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KEYZINE: An e-zine for LEADERS:
ABOUT THE PEOPLE PART OF
BUSINESS
Volume
88, July 2008
Publisher: © Key Associates, 2008
ISSN #
1545-8873
http://www.mkkey.com/
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This Issue: On "Customer Etiquette"
Contents:
"Each small act of kindness
reverberates across
great distances and spans of time, affecting lives
unknown to the one whose generous spirit was
the source of the good echo, because kindness
is passed on and grows each time it is passed,
until simple courtesy becomes an act of selfless
courage years later and far away”
- Dean Koontz, From the Corner of His Eye
"Etiquette's yardstick is people's feelings.”
- Chris Nolan, Mastering Business Etiquette and Protocol
"Mean is so last
generation.”
- Linda Kaplan Thaler, in Interview
VIEWING CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS AS GIFTS.
SHOWING IMMENSE RESPECT FOP PEOPLE'S
TIME.
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MAINTAINING YOURSELF AS A
LEADER
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Courtesy and caring show respect for the dignity
and value of others. As a leader, you are
always looking for ways to honor the presence
of others--your customers--everyone you come
in contact with. Clients, staff, family members,
visitors, vendors, and passers-by.
A positive, friendly attitude, a pleasant tone
of voice, and suspension of judgment put a person at ease.
Small kindnesses--smiles, a gesture, compliments,
favors--make a person's day, maybe changes lives.
Etiquette is not so much about which fork to use,
as it is about principled behavior. The consequences?
Alignment, engagement, energy, delighted customers,
and improved bottom line.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
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Your thoughts on personal introductions?
With any customer, internal or external:
* Greet with a smile, establish eye contact, and offer
a
welcoming remark.
* Give your name and role, offer help (even if
they
are not your customer) and try to determine their needs.
* Address formally (Ms., Dr., Mr., Mrs.), then ask
them how they would like to be addressed.
* Continue to use their name during the interaction.
* Acknowledge anyone who approaches you, even
if you're busy or on the phone.
* Slow down and give your full listening to the customer.
We
can't get straight on our phone system. This is a real turn-off
to our customers.
The person answering the phone is often the first and maybe
the only contact an individual has with your organization.
Here are a few tips you might pass on to all staff members,
not just reception:
ANSWERING: Set a standard on number of rings (2-3).
GREETING: "Good Morning/Afternoon." Identify self
and company. (Any more takes too much of their time.)
HOLD BUTTON: "May I put you on hold?"
MESSAGES: Name, relation, and #. Read it back. Sign it.
TRANSFERRING CALLS: When possible, don't.
Help the caller, get a number and have the call returned.
If transferred, give the name and number to which you transfer.
Summarize their need to the transferee.
VOICEMAIL: Greeting, name, department, instructions for
leaving a message, and how to get help right away, if needed.
Change voicemail to explain long absences or unavailability.
Consider technological options to phone floods, e.g.,
fax-on-demand or friendly voicemail options. And with
phone trees, have a clear option to reach a live human
being.
If necessary, script routine responses. And remember,
a smile on your face comes out through your voice.
Is there a standard for returning calls and e-mails?
Establish a corporate protocol for turnaround time
on returned calls and email responses (if possible,
within 24 hours), and communicate this to customers.
If an issue is sensitive, has potential for conflict,
and maintaining relationships are important, do
not use e-mail or voicemail to replace face-to-face
contact. Eighty-five to 93% of communication is
non-verbal. Also, 10 small issues could be handled
in one meeting.
Never send confidential or sensitive information
electronically--think of the e-mail as a postcard that
everyone in the company can read (Post, 2005).
Never forward an e-mail the sender intended for you
alone. E-mail is not appropriate for formal communications
or complaints/criticism, resignations, invitations, thank
you notes or birth announcements.
Use the recipient's name in the Greeting and sign
off formally, e.g., "Best regards." Be short and
simple (less than a screen's worth).
Waiting times
are a problem for us, and I can't seem
to get people's attention on this.
Time is one item we cannot manufacture more of.
Show respect for people's time--in waiting, responses,
turn-around time, services, being on time. Always
manage expectations about time:
- Let people know what they can expect in wait
times and inform them of any delays.
- If it is not possible to meet a time commitment,
give the reasons and offer options.
- If you cannot address an issue immediately,
provide an accurate time frame.
- Beyond 15 minutes waiting time for an appointment,
practice service recovery.
- Make customers comfortable if they have to wait.
Nix the frayed magazines, burned out bulbs, lack of
privacy, inappropriate music or TV shows, industrial
seating or leaving someone unattended for long
periods of time.
EXERCISES AND ACTION ITEMS:
* Role play in meetings. How to deal with angry
customers, wait times, mistakes.
* Set time standards and protocols for greeting,
waiting, phone etiquette, e-mailing, and voice-mailing.
* Have employees shadow a customer and note
waiting times, number and type of encounters,
trip wires, and broken processes. Or send a
"mystery shopper."
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EDUCATIONAL
OPPORTUNITIES
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Customer service
training articles
http://www.phonepro.org/
DVD's, e-learning, workshops
http://www.servicetraining.com/
Print on-demand customer service materials
http://www.softskillscourseware.com/career_development_training/customer_service_training.asp?Tracking=g000Ba
Key Associates offers Customer Service training.
Call 1-888-655-3901 or visit
http://www.mkkey.com/ for a synopsis.
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OTHER
USEFUL
WEBSITES
**************************************
Etiquette Quiz: Do you have good manners?
http://www.lifescript.com/quiz/quiz.asp?bid=26333&trans=1&du=1&gclid=CI2l7p_06pQCFQ4hnAod4zlfRg&ef_id=1350:3:9abe4cfd13ed5cd8a1d651e1f249df45_564078785:RABWgUGvMUMAAHAItHoAAAAO:20080731195614
Customer service etiquette for both sides
http://blog.iliumsoft.com/?p=54
E-mail etiquette and customers
http://www.mivacentral.com/articles/email01.mv
Former Keyzines on related topics:
Volume 31,
October 2003 - Optimism
Volume
35, February 2004 - Employees as Customers
Volume 36,
March 2004 - Valuing Diversity
Volume
38, May 2004 - Cynicism
Volume
54, September 2005 - Minding Manners
Volume 73,
April 2007 - Principled Leadership
Volume 86, May
2008 - Civility
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ARTICLES/PUBLICATIONS
**************************************
Axtel, Roger E. (Ed.) Do's
and Taboos Around
the World, Wiley, 1993.
Baldrige, Letitia. Letitia
Baldrige's New Complete
Guide to Executive Manners, Rawson Associates, 1993.
Casparan, Dana May. Power Etiquette: What You
Don't Know Can Kill Your Career. American Management
Association, 1999.
Fox, Sue. Business
Etiquette for Dummies, For Dummies,
2001.
Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital and Medical
College of Wisconsin Clinics. RESPECT, May 2004.
Nolan, Chris. Mastering Business Etiquette and
Protocol.
Michelle S. Cox, 1999.
Pachter, Barbara & Susan Magee. When
the Little
Things Count...and They Always Count: 601 Essential
Things That Everyone in Business Needs to Know,
Avalon,2001.
Post, Peggy & Peter Post. Emily
Post's The Etiquette
Advantage in Business: Personal Skills for Professional
Success, Second Edition, Harper Resopurce, 2005.
Stewart, Marjabelle Young & Marian Faux.
Executive Etiquette in the New Workplace,
St. Martin's Griffin, 1995.
Thaler, Linda Kaplan & Robin Koval. The Power of Nice:
How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness.
Doubleday Business, 2006.
Thomasett, Michael C. The
Little Black Book
of Business Etiquette, AMACOM, 1991.
Whitmore, Jacqueline. Business Class: Etiquette
Essentials for Success as a Whole. St. Martin's Press,
2005.
Wyse, Lois. Company Manners:
How to Behave
in the Workplace in the 90's. Crown Trade, 1992.
Yager, Jan. Business Protocol: How to Survive and
Succeed in Business. Hannacroix Creek Books, 2001.
