Quality Service CH 5

Customers with Special Needs
 People for whom English is not their first language

 People with disabilities
 People from other areas who may not be familiar with the
way things are done here
 People with limited mobility
 Unaccompanied children
The Suspicious Customer
 Establish your credibility

 Ensure you know your product or service
 They will try and catch you out so don’t guess or tell them
something you’re not sure of
 Be careful what you say
 Be polite
 Don’t take it personally, they don’t trust anyone!
The Indecisive Customer
 Find out what they really want

 Ask them for the options
 Reflect back to them what they’ve said
 Assume control gently and point out the best course of
action from what they’ve told you they need
 Be logical
 Confirm a plan of action with them
 Maybe even put it in writing
The ‘know it all’ Customer
 Acknowledge what they say

 Compliment them on their research
 Be generous with praise
 Don’t put them in their place no matter how tempting
 Don’t try to be smart – you can’t win!
 Ask them questions and use them to improve your
knowledge
The Angry Customer
 Listen carefully without interrupting so you understand the
problem
 Empathise in a broad way
 Stay calm and remain polite
 Don’t escalate the problem
 Don’t take it personally, be defensive or blame others
 Propose an action plan and follow it
 Seek support if you are scared, if you can’t agree on a
solution or if the customer asks to see “whoever’s in
charge”
The Talkative Customer
 Ask closed questions

 Limit the time available for them to interrupt (don’t have long
pauses)
 Provide minimal response
 Smile and be pleasant, but don’t encourage them
 Wind up – thank them for coming, walk them to the door but
don’t be rude or dismissive
Dealing with Difficult Behaviour
 Label the behaviour, not the customer

 Listen
 Don’t get defensive
 Don’t take it personally
 Find out what the customer wants
 Discuss alternatives
 Take responsibility for what you CAN do
 Agree on action
Customer service superstars
1) The Ritz-Carlton Hotels and Luxury hotel; renowned for its personalized service and famous (and generous)
Resorts employee empowerment policy; has its own Leadership Centre often used by other
companies for development and training; motto, ‘We are Ladies and Gentlemen
Serving Ladies and Gentlemen’ has impact internally and externally.
2) Harrah’s Entertainment Gaming/Entertainment; CEO is co-author of the service profit chain; uses leading
edge database system to do ‘surgical marketing’; belief that business should be
grown by investing heavily to focus the firm on the customer rather than investing on
the tangible assets of the firm only.
3) The Walt Disney Company Entertainment; in addition to its reputation as the provider of family entertainment
and fun, Disney is known for many customer-focused approaches such as
‘guestology’ and the ‘imagineers.’
Luxury hotel; embodies a true ‘home away from home’ experience with exceptional
4) Four Seasons
personal service; ranked number two in recent Business Week survey of best
customer service.
5) Club Med Resorts; the carefree, all-inclusive holiday package company, in search of the
‘alchemy of happiness,’ has been able to make necessary adjustments along with
demographics of customer base.
4) Southwest Airlines Airline; innovation of the ‘low cost’ carrier—has continually run contrary to most of
the airline industry through its customer-service culture; considers itself a ‘customer
service business which just happens to provide transportation.’
4) Singapore Airlines Airline; at the premium end of the market, Singapore Airlines has consistently
outperformed its competitors throughout its three-and-a-half decade long history. It
has sustained its competitive advantage by effectively implementing a dual strategy:
differentiation through service excellence and innovation, together with simultaneous
cost leadership.
‘At Your Service Spotlight’: Walt
Disney – a legacy of customer
money’.
service
Disneyland is a work of love. We didn’t go into Disneyland just with the idea of making
oWalt’s personal philosophy (values, morals, religious beliefs, creative goals, innate
psychographic awareness)
oExcellence more crucial than profits
oDisney’s commitment to its customers - focus on the guest experience rather than
traditional business efficiencies
o‘Imagineering’
o ‘what ifs’
o positive alternative to saying ‘no’
o‘Guestology’
o novel approach to staff training
o internal language
o ‘wow’ moments

Key Objectives of
Effective Customer Feedback Systems
 Assessment and benchmarking of service quality and
performance
 Customer-driven learning and improvements
 Creating a customer-oriented service culture
Customer Feedback Collection
Tools
 Total market surveys
 Annual surveys
 Transactional surveys
 Service feedback cards
 Mystery shopping
 Unsolicited customer
feedback
 Focus group discussions
 Service reviews
12
Employees Do Not Cause Most Customer Dissatisfaction
The majority of customer dissatisfaction is NOT caused by employee error or attitude but
by products that cause disappointment and broken processes*
Customer expectations Customer Employee

must be set to avoid 20%-30% 20%
problems and surprises. -Failstotofollow
- Wrong expectations- Fails follow
- Customer error policy
policy
-Attitude
At least Company 40%-60% Poorly designed products,

30% of - Products and services Processes, and marketing
contacts are
don’t meet expectations create most unmet
preventable
- Marketing miscommunication expectations.
- Broken processes
*Finding based upon TARP analysis problem cause

data in over 200 consumer and B2B environments.
The Tip of the Iceberg Phenomenon
1%-5% Complain to
management or HQ
Most that complain (5-25%)

go to front line person
75%-95% Encounter a problem

but don’t complain
Proprietary © 2012 TARP Worldwide

Customer Expectation: Key Factors
Driving Satisfaction
 No Unpleasant Surprises
 If Trouble Encountered
 Accessibility – not speed of answer, when customer is using product,
preferred channel including social media
 Taking ownership, apology, believe customer is honest
 Flexibility
 Clear, believable explanation leaving treated fairly
 Reduce uncertainty
 Creating an emotional connection rather than courtesy
 Money is often not the best solution
 Timeliness and Keeping promises are table stakes
What Is Customer
Relationship Management?
Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) is…
a company-wide business strategy designed to optimize profitability,
revenue, and customer satisfaction by focusing on highly defined and
precise customer groups.

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Customers with Special Needs

 People for whom English is not their first language

 Establish your credibility

 Find out what they really want

 Acknowledge what they say

 Ask closed questions

 Label the behaviour, not the customer

oExcellence more crucial than profits

Employees Do Not Cause Most Customer Dissatisfaction

Customer expectations Customer Employee

At least Company 40%-60% Poorly designed products,

*Finding based upon TARP analysis problem cause

Most that complain (5-25%)

75%-95% Encounter a problem

Proprietary © 2012 TARP Worldwide

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