Customer Service

Companies That Attract And KEEP The Best Customers Are Usually The Most Effective At Managing Expectations And Emotions.

During Garrison's customer service programs, employees learn to anticipate customer needs and to solve problems before the customer knows they exist. They will leave with the ability to separate the service YOUR clients receive from that of your competition. Garrison uses high impact humor along with customized content specific to your industry to help your customer service representatives to be consistently chosen over the competition.

Customer Service Keynote Descriptions

The Truth About Customer Service:
Being The Best Vs. Being Consistently Chosen

Success is more than being good at what you do; it's about being consistently chosen to do it. This entertaining, customer service keynote will address several key behavioral practices that will separate the customer service your clients receive from that of your competition.

We've all heard the importance of customer satisfaction and loyalty; but why is it that customers who spend the most money can be lured away by organizations that don't appear to provide much service and have a higher price? This session provides original research on managing expectations and emotions and shows that there really is more to customer service than just showing you care.

Best practices, being able to master the skills of your job is very important. To be consistently chosen over the competition we must learn to move beyond best practices. Garrison will discuss the importance of making an impact that leaves a lasting impression on the customer in the first five seconds of the encounter.

He will discuss the importance of not making the customer wrong. To move beyond best practices your employees must understand the importance of making the customer feel heard and feel that their wants and needs are important. Garrison helps people to understand why their products, services, or presentation styles - or those of their competitors - are selected.

People don't necessarily choose what's best; they choose what they are most comfortable with. This program contains original research on managing expectations and emotions, understanding the importance of great body language, people skills and customer focused listening practices that proves there really is more to success than being the best.

Key points in Garrison's customer service keynote:

How to be right without making your customers wrong
The truth about trust: Gaining influence with difficult people
What customers really want: Solutions to well defined problems
How to make customers feel important and heard in 30 seconds
How to get customers/clients to listen to you
What the most successful do differently: What 5000 top customer service providers have in common
Showing the value of your service

Customer Service Is Dying
And I'm Not Feeling So Good Myself!

Have you ever called a company and been greeted with "Hold, please"? How do they know you can hold? They don't even know who you are. Maybe you can't hold; maybe you have 10 seconds of juice left on your cell phone and your hair is on fire. Then you finally get someone on the phone, only to be told, "I can't actually help you; I'm just paid to apologize, and I'm really sorry about that."

Being frustrated by a lack of customer service is nothing new. It just seems that in the last few years, companies have become more innovative at not helping you solve your problems.

We are as busy as we have ever been, and many younger people were not brought up in the traditional culture of customer service. But none of these excuses will protect your business in today's challenging economy where customers question value even with companies they have known for years.

Maybe it's time to get back to basics and make service a real priority. Sure, plenty of
companies claim to offer great customer care. But raising your service standards requires more than a promise; you need to set concrete goals and establish effective procedures to meet them. Whether you own the company, handle key accounts, or just accidentally encounter your customers, this session will be of interest to you.

This program is also available as a breakout session.

Customer Service Keynote (Or Breakout Session) For Generation X And Y Employees

Customer Service Is Dying–and I'm Not Feeling So Good Myself
Great customer service involves more than fixing problems; it requires a sympathetic attitude that makes customers feel valued. Your voice and attentiveness speak volumes, especially when the phone's your only way to convey customer care. But for many younger workers, striking that sympathetic tone seems phony: "I resolve complaints fast... Do I really have to make nice, too?" This entertaining, research-based program helps young service providers understand that they're judged not just on their skills and intelligence but on how they ultimately make people feel. Attendees learn how to establish the kind of trust that can dramatically improve the customer's perception of the encounter. They'll also learn the importance of managing expectations and emotions so customers stay satisfied and loyal.

For The Meeting Planner

Research-based rationale underlying the keynote:
Garrison's keynote comes from research that uncovers differences between service providers under age 30 and those 30 and older. Treating customers like highly valued guests doesn't come naturally to most younger workers because they were not brought up in a traditional culture of customer service. In fact, they grew up in a world where goods are disposable–if something's not working right, it's time to toss and upgrade. Because service is nearly nonexistent in their world, they believe that providing service with a smile is not really honest. So, although they know they're supposed to treat customers with kid gloves, they don't understand why. It feels like a sell-out, particularly if their day is tanking. Isn't it enough that they're just getting the job done?

Research reveals some paths to customer service success that are more widely understood among service providers over 30. The predominant observation is that people do business with people they trust. To build that relationship of trust, the person providing service has to cover some bases up front:

Make sure the customer feels heard and cared for. If customers feel that you're attentive and they can sense that care in your voice, it lessens the impact of their problem. If they pick up on a trace of condescension or hear monotony or disconnectedness in your voice, it doesn't matter how effective you are at solving the issue; the customer won't feel valued.
Deliver the promised service. Customers also have to feel you're willing to remedy the situation, which requires doing what you say you're going to do.

By pairing a compassionate attitude with the skills to solve problems, service providers become influential enough to manage their customer's expectations and emotions.

Customer Service Facts

Did you know that most customers that don't get good service, don't complain and they don't come back.

Only 4% of the customers that leave you will complain
96% will go away without telling you they had a problem

Why customers quit doing business with you

13% get a better price or can invest less time somewhere else
14% dissatisfied with the level of service or quality of your product
72% leave because they feel they receive poor service!
1% Who knows

What do customers really want?

Reliability: You do what you say you will do
Credibility: Have others had a good experience?
Attractiveness: People draw conclusions based on what they see
Responsiveness: Reactions match expectations
Empathy: You share their emotions

Customer Service Essentials
On The Phone

On The Phone

Be friendly! No one wants to send a check to people who seem to be bothered by their call.
Ask permission before putting a caller on hold. If a customer is greeted with "Hold, please," what the customer really hears is "Hang on! Someone much more important than you just called in."
Keep it professional. Chewing gum, slurping a drink, and playing the drums on your desk makes callers feel like they are getting advice from a guy in a bar.
Make sure that callers don't have to repeat themselves. Someone who has explained a problem three times to three different people hangs up angry, whether or not the problem is solved.

All The Time

Create a positive image to attract business. Remember that squirrels are just rats with good publicity.
Display compassion for people who are upset. People who don't think you care won't value your solution.
Be very clear when you explain a process. When customers don't know what you're talking about, they assume you don't either.
Do what you say you're going to do. When you don't follow through, people don't think you have forgotten. They think you don't care.
Know when to bring in someone else. When it becomes clear that the customer thinks you are the problem, set your ego aside and send in a fresh face.
Establish a simple, easy-to-implement customer service plan. When something is really complicated, it's hard to tell if it's working.