Another “Shining” Service Rep (and a Technician, too!)

I received a lot of feedback on Twitter about my last post regarding “Mary”, the Rep who realized she had lost her “shine”.  I realized there are so many other great Customer-focused Representatives who never get kudos outside of their work area or unfortunately never at all.

Some time ago, I attended an end of the year “awards” program one of my clients held at their call center.  Many awards were given out to Reps who had met certain metrics or overall goals.  When my client asked for some great stories to share about a time when they felt that they had created a great experience for a Customer the room fell silent.  No one wanted to “toot” their own horn.  One person finally stood up and said she wanted everyone to know what “Sally” (the Rep sitting next to her) had done to help a customer.

It seems that a call had come in from an elderly lady who was concerned that somehow her “utility” service had been cut off.  Perhaps a bill hadn’t been paid, she said. The Customer asked if the Sally could read the bill information to her as she was almost blind and couldn’t see everything.

Sally took care of her request and then told the Customer that in order for her service to be turned on, she (the customer) would have to go outside, find the system and check/enable something prior to the Technician coming out. Sally asked if the woman had a neighbor or relative who could assist her.  The woman replied that her neighbors worked odd hours and weren’t home.  Her family all lived out of the area.

Sally assured her that she would look for other solutions and call back.  She scheduled the woman for the “service” to be turned back on and noted the problem with the Customer’s vision in her record. It appeared the Technician would be out later that day but the Customer “check” outside was still an issue needing to be resolved.

Sally looked at the woman’s address again and discovered that the Customer lived close by.  When her early shift was over, Sally decided to drive there and see if the woman needed help. Upon arrival, she found that the Customer’s service was back on.  The Technician had read the service note Sally had recorded and took care of what the Customer was supposed to do.  The woman was almost in tears as she thanked Sally and told her how much she appreciated her coming to check whether she needed help. She added that the Technician was so friendly and helpful too.

….The Reps burst into applause. Sally just smiled.

Later, the Manager told me that Sally had said: “It’s my job to make sure every Customer is well taken care of.  If I hadn’t gone there or if the Technician hadn’t helped her, who would have? It was the right thing to do”

Reps can’t always go to Customer’s homes to help, but they can learn other ways to go “above and beyond” if management encourages and trains them to think that way.

Customer Service Reps Who Shine

I meet a lot of Customer Service Reps.  I  meet some who are average,  a few who really need a career change and then others who really shine.  This week as I worked with a client, I heard a great story from a Rep (I’ll call her Mary),  who was struggling with building rapport with Customers and creating a wonderful Customer Experience for them.  She used to shine but now felt like her light was dim.

During our coaching session, Mary told me that after my first visit to their Center (not a coaching visit, but an operational consulting visit during which I sat with each of the Representatives as a part of my review), she had thought more about how she was treating the Customers.  She provided accurate information and took care of their problem but  she felt there was more she could do for them.  Mary told me that she felt that she needed to revive her “interest” in callers and listen more for clues in order to be more proactive to help them.  She told me she thought she had lost that ability in recent months and had been more robotic in her approach.  She asked for help re-learning how to make them feel important instead of being just call number 6,458 this week.

This is music to the ears of any service skills Coach so I was delighted needless to say and offered my assistance.

Then Mary related a story which demonstrated the “above and beyond” customer experience she had offered in the past.  Mary told me that a regular Customer (consumer) had called one day for assistance with his bill, and instead of his usual upbeat tone, the Customer sounded upset and sad, close to crying, she thought.  She asked him if he was upset about something related to his business with them.  The Customer said, no, but a very good friend of his had just committed suicide that day.  Mary offered him her condolences and took care of his billing issue promptly.  After ending their call, she went to lunch and found a Sympathy card and upon her return, sent it to the Customer.

Two days later, Mary received a call transferred from the Switchboard. It was the same Customer.  He had received her Sympathy card and couldn’t believe that someone at the company would think enough of him to send such a thoughtful card.  In doing this simple act of kindness for a Customer, she had made him feel more than just an account number.  In discussing this, she realized how many other opportunities there were to make a Customer feel important, and not just by sending a card, but during the call itself.  Mary was well on her way to returning to becoming a “shining” Service Rep once again.

Sometimes in the rush to take calls and with all of our focus on meeting metrics, we forget that we are talking with real people.  The advantage we offer via phone and in person versus online help or transactions is the personal touch we provide…..the ability to make that Customer feel important during those few minutes of the call or after as this Rep had done.  We may not always be able to send cards or other personal touches to all of our Customers.  But, we can make Customers feel important during the call by our tone, our questions showing interest, our empathy when they share a concern and by our appreciation for their time, their patience and their business.  They are more likely to remember how well you treated them rather than how quickly you took their payment information.