— Be careful what you ask for
— Empowering the front-line
— Engaging the rest of the organization

In part one, we discussed the first two themes; in this article, we discuss the final topic.

Engaging the Rest of the Organization

Who owns Customer Satisfaction and Retention? Typically, Customer Service or Sales. Who supports Service and Sales? The rest of the organization! Is the rest of the organization aware? Do they understand how and why? Not always…

Here is where I want to insert a special note to Customer Service Management. Does this sound like someone you know?

— “What can I do? We get no respect from the rest of the organization.”
— “Other departments keep causing us problems.”
— “I am continuously asked to do more with less. We aren’t presently delivering the required level of service. It is only going to get worse.”

My suggestion: lose the victim attitude. You are in control!

There are 4 main points to cover:

• Setting the example
• Using your interpersonal skills
• Dealing with non-responsive people
• Organizational dependencies of Customer Service

Setting the example:

When reaching out to other organizations for continuous improvement reasons, meet individually with each organization you most critically depend upon. Ask first, “what can my team do better for you and the customer?” Listen…then, commit to doing something about it and deliver! Now it is your turn: share 1-2 items that you could “use their assistance on.”

Now let’s address being available to respond to customer needs. The first question is: Are you easily accessible to others when they are in need of your support? And, when you are away (briefly, or for an extended period such as vacation), do you let people know how to get the support they need?

There are two basic steps you can take here:

1) Set up your standard voice-mail greeting with a message indicating an alternate contact number (your cell) and/or a person whom others can contact in the event of an emergency or when you are not immediately available.

2) When you are going to be away for an extended period of time, indicate so in your voice-mail greeting, and set up an email auto-responder with full details of an alternative contact.

In both cases, you will want to make sure that you have "cleared" the coverage with your alternate contact to make sure he/she will be available during your absence.

Using your interpersonal management skills:

When you have been "lit up" by a customer due to a particularly troublesome issue that requires support from others in your organization, your interpersonal communications must be kept in check. Remember that it is not only what you say but how you say it. People are busy, so being respectful of this fact when requesting their support will go a long way to obtaining their buy-in to respond to the customer situation.

Dale Carnegie said it best: "you can get more with a teaspoon of honey than a gallon of gall." If you haven't read the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie I suggest you do so.

Dealing with non-responsive people:

If, or should I say when, your attempts to engage someone result in a non-response, there are 3 steps to consider:

1) Remain focused on the client, who is the reason why you are both employed at your company.

2) Explain to the person you are attempting to engage what’s in it for him/her. For example, resolving the customer's situation may support your firm's customer satisfaction or revenue goals, for which you are both "bonused." The situation could provide an opportunity for two cross-functional organizations to demonstrate effective collaboration and bridge building. Finally, if you still meet with a lack of response or willingness to help then...

3) Go up the food chain. The person you are relying on likely has a specific set of skills or subject-matter-expertise. Not being available is might not be his/her problem, nor is it your, or the customer's, problem. But, it is the problem of the supervisor or manager of the organization whose resource you are attempting to engage. So, you can take the next step of contacting the "next level" in the management chain and indicate something to the effect of: "We have [this customer situation] that needs the attention of someone with Chris's skills. However, it appears that Chris is extremely busy and unable to get involved. Who would you suggest that I work with from your team on this?" The supervisor can then make the decision to reprioritize Chris's work list or allocate an alternate resource to engage.

Too frequently people are afraid to take this step because they feel that they will damage relationships. But, considering the approach outlined above, have you actually "told on" Chris? No, not really. You have actually acknowledged that Chris is a very knowledgeable and valuable employee that is extremely busy.

Organizational Dependencies of Customer Service

The following table lists several organizations that customer service is typically most dependent upon. What is provided are the typical contributions that each makes towards the customer experience and strategies that Customer Service can use to effectively engage with each.

In summary, your people have the greatest influence on the customer experience. As such, you are encouraged to empower them to deliver an exceptional experience. If you’d like to discuss further strategies for empowering customer service, feel free to contact us for a no-cost, no-obligation 30-minute consultation.

Craig Bailey is President and Founder at Customer Centricity, Inc. Customer Centricity is a business consulting firm that drives programs to improve customer satisfaction and retention, and operational efficiencies. You can reach Craig at craig@customercentricity.biz or at 603/491-7948. Craig offers an initial (no-cost) brainstorming and strategy session to review challenges and opportunities that your firm is facing, and shares pragmatic approaches for you to consider in addressing your most pressing business needs. Company: Customer Centricity, Inc.