June 2018
The benefits of teamwork — Becoming a cohesive, high-performing team that motivates and supports each other helps everyone to perform at a higher level overall and provides a more positive customer experience. Here’s how.
June 2018
Help your team improve its listening skills –Leadership consultant Stacey Hanke suggests that managers focus on improving their own listening skills as well. She shares two helpful resources.
May 2018
Support your reps’ efforts to obtain customer feedback — John Goodman, vice chairman of Customer Care Measurement & Consulting (CCM&C), and author of Customer Experience 3.0, shares two recent documents to help managers obtain, understand, and use customer feedback. They include:
- An article on “Taking Your Voice of the Customer Program to the Next Level.”
- A summary of highlights from CCM&C’s 2017 Customer Rage Study.
May 2018
Back to basics with voicemail — It’s always timely to brush up on basic communication skills. Here are tips on using voicemail effectively.
April 2018
There’s much that managers can do to alleviate stress in the workplace — Service expert Genella MacIntyre recommends that managers help their teams by monitoring stress levels, providing back up, offering praise, and setting up a quiet room. These resources provide additional insights:
• Tips and techniques for setting up a quiet room
• Five steps to help managers reduce stress, a leadership article from Genella MacIntyre.
April 2018
The “Little Tramp” reminds us to smile — Humor can be useful during interactions with customers because it helps to diffuse anger and initiate problem solving. But, be sure to avoid the Four Nots of humor.
March 2018
Keep a positive attitude! — A positive attitude helps to reduce stress and to build customer relationships. Here are some ways to keep that positive energy going.
March 2018
Train your reps to handle customers online and via social media — Online service skills are a growing necessity for reps in today’s digital communication age. Managers need to make sure their reps are prepared. Here are some resources:
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A brief excerpt covering online and social media service from Renée Evenson’s Customer Service Training 101, Third Edition.
- An article from the Customer Service Group archives with Evenson’s advice on the proper language to use with customers, whether on the phone or online.
February 2018
Help your reps understand and appreciate generational differences — This month author Meagan Johnson discussed generational differences in the workplace. Below she shares additional resources.
- A video with Meagan Johnson, and her father, Larry Johnson speaking about generational traits.
- A blog post by Meagan Johnson which discusses generational issues in the workplace.
February 2018
Set goals for yourself — By setting clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals, and you’ll see forward progress in your career. Here are goal setting strategies and suggestions from frontline reps.
January 2018
What resolutions will you and your reps be making for the New Year? — Following are resources with suggestions on important areas for improvement in the New Year:
- An article by Shep Hyken on the personal traits that make for good customer service.
- An article by John Goodman on how managers can empower their employees to make improvements.
- A New Year’s Resolutions poster to print and share with your team.
January 2018
Try your hand at mentoring — Whether mentoring in your organization is a formal or an informal process, it is a great way to build connections on your team and to get new reps up to speed quickly. Here are tips on making the most of the mentoring experience.