FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Tom Ellis
April 8, 2005 Ellis Communications, Inc.
Phone: (417) 881-5635
Email: tom@elliscomm.com
PHOENIX, Ariz. – Do your utility’s customers
believe that your customer service outshines all others? Do they feel good
about their interactions with your company?
“As utilities confront new competition and roll out new
services to boost revenues, customer service becomes increasingly critical,”
says David Saxby, president of Phoenix-based Measure-X, a company that
specializes in helping utilities improve their customer service and sales.
“The skills
your employees demonstrate either meet your customers’ needs or not. From the
initial greeting to an expressed appreciation to the customer for their
business, your employees’ front-line performance can create loyal customers who
can help you compete and preserve new revenue streams.”
Saxby
offers the five following tips on how to help employees provide only the best in
customer service.
Set the
standard. Train every employee on how each customer should be greeted.
“Role play with employees to make sure they have first-hand experience as to
what the standard means,” Saxby suggests. “Does each employee clearly
understand why that standard is important?”
Seek
customer feedback. Implement a system to measure the customer-service
experience from the customer’s point of view. “Ask your customers what is
working well and what needs improvement and then share this feedback with your
employees,” Saxby says.
Become a
coach. Enlist your supervisors and managers to be coaches to their
employees. “Every team needs leadership and development,” Saxby explains.
“Those in management positions are responsible for the development of their
staff.”
Provide
recognition. Recognition is a powerful tool but many companies do nothing
beyond base pay to acknowledge their employees for performance above and
beyond. “Implement a recognition program to reward employees for exceeding your
standards,” Saxby recommends. “For a winning combination, recognition should be
both private and public – a hand-written thank-you note, a letter to the
employee’s family or a plaque or trophy with their name engraved are all simple
ways to recognize stellar performance.”
Make it
fun. Employees deal with customers who are in a variety of emotional states
ranging from one end of the spectrum to the other. “You have an opportunity to
demonstrate to your staff how much you value them by also teaching them how to
reduce their stress level at work,” Saxby says. “Provide an area where they can
unwind or create fun breaks where they can forget about their last frustrating
experience.”
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Measure-X is a measurement, training and recognition company that specializes
in customer service and sales skills. For more information on Measure-X,
call 888-644-5499 or visit its Web site at www.measure-x.com.
