If you like this tip, I know you'll enjoy my book, "Influence with Ease". I've gone through all the tips that I've written over a 10 year period and, based on reader feedback, selected the best-of-the-best to merit inclusion in this book. In all, you get 101 of my most popular thirty-second tips. Plus, it's sprinkled with light hearted chuckles and cartoons to help lift your sprit - much needed when you need to deal with other humans!
Choose the CDrom version of Influence with Ease and you'll receive over 200 individual tips in a format that you can print-off and post in your workplace or forward by email to your team members.
Customer Service Blog by Jeff Mowatt
A Truth that may Shock You
May 2nd, 2013 by Jeff Mowatt No Comments
As you plan strategies for growing your business, consider this shocking irony of marketing. The people and organizations that need your services the most are often the last ones you should be targeting. For example, people who live paycheck to paycheck would benefit by engaging a professional financial planner. Unfortunately, they may be financially strapped because they choose to buy lottery tickets instead of putting that same money into an RSP. As a financial planner, you’d be better off targeting higher net-worth individuals who use financial planners; focusing those who sense they are not getting enough attention from their current planner. That’s why – when you’re talking with an ideal potential client – less of your message needs to be about your product and service benefits. And more of your message should be focused on what makes your services different than others in your industry.
Find more customer service training tips, tools, and resources at www.jeffmowatt.com
Can I Speak with the Manager?
April 16th, 2013 by Jeff Mowatt No Comments
As a manager who sometimes deals directly with customers, are you too popular? Do customers, phoning with minor questions, often ask to speak with you directly – even though your frontline staff could take care of them? While it’s flattering to be in demand as a manager or business owner, it’s a poor allocation of resources. The challenge is how to get your customers to willingly opt to deal with frontline employees. My suggestion – have the employee say to the caller, “Pat isn’t available right now. If you’d like to leave a message she typically returns calls at the end of the day. Or perhaps there’s something I can help you with right now?” Also a tip from my call centre seminars – ensure the employee enunciates (crispens consonants and rounds-out vowels) and speaks with a slightly lower pitch. That way, customers sense they’re already dealing with an intelligent competent person.
Find more customer service training tips, tools, and resources at www.jeffmowatt.com
Why Customers Shouldn’t be Number One
April 3rd, 2013 by Jeff Mowatt No Comments
One of the most frequent concerns managers and supervisors tell me is how difficult it is to find and keep good employees. The issue will only worsen as it has more to do with demographics than economics. The real problem is many managers are too focused on daily operations and customer requests, and not focused enough on fixing underlying problems. As I share in my presentations on Managing Multiple Priorities, as a manager, customers are not your first priority. Your first priority is improving ways to serve customers and create long term return on investment. So, to improve staff retention for example, it means spending the first 1.5 hours of your day on projects that a) result in hiring smarter and b) ensure existing employees are fully engaged. Then spend the bulk of your day on customer/operational issues. Finally, finish your last hour on administrivia.
Find more customer service training tips, tools, and resources at www.jeffmowatt.com
Thanks for Not Buying
March 21st, 2013 by Jeff Mowatt No Comments
It’s never pleasant when you spend substantial time with a potential customer and they finally decide to buy elsewhere. It’s hard not to take it personally. It’s like you dressed-up, put on all your charms, and still the customer was more attracted to someone else. That’s why it’s so rare and so impactful if you take a different approach… Follow-up with a note or email stating, “Thanks for your consideration”. Mention you appreciate their time, and even if they won’t be using your services now that you’d appreciate them keeping you in mind for future. Include a link to a helpful article or another small gesture. In less than a minute you demonstrate thoroughness, helpfulness, and graciousness. Ironically, over the long term you might just benefit more by losing this bit of business. Plus, it helps put the spring back in your step when you exit with class.
Find more customer service training tips, tools, and resources at www.jeffmowatt.com
When Customers Ignore You
March 7th, 2013 by Jeff Mowatt No Comments
Remember the days when people noticed good customer service, talked about it, and most importantly – rewarded you for it? Happy customers would return and spread the word. In today’s fast paced world however, people are so rushed moving to the next thing, or so distracted their mobile devices, that good customer service is overlooked. Fortunately, as I share in my seminars, there are several easy things you can do that will enhance your service and boost your business which your customers will actually notice. Best of all, they cost you nothing. Here are five for starters…
To read the complete article click: “When Customers Ignore You – 5 business building tips that cost you nothing”
Find more customer service training tips, tools, and resources at www.jeffmowatt.com
Cultivating Service Attitude
February 6th, 2013 by Jeff Mowatt No Comments
I’m often asked to speak at conferences on how to enhance customer service culture. Sure, it’s easy for employees to be enthusiastic about customer service at a theme park; customers are there for fun. It’s quite another when customers are doing business with you strictly as a means to an end, or when it’s a grudge purchase. In that environment, stressed employees will vent; trading horror stories about proverbial customers from hell. And it’s the last thing you want to have happen. Soon, it becomes OK to badmouth customers behind their backs. Eventually, that disdain gets noticed by customers and the downward spiral begins. That’s why, in my “Leading a Customer Focused Team” presentations, I encourage leaders to stage CAST meetings© (Customer Service Team Meetings) where employees share stories about their favorite customers. Want to enhance customer service attitudes? Facilitate an exchange of compliments - rather than complaints – about customers.
Find more customer service training tips, tools, and resources at www.jeffmowatt.com
The easiest way to save email time
January 23rd, 2013 by Jeff Mowatt No Comments
See if this sounds familiar… you and a co-worker or customer are emailing back and forth about a project. You need his or her response. The problem is typically the subject line for those emails doesn’t change. And usually the subject is just that; a subject – not an action (eg. Abc project). That means when your recipient scans their inbox they see the same old subject line. Your request is buried somewhere in the text box below. No wonder it sometimes takes too long to receive what should be a fast response. Try this next time… alter the subject line putting your request right into it. For example, Abc project – Pat, please reply with the Xyz info. Thanks. That’s all you need to write. No more typing in the main message box. It saves time for both of you and gets projects done more quickly. Nice when a tip improves efficiency and reduces stress.
Find more customer service training tips, tools, and resources at www.jeffmowatt.com
Your Job is in Jeopardy if you just Provide Information
January 9th, 2013 by Jeff Mowatt No Comments
An owner of a travel agency recently explained to me that when they offered seminars titled, “Travel Tips for European River Cruises”, their yearly registrations eventually dwindled to 5 people. Fortunately, they changed the title to, “How to Choose the Right European River Cruise” and registrations jumped to over 30. The lesson – customers don’t want service providers to simply give them information. Employees who act primarily as information providers are providing virtually no value. If customers want information they can search Google; get thousands of responses in under a second, and it’s free – meaning worthless. Instead, customers value service providers who act as Trusted Advisors. Today’s customers want professionals to help them filter through the numerous options to identify which are best suited to satisfy their unique needs. Information alone is clutter. Analysis and interpretation of information is clarity.
Find more customer service training tips, tools, and resources at www.jeffmowatt.com
Is your Voice Hurting your Career?
December 13th, 2012 by Jeff Mowatt No Comments
Here’s a bizarre tidbit that I’ve noticed when clients have brought me in to enhance customer service in their call centres… I can usually tell within 10 seconds of monitoring a call whether the employee’s interaction with the customer will be positive or negative. It isn’t the nature of the call; it’s the tone of the employee. Those who earn the customer’s trust the fastest are employees who enunciate more clearly and speak with a slightly lower pitch. Crispening up your consonants and rounding out your vowels makes you sound more intelligent. That means eliminating words that sound like sorta, you-betcha, fershur. Meanwhile, lowering the pitch of your voice slightly makes you sound more rational; less emotional. Young women take note! The reminder for all of us – when it comes to talking with customers, how you sound is just as important as what you say.
Find more customer service training tips, tools, and resources at www.jeffmowatt.com
You can’t – really?
November 29th, 2012 by Jeff Mowatt No Comments
As a customer, you’ve likely asked for alterations to products or services. Sometimes those changes are straightforward; adjusting a delivery to suit your timeline. Other times you might ask for a significant change from a project’s original scope. That’s when you discover whether the service provider genuinely wants to satisfy you, or they’d rather get you out of their way. When the tables turn and you’re the one providing the service, here’s a tip to keep the customer chemistry positive. When responding to requests, rather than thinking, “I can’t”, instead switch to, “How can I?” It puts you in a problem solving rather than confrontational mindset. It’s better for the customer and better for you in the long term. Come to think of it, perhaps developing the habit of thinking, “How can I” vs “I can’t” would also serve us well when considering our other goals in life.
Find more customer service training tips, tools, and resources at www.jeffmowatt.com
