Fresh Notes on Customer Service

Treat the Employee as #1 and the Customer as #2 and You Will Get Customers for Life

Michael D. Brown

• Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781626343634
• eBook ISBN: 9781626343641
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Personal Success

Gain a competitive edge in your business by providing world-class customer service!
?The importance of superior customer service in today's global economy cannot be understated. In Fresh Notes on Customer Service, author Michael D. Brown challenges the way businesses approach customer service by introducing a revolutionary idea: Treat the employee as #1 and the customer as #2 and customer satisfaction will increase exponentially—along with your bottom line. A short, no-fluff handbook for those seeking to reinvigorate their workforce, Fresh Notes includes brief self-assessment surveys to help readers clarify their current customer service approach and offers valuable advice tailored specifically toward their needs. By following Brown's 6.5 straightforward and easily implemented tips for achieving Fresh Customer Service—including "bubble-up innovation" and "smart tasking"—business leaders can change the work culture for the better by empowering their employees and giving them the tools they need to succeed. Employees today are being asked to provide world-class customer service with their hands tied behind their backs. Take steps to equip them with competitive, fresh processes and witness the unleashing of their power to satisfy the customers with world-class customer service!

“Is this the Complaint Department? Because I’ve got
A HUGE LIST of complaints, Mister!”

WORLD-CLASS CUSTOMER SERVICE

I KNOW YOU’RE BUSY, so I’ll make this quick. We’ve all suspected that America has become an impatient nation. Now a poll from the Associated Press (AP) confirms this is, indeed, fact. According to the poll, we’ve become a nation that gets antsy after five minutes on hold, while on the phone, and after 15 minutes standing in a line. In another poll, almost one in four people picked the grocery checkout line as the place where their

patience is most likely to melt, along with the ice cream in their cart. In short, we Americans want it all, and we want it NOW!

What greater proof do you need to realize that today’s cus- tomers want the kind of service that exceeds their expectations? They want the kind of service that means they won’t have to wait long for the results they want. Today’s customers want Fresh Customer Service. Your commitment to reading this book and implementing my ideas about delivering Fresh Customer Ser- vice will lead to a World-Class Customer Service Experience that will, in turn, enhance your bottom line.

I can tell you, with complete confidence, that companies are still struggling to deliver an effective customer service experience—one that keeps customers satisfied, keeps them returning, and keeps them spreading the gospel of the compa- ny’s services and products. Many of these same struggling com- panies have made a strong commitment to customer service, and that is critically important to the company’s bottom line.

“It’s settled, then. Our new slogan is:
‘Treat Every Customer Right.”

Yet, often times, the customer service commitment is delivered by an ill-defined, stale program. Short-term initiatives are force-fed to apprehensive employees utilizing such things as glossy print materials with vague, inadequate phrases: “Customers Are #1,” “Treat Every Customer Right,” and “Take Care of the Customer.” These clichés often fall on deaf ears. Year after year, when they’ve racked their brains with catchy phrases, upselling, cross-selling—you name it—leaders and managers bang their heads against the wall in disbelief that customer service performance is still stagnant or, worse yet, declining.

The current trend in business is to downsize training and reduce funding to develop employees and instead spend those funds on making a great experience for the customer. In many businesses, reward and recognition (R&R) is seriously decreased, and the investment in employees is peanuts. Many of the customer service strategies being utilized today are outdated. Few actually work. Customers know the phrase, “You get what you pay for.” Very often, they get much less than what they paid for—and they know it.

In this age, a customer can find your services duplicated, or your products for a cheaper price, on the next block. So, why use the same stale, outdated, failed approach to customer service?

The business world needs a makeover. A new perspective. A fresh approach. Fresh Customer Service demystifies how to attract loyal, happy customers who will return again and again. Not only that, they will recommend your business to their family and friends. This—what some may consider a minor detail—can actually tip the scales and be the difference between a prosperous organization and one that is bankrupt. So, what’s the secret?

“I just don’t think we’re in the market for a customer service plan from 1943, Mr. Jenkins.”

The Frontline Employee

The secret is actually more of an idea—one that began to blossom in me as a child growing up in Mississippi. It was rooted in my psyche at the start of my career, when I became a hardworking Frontline Employee. It is now the reason for my success. This idea is the key to unlocking sustained long-term success in whatever area of service or production is offered by your organization. Throughout your organization’s entire proces...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Start Reading