Vitaly Denisenkov: Good customer service is America, which should be opened to the majority of Belarusian companies

Vitaly Denisenkov, director and co-founder of the Borovoy Studio, shared his views on the problem that is relevant for many of our businesses - the insufficient level of customer service, and expressed his suggestions on how to solve it.

According to my observations, customer service for most domestic companies is two beautiful words. In reality, few people understand what and, most importantly, what actions are behind these words.

History from life. In the morning I drove up to the head office of a large Belarusian bank to withdraw money from the card. The amount is several million.

There were places in the parking lot, I parked the car and went to the ATM. The valet asked where I was going. Answered that to withdraw money through an ATM. To which he told me that "you have to get used to walking to the ATM."

Vitaly Denisenkov

Believe me, I am for a healthy lifestyle, but, honestly, this phrase was the last thing I wanted to hear at the beginning of the working week. After withdrawing the money, I went to the reception desk and asked who the manager of this employee in the parking lot was and who I could talk to on this occasion. The girl got excited, said “now-now” and ran away somewhere. She was gone for 10 minutes, the reception desk was empty. Realizing the futility of the situation, I left.

What is the problem? Of course, it's not the valet or the girl behind the reception desk. They simply were not trained, they were not given standards of service and treatment of customers.

Train employees to love and appreciate customers

Once I watched a video seminar by John Shoal for Sberbank "Service: a new strategy for leaders." The speaker - an American specialist in the field of service culture, who has been advising the world's leading companies on the implementation of a service strategy for more than 40 years - spoke convincingly for two hours and gave examples of good customer service: Southwest Airlines, Commerce Bank, Toyota ...

All examples were summarized by a simple thought: customers love customer-centric companies. Satisfy customers, love customers, educate, educate, educate employees.

Question. Is it really a round-the-clock call center with a friendly operator answering from the first ring, sincerely willing to help, or a small gift with each purchase, sincere smiles to customers, clean toilets and offices, filling out documents for the client, a friendly and comfortable for the client built-in process for providing services - that’s all did these seemingly insignificant details determine the success of Zappos, Amazon.com, and other super-customer-centric companies?

Yes. Of course, this was not the only, but the most important factor.

Amazon.com CEO and Founder Jeff Bezos. Photo from www.stickyeyes.com

A few more questions and examples that I propose to think about.

What is the problem of the majority of Belarusian enterprises?

Buyer Experience (taken from Facebook):

“In the department store“ *** ”generally, the most disgusting sellers. Come to them with money: “Take them, take them, just show me the right thing and the right size!”. They look at you as an enemy because you prevented them from standing and talking...”.

What is quality service?

The answer is not as simple as it seems. I would say that this is the quality of interaction between a company and a client, as a result of which the client was most satisfied with the service received. The highest reward in this case is a loyal client who will tell friends and colleagues about your service.

What makes up customer service?

Obviously, this is not a wow performance, not some kind of show (although sometimes this may be appropriate). As Carl Sewell, author of the legendary book Customers for Life, rightly pointed out: “Service is about systems, not smiles.”

First of all, this is the elaboration of the process of providing a service from the point of view of the convenience of the client, and not of the company's divisions, which includes work on reducing the time for providing the service, document flow, required actions, etc.

This is the implementation of service standards.

It's about changing the corporate culture and empowering customer service employees to take responsibility.

It is training employees to do quality work and provide good customer service.

It's about constantly improving processes, addressing the root causes of problems, not just putting out fires.

This is the creation of a common knowledge base of companies.

This is a careful recruitment of suitable employees.

These are many other actions that will increase the value of your services in the eyes of customers.

Service is a skill, talent, sincerity.

No quick pills, no secrets. Only smart long-term work in one direction - the quality of services and customer service. The result promises to be impressive.

How to change the attitude to work, to clients at the company level? How to learn to act quickly, efficiently and usefully?

Barriers to quality service are ossified organizational procedures, business processes and systems. Restructuring to a client-oriented level requires significant changes and revision of the corporate work model. First of all, you need:

1. Commitment of management to the idea of ​​improving the quality and level of service

Customer focus is a long-term strategy. I think this is the most difficult change in the company, because. affects the thinking of tens or hundreds of employees. The process is quite easy to change - a new scheme, instructions, training. With the thinking of employees, everything is much more complicated. One book or one collection will only make things worse, because people's natural attitude towards change in the early stages is the desire to be left alone. There is a good phrase: "Everyone loves change, but no one likes to be the object of change."

2. Improve the quality of service in realitynot just on paper

When customers notice that the service has improved, they think that the quality of the product has also improved.

It is known that products are consumed and services are experienced. Therefore, the level of customer service is critical for service organizations. The client, as a rule, receives something intangible, the result of the services is often individual and will be clear some time after making an advance payment. Of course, the client is tormented by doubts. Will you manage? Will it work out right? Did he make the right choice? The moment of waiting for the result is very tense. Good, sincere service helps the client to get through this moment and this significantly affects his satisfaction.

3. Training of employees and management

Nearly 95% of the factors that affect a company's reputation in the eyes of existing and potential customers are in the hands of ordinary employees. Therefore, they must be trained in proper maintenance. Regular training on how to implement a service strategy that meets the specific needs and demands of customers is the foundation of a service organization.

4. Well-established cross-functional interaction

Departments of the company must join forces and cooperate in order to satisfy customers. It is necessary to leave internal contradictions and "political games". It is difficult, but achievable, and top management plays a key role in this process.

5. Participation of all and everyone

Each employee must understand that his work affects the client's perception of the quality of service and even the quality of the product - no matter how far he is from the "front line" and direct communication with customers. At the same time, there will be no participation if employees are not sufficiently motivated to provide good service.

6. Hire people who are willing and able to serve customers

Positive, friendly, responsible, capable - these people will become the backbone of the company. A more careful selection of employees leads to better service. And further improves his subsequent regular training.

7. Creation of a system of continuous improvement of products, services and services

Only in companies that constantly improve, eliminating the causes of problems (which will always be!), Is it possible to improve customer service. Create the right problem-solving methodology, standardize and improve day-to-day service operations, revisit years of service routines, and it will lead to major improvements in product and service quality, service levels, and, ultimately, a significant increase in profit levels.

Remember: the market appreciates service leaders!

8. Service Oriented Corporate Culture

This is an aspect that we often forget about. Training, mentoring, joint development and adoption of values ​​and principles aimed at improving customer service, expelling fear of punishment for taking the initiative and trying to solve the client's problem.

Corporate culture needs to be managed. As the business grows, and in the absence of active management, your corporate culture will end up being a "hodgepodge" of the cultures of other companies. And it’s good if new employees come from McDonald’s, and not from your less successful competitors. If a customer-oriented corporate culture sprouts, then many changes will go much easier.

Instructions, video cameras, periodic training of employees also give their results. In Belarus, such companies stand out against the general gray background in terms of service. But for a really great service, this is not enough. There needs to be a shared commitment of management to the idea of ​​excellent service, it must become the genetic code of the company, its main goal.

P.S. We are inBorovoye Studios since last year, we have consciously embarked on the path of transforming the company in the direction of improving the quality of customer service and products and services. I will be happy to talk with the management of companies that have chosen this path to exchange experience.

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