At Your Service: How to Attract New Customers, Increase Sales, and Grow Your Business Using Simple Customer Service Techniques by Frank Eliason

Author:Frank Eliason [Eliason, Frank]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Business & Economics, General
ISBN: 9781118282311
Google: g6rbXtGku8cC
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 2012-04-02T21:10:55+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Driving Change in an Organization

It was not all fun or constant success at Comcast. There were many bumps in the long, winding road, which is to be expected whenever change is happening in an organization. The important thing is to understand where Customers are coming from and try to provide them the context they need in return. Social media is live and open for the world to see, and sometimes your company needs to be open as well. This is against the grain of how businesses have traditionally worked, as many companies prefer a controlled message approach. The downside to that is that others are already having the conversation out there without the company.

Product leaders sometimes get upset over commentary from Customers or service representatives, whether it is during calls or broadcast via social media. This is because as leaders, we tend to be passionate about our product, and we would never want to see negative commentary from anyone. However, sometimes negative feedback is imperative to bring about change. If something is not working, it makes sense to alert someone that it is not working and ask when he or she can expect it to be working again. Customers do not like canned responses, as they would like to know that you are listening to them and that you understand their needs.

The other challenge is that in social media or during a Customer call, you do not always have time to wait for businesses to make a decision. Imagine if you called a company with a complaint and the representative said nothing regarding the issue. Or how would you feel if the representative responded with, “I am waiting to hear what I can say!” Would it add to the trust you have for the company or the service team? Of course not.

So how do you get leaders to take a different view and increase their willingness to open up? Actually, that is the easy part. If you are taking Customer Service calls, share the actual calls with them. Review the specifics together. Maybe leaders could join your service team during the next issue. In social media, share the commentary that is being made. Ask for help in how you might respond. Beyond all this, share the Customer feedback regarding how the interactions go. Customers crave openness and knowing that someone is on their side; business leaders want to see Customers having a good experience with your company. As time goes on, leaders will realize the benefits of the openness and as they embrace it they will come to you asking for the company to do it more frequently. The first step is not being afraid to do it.

It is important that through all of this you have senior leader support. At Comcast our leadership was dedicated to what we were striving to do and, even if they did not fully understand, you knew they had your back, even when mistakes were made. I did the same for my team members in everything that they did.

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