Customer relations is an integral part of your job-not an extension of it.

-William B. Martin

Customers don't distinguish between you and the organization you work for. Nor should they. To your customer's way of thinking, you are the company.

Customers don't know how things get done behind doors marked EMPLOYEES ONLY. They don't know your areas of responsibility, your job description, or what you personally can and cannot do for them. And they don't care. To customers, those things are your business, not theirs.

Whether customers' feelings about the organization are good or bad often relates directly to their experience with you. Their attitude is clear: "Help me with this purchase, please." "Serve me my meal." "Solve my problem". Take my order, now." Whether customers' feelings about the company are good or bad often relates directly to their experience with you.

Each interaction between a customer and a service professional is one moment in the chain of the customer's experience. If you're a service person, and you get it wrong at your link in the chain, you are very likely erasing from the customer's mind all the memories of good treatment he or she may have had up to that moment. But if you get it right, you have a chance to undo all the wrongs that may have happened before the customer got to you.

Consider the gargantuan task faced by the city of Atlanta for the 1996 Summer Olympic games. Literally thousands of service professionals, many of them unpaid volunteers, worked to create memorable and gracious encounters for the two million-plus visitors. A good friend described his experience coming into the city: "We arrived disoriented at a midtown MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta 'transportation Authority) station with no idea where to go. We approached a MARTA employee, who smiled and assured us amid the mad- ness, that 'everyone gets a little lost in this neighborhood,' and walked us into the street and pointed us in the right direction. You won't get that in New York-or Chicago, or London, or Paris, for that matter. "

Day four of the games was overshadowed by the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, an event designed to wreak mayhem and panic. Yet the Olympic staff, ushers, and volunteers responded with calm and resolve. Our friend was there in the bombing's aftermath. "After the bombing it seemed their number-one job became apologizing for the security delays and helping visitors take keepsake photographs," he said. "It was, in fact, almost impossible to be at a venue without bumping into a volunteer or usher who didn't cheerfully offer help and assistance."

just like the service professionals at the 1996 Summer Olympics, you can make or break the chain of great service.

Is it fair? No. But fair has nothing to do with it. When your job involves serving customers and dealing with the public, how good a job you do with and for them-for the nice and the nasty, the smart and the dumb, the people you'd like to take home to mother and those you really wish had never been born-determines how successful your company will be.

Some of the things you do to provide Knock Your Socks Off Service are relatively simple and easy, such as choosing your language carefully.

TIP: Use I instead of they or we, To a customer, the company begins and ends with you. Using / shows that you understand and accept that: "/’m sorry you had to look so long to find the dress department. May I help you find anything else?"

TIP: Saying "the policy is . . . " or " they won't allow . . . tells customers you are just a clerk, If that's the way you feel, you won't ever be able to help them-and could easily be replaced by a machine or walked on like so much carpet.

Other actions you take are more complex. Customers expect you to make the organization work for them. They expect you to understand the big picture and to be able to answer their questions, solve their problems, and refer them to just the right people for just the right things.

What your customers want and need is changing constantly. So is your company, and so are you. How can you possibly keep up? Let the following three questions guide your personal-service efforts. Don't just ask them once. Ask them all the time. Use the information they provide to choose actions that will Knock the Socks Off your customers.

1. What do my customers want from me, and from my company? Think both about what your customers need and what your customers expect.

2. How do support areas, e.g., billing or shipping, work to serve my customers? Consider your role in making the different areas of your company work in harmony for your customer.

3. What are the details-little things,-that make a big difference in my customers' satisfaction? Knock Your Socks Off Service is paying attention to what's important in your customers' eyes. Do you know what counts for your customers?

Being the company to your customers is what makes the work you do both challenging and rewarding. In your one-to- one contact with customers, the once vague, impersonal company takes on shape and substance. In your hands is the power to make that contact magical and memorable. In your hands is the power to keep customers coming back.

From this moment forward, make this your pledge:

"Look out customer-I'm gonna knock your socks off."

Customers perceive service In their own unique, Idiosyncratic, emotional, irrational, end-of-the-day, and to- tally human terms. Perception is all there is!

Customers are demanding. And they have every right to be. Today's customers have more options than ever before. If your organization doesn't offer what they want or need, if you don't interact with them in a manner that meets or exceeds their expectations, they will just walk on down the street-or let their fingers walk through the Yellow Pages-and do business with one of your competitors.

And if you don't have customers, you don't have a job! Researchers consistently find that it costs five times more to attract a new customer than it does to keep one you already have. But many businesses think only of making the sale instead of developing long-term customer relationships. Even more disturbing, researchers also find that at any given time, as many as one customer in four is dissatisfied enough to start doing 'business with someone else-if he or she can find someone else who promises to do the same thing that you do but in a slightly more satisfying way. That's as many as twenty-five out of every one hundred people your organization does business with.

Most disturbing of all is the finding that -only one of those twenty-five dissatisfied customers will ever tell you that he or she is dissatisfied. in fact, you've probably noticed from your own experience how rare it is to deal with customers who can do a really good job of telling you what they want. More often, they just expect you to know-and are disappointed when you don't.

That's why companies spend a lot of time and money these days observing customers as they shop, surveying them by mail, talking to them on the phone, and meeting them face- to-face. Like miners working a claim for the gold they know is there, today's businesses collect and sort customer, letters and comment cards, looking for the complaints and the compliments that provide clues about what people want today-and how their needs may change tomorrow.

As a customer service professional, you frequently draw on the knowledge your company has acquired about customers. But you have another, equally important source of information: your own day-to-day contact with your customers. From personal experience, you know quite a lot about what your customers want: which actions meet their expectations, which exceed them-and which disappoint them.

That's your own special edge, the foundation on which to build your own unique way of providing Knock Your Socks Off Service.

It's helpful to have a framework to hold together the things you know personally and the information passed on to you by your organization. The framework we like a lot was invented by Texas A&M researcher Dr. Leonard Berry and his colleagues at Texas A&M University. They have found that customers evaluate service quality on five factors:

1. Reliability. The ability to provide what was promised, dependably and accurately.

2. Assurance. The knowledge and courtesy you show to customers, and your ability to convey trust, competence, and confidence.

3. Tangibles. The physical facilities and equipment, and your own (and others') appearance. .,

4. Empathy. The degree of caring and individual attention you show customers.

is dissatisfied. in fact, you've probably noticed from your own experience how rare it is to deal with customers who can do a really good job of telling you what they want. More often, they just expect you to know-and are disappointed when you don't.

That's why companies spend a lot of time and money these days observing customers as they shop, surveying them by mail, talking to them on the phone, and meeting them face- to-face. Like miners working a claim for the gold they know is there, today's businesses collect and sort customer, letters and comment cards, looking for the complaints and the compliments that provide clues about what people want today-and how their needs may change tomorrow.

As a customer service professional, you frequently draw on the knowledge your company has acquired about customers. But you have another, equally important source of information: your own day-to-day contact with your customers. From personal experience, you know quite a lot about what your customers want: which actions meet their expectations, which exceed them-and which disappoint them.

That's your own special edge, the foundation on which to build your own unique way of providing Knock Your Socks Off Service.

5. Responsiveness. The willingness to help customers promptly.

Chances are, almost everything you do to and for your customers falls into one of these categories. Consider these common examples:

1. When you fulfill a customer order on time, you show reliability.

2. When you smile and tell a customer, "I can help you with that"-and do-you build assurance.

3. When you take the time to make yourself and, your work area presentable, you are paying attention to the tangibles.

4. When you are sensitive to an individual customer's needs when solving a problem, you show empathy.

5. When you notice a customer puzzling over a product and offer help and information, you show responsive- ness.

TIP: Combining the first letter of each factor-Reliobility,Assurance,Tangibles,Empathy,and Responsiveness-sols the word RATER. It is a handy way to remember these important attributes. Try organizing what you know about clients using RATER, Example: In Mr. Smith's file, next to Responsive- ness, you could have a note that reminds you of his responsiveness preferences. Something like "Customer is sensitive to callbacks. Return all his calls ASAP. "

All five factors are important to your customers. In the next five chapters, let's look at each of these pieces of the customer service puzzle in more detail to see how they combine to create people-pleasing Knock Your Socks Off Service.

Customer expectations of service organizations are loud and clear: look good, be responsive, be reassuring through courtesy and competence, be empathetic but, most of all, be reliable. Do what you said you would do. Keep the service promise.

-Dr. Leonard Berry

Researcher, Texas A&M University

Undertake not what you cannot perform but be careful to keep your promise.

As commander in chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, George Washington was well aware that the lives of thousands of men and the fate of an emerging nation rested on his ability to know what could and could not be accomplished. He had to deliver on his commitments. There was no room for misjudging the situation.

As a service professional, you are part of another kind of revolution: the service revolution. And while lives are seldom on the line, a little piece of the future of your company is- every time you face a customer. That's where reliability comes in.

Reliability means keeping the Service Promise: doing what you say you will do to and for the customer. To the customer,

the Service Promise has three distinct parts: organizational commitments, common expectations, and personal promises.

1. Organizational commitments. Organizations make direct promises to customers through advertising and marketing materials, in company correspondence and contracts, and in service guarantees and policies published for everyone to see. In addition to these, customers will hold the company to indi- rect commitments-promises that customers believe are implied in the way the company talks about itself, its products, and its services. Or customers may hold organizations to commitments that they believe are standard for the industry.

Consider customer expectations about overnight delivery services. Federal Express, an international overnight delivery service, promises and provides mornent-by-moment package tracing. If you want to confirm that your package will arrive on time, simply dial up FedEx's computer tracking system to learn that your package is in a truck on the corner of Maple and Vine, expected to reach its destination within fifteen minutes. Other shippers should not be surprised when customers demand, "What do you mean, you can't tell me exactly where my package is? You're in the overnight shipping business so you have to be able to do that!"

2. Common expectations. Your customers bring additional expectations with them to every service transaction. Based on their past experiences with you and with other service providers, customers make assumptions about what you can and can't do for them. Failing to meet a customer expectation, whether you knew about it or not-even whether you helped to shape it or not-has the same impact as breaking any other promise.

For example, many restaurants routinely post a sign warning that they "cannot be responsible for items left in the cloak room." However, when customers hand their items directly to an attendant, most assume that the belongings will be guarded. Having a staffed coat check rather than a simple coat rack creates a common expectation of security.

3. Personal promises. The majority of customer service promises come from you. These are the promises you make when you tell a customer, "I'll get right back to you with that information," or "You should expect to receive that package in two weeks," or "I understand the problem you are having with your computer, and this software support disk will solve it."

Knowing what customers expect is the first step to creating Knock Your Socks Off Service. by asking questions and really listening, you will be able to discover the details of the service Promise your customer expect you to fulfill.

The Service Promise can and should be managed. Once you know what your customers do and don't expect-the promise--you are in a position to shape your customers' expectations to match what you actually can and will do for them. When you do that well, customers perceive that your services are reliable.

Let's say you are a salesperson in a store selling custom- built furniture and Jane Dowe comes in looking for a desk and credenza. She's never purchased custom-built furniture be- fore, and assumes-has an expectation-that you have most models in stock, that she'll be able to take her purchase home with her today. Your challenge is to reshape her expectation to

match what your organization can do for her: You show your organization's promise-commitment to quality products-by leading her to several sample desks and credenzas on the show floor. Perhaps there is even a display showing the custom manufacturing process. You reinforce the organization's message with a personal promise: "Our custom desks allow us to combine the features that best meet your needs with the highest quality craftsmanship. If we can finalize the design today, I can have your desk delivered in two weeks."

Now Jane has a clear understanding of the Service Promise. She may decide that the wait is worth it because of the quality involved. If she really needs the desk today-in which case, you can't change her expectation this time-at least she

will leave your store knowing the difference between custom- made and off-the-shelf, and that you are concerned with her satisfaction. And she may recommend you to a friend or colleague based on her revised understanding of your capabilities.

Sometimes promises made in good faith can't be kept. As much as we strive to be error-free, it's inevitable that problems will occur. Not everything that affects your customer's experience with you is within your control. What should you do when the Service Promise is broken? When you discover a broken promise, or have one pointed out to you, the first thing to do is apologize. Don't waste time scapegoating-blaming yourself, your company, or your customer. Admit that some- thing has gone wrong, and then immediately find out what your customer needs now. Has the broken promise created an- other problem? Or has it, perhaps, created an opportunity for you to rescue your reputation for reliability?

For example, suppose Jane understands that her delivery will take two weeks, but now you've found out that deliveries are running about three days behind schedule. If you don't call with the bad news, you can bet she'll call you when the desk

doesn't arrive on the day she was told to expect it-and she won't be happy about the delay. On the other hand, if you take the initiative, you might discover that the delay is acceptable. Or, if she has an important meeting and needs furniture in her office on that specific day, you can arrange for a loaner until the order arrives. Then, you (and your company) look like a hero.

TIP: Never over promise just to get the sale. In today's service economy, service doesn't end with the sale; it just begins. Keeping the promises you make and making only promises you can keep is what reliability is all about.

You can't promise your customers sunny weather, but you can promise to hold an umbrella over them when It rains.

4

Knock Your Socks Off Service Is:

Responsive

A rose on time is far more valuable than a $1,000 gift that's too late.