What Drives Good Customer Service
Attracting, developing, sustaining, and retaining customers is the key to profitability.
In the world of customer service, we seem to be saying one thing and doing something different. We don’t walk our talk. But we are not alone as a group of service providers who are interested in what our customers need and want. This has become an epidemic in industries worldwide.
Microsoft commissioned a major survey back in 2007 as well. Its conclusion was that the number one business issue for service providers was “customer relationships.”
The survey noted: “They value innovations that support improvement in the customer experience, and they paint a picture of corporate cultures that prioritize customers.”
The survey conclusion also asked, “Why is it that their actions don’t support this belief?”
This is a similar conclusion that I reach in my consulting business. When intellectually we know what needs to be done, why is it we just don’t get it done?
This might be a cute comment, were it not so serious. The world has clearly changed. Products are much more capable and technology is definitely influencing how they can be used. The opportunities for clients to obtain products and services from a variety of suppliers have never been so numerous. How will we defend ourselves and protect our customers from competition?
We have a serious need to provide much better training, technology, and tools to our employees, especially the ones we charge with the responsibility of satisfying customers in the parts and service groups. Without good system information, these critical employees are dead in the water.
And so far, we haven’t provided them with much good information. Many times the first question we have to ask the customer in parts support or service inquiries is, “Who are you?”
How friendly is that opening for a discussion with a potential consumer? Does it bolster a “customer relationship”? I think not. Go back to the conclusion from the Microsoft survey and note the “innovations that support improvement in the customer experience.” What have you done over the past year to enhance the customer experience in your business? More importantly, what are you planning now?
My suspicion is there was nothing in the plan last year and this is not a subject included in many of your businesses’ annual planning cycles. You know that process, don’t you?When you set budgets and create forecasts. This planning cycle needs to be focused on the customer experience, not only on your profit and loss. Companies that focus inwardly are destined to fail. It is the company that focuses on keeping their customers happy that will succeed.
Let’s look at the top focuses of the companies surveyed in the Microsoft survey.
It is very clear and straightforward to me, and I am sure to you as well. The view of the market in 2009 is cloudy and mixed at best. We might have a somewhat brighter outlook based on the more environmentally sensitive mood in the country, but the economic outlook is much more difficult than at any other time in my experience.
Yet I know that parts and service business opportunities will increase. I also know that you know your opportunity to increase business in the parts and service area is huge. But I also think it is clear you either don’t know what to do or don’t want to do it. That is a difficult position to be in, isn’t it? The customer expects us to provide leadership to them. They expect us to provide the support they require for their needs.
So do yourself and your customers a favor and ask what they want you to do for them. Don’t be shy. They will willingly tell you what it is they want and need. But be careful. If you ask and they tell you, then you will have to act. If you don’t act, you will be in more trouble than if you hadn’t asked at all.
Last month we looked at your most valuable service attribute as a business—your employees. This month we’ve looked at retaining your customers, the people who provide everything in your life.
Are you ready for the challenge? The market, your employees, and your customers wait for your answer.
Friday Filosophy #2014-46
One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for the opportunity when it comes.
Benjamin Disraeli
There’s no limit to what a man can achieve, if he doesn’t care who gets the credit.
Lang Burns Jr.
Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.
Benjamin Disraeli
It is hard to soar with the eagles if you stay up with the turkeys at night.
Man is like the turtle; in order to get ahead you must stick your neck out.
The time is now…
Parts Management – Purchasing & Expediting
The part you DON’T have in stock is what sets you apart from the competition.
This Tuesday, December 2, 2014 at 12:00 p.m. PST, Learning Without Scars will be presenting a one hour webinar on Purchasing & Expediting for your parts business.
This webinar will give a fresh perspective, and fresh methods, for providing parts to customers and mechanics on the same day they need them. These solutions will make your Parts Business stand above the rest in your field.
Before you go home every night, remember Rule #1.
To register for this webinar, please follow the link: https://learningwithoutscars.org/webinars/parts-management/purchasing-expediting/
The time is now…
Parts Management – Instore Merchandising
How can we create a successful and interesting retail store in our Parts Businesses?
Next week, on December 2, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. PST you can find out in a one hour webinar from Learning Without Scars.
You will learn:
– how our walk-in business has changed over the years
– other examples of successful merchandising from companies like Harley Davidson, Ski Doo, and Arctic Cat
– what an appealing layout looks like
– how to keep your retail area fresh and vital
– how to increase revenues through the instore merchandise available to walk-in customers
Our retail space is an often overlooked area in our Parts Businesses. By merchandising our brand, we can drive traffic back into the Parts Business, and improve our visibility among our customer base while expanding that base.
Please sign up to join us for this informative session by using the following link:
https://learningwithoutscars.org/webinars/parts-management/instore-merchandising/
The time is now…
Roles, Responsibilities, & Expectations – Parts & Service Management
It is more than job descriptions and standards of performance
Management gurus and management theory changes like the wind. From Peter Townsend to Peter Drucker to Porras and Collins and Lencioni and many more. It is much more than a cottage Industry it is a full blown educational and consultative foundation. We have gone through multiple iterations of significant things we MUST do.
We must have job descriptions and then we have to have standards of performance for each job function. That was a starting point way back when. Then we got into vision and mission statements and other buzz words. Or how about Total Quality Movement and Continuous Quality Improvement. Now let’s not forget Six Sigma and all of us needing to become “black belts.” Oh and now we have “Lean Management.” In the midst of this we have the Balanced Scorecard and Activity Based Management. Don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of benefits to each of these various “movements.” It is not just a series of passing fads. After all I grew up with Industrial Engineering. At the AED we have the Product Support series. The Handbook. The Opportunities Handbook and the Best Practices Handbook. It is a cookie cutter solution to all of our problems that we are looking for in all of these theories and from each of these guru’s. Would that it were that simple.
But let’s take a breath here and get back to some basics. There is a terrific new book out there from the Chairman of Koch Industries, called the largest private company in the world. In it one of the subjects broached is roles, responsibilities and expectations. I think that this is an extremely important book and it contains a series of good pieces of advice to contemplate.
The roles of the individuals in the parts department and the service department and the product support sales department. What are those roles? What do the employees think those roles are? How about their responsibilities? I believe this is important. Do each of the employees have a clear understanding of that which they are expected to be doing within the company? No, not their job descriptions what is their role? Or have they got to the place that they know what the process is and they repeat it as often as is necessary. This is the curse of our American business structure. We teach you how to do the job and then expect you to do it over and over again until you get really good at it. The Asians with Kaizen have a much better approach; Do the job better each and every day. Do the employees invest their intellectual capital in improving their jobs? Or do they find out how to do the job and then just keep on keeping on? This is a symptom I find in a lot of dealerships. People are doing what they are told to do and working in the business. They are not working ON the business. Do you understand the distinction there?
I believe that the employee who is doing the job knows how to do the job better than anyone else. Particularly better than the boss. So with the arrival of summer I thought it would be good to have each of us read this book on holiday. And then to ask how we can improve our daily lives by doing our jobs more effectively, more with the customer in mind, and more with making ourselves live fulfilling lives. Don’t forget In Search of Dignity by R.C. Sproul either. He reminds us that everyone wants to feel they have made a difference in their lives.
That brings us finally to expectations. What are the expectations that the employee has for their job? What are the expectations that the company has for each employee? This is much more than job descriptions and standards of performance. It becomes almost a “what do you want to be when you grow up” question. Those of you that are still reading might think this is too soft a subject but expectations are hard things. The struggle to attract and retain talented employees is all about expectations. Keeping employees happy keeps customers happy and makes money for the owners. This is not easy stuff.
So there is your vacation reading. The Science of Success by Charles Koch of Koch Industries in Wichita, Kansas. A great read and it is full of excellent points for your consideration and implementation.
Happy reading.
The Time is NOW…
Friday Filosophy #2014-45
I failed my way to success.
Thomas Edison
Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.
Mother Theresa
A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
Walter Gagehot
Don’t forget rule #6:
Don’t take yourself so darned seriously
The time is now…
Friday Filosophy #2014-44
A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.
Max Lucado
My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
Dalai Lama
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
Henry Ford
The time is now…
Parts Management – Customer Service
What Drives Good Customer Service
Attracting, developing, sustaining, and retaining customers is the key to profitability.
In the world of customer service, we seem to be saying one thing and doing something different. We don’t walk our talk. But we are not alone as a group of service providers who are interested in what our customers need and want. This has become an epidemic in industries worldwide.
Microsoft commissioned a major survey back in 2007 as well. Its conclusion was that the number one business issue for service providers was “customer relationships.”
The survey noted: “They value innovations that support improvement in the customer experience, and they paint a picture of corporate cultures that prioritize customers.”
The survey conclusion also asked, “Why is it that their actions don’t support this belief?”
This is a similar conclusion that I reach in my consulting business. When intellectually we know what needs to be done, why is it we just don’t get it done?
This might be a cute comment, were it not so serious. The world has clearly changed. Products are much more capable and technology is definitely influencing how they can be used. The opportunities for clients to obtain products and services from a variety of suppliers have never been so numerous. How will we defend ourselves and protect our customers from competition?
We have a serious need to provide much better training, technology, and tools to our employees, especially the ones we charge with the responsibility of satisfying customers in the parts and service groups. Without good system information, these critical employees are dead in the water.
And so far, we haven’t provided them with much good information. Many times the first question we have to ask the customer in parts support or service inquiries is, “Who are you?”
How friendly is that opening for a discussion with a potential consumer? Does it bolster a “customer relationship”? I think not. Go back to the conclusion from the Microsoft survey and note the “innovations that support improvement in the customer experience.” What have you done over the past year to enhance the customer experience in your business? More importantly, what are you planning now?
My suspicion is there was nothing in the plan last year and this is not a subject included in many of your businesses’ annual planning cycles. You know that process, don’t you?When you set budgets and create forecasts. This planning cycle needs to be focused on the customer experience, not only on your profit and loss. Companies that focus inwardly are destined to fail. It is the company that focuses on keeping their customers happy that will succeed.
Let’s look at the top focuses of the companies surveyed in the Microsoft survey.
It is very clear and straightforward to me, and I am sure to you as well. The view of the market in 2009 is cloudy and mixed at best. We might have a somewhat brighter outlook based on the more environmentally sensitive mood in the country, but the economic outlook is much more difficult than at any other time in my experience.
Yet I know that parts and service business opportunities will increase. I also know that you know your opportunity to increase business in the parts and service area is huge. But I also think it is clear you either don’t know what to do or don’t want to do it. That is a difficult position to be in, isn’t it? The customer expects us to provide leadership to them. They expect us to provide the support they require for their needs.
So do yourself and your customers a favor and ask what they want you to do for them. Don’t be shy. They will willingly tell you what it is they want and need. But be careful. If you ask and they tell you, then you will have to act. If you don’t act, you will be in more trouble than if you hadn’t asked at all.
Last month we looked at your most valuable service attribute as a business—your employees. This month we’ve looked at retaining your customers, the people who provide everything in your life.
Are you ready for the challenge? The market, your employees, and your customers wait for your answer.
Friday Filosophy #2014-43
A little tardy. Please excuse me.
If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes.
St. Clement of Alexandra
Success is not so much what we have as it is what we are.
Jim Rohn
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
Winston Churchill
The time is now…
Parts Management Training
Upcoming Webinar Notice
October 28th and October 29th
Don’t miss any of the four webinars being offered on Parts Operations.
For more details please go to www.learningwithoutscars.org and review the webinars available.
Don’t forget to purchase your membership and receive a 30% price reduction on all of our learning offerings for a full fifteen months.
The time is now…
Friday Filosophy #2014-42
“Do one thing every day that scares you.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
Kurt Vonnegut
“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to be better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”
Paulo Coelho
The time is now…