Spring makes me look at things in a new way. Nature comes alive with color and people seem to smile more. We shed winter cloths and vow to lose excess winter weight. When we can see change taking place before our eyes, we are inspired to change.
Your office needs to spring forth with newness, too. Customer Service can’t afford to be in a rut. Here are some easy ways to refresh and recharge your team.
Pay it forward
Customer service representatives can often feel like they are in the complaint department as they handle service issues, price increases or customers who have not paid their bill. Call after call the negativity wears them down and they look at their work through a lens of negativity. They come to work for the pay check because there isn’t a positive purpose to their work.
Each person needs to feel they are a part of something that spreads good will and makes a difference for someone else. Create a “Pay It Forward” program. You will need two glass jars or fish bowls. In one jar put the name of all employees at your location. You may want to add names of vendors that do a great job for you such as the person who delivers your mail or cleans the office. The 2nd jar will be used to deposit each name after an act of kindness has been completed. Each morning let one person from customer service select a name from the jar. It will be his or her privilege to send a card of appreciation. You can be creative and come up with other options to encourage someone. Consider sending one card a day to a customer, too. Change happens one small step at a time.
Clean and paint the office
I have visited many customer service departments over the years. Dead bugs, dirty carpets and stained ceiling tiles do affect the quality of work and employee turn-over. I recently witnessed what happens when an office gets a deep cleaning and needed repairs. The customer service team acted as if it was Christmas and there were smiles all around. Individually they started to clear the clutter from their own work area. When you take pride in your office space it positively affects job performance.
Refresh the customer service manual
Each year you need to completely refresh your customer service manual. Outdated information and messy notes contribute to problems. Here is a check list of what to include in your manual:
1) Detailed description of services, rules and regulations, rates for services and special offers
2) Explanation of correct process for new starts, cancellations, transfers, rate matches and service issues. Include screen shots from your system.
3) Explanation of billing cycles and who is billed.
4) Sales reps’ names, cell phone numbers and territory
5) Driver’s names and routes, days of the week you are in certain towns
6) Transfer station and landfill information
7) Terms and abbreviations