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How this program benefited me

If I would say how this Service Excellence in Business program benefited me I would say I am not the same I was before taking it. Besides that course, I also had the experience to live in another country and I feel it was great for my maturity. The program couldn’t start better than with Customer Service and Canadian Workplace classes. I’ve never done a resume in Brazil, the Canadian Workplace classes helped me with writing about my qualifications and I learned how the process to get a job here works. The Customer Service classes showed me how customer service is important and where it is applied. I didn’t have that vision of how most part of the business is linked with customer satisfaction. After that, I had the Front Desk and Sales Fundamentals which were my favorite classes. In both of then, I felt a connection between customer service and strategic sales aspects. At Front Desk I learned how to have a wider vision of the business in order to accommodate guests’ needs with the company wants. And it also helped to think on my feet when handling with guests complains. Sales Fundamentals was really useful to understand how people are divided into personalities, taking in consideration family life-cycle to influence a person to buy something. As well as adaptive selling, flexing your communication style after reading the need of a client. In the next term, I had Food & Beverage and Event Planning classes which I didn’t feel useful for me. I worked at two restaurants, so I think I learned more about that industry working than in class. And Event planning teaches me how planning an event really looks like because we had to plan a real one. But I think it is not that hard to do as the classes make look like and in my point of view it is not that useful for my life.

Timm, P. R., & Harris, E. K. (2015). <i>Sales Fundamentals</i>. New York, NY: Pearson Education Company. Page 90.

Timm, P. R., & Harris, E. K. (2015). <i>Sales Fundamentals</i>. New York, NY: Pearson Education Company. Page 121.

Timm, P. R., & Harris, E. K. (2015). <i>Canadian Workplace</i>. New York, NY: Pearson Education Company. Page 38.

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Future job

I am currently working in the hospitality industry at a restaurant as a busser. And my goals were to grow inside that restaurant, becoming a food runner and then a bartender because I think it would be fun to work behind the bar making drinks for everyone and chatting with clients. But I can’t continue working at that place anymore because I have to find a full-time job and my restaurant doesn’t have such an opportunity. I’m sad to leave the team because they welcomed me very well but at the same time, I’m excited to gain more experience in a different place. My goal is to find some entry-level position in another restaurant, so maybe busser again because I already have some experience. There is a lot of restaurants near my home and I am seeking for something close. The closest one is a Brazilian Steakhouse named Copacabana and I believe it would be my first option. I intend to start as a busser or even a food runner because I know perfectly how it works, therefore, it is the same as in Brazil. In Brazilian Steakhouses, there is no server, only food runners that bring the various steak to all clients at the restaurant. I believe I would be very useful for them even to grill the steaks because I was used to doing a barbecue with my friends and family. Plus, the asset to speak Portuguese assuming they receive many Brazilians. So, I guess I could deliver an excellent customer service as I have knowledge about the product and the skills learned at ILAC College and Pure Spirits.

Timm, P. R., & Harris, E. K. (2015). <i>Customer service skills</i>. New York, NY: Pearson Education Company. Page 10.

Back Server - Food Runner & Bus person. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2018, from https://frhi.taleo.net/careersection/ext_frhi/jobdetail.ftl?job=CHI00939&lang=en

Timm, P. R., & Harris, E. K. (2015). <i>Sales Fundamentals</i>. New York, NY: Pearson Education Company. Page 36.

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Challenges in delivering effective customer service

The customer service industry, in my option, is the most boring and hard industry to work on. As it’s aimed at people’s satisfaction and people are usually difficult to satisfy. Working on that industry requires strong problem-solving skills and patience. This is the ultimate challenge that organizations face and addressing it becomes a very tedious task for everyone around. Your support team has to come up with answers that are flexible and as per the requirement of the situation.

The challenges begin with the first interaction with the customer, when you see an advertisement or enter for the first time in a restaurant, for example, matters if it looks clean and neat or dirt and disorganized. I eat with frequency at McDonald's and a problem that I always face is uncleanness. The tables and the floor are usually sticky, and that is worldwide. They should worry more about the workplace cleanness, hiring more people or increasing the regularity of cleaning due to the high rotation of their restaurants.

Another common problem faced by customers is when you ask something about the product, the employee doesn’t know the answer and you less likely is going to buy that product. “78% of consumers have not completed a purchase despite keen interest thanks to poor support and service”: AmEx Survey 2011. I have a situation for that and I am embarrassed to assume that the employee was me. As I said before, I am a busser and my role is to clean tables, polish cutleries and glasses maintaining every station filled with it. Of course, the guests don’t know that and don’t care, and would lie if I said it is not my obligation to know the menu. It happened once, the customer asked what an ingredient in his plate was and I had no idea. In that case, I think I should be required by my manager to study the menu to avoid future issues.

The essence to have a great customer service and make your business successful is exceeding customers’ expectations of what is constantly changing these days. So, the biggest challenge is to fulfill those expectations by keeping the customers one step ahead and keeping themselves updated based on customer feedbacks latest market trends. Collecting customer feedbacks and if the company starts working on those areas where they need improvement will help them to improve their brand image. Proper and impactful training to your customer representatives and empowering them will boost their confidence and they will happily boost the company’s brand image and will be able to create an amazing experience for the customers. By focusing on small things and adding a personal touch with the customers will surely help to exceed customer’s expectations beyond the limit. A great example of a company that is the leader in customer service nowadays is Apple. They are concerned about hiring knowledgeable staff and that surely increase the customer experience. Sometimes they surprise me with the amount of product knowledge they have answering questions efficiently and giving something extra to make me feel comfortable when deciding what I am going to buy.

Top 7 Customer Service Challenges and How to Resolve Them in 2018 (Updated). (2018, May 16). Retrieved October 1, 2018, from https://acquire.io/blog/customer-service-challenges/

Challenges of Delivering Customer Satisfaction and How to Go Through Them. (2017, September 05). Retrieved October 1, 2018, from https://callpageboy.ie/challenges-delivering-customer-satisfaction-go/

Biggest Challenges in Delivering Top Class Customer Service. (2018, June 20). Retrieved October 1, 2018, from https://www.kapturecrm.com/blog/biggest-challenges-delivering-top-class-customer-service/

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A Model For Improvement

The infographic I built is a guide for business owners or managers that help to evaluate the services provided on their business with some hints to improve them. I used the customer service core competencies as a base because I believe that’s the path to build customers loyalty through quality of services. The first and most important thing is communication. Every interaction among the staff is essential to create an exceptional teamwork. Therefore, the staff has to be strategic and positive when talking with clients in order to do not upset them by mistake and exceed their expectations. The second tip is empowering the staff, employees in their first-day working don’t have any idea how the new workplace works. Usually, it’s the scariest day because they don’t know the company’s vision and can commit mistakes more often. They are not engaged with the rhythm of their co-workers and managers can help to empower them to make decisions on their own. When a guest complains, for example, the faster the solution the fewer turnoffs could occur. So, when the employee can solve a problem without the manager’s help the customer gets less angry and usually satisfied with the quickness. Knowledge management deals with how the staff learns new ways to do things and share that learning with others for the benefit of the company. Alert people constantly learn new ways to deal with different customer needs or provide and solutions to customers issues. Managers have to ensure ways to tap into employee creativity, to give voice to new ideas.

In my point of view, the most efficient way to succeed or improve a business is asking feedback for the customers and focus on negative comments in order to work on them. Bad reviews are essential to point where the managers and business owners should work on. There is no one better than the customer to evaluate a service. It is impossible to preview an issue but when it happens the employees need to be prepared to act immediately in the best manner. In conclusion, counting on guest satisfaction, business owners have to be volatile and open-minded with changes. Humans are in constant evolution every day, the trends are always changing, and the big organizations are many times responsible for it, smaller business should follow up them to grow. Using feedbacks as guide companies can improve customer service and change always to better.

Timm, P. R., & Harris, E. K. (2015). <i>Customer service skills</i>. New York, NY: Pearson Education Company. page 10, 11.

Bernazzani, S. (n.d.). The 4 Customer Experience Core Competencies [Infographic]. Retrieved October 1, 2018, from https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-experience-core-competencies

12 Core Competencies. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2018, from https://www.best-job-interview.com/12-core-competencies.html

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Improvements for customer service

I believe it’s surprising how fast the customer service industry is growing. Although it’s not in the hole world. As I said before in my previous post there are some cultural differences that influence in the way they approach a client in Brazil. For that situation, I guess the sales people are pressed by their manager too much for making a sale. They should realize that the customer is humans like them and should put themselves in the position of the customer. Nobody likes an annoying salesperson trying to sell you everything. So the managers should educate they employees to give a minimum help and leave the customer to decide by himself. Of course, the salespeople have to influence the customer to make a sell but they don’t have to push it too much. We like the freedom to walk around the store and see what they have to offer. When I am looking for something specific I appreciate the help from the salesperson, they are very helpful for me to choose the right product because they know the aspects of the products and they teach us about the product. That is why I prefer to buy in person than online if I have a question I ask it, they answer it right away and I can see the product I am buying. Instead of trying to sell everything for a client the salespeople should focus on what they are looking for and help them to make a good choice. Many times I bought things cause I felt in the vendor’s talk. It makes me feel I waste money and I have clothes that I don’t like to use. When the vendor helps me to make a decision I certainly feel more satisfied and more likely I will return to that store.

Talking about the other experience I had at Pickle Barrel it was really disappointing for me because I was wanting to have a good dinner and all I got was waiting time. The server didn’t take the dirty plates from our table, wasn’t showing interest on us and I feel I wasted money. The food was delicious though. But it’s just not the same thing when we aren’t well served. People don’t go to restaurants just for the food and the server are the ones who have to make our experience enjoyable. A positive body language is the most important thing in that job position. We customers love to feel the energy the server gives to us, smiling, asking questions and suggesting specialties of the restaurant. I work in a restaurant and when a client asks something for me I just stop whatever I am doing and get what they want even if it’s not my role. Therefore, the people that work in a customer service related business has to work towards the customer's satisfaction even if they are not facing them for example in the back of house positions.

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Customer service experiences

One of the things that I most liked here in Canada is the customer service in retail stores, it is completely different than in Brazil and it draws my attention many times that I traveled to North America. Here when you walk in the store an employee greets you, you start looking around, often another sales person come to you, asks if they can help you to find something and that is it. If you don’t ask for assistance they will leave you by yourself without pushing you to buy something. In Brazil, you are greeted by someone and he says “Welcome, my name is Nathan. Are looking for anything specific today? If you need anything just call me.” Usually, people say they are just looking around because we like to see it by ourselves. But in less than 2 minutes he comes to you again while you are looking some t-shirts for example and starts to make questions like “What is your size?” and “Which color do you prefer?”. And they bring you many options to look at and try desperately to sell you something, any sign you show that you want to see other things they will cover you with products. It is so annoying! Here I can walk around the stores peacefully without being followed by a salesperson.

The difference between the service in the retail stores are notorious but it is limited to this type of business. In restaurants, for example, I already witnessed a few bad service experiences. I remember to see the restaurant Pickle Barrel once for the first time in one of the first days of my stay, it was the one located at Yorkdale Mall and the visual from outside caught my attention and made me want to go there. Later on, I moved to a new house nearby Eglinton Station and there is a Pickle Barrel right on Eglinton & Yonge Centre so one night I decided to try it with a friend of mine. We arrived at the restaurant and there was no line or hosts on the door, just a sign written “Please, wait to be seated.”, so that’s what we did. We had to wait around 7 minutes until a host came and took us to our table. The first time our server came he just left the menus on the table and left without saying a single word. He came back again in a few minutes and we ordered our drinks, but we were still deciding what we were going to have for dinner because the menu was too long. After that he didn’t come back, we talked to another server to call him, but we waited around 30 minutes, we were thinking in left when he arrived to take our order. He wasn’t concerned about us, he didn’t come to ask if everything was OK and didn’t refill our pops. We asked to sit in another table, but they just called the guy again. It was a very poor service and I probably won’t return to that place.

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Importance of customer service

Before this program I didn’t feel customer service as an important thing. But looking closely to every step, skills and effort needed from a company to satisfy their clients. Now I changed my mind and I think that customer service is something very important for the society nowadays. We have to handle with it daily, from buying groceries to interacting with our co-workers. In my point of view, our actions are reflected with the interactions we have, for example, when a server is having a bad day more likely he will provide bad service or be rude with a client that obviously don’t deserve it, and this simple action that could be just a couple words can affect badly the day of that specific client. Letting this client upset the companies can lose the chance to see him again or his friends because of word of mouth, what is spread very quickly with the technology of communication. So, in order to avoid that the customer service industry is something that companies should definitely invest on. Avoid those situations though is quite challenging because you can never know when some employee is going to be in a bad mood or in most cases is the client who is the problem. In those cases, the employee has to know how to manage the situation and provide an exceptional service. To reduce the chances of occurring a turn off the manager of a restaurant, for example, has to educate the servers to be customer-oriented that means always think on the guest’s satisfaction. The employees that work in customer service has to have strong soft and interpersonal and clear communication skills in order to get a personal relationship with the client and personalize the service to make then valued and happy with the experience. I learned something pretty interesting in the sales class, adaptive selling it is how we call a strategy used by salespeople, they flex their communication style according to the people they talk. For me, that is the most effective way to approach a client and it makes the interactions go easily because the customer sees you like someone else than a simple person trying to sell a product. The server, in that case, has to active listening the customer to read their needs and provide it in an excellent manner. But being a positive and nice person is not everything, as I said before, every detail is important and doesn’t matter how big the mistake is, it can cause your client to never come back. Another thing that is fundamental is product acknowledge, it is essential that a salesperson know exactly what they’re selling because if the client asks something about it, they have to show that they know about the product and are a reliable person.

Ciotti, G. (2018, March 07). 16 Customer Service Skills that Every Employee Needs. Retrieved September 24, 2018, from https://www.helpscout.net/blog/customer-service-skills/ Timm, P. R., & Harris, E. K. (2015). <i>Customer service skills</i>. New York, NY: Pearson Education Company. page 74 Timm, P. R., & Harris, E. K. (2015). <i>Sales Fundamentals>. New York, NY: Pearson Education Company. Page 39, 40