Recently, news channels reported that in Chicago and all over the country, computer systems at Target stores stopped working. A Sun Times reporter shared, “People reported waiting in line for more than 45 minutes before giving up altogether. During the downtime in Chicago, the lines grew… shoppers took to social media to warn others and share a laugh.”
At your local customer service office or call center, you may have experienced something similar. A customer calls in, you try to look up the account or address and realize the system is down. Panic
scripting
Preparing for A Price Increase to Your Customers
There is a lot that goes into implementing a price increase to your customer base. Operations, sales, accounting and many others need to coordinate what will happen and when. Customer service needs to brace for an influx of customer calls by adding additional staffing, some of whom may be temps or support staff within the office. Unfortunately, some leaders simply settle on a vague directive to the team that they should try to keep as much of the P.I. as possible. They leave the details of what will be said and done to the person taking the call. It has been my observation that sales people talk too much and give up too much and that customer service representatives get nervous and go right into rolling back the price completely. Here is an example of a conversation I witnessed during a customer’s price increase.
Customer: I noticed there is an increase on my invoice. Can you explain that to me?
Representative: Sure- I see you did get an increase and that you have been our customer for a long time. I can actually roll that price back to what you were paying before. Is that okay?
Customer: I am happy to have you do that, but I was only calling to verify what the increase was about and to adjust our purchase order. I wouldn’t have argued about it because I haven’t had an increase from you and you do a good job for us.
To prevent this catastrophe from happening at your organization you need your team to be prepared. Remember that for most customers price is A factor in decision-making but it isn’t necessarily THE factor. Helpful and knowledgeable representatives partnered with dependable product or service makes price a detail to discuss versus an obstacle to overcome.
Here is your P.I. preparation check list.
Scripts– Let Tooty create some effective and concise scripting for those who answer your calls. Often times sales leaders provide talking points, and too many of them, which don’t translate properly in a conversation.
Training– Both sales and customer service representatives need to practice how they will handle these conversations. The practice will boost confidence and your ability to maintain your increase. Tooty offers customized classroom training and interactive webinars. We also recommend that the training is scheduled within a week of when the invoices with the increase will hit the streets. The timing of the role-play practice needs to be as close to the expected time for customer phone calls as possible.
Strategy for new customers– You may have competitors who are also increasing their rates and their customers are calling you to compare prices. Be prepared to win those prospects.
Celebration– Share your goal not only with sales, but customer service. What will you do to celebrate your team’s success?
Customer: I noticed there is an increase on my invoice. Can you explain that to me?
Representative: Sure- I see you did get an increase and that you have been our customer for a long time. I can actually roll that price back to what you were paying before. Is that okay?
Customer: I am happy to have you do that, but I was only calling to verify what the increase was about and to adjust our purchase order. I wouldn’t have argued about it because I haven’t had an increase from you and you do a good job for us.
To prevent this catastrophe from happening at your organization you need your team to be prepared. Remember that for most customers price is A factor in decision-making but it isn’t necessarily THE factor. Helpful and knowledgeable representatives partnered with dependable product or service makes price a detail to discuss versus an obstacle to overcome.
Here is your P.I. preparation check list.
Scripts– Let Tooty create some effective and concise scripting for those who answer your calls. Often times sales leaders provide talking points, and too many of them, which don’t translate properly in a conversation.
Training– Both sales and customer service representatives need to practice how they will handle these conversations. The practice will boost confidence and your ability to maintain your increase. Tooty offers customized classroom training and interactive webinars. We also recommend that the training is scheduled within a week of when the invoices with the increase will hit the streets. The timing of the role-play practice needs to be as close to the expected time for customer phone calls as possible.
Strategy for new customers– You may have competitors who are also increasing their rates and their customers are calling you to compare prices. Be prepared to win those prospects.
Celebration– Share your goal not only with sales, but customer service. What will you do to celebrate your team’s success?
Scripts, Secret Shopper and Training
A few years ago I had a prospective customer tell me that they did not need the services that Tooty provides because they had the best customer service he had ever witnessed. He added in that the customer service department was well-run, sales were up and their customer satisfaction scores were all above average. The conversation reminded me of a scene from the movie Elf where Will Ferrell burst into a coffee shop shouting congratulations because he saw a sign outside that stated, “World’s Best Cup of Coffee”. He took the sign at face value and thought the claim was true. The expression on the faces of both customers and employees revealed the truth. The only one who thought they served the world’s best cup of coffee was the coffee shop owner.
In today’s marketplace customers no longer accept company slogans and promises as truth and you should not assume that you and your team are as good as you can be. That is exactly why you need help from the team at Tooty Inc. While Tooty is most known for our secret shopper programs and innovative classroom and webinar training, we have a very precise process of evaluating actual customer experience and employee performance for those businesses and organizations that interact with new and existing customers primarily over the phone. We are a tested and trusted resource for executives who aren’t satisfied with past or present results and want specific ways in which to improve sales, retention and customer satisfaction which can’t be done with a slick new tool, but through improving employee skills, knowledge and performance.
1) Secret shopper calls provide an opportunity to learn what really happens when new customers call in inquiring about your product or service or an existing customer calls with a question or concern. Hold time, your automated message and transfers can impact what the customer perceives about your company long before someone answers. The questions asked and information given may be different from person to person sending mixed messages and confusion to your customers. You may believe you have a great sales process, but could discover that those who talk with your customers have created their own sales process that isn’t effective. Opportunities to provide solutions to your customers can be mishandled which can escalate to cancellations and other escalated issues. Every customer conversation is full of opportunity. Every employee deserves respectful and constructive feedback in order to increase knowledge and effectiveness while representing your organization. Call monitoring is also available if you have a phone system with this option.
2) On-site evaluation allows me to spend time with your customer service and sales representatives along with dispatchers as they talk to customers. This side-by-side time provides real detail on what happens from the moment a customer calls to the completion of the request. You may have great tools and processes that aren’t being used. For example, “I am going to send Joe an e-mail about this versus creating a work order that may get him in trouble.” I am able to provide critical input on how your team manages call volume, whether you have the right people on the phones and whether you have the right number of people to effectively handle both phone and e-mail requests from your customers. This on-site evaluation partnered with secret shopper calls and evaluations allows you to benchmark where your team currently is, clarify where you want them to be with skills and performance, and create a training plan to get there.
3) Scripting is best defined as a step by step process to handle customer conversations effectively. Scripts get a bad rap, but when used in a positive way they help insure that customers receive consistently amazing service. Scripts make new hire training easy and provide employee performance evaluations with clear scoring guidelines. We are experts at making great scripts for sales, dispatch, service issues, retention, collections and more.
4) Training should be ongoing with the intention of developing your customer service, sales and support staff into a better version of themselves year by year. We customize training based on your company or organization’s brand, your product or service and where you want the team to be in the future. Classroom and interactive webinars are available. Tooty training is fun and thought-provoking.
In today’s marketplace customers no longer accept company slogans and promises as truth and you should not assume that you and your team are as good as you can be. That is exactly why you need help from the team at Tooty Inc. While Tooty is most known for our secret shopper programs and innovative classroom and webinar training, we have a very precise process of evaluating actual customer experience and employee performance for those businesses and organizations that interact with new and existing customers primarily over the phone. We are a tested and trusted resource for executives who aren’t satisfied with past or present results and want specific ways in which to improve sales, retention and customer satisfaction which can’t be done with a slick new tool, but through improving employee skills, knowledge and performance.
1) Secret shopper calls provide an opportunity to learn what really happens when new customers call in inquiring about your product or service or an existing customer calls with a question or concern. Hold time, your automated message and transfers can impact what the customer perceives about your company long before someone answers. The questions asked and information given may be different from person to person sending mixed messages and confusion to your customers. You may believe you have a great sales process, but could discover that those who talk with your customers have created their own sales process that isn’t effective. Opportunities to provide solutions to your customers can be mishandled which can escalate to cancellations and other escalated issues. Every customer conversation is full of opportunity. Every employee deserves respectful and constructive feedback in order to increase knowledge and effectiveness while representing your organization. Call monitoring is also available if you have a phone system with this option.
2) On-site evaluation allows me to spend time with your customer service and sales representatives along with dispatchers as they talk to customers. This side-by-side time provides real detail on what happens from the moment a customer calls to the completion of the request. You may have great tools and processes that aren’t being used. For example, “I am going to send Joe an e-mail about this versus creating a work order that may get him in trouble.” I am able to provide critical input on how your team manages call volume, whether you have the right people on the phones and whether you have the right number of people to effectively handle both phone and e-mail requests from your customers. This on-site evaluation partnered with secret shopper calls and evaluations allows you to benchmark where your team currently is, clarify where you want them to be with skills and performance, and create a training plan to get there.
3) Scripting is best defined as a step by step process to handle customer conversations effectively. Scripts get a bad rap, but when used in a positive way they help insure that customers receive consistently amazing service. Scripts make new hire training easy and provide employee performance evaluations with clear scoring guidelines. We are experts at making great scripts for sales, dispatch, service issues, retention, collections and more.
4) Training should be ongoing with the intention of developing your customer service, sales and support staff into a better version of themselves year by year. We customize training based on your company or organization’s brand, your product or service and where you want the team to be in the future. Classroom and interactive webinars are available. Tooty training is fun and thought-provoking.
Our goal as a company is to uplift, encourage and help you and your team be better today than you were yesterday.
Automated Messages and Hold Music Can Create Angry Customers
Having irritating hold music or an out of date or out of tune automated message for your customers is the equivalent of having a sign on your door that says Keep Out. In customer service we often talk about hold time and how long a customer is willing to hold before hanging up. But how many of you have completely overlooked the customer’s experience while sitting on hold?
Many companies use an automated attendant to help during busy times. It is thought of as a way to help manage call volume. The automated attendant and its messaging should present an accurate impression of the company’s brand while making the customer feel comfortable and relaxed, even entertained. Technology used properly helps the customer feel as if the hold time wasn’t as long as it really was. Unfortunately, most managers don’t know what the customer is experiencing unless a customer takes the time to complain about it. I’d like to share a real experience from a few years ago. One of our secret shoppers called a company and here is the transcript of what took place.
Thank you for calling. To access customer service press zero now. If you know your party’s extension, please enter it now. Caller pressed zero. CSR: Unintelligible whisper by the person who answered. Caller: hello? CSR: Sniffling and crying. Caller: Hello? Are you okay? CSR screaming: You did this. You made him leave. Caller: Hello? CSR: Stay, stay away. Unintelligible screaming and crying. Caller: Hello? Is anybody there? CSR: Screaming and crying. Caller: Hello? Hold music comes on and the caller is on hold for 50 seconds. The phone rings and the initial automated message starts over. The caller hangs up after 3:38 convinced that something awful is happening within the office.
What a customer wouldn’t know, and our secret shopper didn’t, is that this company used a radio station for its on-hold music. As luck would have it, a Rascal Flatt’s song about domestic violence complete with crying and screaming began to play at the very moment the caller pressed zero for a CSR. While this is an extreme example of an automated messaging system gone wrong, some of you have problems with your automated messaging and music that are driving away customers or creating an angry customer out of a normally nice person.
There are 4 key details for you to evaluate when it comes to your own phone system.
1- What is the on hold music like? If you have the same musical notes repeat every 3 seconds, loud or out-of-tune music, a customer might feel angry by the time someone answers. All instrumental music is not the same. You might love fiddles or drums but too much in the wrong arrangement will cause your customer’s blood pressure to rise.
2- Check your after hours message. A Christmas holiday message in April gives the impression that no one will actually return a call. A prospective customer might get the feeling there won’t be a return call from you and hang up without you ever knowing that an opportunity was lost.
3- How many seconds go by before your company or organization name is given in the automated message? If the caller doesn’t hear your company name in the first couple of seconds he/she may hang up thinking it is a wrong number.
4-
The wording of the message and the voice used to deliver the
Get Rid of the Robot
Five year old Hunter asked me why he couldn’t burp out loud in Chick-fil-A. I tried to keep from laughing as I told him it wasn’t polite. I didn’t know if a 5 year old knew the meaning of polite and I really wanted to make sure he understood that burping out loud was not a good habit for a 5 year old to develop. So I asked him if he knew what it meant if I said he was not polite. He explained to me from his kindergarten perspective that not being polite was the same as not being nice. He understood. In recent training with some millennial CSRs I overheard them using some words in ways that didn’t make sense to me. I never heard of salty customers or being salty because of customers before! I could have overlooked that and moved on, but I wanted to understand. Because of my curiosity I now know that salty is more than seasoning.
Any manager can give a new CSR the scripts as a part of new hire orientation. But an AMAZING Customer Service Manager takes the time to make sure a CSR understands the reason behind the questions and details on each script. To only say something or ask something because it is on the script and to not know what the words mean or the intent makes a person robotic. For any person to be excellent at their job there needs to be a comprehension of the reason or purpose behind what we do. The “why” must be provided and understood.
There are certain things that should be memorized because they don’t change. In customer service, the way we start and end our calls doesn’t change so those skills should be memorized. There are some things that are situational in every industry, like knowing when to ask if concrete or roofing is a part of a project that requires a a roll-off container. In customer service, the questions we ask and the information we give is often situational. That is why you can’t afford to operate like a robot and only ask and answer because a script tells you to. You need to know the meaning behind the skills, when things apply and when they don’t and you need to be curious enough to ask questions. That is how employees become experts at what they do and become real assets to your company.
Those companies that measure or grade a customer service representative on call handling skills may use a secret shopper or call monitoring program such as the one that we offer here at Tooty Inc. The scoring is based on a script and required skills for different customer situations. A performance scoring system helps to flush out areas where a customer service or sales representative needs to improve in their understanding of why a certain question or information is relevant. It also helps you look at your team as a whole so that you can create additional training to educate everyone on the reason behind required questions and information.
As a manager you need to know the “whys”, too. Whenever scripting and performance scores are involved managers and the representatives can become hyper focused on the score. Scores often translate to bonuses or become a part of the employee file which makes the focus understandable. I have met several managers along the way who have directed their team to do everything on a script even if it doesn’t apply to the conversation in order to have a high score. Imagine how strange it would seem if your current customer was calling to buy something and your representative asked, “How did you hear about us?”
We need to change our approach from telling people what to do, to doing everything we can to help them understand why. Get rid of the robot and develop an industry expert.
