June 2002 Meeting Recap
| | June 2002 Meeting Recap |
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by Maris Bergeron Our speaker: Chuck Kelley, the newly-elected HDI New England VP of Membership and Corporate Help Desk Supervisor at NEBS (New England Business Service) Topic: "How to deal with customer expectations" Chuck’s opener followed a unique and often hilarious route as participants introduced each other by relating two truths and one lie regarding their personal/business lives. It was up to the group of attendees to determine what was true and what wasn’t. Since some hints included a personal introduction to Diana Ross, being born in Africa, having one’s own photo published in Playboy Magazine and owning 28 teddy bears, deciding proved very difficult. All of the above were true. We were then asked to offer our ideas on what customers expect. Our answers included: 7 x 24 hour service Intelligent answers Quick response/resolutions Consistency Support for all applications on customer desktops A live person 20 second or less phone response The next topic was, “Who decides the SLA agreements?” Chuck described the OZ principle: Accountability, Actions, Action Plans, People and Results. He commented that if an SLA fails, the normal reaction is to blame the SLA, system or people who are not doing what they should be doing. An example is the Valdez Oil spill and blaming alcohol consumption. The Black Box of Customer Service Customers, he said, don’t really care what problem technicians have regarding lack of staffing or training. Customers have expectations and want them dealt with promptly. Chuck advised us to get the facts and then follow up. Identify high maintenance units and invite your customers to personally interact with you. Show empathy. Act as the diplomat. Make client visits. Energize your Help Desk Team. We then watched a movie, “FISH”, which provided us with these steps for improvement: Play Don’t ignore your user Make THEIR day Love your job Be there for the customer (empathy) Choose your attitude Our interactive group discussions provided the following formulas for success and suggestions for enacting them: ATTITUDE Greet coworkers on arrival. Focus on customer service Treat others as you would like to be treated. Keep a positive work attitude PLAY Have a coloring contest on paper or in a coloring book. Have a drawing contest. Trivia contest by mail. Have bubbles Olympic Try bowling, games of catch, Frisbees Set up a message board with the saying of the day Use post its to relate how you played with a customer today. Fill the office with stuffed toys and kidnap one for ransom Have a seasonal contest Use any excuse to party with people Set out cheese and crackers. Have a baking contest. BE THERE Pay attention to what the customer has to say. Listen Focus on the customer visually Be connected to the customer Set parameters on priorities and how to handle people. MAKE THEIR DAY Greet everyone with a smile. Listen carefully Give assistance Ask what the customers’ expectations are. Take responsibility even if their problem wasn’t your fault. Give encouragement We came away from this unique, highly interactive presentation with new, vigorous approaches and many new ideas. HDI-NE Home Page Underwritten by GroupSoft Systems, Inc. HDI-NE Chapter is solely responsible for the content of this site. |