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A year ago I had someone I didn’t really know approach me and offer me advice I really didn’t want. To be respectful I agreed to a free consultation which I also didn’t want and certainly believed I didn’t need! I responded to her suggestions by giving her a list of those things I was not willing to do. Shall we say, I was difficult? And defensive. I wanted to control what was happening to me. She was patient and respected the boundaries I was setting. She negotiated with me and was able to get my commitment to add a few key things to what I was already doing that would give me results I didn’t even know I wanted. She knew the results of making a few changes would motivate me to look at those things on my “do not touch’ list in a different way. I can honestly say that the feedback she gave me has changed my life. So why was I so difficult at the start? I believed her feedback pointed out my failure.

Within your offices there are opportunities every day to receive feedback that can improve you as an individual person or the operation as a whole. Maybe the feedback comes in the form of a Tooty secret shopper evaluation, a co-worker pointing out a data entry error or a customer commenting on service. It is easy to feel that the feedback given is pointing out failure when it is really offering productive and constructive information to help you (and others) grow, recover, improve, prosper or excel.

Julie Staszak, Operations Manager at Tooty Inc. shares her recent experience receiving feedback. “I just started playing golf and today I did a horrible job on the first three holes. I got frustrated. I had someone I trusted give me feedback on how I was swinging the club. I listened, adjusted what I needed to fix and what do you know? I crushed the ball like I know I can! Criticism isn’t meant to put you down, point fingers at what you did wrong or blame you for a bad result. It makes us take a look at what we are doing so we can focus on the areas we need to improve and apply changes.”

How can you be more receptive to feedback and have better results using it to improve?
1) Ask others for feedback. Keep in mind that veteran workers, those who are less experienced and those in different job positions will have different input. Those differences can be valuable. Clarify the areas you want critiqued, too. Example: Mary would you please let me know if I sound tired? I am really trying to work on my voice. Or, I am trying to shorten my talk-time. Can you tell me if there is anything I need to eliminate or abbreviate?
2) Listen to the feedback and take notes. Voice tone and wording choice used by the one providing feedback may not be to your liking. Don’t react to the feedback or the person giving it. Thank the person and say that you would like some time to think about it. Then, review the feedback and see if there is a way you can use it to grow, recover, improve, prosper or excel.
3) Insist upon listening to your Tooty call and ask your manager if there is anything you can do in the future with that type of scenario to better serve the customer.
4) Use the feedback to add something to what you are already doing well. Focus on being better tomorrow than you were today.

My friend and the author of Sticking Points, Hayden Shaw, has done extensive research on the different generations and how they feel about feedback and training. He writes, “People want more feedback but aren’t getting it. Managers feel guilt rather than excitement, because they struggle to squeeze in time for feedback while they juggle the rest of their workloads.”

What

My first sales position involved me selling a hair loss product for men door to door. I would stop men in the elevator or at the mall and open with, “Excuse me sir, I noticed that you are thinning on top and I have a product that will help grow your hair back.” My boldness on a sensitive topic was effective. More often than not the prospective customer was quick to buy without caring about the price. Once the deal was done, quite honestly, I didn’t care to ever see the customer again. There were plenty of balding heads waiting for me. Many customer service and sales people fall into the same mindset. It’s about a quick sale or a short call versus a relationship. However, when it comes to selling an ongoing service the relationship can be as important as the price to the customer. But, starting a relationship with prospective customers can be awkward especially when they want to focus on price.
In order to better understand how you are doing when it comes to starting a relationship with prospective customers and how your team handles price objections you need to take a look at what prospective customers experience when they call you and your competition. The Tooty secret shopper program can help you gain valuable insight in order to change the approach your representatives are now taking. Would you be surprised if any of your representatives used the following responses to a customer who says, “I got a better price.”
• Can you tell me what you’re looking for in a price?
• We can match that.
• Okay- good-bye

Your team may be doing some nice things in their efforts to win a new customer. However, a great CSR or sales rep can ask great questions and add in personable comments, but still not be effective in winning the customer. Have you ever considered asking a prospective customer, “What do I need to do to earn your business?” It will elicit a response and start a conversation with the customer. It is part of building a relationship. Without knowing what the customer is looking for, you may lose your target and may offer things unnecessarily. When we ask all the right questions and don’t know what to offer in response the opportunity is lost. To use a line from Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank, the prospect will say “You are dead to me!”
What can your organization do now to win the price shopping battle?1) Make sure every CSR and sales rep knows exactly what they are allowed to negotiate with prospective customers and new opportunities. CSRs work best with exact scripting versus a concept. Talking about margins and percentages is white noise so focus on exact offerings allowed in order of preference. (Tooty is happy to help you with this.)
2) Have your representatives document the responses they get from a customer when they ask, “What do I need to do to earn your business?” You will gain great insight into your market and the responses will allow you to craft a more effective negotiating strategy.
3) Role-play to work out the kinks and help your team gain confidence. Sales reps and CSRs need practice.

The very next phone call into your office may be from an existing or prospective customer who is price shopping. A small investment now in evaluating your current approach and then providing training will make a difference in the outcome of the call.

This year I found myself in the middle of a challenging situation that involved two people who were totally irrational. Their mean spirit, ruthless tactics and harsh words made me want to lash out. I began to plot their demise and calculate how I could triumph. I rehearsed clever zingers that would put them in their place and practiced my response to their eventual apologies. And then I woke up! I knew I had to be a calming influence in a tough situation even though every bone in my body wanted to react. Trying to endure verbal assaults without having your own emotions come through is as hard as it gets. Sometimes a difficult customer can get the best of us so understanding what is behind the negativity and having a strategy to deal with difficult people will allow you to stand strong, keeping your emotions intact.
During the month of July my team at Tooty posed as irritated and impatient customers as part of ongoing evaluation and training for our customers. CSRs do admit that the customer’s tone of voice and mean comments make them sweat. The goal of the calls and evaluations was to determine if a gruff voice, snarky comments or an uncomfortable service challenge deterred the CSRs from providing positive solutions. The Tooty call results showed that we are most likely to take a short cut on assessing the issue in order to get the customer off the phone and in our haste the solution given may not solve the issue.

In a recent survey of our customers, 85% of the customer service representatives and their managers stated they were more intimidated by tone of voice than the words a customer uses. They also shared that in some of the markets they serve over 50% of their customers use profanity in the conversations. The first few words from a customer often determines the direction the conversation will go. What can you and your CSRs do to handle difficult customers more positively?
1) Remember that your customer’s bark may be worse than his bite. Behind every gruff voice is a nice person waiting to come out! A kind word can cool a hot head.
2) The way you sound when you answer will either set off an already unhappy customer or bring calm.
3) Go the extra mile to address your customer by name and use please and thank you to be respectful. A little oil of courtesy will save a lot of friction.
4) Show empathy by using some comments such as; you understand their position, you can see how they’d feel the way they do, and they’ve got a great point.

Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you, not because they are not nice but because you are nice. You can’t change human nature, but perhaps you can improve it!

Does great customer service take too long? That may depend on your point of view. For any trucking operation,time is money when it comes to drivers and it is a valuable commodity in a customer service department, too. Some managers and CSRs have convinced themselves that using a script takes too long. Others have landed on a number for an appropriate length of a call such as 3 minutes or less in order to be productive and get the phones answered. It is unclear as to where the magic number of 3 minutes has come from, but it is a good starting point for you to use as you investigate whether that number is realistic or not for your hauling company. In order for you to effectively balance the quality of customer service and time, you need look at the current data regarding customer conversations. There are a variety of different customer calls that come into a customer service department. The short calls are more likely to be related to bill payment or reporting a missed service. The longer conversations revolve around selling and setting up a new service. Companies in competitive areas may find sales-based calls take even more time as they have to overcome a competitor’s price or service promises. To get a better understanding of what it takes to provide great service in the shortest amount of time you need to be able to evaluate your customer conversations. If you don’t currently record and monitor calls, Tooty Inc. can help you create and manage a dynamic program or set up a secret shopper campaign to test current customer conversations.

I recently reviewed the conversations of some of the best performing CSRs for one of my customers to see what their performances could tell us about talk time. These conversations were all from a prospective customer interested in starting service. The average talk time was 5:38. The longest call took 10:36 compared to the shortest call which was 3:09. What took an extra 6:30 in the longest conversation? The CSR added 6 minutes of detailed information about the services, rules and restrictions. TMI, too much information, burns out your customer and can confuse the sales process. It also adds unnecessary time to calls. Your customer service team should have a template or a script for describing service in a concise way. It should balance the information given by the CSR with an effective sales process. That means that rules of service such as restrictions or time to put the trash to the curb are reserved for set-ups only. A script should have basic details that need to be be covered in the conversation. The process for describing services and asking for the sale can be under two minutes when the CSR knows how to take control of the call and use a script effectively.

For comparison I also review conversations for the lowest performing CSRs when it came to handling a new customer opportunity. The average talk time for those calls was 3:40. The longest call was 6:56 compared to the shortest call which lasted only 2:00. The short calls were missing a sales process and seemed to be focused on giving a quick answer and ending the call. This was demonstrated in the shortest call where the CSR provided the rate and pick-up day, but ended without an attempt to set up the service. This broken sales process can be detrimental to a non-franchised hauling company. During the longest call, timed at 6:56, the CSR didn’t seem to know what aspects of the script applied to a set-up and where to stop when the customer says no. The CSR asked for the sale but, when the customer said she wasn’t ready the call dragged on for another 3 minutes. Someone who hasn’t bought from you yet does not care to hear about your rules of service, billing or restrictions. A script should direct for these details to be covered as a part of a new start set-up.

How can you determine the amount of time it really takes to provide quality customer service? Start timing your calls. Sit with each CSR and time them as they take calls. Most CSRs are unaware of where they are wasting time or how to be more efficient. This process will also allow you to do some quality coaching. Break down your data by call type such as bill payment, service issue or new start. Use the best times as your standard for each CSR and create an award for the most efficient CSR each month.

I recently hopped in the car for what I thought would be a quick 10 minute drive, but because of new road construction it took an additional 20 minutes to get to my destination. I needed to look for an alternate route to go around the construction on my return trip in hopes of making up lost time. Guess what? That alternate route had heavy traffic because everyone had the same idea! 45 minutes was added to a 10 minute trip which meant I was going to be behind by an hour for the rest of the day. Now I had to figure out what task could be pushed back or pushed out to the following day. Apply this same scenario to your drivers and you will understand why traffic delays are increasing the cost to provide service. Time is money.

In competitive markets, rolling out a price increase to customers has become a regular occurrence. A constant drain on profitability means that everyone is examining and reexamining the cost to deliver service. Are you and your team prepared to address your customers’ questions and attitudes this time around? Here are a few tips to help you have a positive approach and outcome with your P.I.
Starting the conversation
Often times the way your customer shares a question or concern during a P.I. may be clouded in emotion or veiled with a question such as, “When does my agreement expire”. In customer service, our job is to listen and acknowledge the customer in a positive way. The way you respond to the customer is what we call a welcoming comment.
Welcoming comment suggestions during a price increase:
 I can help you!
 I want you to know that I am here to help you.
 I’d be glad to take a look at your account with you.

Common mistakes to avoid during your P.I. roll-out
Mistake # 1– Immediately rolling back the rate to what the customer had before without understanding the real reason behind the customer’s call. Did you know that some of your customers are calling for an explanation and not for a change to the new rate?Mistake #2- The sales manager did not clearly communicate to sales and customer service representatives what the negotiating strategy is or what they are empowered to do. The common goal is to maintain as much of the price increase as possible. That requires we have a clear strategy for both sales and customer service on how to handle these customer conversations.
Mistake #3– People on your team are making up their own version of the reason for the price increase. This is not a time when you want your team to ad-lib their way through the customer conversation. The explanation from one person to the next should be consistent and clear. Example: Mr. /Ms ____, I appreciate your question and the price increase is due to an increase in our costs to haul the trash. Traffic delays have increased the amount of time it takes to complete service.
Remember, your driver’s time is a commodity. If we don’t use our working time to make money, we are in effect losing money.

Boston has reportedly received 96 inches of snow this year and I have decided to measure any problems I have to the nightmare they have right now. It was 7 below zero this morning here in Chicago and I am smiling because I am not in Boston. They had severe cold and 96 inches of snow. Viruses may have been plaguing your office and you are finding yourself short staffed. Smile because you could be short-staffed, have 96 inches of snow and freezing temperatures. No matter what comes your way in customer service, you need to prepare and keep a positive attitude.
I recently spoke with a customer service manager in Eastern Kentucky. Her office was closed for days due to snow and ice. This office did a great job of using local radio and television channels to let customers know service was suspended until conditions improved. The manager also updated the automated message to let customers know there would be no service until road conditions were safe for both drivers and customers. Here are 5 additional suggestions to help you handle weather related service delays.
1) Use your automated message system to communicate with those customers who call your office. Have 2 people trained and empowered to change the voice mail message so that you won’t be in
a bind if someone is unavailable. Include in the message the reason for the service delay, how the customer will know it is resumed and even some tips for cart placement to help the
driver.
2) Operations and customer service need to work together as services resume. Clear communication on what is happening for each route will allow customer service to give quick answers and
reassure the customer.
3) Utilize e-mail and phone blasts to get the message out. Include the same information you have on your automated message for consistency.
4) If your customers e-mail you directly, have an out-of-office message that has the same detail as your other forms of communication.
5) Use social media channels to provide updates on service. Facebook is a great avenue to provide timely communication to your customers. Expand your followers by promoting your
company Facebook page (or creating one for your local office) on your automated message and e-mail communication.

What if your customer asks for a credit because of a weather related miss? Recently a manager shared that she was on the receiving end of escalated customer complaints for missed service due to treacherous conditions. Some of the customers were not satisfied with an explanation that service will resume as soon as it is safe for both drivers and customers. If you are empowering customer service to offer credits as a peace offering, be sure you have clarified the credit allowed. The mistake some make is in taking the total bill and dividing it by the number of pick-ups during that time-frame to give a credit for one pick-up. Since you will be picking up all the customer’s trash, only a portion of the fee for one pick-up should be returned. That number needs to be clarified for CSRs before the customer calls start coming in.

Is your customer service team depressed or unmotivated because of winter? Remind them that “They aren’t in Boston” and review some recent accomplishments such as handling a crazy amount of calls. Next, get some friendly competition going. You can use a baseball theme, for example, to re-engage your CSRs as you measure personal and team performance. I am happy to help you create a fun competition for your team!

Remember, you may be having a challenging day today, but you aren’t Boston!

There is something that a customer service representative fears more than an unfriendly voice on the other end of the line and that is an unfriendly voice asking why there was another rate increase. How can you change the attitude in your office from panic to pride? Change their focus. The quality of your service needs to be the star when it comes to having the rate for service challenged by a customer or your competition. Providing a clear strategy and direct answers will help your CSRs and sales representatives handle even the most difficult customers with confidence. Taking time to role-play the different scenarios will help your team to refine their approach and responses.

There is an easy way to take the focus off of the price and make service the star. As your conversation begins, check for notes regarding any previous service issues or a clear record. If there isn’t evidence of service disappointments in the notes, you can use that to your advantage by asking if the driver has been doing a good job. If you know who the driver is, use his/her name to make it more personal. Example: Mr. Smith, has Bobby been doing a good job with your service? Listen carefully to the response. If your customer tells you he loves his driver or she has never had an issue with service, you have the upper hand in your negotiations!

In a recent training session, we were working on ways to make service the star. The CSR was assigned a role-play scenario where the customer wanted to cancel because of the price increase and because a better rate had been given by the competition. She uncovered that the customer knew the driver and even referred to him by name. After some smooth negotiations she ended her conversation with, “Bobby will be so glad that he can continue to take care of your service.” She turned the focus from dollars to personal service.

Residential customers can be the most difficult when it comes to contesting their rate. While a business might not notice an increase of a dollar or two, a homeowner does! To make service the star, look for areas where you provide something different or better than the competition does. Most customer service managers in competitive residential markets know the price the competition is offering, but may not be considering the importance of services that are an added value to a customer such as being provided a cart or a bulky item pick up service. If you provide a cart but the competition doesn’t, highlight that along with the value of the cart itself. Example: We provide you with the cart for your trash which is a value of $95.00.
Brainstorm with your team and come up with a list of reasons why your service is the star. Include in your brainstorming your safety record, involvement in the community and amazing customer service department. Then, do some role-playing to work on delivering these great details with sincerity and pride.

Build pride not panic. Your service is the star!