Using the Right Tools Makes All the Difference!
Posted: July 8, 2010 by Brad Clark - COO
Tags: Customer Feedback Tools, Customer Service
A few years ago I was remodeling our basement. Some demolition was required and not being experienced in remodeling projects, I was attacking the walls with a hammer and adrenalin. Needless to say, my progress was slow. Fortunately, my father-in-law was very experienced in construction. When I shared with him my progress, or lack thereof, he introduced me to the “sawsall,” a reciprocating saw that can quickly take down a wall and most anything else in its way. Wow! What a difference my new “sawsall” made. I finished the demolition in hours instead of days.
When it was time to do the finish work, I figured there must be a better way for cutting moldings than cutting them by hand with a saw and a mitre box. He introduced me to another power tool – the compound miter saw. My attitude completely changed. I went from hating the thought of having to cut another molding, to enjoying the next cut because it was so easy. Having the right tools made all the difference!
Empowering your managers on the front line with the right tools will help make them more effective in managing their teams. Teams that are led by effective managers deliver better service to your customers. Since your customers are the real “eyes” and “ears” on your front line, they are in the best position to tell you how you are doing. Turning customer experiences that happen every day on your front line into information that your managers can immediately act on is vital. Real-time customer feedback should be a valuable tool in your manager’s tool kit.
Here are a few tips on how to make customer feedback a more effective tool in the hands of your managers.
Attitude: “A complaint is a gift”
Be sure to cultivate in your customer feedback program the attitude of “A complaint is a gift.” Customer feedback is an opportunity to address something – good or bad. Since customer feedback makes us vulnerable as we open the door to criticism, make sure that your communication to the front line promotes the right attitude. Customer feedback must be seen as a friend…not an enemy.
Analysis: Analyze the information
Managers need to establish a routine for reviewing customer feedback. A good customer feedback program will call out service issues (alerts), customer comments, and trends. Taking the time to review this information is critical. Creating a structured process for using customer feedback, including a schedule of what to do daily, weekly, and monthly, will help everyone to understand the feedback and see the value of the information.
Accountability: Recognize and coach
Customer feedback is best utilized when managers use the customer comments to recognize and coach their teams. Recognizing an employee or a team for an exceptional act of service is the most effective way to reinforce desired service behaviors. Managers who do this regularly understand the value of customer feedback as a tool in building successful teams. Customers frequently provide excellent examples of the things they like and dislike. These examples are incredible resources for coaching your teams on the basics that bring customers back or turn them away. Remember to celebrate successes and use feedback to coach and train in every staff meeting.
Action: Do something!
As with any tool, if it sits on the shelf unused, it is of little value. However, a tool that is used regularly, and makes you more effective, becomes a critical resource to your success. Managers who use customer feedback actively to improve operational performance understand the value of this powerful tool. These managers use customer feedback to recover lost customers, to identify areas of focus, to develop action plans, to set goals, to engage employees, and to fix problems. For them, customer feedback has become an indispensable tool in their tool kit.
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