Ellis Communications, Inc.

NEWS STORY

Are the Right People Taking Care of Your Customers?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE              CONTACT: Tom Ellis
May. 11, 2003                               Ellis Communications, Inc.
                                                      Phone: (417) 881-5635

      For most telecoms, product knowledge and experience are important to both the company and its customers. But while knowledge and experience are valuable, equally so is employees’ ability to listen to customer needs and to help them find a solution.

       “Are the right people taking care of your customers?” asks David Saxby, president of Phoenix-based Measure-X, a company that specializes in helping telephone companies and other telecoms improve their customer service and sales. “It just isn’t true that employees will know how to do the job correctly simply because they have knowledge and experience.”

      Saxby offers the following thoughts on the importance of having employees who know how to take care of customers.

1. The staff must care about helping people. “Look at Southwest Airlines,” Saxby says. “They don’t seek people with previous airline experience. They want people who care about other people. Their interview process addresses this need and they know they can train new employees to do the technical aspects of their jobs.”
2. To help employees be the kind of customer-oriented person they need to be, managers must clearly define their service expectations. “Don’t be afraid to clearly communicate the attitude you expect employees to present to your customers and don’t be afraid to hold them accountable,” Saxby notes.
3. Model service expectations at every level of management. “How you treat your employees is a clear indication of how you treat your customers,” Saxby points out.
4. Solidify and enhance the relationships between employees and customers by discreetly observing how employees interact with customers.
5. As you observe employees dealing with customers, ask yourself these questions: Do employees greet customers in a friendly and warm manner? Do they ask probing questions to determine the need? Do they make recommendations to meet the need? Do they explain the benefits of your products and services? Do they use non-technical terms so customers can understand? Do they sincerely thank customers for their business?

      “Most of us love to hear that we did a great job,” Saxby says. “If you take the time to express your appreciation for your employees’ efforts, it will be reflected in their attitude toward your most valuable asset - your customers.”

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For more information on Measure-X, call 888-644-5499 or visit its Web site at www.measure-x.com.

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