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View our Customer Service Webinar |
Contact Karin for more information. |
| Quote of the Month |
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The customer's perception is your reality. Kate Zabriskie |
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Upcoming
Events |
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Join CBIL at the City of Experts Annual Pre-Holiday Networking event on November 14, 2007, 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Spazio's, Maryland Heights. For registration information go to www.cityofexperts.com
Getting Ready for a New Year of Quality program will be presented on December 14, 2007, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at St. Louis Community College's Florissant Valley Campus, Training Center. Details and registration on www.cbil.org
Coming in 2008 a series of Lean Enterprise programs presented in partnership with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME).View an advance listing of program topics. |
| Joke Time! |
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I'm not saying that the customer service in my bank is bad, but when I went in the other day and asked the clerk to check my balance ... she leaned over and pushed me. |
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What's New |
The Lean Enterprise is now offering Rapid Plant assessments and Lean Readiness assessments. To learn more contact George Friesen.
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| Greetings!
Welcome to "Just Add Value," the newsletter of the Center for Business, Industry & Labor at St. Louis Community College. Our newsletter is designed to add value to you and your organization by sharing information, resources, tips, quotes and fun items.
In this issue you will learn about the work of CBIL's Customer Service practice area.
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Spotlight on Customer Service
 Understanding how we define customer service starts with understanding what it is not. Right away we think of customer service as a complaint desk, but if we treat it that way, that's what it becomes. If our service staff feels the point is to stop complainers from complaining, they will fail to identify customer trends. True customer service takes a positive view of the customer, becoming customer-focused, by getting closer to the customer. In simple terms, the basic function of customer service is to retain customers and keep them buying. |
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Meet the Practice Leader
 Karin Fowler joined the St. Louis Community College staff in 1988 and currently serves as the Business Practice Leader of Customer Service for the Center for Business, Industry and Labor (CBIL). She develops curriculum, delivers training and provides consulting services in the areas of customer service, workforce readiness, self-esteem, team building, communication, resume writing, and interviewing skills. With Karin's extensive 27 years of experience, she is a natural in designing, developing and delivering dynamic multi-media presentations to the business community.
She is a current member of the International Customer Service Association (ICSA). Karin's customer service motto is "Doing ordinary things extraordinarily well - Going beyond what is expected." To learn more about achieving exceptional customer service, view Karin's new webinar.
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As the holiday season quickly approaches, most of us will get to experience retail customer service, or perhaps a lack thereof. The days when companies were simply required to meet customer needs are over. Customers today are more and more demanding because they are smarter and have more choices. The merely satisfied customer is not necessarily going to be a loyal customer, i.e., someone who not only returns, but will promote or become an advocate for your business. In some ways, customers approach receiving service with a "Deal/No Deal mindset; that is, either exceed my expectations or I will take my business elsewhere.
How do we create work environments in which customer expectations are consistently exceeded, thus making the Deal?
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Generation Y and Customer Service
 "Tell me about your employees who are 25 years of age and younger", is a favorite question of mine during one of my workshops, "Communicating and Managing the X and Y Generation Employees". The reaction from those significantly over the age of 25 is one of head shaking and frowns. I consistently get the following replies: no work ethic, always talking on their cell phones, want to work their schedule not the one that is posted, sloppy appearance, and most of all, no communication skills. How did you answer that question?
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 How to Make Your Customers Feel Important
We can read lots of books and articles about Customer Service strategies and how to build processes that will serve customers more successfully. All of these things are valuable, but if we put all of our focus on processes, systems, strategies and procedures we may lose track of something very important: Customers are people first.
This means that each of your customers, like everyone else, wants to feel important. It is a universal truth - we all want that feeling, and will gravitate towards those that make us feel that way. Having customers gravitate towards you is a very good thing!
Here are seven ways that you as an individual, regardless of any corporate policies or systems, can make customers feel more important, written from the customer's perspective:
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Thanks for reading. We hope this newsletter added value to your day, and maybe even gave you a laugh. Email Shayna with your comments and suggestions for future newsletters. This is your newsletter, so tell us what you'd like to see.
Sincerely,
The CBIL "Just Add Value" Team
Center for Business, Industry & Labor
St. Louis Community College |
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