How to lead a customer service team out of complacency
Are any of your frontline customer service staff showing signs of complacency?
According to the Oxford Dictionary, complacent means ‘Showing smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievements’. When we consider that definition through a lens of providing customer service, it shows up as staff who are unwilling to reflect on their service interactions or refresh their service skills and attitudes.
Complacency in customer service staff is not uncommon and often staff are unaware that it has crept into their service style. Why does this happen?
1. The business doesn’t have or review customer service standards. If the business doesn’t have customer service standards, then it’s easy for staff to let it slide.
2. Staff who have been in a customer service role for many years may consider themselves as the experts. When asked to review or refresh their customer skills, they roll their eyes and think…..”What more could I possibly do or learn?”
If you have customer service staff who are resistant to reflecting on and refreshing their customer service skills, now is the time to bring this to their attention. Start the conversation by confirming the business wants to review (or implement) customer service standards and that their input is vital - afterall, they are doing it everyday. Remind long term customer service staff that self assessments and reviews of customer service standards are great way to increase compliments, gain more ‘thank you’s and lower stress stress - of the customers and themselves.
The next step you can take to remove complacency is to ask the team to reflect on the below 10 Customer Service 101’s. Being curious about what stops staff from doing these things with every customer ever day, you are confirming you want to help and how important these things are to customers. Don’t judge their responses or swing into solution mode, This part of the process is to allow staff to share.
Move from question to question and take notes of the responses.
Do we acknowledge/greet face to face customers instantly? What stops us from doing this?
Do we seek and use customer’s names? What stops us from doing this?
Do we check spelling of less common customers’ names? What stops us from going this?
Do we advise how long customers will have to wait? What stops us from doing this?
Do we keep customers informed of any delays or changes? What stops us from doing this?
Do we ask open questions to clarify and confirm customer expectations and needs ( Who, What When, Why Where & How are starter words of open questions)? What stops us from doing this?
Do we say please and thank you? What stops us from doing this?
Do we smile when we answer the phone? What stops us from doing this?
Do we immediately cease co-worker conversations when an onsite customer is waiting? What stops us from doing this?
Do we share our customer service best practices and celebrate customer service excellence within our team? What stops us from doing this?
Once you have their responses, now you can work on solutions but don’t do that on your own! A team who has input into customer service standards are more likely to achieve them. Often the act of inviting staff to vent can shift them out of complacency as listening without judging is a key part of becoming a respected leader.
If you would like some help creating a culture of service excellence and/or finding solutions to any of the 10 customer service 101’s, contact us today for a FREE Customer Service Analysis.
By Cate Schreck - Service Excellence Coach and Author of The A-Z of Service Excellence.