Thoughts on Customer Services, the 10-6 Rule

I was recently talking to a woman who works for the city of Coral Springs FL.  This City is the recipient of two Sterling Awards.  This award is Florida 's equivalent of the national Malcolm Baldrige Award, the standards are the same.  We were talking about how important it is for all segments government or private organizations to not only do a good job but demonstrate that they are doing a good job through customer service.  What good is a job well done if the customer is angry at how the worker handled the customer?  Some surveys suggest that people will forgive some bad work if the people are nice. 

In Coral Springs they asked each department to come up with standards for what they considered good customer service.  One of the standards that they have in the Coral Springs is that all employees follow the 10-6 rule.  If a customer is at least 10 feet from the employee the employee must at least make eye contact.  If the customer is 6 feet away, the employee must at least speak with the customer.  How many times have we been passed by employees either at a One Stop, a hotel or a supermarket where employees almost go out of their way to avoid eye contact?  How would your customers feel is all employees greeted your customers with eye contact, a smile and even a greeting, welcome, or good morning? 

What kinds of rules in customer services does your office have in working with customers?

RESPONSES:

Our county offers several trainings on customer service.  Some of these trainings are mandatory, others are offered to any interested staff who wish to improve their customer service techniques.  One of the classes I attended was a four day mandatory training entitled simply "Customer Service Training"  Topics covered were basic customer service, workplace savvy, confidentiality and ethics, professional communications, handling difficult situations and customer service standards development.  Other classes I have attended were "Dealing with Difficult Clients" and "Treating Staff as Customers"  While it is most important that we treat our external customers with courtesy, respect and empathy I feel it is equally important to treat our internal customers (staff) in the same way. 

My customer service tip is this:

1. Focus on the issue, not the person
2. Listen carefully to their concerns
3. Look for solutions, make suggestions
4. Remain objective
5. Don't judge
6. Stay calm even if client is angry
7. Don't be rude
8. Don't promise anything you can't deliver

AS, Calif.

My agency provides most of our service over the phone (as did the for profit corporation where I previously worked).  The for profit corporation gave us intense training in customer service.  Some of the training tips are well known, such as returning every phone call.

Some others are as follows:

1.. When someone calls and needs help, you can always do something for them.  Even if it is "not your job" that they are calling about, you can still help them by making a phone call/leaving a message for the proper person.  And when you get that call, a good response is "Yes, I can help".  This kind of response goes miles in good feelings on both sides.

2.  Remain calm and listen.  Do not interrupt.  Sometimes people just need to vent.  By remaining calm, you are in control of the call and get to resolution.

3..Change your phone message every day so that callers know if you are in or out and therefore when to expect a call back.

4.  Do not use jargon.  Speak plainly and when necessary slowly.

5.  When putting notes into an electronic file, write them so that your mother could read them in a year and understand them.

6.  Use these same rules when interacting with fellow employees.

Betsy Safine

The best statement I can make about Customer Service is "treat others as you would have them to treat you".  I believe one important factor in providing good Customer Service is that the staff member is happy doing the job they are employed to do.  An unhappy employee will have difficulty being cordial or even caring about the feeling of others.  They will only view the job as being "another paycheck".  Being a part of the JobLink/OneStop concept, Customer Service training is a chartering requirement and I believe it will benefit us all.  There is more to Customer Service than we realize.  In some cases there might be a customer seeking assistance in a area which we are not responsible for but if I am an employee of the same agency, it would not hurt for me to at least acknowledge the customer and advise them that someone with more knowledge in that area will be there to assist them; or I could take a telephone number where staff can reach the customer at a later time.  I am from the old school in believing that you never know who could be watching you and taking note of how we handle ourselves.  The same person that we provide Customer Service to, could be the person who has dream career job we've always been looking for. William Pass NC

In our office Customer Service is job one.  We did not train for it, we were hired because we understand the importance of it!  Tim

We work very closely with our customers daily, but I do like the idea outlined and will share it with staff. Acknowledgement is one of the key ingredients of customer service. Everyone wants to feel that someone is there to acknowledge them and to listen, even if that person ultimately can't do anything to help with their service need.

Reni

Treat the customer like you would want to be treated--honestly and fairly-- Jan Couch GA

"Through our exceptional health care services, we reveal the healing presence of GOD."  This is our motto/ mission statement.  I work for SSM Health Care in St. Charles , Missouri .  SSM is the first hospital to receive the Malcolm Baldridge Award. 

I have been working for SSM for about three years now, prior to that I worked in a supported employment program and that is how I was introduced to you.

Currently I am a psych tech. for a geriatric out-patient behavioral health program.  I love my job.  We have a great team of workers in our department who are truly dedicated to the SSM mission.  The attitudes of all of the workers I encounter each day are an important part of what makes our program so successful. 

Even though I am not in the employment field any longer, I still enjoy reading your newsletters.  Thank you.

Sincerely,

Brenda Thrasher

Good topic.  Our organization does not have a formal training for customer services.  We all "know" what it is and we are told to provide "it" but we are not trained for service delivery.

My personal/professional customer service training goes like this:

Pretend you're the customer:  It will become readily apparent to you what to say and do...just give them what you would expect to receive yourself in the same situation.  I think that has to do with common sense and common courtesy.  Simple and true.

Have a good week,

Ruth

If the customer bites you, bite them back?

It is talked about and we have an evaluation that tells use when we have provided poor customer service. However, I cannot remember a training specifically on customer service.

Lind

Thanks for the opportunity to share customer service tips.

    First of all, EDD in California stresses Customer Service Training on an ongoing basis; formal training upon hire or reassignment and ongoing customer service awareness in the workplace.  Customer Service is a primary mission:  "We provide efficient, quality service to our customers - including each other."

    Customer Service Tip:

     On occasion while assisting a customer at our Information Desk a line may start to be formed.  We all know standing in any line is frustrating for most people.  One reason is not being recognized until the service provider is reached.  In order to reduce the level of potential frustration with the customer before reaching me I acknowledge the customers presence either verbally or with a hand gesture.  This action may not be possible for long lines, but for 2 or 3 persons lines, it has proved to be most successful.  I believe this small but effective action signals to the customers that they are respected and acknowledged as individuals, not a faceless object.  I cannot count the number of times I've seen a smile of acknowledgement appear on my customers face when I've recognized their appearance in line.  One of the primary benefits is the reduction of customer anger which in turn make for a more pleasant working environment.

Thank you for asking for my input.

Robert Fowler

Isn't this common sense?  You treat the people the way you would want to be treated!

Karin

That's an interesting question, and I appreciate that 10-6 rule. I believe, if someone is waiting on assistance, they should

Receive a courtesy greeting, even if you are unable to assist them. "Hello is someone helping you?" or "Hello, I don't work in this department, however, I can get someone for you." "Hello, someone will be with you shortly."

Say something positive! To ignore a person is like saying they are not valuable. Whether transacting business with a store or

An agency, good CS is important. Where are the days, when people practiced common courtesy? If we as service providers

Practiced common courtesies among ourselves, it wouldn't be difficult to be courteous to our customers.  Dorothy

Our only training in how to provide quality customer service has been in the form of workshops.  Usually, we have to request to attend one, but last year, they brought someone in to talk to the entire agency as a group for the whole day.  I think we're lucky at my agency, because the bulk of the people working here sincerely like people, and the clients benefit, as a result.  However, I do think Bureaucracy is so focused on statistical results, that quality customer service usually takes a backseat, and people who hate people rise to the forefront, as a result.  Numbers become more important than the individuals who represent those numbers.  Also, if you're the only store in town, people have to deal with you---nasty or friendly.  I recently went to Social Security to understand my earnings history.  I was the only customer in the office, but the clerk sat and stared at me, as if waiting.  After about 10 minutes, he asked if I'd taken a number---the rule was that everyone must take one, then wait to be called.  I told him I'd seen the sign, but since the place was empty, I hadn't bothered to take a #---I was standing directly in front of him!  He pointed to the stack, I took a #, he waited about 5 more minutes, then, in a loud voice, called out, "Number 1!"!!!  I was angry at this point, but things continued.  When he pulled up my history on the computer screen and computed my pension accordingly, I remarked that not all of my past jobs were showing.  He told me that was all he had, what I saw on the screen was it.  About 10 minutes later, because I was so upset about not getting credit for jobs I'd worked, he told me his computer only lists the past 10 years---for a complete history, I'd have to write Headquarters. Very poor service! 

In my two offices, as well as our Department, great customer service is very important.  We keep surveys in our lobbies to get feed back and if the customer puts a name on the survey, I follow up with them on good ones as well as bad.  Our Department has changed the classification for those waiting on the reception counters to "Customer Service Specialists".  I have top notch staff at the front counter in my offices.  They set the tone for how that trip to the office will turn out for the customer as well as for the employee.  My staff have won outstanding employee awards several times, mostly due to how they treat the people we are here to serve.  I guess the best tip I can think of is:  Treat everyone with dignity and respect, the way you would want to be treated if you were the customer.

You have a wonderful week as well.  SM

I have a very simple rule for customer services.  At my not for profit agency we often have people call us and leave messages to see if we can represent them in areas such as special education more specifically in front of a Social Security hearing.  The rule is that if a possible client leaves a message staff should get back to them within 24 hours.  Or if you are out of the office on assignment for a few days or a few weeks to make sure you put the time you are out of office on you voice mail message so people that will know you will call them back within 72 hours on your arrival back in the office.  If people know that you will call back in a specific time and you do it, it makes all the difference in a pleasant conversation or one where the person never gets a call back and they are angry with the agency.

Dave in Alaska

Customer Service

This is almost a lost art anymore!  However at our agency we do put our customers first.  Not that I am saying that we have a perfect system but we do try to do what is right by the customer.  It all starts with our receptionist who is one of the best in the world, and that is where it starts.  If your receptionist can set the stage for the customer then the rest of their experience will be a good one.  As Case Managers and Job Developers we have to do our job as well but if the first person they see is courteous and helpful, it then puts the customer at ease and makes them feel like a person not just a number.  We must remember that for many people coming to our agency is tough enough as it is, let us not make them feel "less human" than what they already feel.  I think what helps me is that I have had to use the "system" for help and I remember how I felt.  Or we can just think about how we feel when we get poor customer service in our own experiences.  If we can think in those perspectives then we can offer better customer service.  Our agency just had a one day workshop on increasing customer service, we had skeleton crew work the office so all could attend.  Very productive and helpful made a great stress free work day, there was role playing and everything.  Again the best tip I can offer is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  If we don't like waiting, or being spoken rudely to then why would we treat our customers that way?  Let us go back to the good old days when being a customer meant something.

Michael

Ohio

When it comes to being a customer myself, the one thing that really irks me is asking a question and the employee just answering "I'm not sure" or "I don't know" and walking away. We don't know EVERYTHING there is about what we do at work, but the correct answer should be "I'm not exactly sure, and allow me a minute to find out. At least if they make an attempt to find the answer to my question, I think that's good customer service. Susan

EDD offers customer service training.  I have facilitated these classes as well as "Hostile Client" training.  I use brainstorming, role playing, videos and personal stories from the class members. 

It is often to put the employee in the shoes of the customer.

Mary J

In working with clients, our Agency requires monthly contacts by Case Managers with all clients, and all new case managers receive training which involves sitting in on various interviews, intakes, etc. with experienced Case Managers. We have decided amongst ourselves that it is important to ask clients if there is anything they feel the need to talk about and/or share or have concerns about before we finish each part of our interviews.  Eye Contact is important and we are all instructed to make sure clients feel as comfortable as possible in these rather personal situations.  Enjoyed the other tip you sent!!  Mary Cooke Hoeft, AHI-----

One of the biggest skills that our employment partners request training in is customer service. We do training in professional etiquette, customer service, and telephone etiquette in our orientation for all new students. We then also have advanced customer service included in our Bank Teller and Hotel and Lodging curriculum due to their emphasis on customer service skills. We use multiple techniques, but the overall theme of them is that you must treat customers like special guests in your home. Each of the training sections focuses on listening skills, defusing volatile situations, and basic social skills necessary to make customers feel appreciated even when they are unhappy with a product or service. We feel that if our students can learn some of these skills, they can become more than just good employees and improve their chances for promotions and raises.

Talk with you later,
David Chissoe, M.Ed., LPC
Project REACH Coordinator
OSU-OKC

I think the most important part of customer service training should the sincerity of delivery, whether it is on the phone or in person.  If you are sincere and work with a smile almost all customer complaints can be turned into a win-win situation, if not a repeat customer for life.  Have a great day!

Amee

Amee Keslar