Ben Franklin’s Two Questions: The Model of Great Customer Service

Ben Franklin spent his whole life trying to do things better. In his autobiography, he outlined his “bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection.” You may not try for such lofty achievement, but you can still use the two questions that Franklin asked himself every day to inspire yourself, your team, and your organization to develop great customer service skills and create exceptional customer experiences.

Ben Franklin teaches us about the foundation of great customer service by, each day, beginning and ending the day by asking these two questions:

In the morning: “What good shall I do this day?”

Great customer service begins with the attitude that each day is an opportunity to do good. This attitude inspires us to look for opportunities to make a difference. Each situation and each customer case we’re involved in, is an opportunity to change someone’s day for the better. Starting our day with this mentality encourages us to fix the root of customers’ problems, not just patch some of the symptoms.

Ben Franklin adds to this, great wisdom to those who sincerely want to make a difference:

Always keep in your eye the golden rule as doing as you would be done unto.

Be complaisant (agreeable/accommodating) to the meanest, as well as the greatest.

If you affront (offend) in a small matter, it may probably hinder you from a future good customer.

Strive to maintain a fair character in the world: That will be the best means for advancing your credit, gaining you the most flourishing trade, and enlarging your fortune.

Condescend to no mean action, but add a luster to trade, by keeping up the dignity of your nature.

In the evening: “What good have I done this day?”

At the close of each day, examine yourself to see if you remained true to your principles of great customer service and exceptional customer experiences. Did your actions prove your conviction of real service to your customers? Did you make a difference in resolving problems and not just patching symptoms? If we can without question, know that we have made a difference, and specifically point out situations that demonstrate our customer-focused actions, we’ll be well on our way to setting the standard for great customer service.

What Ben Franklin believed in, he believed in with a passion. This belief with passion, combined with creativity, problem-solving skills, common sense, and wisdom, are the building blocks to great customer service and lay the foundation of developing exceptional customer experiences.

TheMana.gr, LLC. is a premier customer service management blog. Flavio is a featured Customer Service blogger. Successful organizations embrace, live by, and innovate in awesome customer service, amazing customer experience, unique customer interaction and customer delight. What Ben Franklin Teaches Us About Customer Service

Give ‘em the Pickle

Bob Farrell’s classic program focuses on the motivational side of service. Farrell’s wit and wisdom sparkle throughout the program as he explains how great service was the hallmark of his ice cream shop empire in the 1970s.

Give em the Pickle was his service battle cry. A simple phrase that means that you need to give your customers that extra special service – something beyond the normal like free pickles with their order or singing the birthday song to children on that special day.

This customer service video is still one of the best-selling program on the market, used by thousands of service trainers through the world. Farrell keeps the information general enough to be used in any sector of the business world.

TheMana.gr, LLC. is a premier customer service management blog. Flavio is a featured Customer Service blogger. Successful organizations embrace, live by, and innovate in awesome customer service, amazing customer experience, unique customer interaction and customer delight. Inspire Great Customer Service – Give ‘Em The Pickle

Great customer service is a skill that is acquired through customer service training by individuals with the right mentality, the right attitude, and who carefully practice the right behaviors, mannerisms, terms, and actions that are specific to great customer service. 

One challenge is figuring out if we’re being effective in our customer service training program. Are we getting the most from the trainings? Are we being effective in correctly teaching the principles of great service? Unfortunately, there are 5 customer service training mistakes we all make. These mistakes lead us to poor or mediocre training programs.

The fact is that there is an abundance of poor-to-mediocre customer service training out there that companies opt for because it can save many thousands of dollars in the initial investment.  The problem is, of course, is that the money they do spend ends up going out the window.  It’s like throwing a glass of water against a forest-fire.

-Shaun Belding, Belding Skills Training Group

Shaun Belding, head of the Belding Skills Training Group has written about how to select the right training program and I want to discuss the 5 customer service training mistakes we all make.

1. Do-it-yourself Trainings

Sure, anything you do yourself will have a cheaper price-tag, but unless you’re a certified instructional designer with a great deal of expertise in customer service training, it is unlikely your program will make a significant difference to your business.

Reach out to customer service training companies and plan on involving them in a yearly seminar for your organizations. Reach out to individual customer service industry thought leaders and ask them for advice and input on your situation. The outside perspective is extremely valuable at helping you see where you really are and where you can improve.

2. Self-directed Trainings

If you’re reading “customer service for dummies” books, then you’re probably not ready to train an entire organization on customer service. Great customer service is a skill, not a recipe. Service leaders need to be the ones who live and breath the right behaviors, mannerisms, terms, and actions that make up great service.

There are tons of self-directed programs out there – workbooks, videos, web-based programs – but they rely heavily on the participants already being engaged and excited about the process.  At best, only about 20% of participants will retain anything of value.  (Having said this, self-directed programs can have great value as part of an overall, integrated customer service training program)

3. Off-the-shelf Trainings

Service is culture. It requires conversion, not worksheets. Too many times, generic programs aren’t effective at converting individuals to the service culture. Generic programs oftentimes miss out on helping individuals specifically apply the service principles to their day-to-day work.

Standard, generic programs that rely on participants making the leap from general theory to application in your industry are only marginally effective, and are often painful to sit through.

4. Generic Trainings

Some organizations try to lump service trainings with trainings for other areas of business. Customer service is a skill (Wow, déjà vu anyone?). It takes time, correct principles, and practice, practice, practice.

If you’re training Excel Spreadsheets 101 one day, and Customer Service 101 the next, it’ll be a long time before your people really master the art of great customer service.  There is no way they can possibly be as effective as training coming from a company that lives, eats and breaths customer service.

5. One-dimensional Training

Great customer service isn’t something that’s just talked about in a classroom, or in a weekly or monthly meeting. It’s talked about, lived, and practiced each day. For customer service trainings to be effective, you’ll need components in place to support it and transfer the learning into new behaviors in a live environment.

This should include corresponding management training, follow-up session, individual coaching, review of practice, etc.  Your training should also be supported with a performance measurement program, coaching and a reward and recognition program.

Effective training should have a significant and measurable effect in the workplace, and ultimately with your customers.  Effective customer service trainings will change your workplace environment. It creates a sense of excitement among your employees. People want to do good. People want to feel good. Great customer service gives us the opportunity for both. But only if we effectively train them how to do it.

TheMana.gr, LLC. is a premier customer service management blog. Flavio is a featured Customer Service blogger. Successful organizations embrace, live by, and innovate in awesome customer service, amazing customer experience, unique customer interaction and customer delight. 5 Customer Service Training Mistakes We All Make

Let’s review 5 basic steps to training great customer service.

Great customer service and developing exceptional customer experience is a journey for customer service managers, customer service teams, and service focused organizations. It won’t change overnight, but with the right map in place, you can get started on the right track. Damien Clarke , Managing Director of Newarke Corporate Training, shares the basic steps to our service map.

To provide exceptional customer service, employees need to be trained; there is no way around it. In order to provide the most benefit to employees, a customer service training program needs to be provided by individuals who are committed, knowledgable, and passionate about customer service and customer experience. Here are the 5 basic steps that training customer service should include.

1. Customized Customer Service Training Program

If the training program is not designed with the specific needs of a business in mind it will not be as successful as it could potentially be. What one company does for customers may not be right for another. But both organizations can still provide great customer service.

• Zappos isn’t known for their upscale service experience.
• The Ritz Carlton isn’t known for their quirky, fun-loving employees.

2. Make Customer Service Trainings Fun, Engaging.

When employees are counting the minutes until a training program is over, there is no way they will actually apply the principles that they are learning. The training program must be engaging.

• Ditch the powerpoint, or use it sparingly (don’t just read off of it).
• Include an activity where employees take principles and have to apply it.
• Include a memorable, visual element to the training (video, prop, picture).
• Provide follow-up documentation for review.

3. Reward Great Customer Service, Not Just Metrics.

Getting team members involved and committed to continued great customer service requires you to develop a reward system for implementing service strategies. Especially in the beginning employees need to be rewarded for applying the strategies they learn for providing good service.

• Provide small rewards for great service experience (gift cards, movie tickets, treats).
• Include service aspect in regular employee reviews.
• Ensure that metrics don’t undercut your customer service ideals.

4. Always Preach Customer Service as Motivation

Any effective customer service organization must incorporate a bit of the inspirational speaking into their service focus. Employees must be self-motivated about implementing what they are learning and an effective customer service training can inspire those kinds of feelings.

• Provide quick, motivation emails, chats on a weekly or bi-monthly basis.
• Plan bigger, organization-wide motivation activities quarterly or semi-annually.
• Ensure that ALL company-wide communication has a customer service tone.

5. Follow-up and Ongoing Customer Service Training

Probably the most important factor in training great customer service is providing consistant, ongoing customer service training. Customer service training can’t be a one-time thing. It can’t be a semi-annual or even a quarterly thing. Great customer service will require follow-up with employees and management to ensure that the service principles are being implemented.

Improving the level of customer service training provided within an organization can do wonders for improving customer satisfaction and will be key in creating exceptional customer experiences. A successful customer service training program can and should change the whole mindset toward customer service within an organization for the long-term.

TheMana.gr, LLC. is a premier customer service management blog. Flavio is a featured Customer Service blogger. Successful organizations embrace, live by, and innovate in awesome customer service, amazing customer experience, unique customer interaction and customer delight. 5 Basic Steps to Training Great Customer Service

Ever wonder why there are some many books, articles, seminars, and so many questions surround the essence of great customer service, yet we still struggle with bad service?

As customer service industry thought leaders, we’ve done a poor job at helping business managers and executives realize the external value of great customer service to customers, and the positive impact great service has on the internal culture of an organization and its employees.

Jenny Towers, a Customer Service Trainer with Customer Service Specialists, has discussed what great customer service is, and how we can make sure we’re on the right track to provide it. I’ll break down her thoughts into what exactly is great customer service and what is so great about it.

Times have changed, and what you would have previously considered “good customer service” is just no good anymore. We have higher expectations then we did previously. Unfortunately, while our expectations as customers increase, service levels from providers continue to decrease.

Good customer service is cliché. TV ads, websites and the sign hanging on your hairdresser’s wall claims the business’ stupendous customer service policy. Does anyone even know what that means? That they greet you with a smile? That they have a bullet proof money back guarantee? That they inundate your email inbox with “unique offers” especially for you?

It could mean all of these things. It could mean none of them.

The phrase “good customer service” is quite vague. However, if we don’t know what it is exactly, how do we expect to achieve it?

Great Customer Service Begins by Perfecting Your Service Delivery

In the service industry, good customer service is delivered in multiple parts:

• You’re completing projects on or before the deadline.
• You’re delivering correct quotes on jobs.
• Your work is proofread.
• You’re answering emails efficiently and politely.
• You have an impeccable phone manner.
• You’re professional in all you do.

Then there are the skills that are less obvious, that really over-delivers on customer service and will make your clients LOVE you. These are a bit harder to define but will get you referred, noticed and remembered.

Great Customer Service is Achieved Through Customer-Focused Experiences

Things like:

• Remembering how clients like their coffee, and having it ready when they walk in the door for appointments.
• Cold water on hot Summer days.
• Hot chocolate on cold Winter days.
• Remembering personal details the client tells you and asking them how things are going.
• Sending birthday, Christmas and thank you cards to clients.
• Acknowledging clients when you see them outside the work environment.
• Knowing and delivering and focusing on what the client needs and what they want.
• Educating staff to become familiar with clients, so they can provide personal service too.

In essence, great customer service comes down to thinking, planning, and showing that you take thought to your customers’ needs. Great customer experiences come from showing that you actually think about your customers.

People love to be loved and made special. So as long as you love your clients (which you should anyway, they are the ones that keep your head above water), they will love you back, and then they will tell their friends about you.

Good customer service is about meeting all your customers’ needs, and then some. Think about how you like to be treated as a customer, and give the same in return. You want to be treated well and served quickly and efficiently – why wouldn’t you offer that to your customers?

It’s not really rocket science; great customer service and great customer experience really is just fulfilling basic human needs.

TheMana.gr, LLC. is a premier customer service management blog. Flavio is a featured Customer Service blogger. Successful organizations embrace, live by, and innovate in awesome customer service, amazing customer experience, unique customer interaction and customer delight. What Exactly Is Great Customer Service?