Serve Them to Retain Them

Interviewed By: Saleh Abdullah Alkhamyasi

Gurubinder S Punn

With the diverse options available for the consumers in the market, each organization is striving to gain as much market share as possible. Customer Service remains a popular tool  for organizations to serve the needs of the customers,  enhance their experiences and create a favourable image  and positive word of mouth about the products and services being offered.  In this conversation we touch base with Gurbinder S Punn, General Manager – CRM at Suhail Bahwan Automobiles LLC.  His rich insight on theories and practices of management makes the discussion with him sprinkled with wisdom.  His cheerful personality and humorous nature enables him to easily connect with people. He is an excellent public speaker and consultant on sales, CRM, training, strategy and behavior development. He has worked with Asian Paints, Motorola, Institute of Directors, Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Landmark Education Corporation, NIS Sparta & Reliance.

We invited him to share his experience on the concept of customer Service and our conversation sprouted out to cover the following aspects:

Can you shed light on the historical perspective of Customer Service as a concept?

He stared at me while walking his memory lane then he flashed a broad smile and said. For simplicity purpose let us divide the evolution of this concept  to the following three stages:

·         Early Days

o       The International Organization for Standards formed in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1946. The organization set standards for customer service. The first meeting in London that same year boasted a total of 65 attendees from 25 countries.

1980s

o       The 1980s brought electronics into the mix. Agencies such as the Service Quality Institute, which has provided customer service training since 1971, developed further training seminars, books and videos. Tracking devices and online surveys on websites gained popularity as well.

1990s and After

o       During the 1990s, companies focused more on giving back to consumers as they provided gifts for customer loyalty. Bonus points on credit cards, cash offers from banks for opening accounts and frequent-flier miles were just a few of the offers businesses used to increase sales. The Internet provides even more tracking options and greater opportunities for companies to improve customer service.

 It is obvious that all these efforts are genuine attempts to raise the bar and set standards that shall bring about continued improvements for the benefits of the  customers at large.

  

What are the competencies that you normally look for when you want to select a Customer Service Executive?

Customer service is an attitude not just a department. Each employee in an organization has customers. The customer may be an external one such as the buyer of a product or an internal one such as a fellow employee in a different department within the company. In either circumstance, the following two customer service skills are necessary.

Listening

• Active listening is vital to customer service. This type of listening involves restating the issue back to the customer which ensures the customer was heard and understood.

Empathy

• Empathy shows the customer that the representative understands the problems caused and the hardships it created for the customer.

So a candidate who’s bestowed with such traits will certainly be an added value and all recruiters will put an eye on.

What are the factors that contribute to the success of a customer Service department?

A customer Service Department is like any other department, only more humane and emotional. Customers shout, abuse and at times threaten the customer service representative. The poor guy or girl has no idea about why something went wrong, but he is standing firm for resolving the issue and bring the missing smile back on the customers face.

Thus I would summarize the factors that make a Customer Service Department successful in the following elements:

People :

Not ordinary people, but extra ordinary people with almost zero ego and super compassion. People who can stand in the shoes of a stranger, feel his pain and work with him as if he or she is a family member.

Training :

Not just class room training on concepts but rather training in smiles, listening skills, and choice of right words. Besides, the needs for understanding the governing rules and processes.  In fact the trainees need to know how to break them to satisfy a customer.  

Team work:

Customer Service Department is a dump yard of negative emotions. You need a constant cleaning out of toxins. This happens by team work and constant cheering by peers and team Leaders. 

What are some barriers that customer service staff normally or likely to face?

He injected his sense of humor and asked are you kidding!. Do you actually think there are barriers?  Of course it goes without doubt that every business unit faces certain challenges.  Bearing this in mind the barriers that affect Customer Service staff are the following:

Bureaucracy

One important reason why customer service can suffer in organizations is due to bureaucracy. The more layers and red tape an employee has to go through to service a client, the more difficult it can be.
Since certain requests will require supervisor approval, while others are taken care of in another department, one single person never sees a case through to completion.
When a case is transferred to another employee, calls can be dropped, or the customer can be transferred to an employee who doesn’t care at all about them.
The end result reflects poorly on the entire organization, not just the employees who handled the case.
I could see a question flying out of your head that is what is the solution then? Flatten your organization or at least make the organization appear flatter. You can do this by assigning greater authority and responsibility to customer service representatives when handling a case.
You can also assign one dedicated case worker to each specific case, so they can oversee the entire customer service interaction through to its completion.

 Having a Non-Caring Culture

Mr. Saleh I tell you , the workplace culture can have a substantial effect on how customer service cases are handled. If the workplace climate is one where customers are not cared for, where staff doesn’t care about their work, or if the environment is not empowering, your staff will under-deliver whenever presented with a customer service case.
This culture prevents your staff from caring enough about your customers to make them happy. Customers are not a priority, and the repercussion of an unhappy client is not apparent to them.
To fix this, you need to turn around the table. Your culture needs to be more positive, challenging and empowering. Make the atmosphere more optimistic and start assigning greater responsibility and accountability. You should also take this opportunity to coach or implement training. In a nut shell open the doors and the windows and let the breeze blow to rejuvenate the atmosphere and bring an environment of trust. Inculcate an attitude of the customer being first, first and first.

 Poor Accountability

If your staff is not held accountable for customer service, there is no reason for your staff to try harder to make sure customers are happy.
Your staff can always place the blame elsewhere and know they can never get in trouble for letting a customer leave unhappy.
You must ensure your systems incorporate some kind of tracking mechanism that records which employees handle each customer, so you know whether or not an employee kept a customer happy, and why.
But that is only half the battle. Now you must address those employees who aren’t treating customers correctly and coach and train if necessary. You should also address customer service performers, and ensure their good work is recognized.

 Insufficient Systems

If the systems your staff use when working with clients perform poorly, are slow, contain insufficient data or doesn’t track your client data appropriately, you are going to run into a problem.
Customers are going to get frustrated very quickly if it takes too long to service them, or information they have provided to you is not accounted for. They will be upset that you don’t know their history and will feel under-appreciated.
The fix is quite simple: incorporate better systems and tracking mechanisms to make sure sufficient consumer data is recorded and stored. This ensures your staff has ALL the tools necessary to communicate with and service your clients.

An advice you want to whisper in the ear of those who want to specialize in the area of customer service?

Customer service representatives act as a link between a company and its customers, assuring that any difficulties a customer experiences with the company's product or service is resolved. Those in the profession must also have a way with people.

Although many inquiries may be as simple as checking the status of an order, others may require extra research or help from an expert. Problem-solving is also a key skill; customer service representatives often have to handle complaints within the boundaries of company policy, and they must be prepared to absorb the brunt of a customer's frustration.

While these tasks apply to almost all customer service positions, representatives are needed in almost every industry and the responsibilities will vary depending on the company, which means there is a lot of flexibility within this field.

Simply speaking if you like to put smile on people’s face this is a good department to work in.

Job Satisfaction:  Above Average and Stress Level: Above Average.

Do you think the role of customer Service department is clear or sort of diluted within that of the sales or marketing department?

I feel, the job is clear today and it is becoming clearer by the day.

Customer Service Department is a specialized unit that interacts with customers and records various measures like Customer Satisfaction, Key Weak Areas, Changing Expectations and needs of customers.

It provides the organization with clear areas to focus on that will impact the retention or defection of its customers.

We often hear that “a customer is always right” can you elaborate on this?

This question is my favourite and so allow me to share a detailed answer:

The origin of the phrase comes from a London Haberdashery and according to what I've read - right doesn't mean correct nor does it mean that the customer gets to dictate your business.

Yes, the customers pay the bill and have a choice to go where they want - right means they made the correct choice in coming to you in the first place, not that they are always correct in how you should be dealing with them.

For example, if a customer wants you to steal or cheat - is it right for you to do so or to assist them in doing so?

The customer is wrong, a lot. Don’t kid yourself and say otherwise. Customers don’t read instructions, they don’t read Web site service or product descriptions, they follow instructions incorrectly, they break things. They’re often confused. In essence, the customer it NOT always right.

But! The customer is ALWAYS the customer. Wrong customers buy things. Wrong customers spend money. As business owners and business leaders, we want our companies to succeed. Business success involves selling goods and services to ALL CUSTOMERS, the right ones and the wrong ones. Because all customers spend money, we want them to keep coming back, right or wrong.

Last word you want to say?

Service is a beautiful concept. And even higher level is Selfless Service.

And Selfless Service brightens up your life and illuminates those around you.  Your gestures can save life of a human being, or give him a purpose to cheer up.

Volunteer at a school, old age or children’s home, community organizations. Clean up a mess you did not make at the park, at the beach, by the road. Donate items of value to a charity.

Bake cookies and give them to the guy who cleans your car, or brooms the road. Give compliments to those you meet, serve and work with. Tell others how they look or how pleased you are to see them. Pay the charge for another person. Buy someone a movie ticket or a dinner for two.

Call a customer on his birthday or check about the health of his child. Let their surprise be your reward. And then you will be a Service Professional for life.

On a departing note I enjoyed this conversation and hope to connect with you again and again. I wish your blog initiative continued success.