07/10/2020
MY CUSTOMER SERVICE STORY…
Customer Service week is usually an exciting period for me because it it always forces me down memory lane to reflect on all we did back in the days to win, delight and build lasting relationships with our customers.
I spent 10 years of my early career years in customer service. First as a frontline staff, then I was moved to the back office and eventually lead several teams as supervisor and team lead from different service desks.
One of my most cherished memories is the one where I met the current board chairman about 15 years ago. Yes, that's how long it has been and how deep the relationship has become. That's intimacy at its best don’t you think?
Let's say back then my chairman was a digital immigrant and technology enthusiast (He still is I believe). He always had the latest gadget back and always had the latest news on what was going on in the ICT space even though he was an HR Director in a construction company. Broadband was making an in-road into mobile phones and my team ( A specialised digital team) was set up by my firm to support all the early adopters of the new GPRS/GSM internet service. My current chairman just bought himself a brand new Qtech palm top then and needed someone to configure it to use GPRS. It had never been done before. The “query” was “escalated” to my desk and I called him to discuss his need. That was how our relationship began.
I did not tell him that the phone was not on the list of phones supported on our network. I did not tell him to hold on while I pass the query to our technical team to look into the matter. I took ownership. I knew no body else had cracked this before and I think being a problem solver myself my immediate interest and focus was to crack this problem and be the first to get this new gadget working on our network. I asked him to allow me some time to research and get back to him on how to configure the device. He in return generously offered to share the device with me and all the user manuals that came along with it to enable me resolve the issue.
To get the phone and manual, I had to visit his office which was several miles away from my office. I had to do it outside office hours since I was working on an 8 hour shift and anything done outside work hours and the associated cost are strictly on me.
I didn't ask the company for a vehicle to enable me visit his office. I did not ask for transport fare from the company nor did I ask for a tip from the customer to cover my transportation fare. I just went there after office hours, collected the device and the manual and went home with it.
Few days later we cracked it. This became the first palm top device to be configured for GPRS on the network.
We immediately created a phone configuration manual for it and shared it with all our colleagues. Encouraging them to escalate to our team if they run into any problems. Word went round. I became a tech guru and hero and this would inform several career opportunities for me in the future.
Of course the customer was delighted. He later told me he wanted me to mentor his son who was an Engineering student at the university also. Few months and years later, he would send me up to 50000 Naira as a wedding gift, assist with my MBA and act as godfather to all my kids. Today he is my Mentor. He guided me through my career transition from Customer Service to HR and now chairs the board of our consulting firm; Haynes and Atkinson Consulting.
When we apply ourselves to the basic tenets of customer service, we not only create value for the customer and the company. But we also create lasting value for ourselves. Moments of magic, customer intimacy and assured income are only part of the benefits of service excellence.
Today delivering customer service has become a whole lot easier with improved CRM tools, Predictive and Big Data analytics, AI and improved knowledge of Customer Behavior, Customer Journey Maps, Customer Experience, Experience Clues etc. However at the center of it all is still the basic individual commitment of each employee or worker in the rank and file of the organisation to apply their individual expertise to delivering an unforgettable and magical experience at every moment of truth.
In other words, all the process, tools, technology and techniques can achieve little or nothing without the right people and teams with the right attitude and the right philosophy in the right places at the right time. That is why I am excited about the theme for this years Customer Service Week. Indeed, great teams drive Greater customer experiences. Because Together, Everyone Achieves More.
What has your experience been at the Frontline. Share some of those magic of moments you have helped to create and how it benefited you in return. I'd love to read your story.
H&A Knowledge Share
H&A would be holding a free knowledge share session on our zoom platform to commemorate Customer Service Week 2020.
DELITE (A Customer Service Week Edition)
THEME: Delivering Service Excellence Through Team Work.
MODULE 1
- What is Customer Service: the 3 Box Model
- What is good Service and why is it so important
- How to deliver magic at every moment of truth
MODULE 2
- What is a team
- The Life Cycle of a team
- Characteristics of an Effective team
- Benefits of Teamwork in customer service
- 7 ways in which team work supports and promotes good customer service.
- 7 Ways to get service teams to work more closely together
- Review of some Exceptional Customer Service Team Stories
Click on the link below to register. In the spirit of the season, please invite your team members, colleagues and friends to attend also.
http://bit.ly/DELITE-CSW
P.S: DELITE is Haynes and Atkinson's Customer Service Training programme for Frontline executives, supervisors and line managers. If you need to build your Frontline capability to deliver service excellence? Please call us. You will be glad you did.
