad Garrett, service director; Tim Donnelly, general manager; Chris Biehl, general sales manager; and Louie Doblado, sales consultant. In the car business, ...

Apple's Customer Service Still Very Good, but Slipping - Tom's Guide


Apple's Customer Service Still Very Good, but Slipping
Tom's Guide
Market research firm Vocalabs has found that Apple has considerably slipped in its customer satisfaction scores for tech support between 2010 and 2011. In 2010, 22 percent of Apple users said they experienced problems with the automated (IVR) portion ...

KeyBank Continues to Receive Industry Recognition for Exceptional Customer Service - MarketWatch (press release)


KeyBank Continues to Receive Industry Recognition for Exceptional Customer Service
MarketWatch (press release)
9, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- KeyBank continues to receive industry recognition for exceptional client service by achieving a high ranking in overall customer satisfaction in the JD Power and Associates 2011 Small Business Bank Satisfaction Study.

and more »

Customer service still dogs Telstra - CIO Magazine


Sydney Morning Herald

Customer service still dogs Telstra
CIO Magazine
Telstra chief executive, David Thodey, has conceded that progress remains slow on improving the telco's customer service record, despite making it a top priority in the last 18 months. Speaking at an analyst briefing on the telco's financial results ...
Mobiles prop up Telstra bottom lineSydney Morning Herald
Telstra delivers revenue, profit and customer growth; guidance confirmedAIM Group
Telstra details benefits of social media service strategyTechnology Spectator
The Australian
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American Airlines Employees Recognized for Excellence in Customer Service - MarketWatch (press release)


American Airlines Employees Recognized for Excellence in Customer Service
MarketWatch (press release)
8, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- American Airlines is recognizing its employees around the airline's network for excellence in customer service, specifically measured by improved customer experience and innovative problem solving for the fourth ...

and more »

In Customer Service Push, Microsoft Invests In 24/7, Which Acquires Voxify - Wall Street Journal (blog)


Rediff

In Customer Service Push, Microsoft Invests In 24/7, Which Acquires Voxify
Wall Street Journal (blog)
By Deborah Gage People who are forced to engage in online chats with virtual customer service agents–or who are passed from agent to agent without getting their problems solved–are likely to get highly frustrated and take their business elsewhere.
Microsoft Joins Forces with 24/7 for Customer Service SoftwareITProPortal
Microsoft strikes deal with 24/7, promises to 'redefine' customer serviceEngadget
Microsoft Teams up With 24/7 for Customer Service SoftwarePCWorld
Destination CRM -Fox Business -The Seattle Times
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