10 common sense strategies that move service from Woe to WOW!

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10 common sense strategies that move service from Woe to WOW!

Customer Service Magic

WOODIE PERKINS


Agenda• Who We Are• Our Desk-Side Business Problem• Our Desk-Side Vision• Our Journey• Were We Successful?• Timeline of Events• Question & Answers


Who We Are• Largest casket manufacturer in the US

• Award winning casket and urn manufacturing facilities

• Efficient customer demand pulled, mixed-model production system

• ~ 500 unit transportation fleet

• ~ 100 warehouses throughout North America

• Next day delivery service to 2/3 of our customers

• Batesville, IN – metal & urns• Manchester, TN – metal• Chihuahua, MX – veneer

• Vicksburg, MS – wood processing• Batesville, MS – wood


The Business Problem

• We outsourced desk-side support to a tier one service provider in June 2003

• Huge customer service issues• 5 day resolution on desktop issues

• The “Help-Less” desk

• Tickets fell into the “Black Hole”

• Internal customers voiced concerns about the help-desk

• Lack of flexibility with the team

• Impacted customers from getting their jobs done


The Business Problem (continued)

Contributing Factors:• Individual performers did a very good job, however there

was no management oversight• Remote management - providing no discipline,

accountability, guidance or vision to the team• Performance reviews and feedback were rarely given• Monthly measurements looked good on paper, but did not

meet the business needs• The team was not allowed to work on any issues without

having a ticket• No process improvement mentality

So…Desk-side support was in-sourced in June 2006


We Know Bad Service When We See It



We Know Good Service When We See It


• The Pickle – Give ‘em a pickle

• The Fish Story - Tough Job, but people have fun

• Johnny the Bagger - Make a persons day

• Secret Service – John Roberts Spa – Great processes -when a failure happens

• Customers for Life – Sewell Cadillac - Under-promise over deliver

• Airline Baggage Handler- Mailed fallen off luggage tags to customers

• Wally the Taxi Cab Driver – Offers coffee/tea, newspaper, music

• Ritz-Carlton Associate – Customers PC, flew it to Hawaii

• Nordstrom Associate – Perfume from another store, no additional charge


The Desk-side Vision

Become a customer centric organization. Provide a new and improved focus on Customer Service.• Drive value for all business partners• Make desk-side support a great place to work• Never forget that we are a service organization• Support the mission of seamlessly integrating enterprise business

solutions to create a competitive advantage• Provide a stable and user-friendly environment where information is

easily obtained and accessed• Create an extraordinary end-user computing experience for all

Batesville Casket associates• Implement continuous process improvement activities to turn the

vision into reality



Our Journey• The vision for the team was boiled down to one

word….WOW!! We wanted to WOW our customers• We started by getting rid of all the rules and making only

one rule…Focus on getting customer issues resolved as fast as possible.

• Along the way we learned what worked and what didn’t work! Today we are still on the journey to improve.

• We used the existing team that was outsourced…old team – new leadership.

• Looking back, 10 key themes or steps contributed to our success.


The 10 Step Plan For Customer Service Magic:

There is no “Silver Bullet” or “Magic Fairy Dust”

used to create

Customer Service Magic, just a simple 10 step plan.

1

2

Create A Passionate Customer Service Organization

Customer Service Delivery System and Processes

Great Execution – Under Promise, Over Deliver3

4

5

Continuous Improvement

Measure – Measure Everything

Over Communicate

Easy To Do Business With

Give Them What They Want

Listen To The Customer

Have Fun

6

7

8

9

10


Create a Passionate Customer Service Organization

• Hire people that are passionate, can teach the technical• When a customer asks, the answer is always YES!• Discussions and meetings with our associates on the

soft issues:– Expressing the idea that true customer service must come from

the heart because you care about your business partner’s needs

– Making a difference in someone’s day has a great impact

– The team was challenged to find their own unique ways to provide stellar customer service

Step 1


• Promote positive attitudes that become contagious for others

• Each month an associate from the team is given a special award for their extra effort in providing enhanced customer service…WOW Award!

• Each associate is empowered to do whatever is necessary to get the job done to meet the customer’s needs

• Monthly living the ideology series…Never forget that we are a service organization!

• Performance Management - Build the best team

Create a Passionate Customer Service Organization

Step 1

(Continued)


Step 2 Develop Service Delivery Systems & Processes

• Poka-Yoke (Mistake-Proof) processes and systems• Refined processes – removing time out of the process• Developed process/systems to ensure that no issue falls

through the cracks• Develop proactive recovery strategies• Don’t leave customers in limbo, developed processes

that enforce timely resolution to issues.


Great Execution

• Create a noticeable difference between the old and new desk-side support on Day 1 for our customers

• Doing the Right things at the Right time in the Right way• Set Clear Goals and Priorities• Exceptional Follow-through• Recognize and reward performance• Under-promise and over-deliver in a consistent manner• Rapidly respond to issues and over communicate with the

customer

Step 3


Continuous Improvement• Often pleased, seldom satisfied!• Ran “Kaizan” sessions to improve service offerings

• “Spare in the Air” Program – 5 days to 1 day • New Hire process – PC,Phone,Name-Plate,Email,etc is

ready when a new hire starts instead of waiting a week or more• Warm-Transfer to the appropriate support

organization instead of waiting for a return call• 7X24X365 Desk-side Support instead of 8 to 5,

Monday - Friday support• Expert Support for shrink wrapped software

Step 4


Continuous Improvement (continued)

• Provide “White Glove” treatment to each business partner by wiping down monitors and keyboards during their support visit.

Step 4

• Technician’s leave their business card attached to stationary listing the details of the work performed during their support visit.

• Equipping each technician with the right tools (stationary, business cards, cleaning wipes, tools, etc) to do their job ensuring they can fix the issue during the first visit


Measure• Measure Everything!• Implemented a customer satisfaction survey• Share weekly and monthly statistics with associates

to ensure the team is focused on the proper goals and aligned correctly.

• 4 monitors are updated daily with current statistics of all technicians, which is in the open and available for all to see

• Report results monthly to team, department, CEO staff

• “You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure”

Step 5


Measure (continued)Step 5


Over Communicate• Eliminate the “Black Hole” effect - timely updates

• Customer Satisfaction Survey’s - disguised as a follow up call for any additional outstanding issues

• “Face to Face” communications, it has a calming effect and portrays a higher sense of urgency - (non-verbal)

Step 6

• Call the customer before they know they have a problem

• Additional communication mechanisms: email, text message, web portals, monitors, etc.


Easy To Do Business WithStep 7

• “No Tickey..No Worky”

• Provide multiple ways for a customer to access service

• Don’t make a customer wait!! Answer the call quickly

• First call resolution – Eliminate or limit transfers

• IVR Hell

• Own the problem - Single point of contact, warm transfers, etc


Give Customers What They Want

• Find a way to say…

• Provide memorable service

• Under promise over deliver

• Reliability & Responsiveness

• Assurance

• Empathy

Step 8


Listen To The CustomerStep 9

• Stop Talking!• Listen to the customer and understand their business

• Be “In the Moment”… Focus! – total attention to the customer

• Complaints are a wonderful gift

• Hold your judgment

• Ask questions… a lot of questions to fully understand the issue


Have FunHow to motivate people to work faster, harder and better:1. Over pay them

2. Threaten them

3. Make it fun

Step 10

• If a fishmonger can have fun, Why can’t you?

• Tell your associates you appreciate them

• Reduce stress

• It is okay to make a mistake

• Help each other out – Happiness is a choice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOpCFUbmQM4


10 little but BIG Things That Create Customer Service Magic:

1

2

Create A Passionate Customer Service Organization

Customer Service Delivery System and Processes

Great Execution – Under Promise, Over Deliver3

4

5

Continuous Improvement

Measure – Measure Everything

Over Communicate

Easy To Do Business With

Give Them What They Want

Listen To The Customer

Have Fun

6

7

8

9

10


Were We Successful?You judge from the unsolicited remarks from our

customers…

“Wonderful Service”“Fantastic Job”

“She is Truly an Asset To Your Department”

“I am immensely appreciative of their customer service courtesy and professionalism”

“Your Prompt Attention is Greatly Appreciated”

“Thank You!, A Happy Internal Customer”

“Thank You”

“Consummate Professional”

“Professionalism”

“Thanks For All Your Help!”

“Wonderful Service”

“Delivered as Promised”“Phenomenal”

“Excellent Customer Service”

“Very Pleased”

“I Was Blown Away…”

“Phenomenal Job”

“You Never Fail to Respond”“WOW Service”

“Awesome Service!!!”“You Are The Best!”

“This is Perfect!! WOW!!”

“I Appreciate Your Responsiveness”

“A Super Team Effort”

“Tremendous Help”

“You Were Great!”

“Your customer service and follow-up were exceptional”

“Keep Up The Great Work!”

“Patient and Positive” “Far Exceeded My Expectations”

“EXTREMELY Helpful”

“Much Smoother”

“Very Cheerful”

“Pat On The Back”

“Blown Away”

“Fantastic Job”

“GREAT Help”

“Sincere Appreciation”


Timeline of Events• Insourced Desk-side Support on June 1, 2006• Insourced the Service Desk (Help Desk) on June 17, 2008

» Very successful » Improved service levels while reducing overall cost

• Insourced Intel support on December 1, 2008» Includes Intel, Citrix, Active Directory, VMware support» Reduce overall cost» Increased service level

• Insourced Oracle DBA support on January 1, 2010» Cost neutral» Improved service


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10 common sense strategies that move service from Woe to WOW!