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What have I learned?

What I’ve learn through my experience studying Service Excellence for Business Program?

My entire blog talks about it in almost every single line, it’s a motivational one now that I think about it, to the point of being annoying, I know, and I am sorry! But haven't you learned something new? At least it’s clear if you want to be or not part of this world? If so, I’m glad I’ve made my part and I will send you my peace! Now you can stop reading this no sense blog and go out for real personal and engaging adventures, but if on the contrary you still lost or curious about this, please stay tuned, because now I will have to keep posting, thank you!

Coming back to the real topic, yes! The program had helped me changed a little bit my world indeed, it forced me to go out and cry, cursed and try again, no shame. Learning about the field from books although not as accurate, had me me realize how much I have gained from when I was just fighting for myself, I am serious, no shame, again. Also it let me be such a good source of information for other students, it made me feel proud of myself, as I told you, before I wasn’t as opened as I am now, imagine that!

But enough of writing as it is a diary. Being serious and trying to use the proper terminology, the Service Excellence for Business Program can help you expand the horizon, but ONLY if you want to help you out as well. The courses, from the Canadian Workplace Essentials to Event Planning teach you how to handle real life situations by encouraging to go and throw the ball, it gives you a clear introduction of what you’re getting into and also provide you with assistance if you need it. The next part is on you, as I just told you.

The Bibles, as I called all our books were definitely useful, specially the Customer Service Skills and the Front desk one, in this one there’s a really useful chapter initiating on page 20 when it gives you all the information we need and the clues necessaries to survive, like a video game, pay attention and read is all you need. It talks about quality approach, a very important cue to the customer service industry, it also talks about establishing efficient work habits, time management, how taking time to thing will save tears, asking priorities, avoid procrastination, working one task at the time, prepare in in advance and many other ones, but the most important for me: build relaxation into your schedule, no one likes to be immerse in an overwhelming life, right?

From my favorite courses I relearn the rules that with effort I managed to put myself on, the crazy thorny world that’s out there ready to make you give the best or the splinter that will make you give up. That’s what happened to a very good friend of mine; patience was not enough, knowledge either, not even money made him stay! Dealing with people, the mean ones were probably the worst for him, the worst for the business, but it is ok, its all good, we weren’t all born to smile and hide. His life will change for good through another channel; same as yours. So, lets meet up there, where the big steps rest!

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Getting into the field?

Oh! The future, what a complicated time in space, at least for me. Thinking about what you want, but even worse, how you want it or how you’re going to get there, that my little reader, it’s a stressful task. Something we will have to face someday, something that will make you happy if you’re lucky enough to keep up with the responsibilities, but also something you can have fun with. How? My personal motive is passion!

 To be honest I didn’t enjoy working as a barista, bartender o server… at the beginning.

 I am a filmmaker by heart, I’m in love with the movies and it is developing process from day 0. However, life brought me to Canada and put me into the hospitality industry, which I am really grateful. It has taught me a lot about myself, it has change perspectives and opened exiting doors, that’s the main reason I would chose to be a bartender in the scary future, but a real one. That and the fact of sharing a different kind of stability with the filmmaking scene, the one that messed up with your schedule, gives you more adventures and bring some exiting-strange people. Sorry Dad, accounting wasn’t meant for me.

 I got into the bartending line little by little, and even though I hate making Mimosas or Ceasars every Sunday morning when it is crazy busy and you don’t even have time for your own thoughts, I love the fact of creating, mixing flavors, seeing happy faces around and improving day by day. 

 So this is the way I would do it: I will start by taking my smart serve, (I know, it’s a little annoying to get, but if you really want to grow in the field you have to follow some rules) I will get a new job with the short experience I already gained and once I got enough money I will take a program to learn how to be a good bartender, I will be knowledgeable enough to be able to tell my customers what kind of wine goes with what kind of plate. I didn’t know for example, as in Figure 6-7, P. 111 from the Bible of Food and Beverage by Pearson, it could exist up to 14 different kind of glasses to pour wine, WHAAAT? 

Even though I know there’s a difference between being a sommelier and a bartender, I still believe being a bartender is more than only pour beer and whisky on the rocks.

 I read an article that scared me a little bit, which I love by the way (like haunted houses), I truly believe the scariest things will lead to better things, it improves your persona, gets you out of your comfort zone, makes you brave! Anyway, this article highlight the problems about being at the bar, even physical ones, the consequences and how by choosing this path your life will go upside down, but to make it less dramatic, it gets you out of the ordinary, which ends up being a great thing.

 I could write a thousand words and most of them wouldn’t make any sense, because that is life and also because it is not yours, but my advice, if you don’t mind… take risks and then mix them; that is what I’m planning to do with mine. Spotting the satisfied customer face and then hear them say “You are the best”, its fulfilling, because… is not that what we are looking for in any kind of job? 

Evidence:

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THE CHALLENGE CHAPTER

Giving advice is one of the easiest tasks in the world, we are even extremely wise while doing it, but apply those changes we eagerly talked about, to our daily life, even worse, to our company… our baby? That is another story.

Despite all that we keep trying, aren’t we? The challenges we are afraid are those that help the most. The results after face it and improve it, talk by themselves. Improving Customer Service delivering is not as simple as it appears, as mentioned before. Treating with people, on the contrary, definitely not an easy work, we all have different needs, live under different situations and have also different thoughts; to not make things bored, I’m going to help you out as my experience helped me.

Let’s start with the counting again for the main challenges.

CHALLENGE No. 1

Improving Employee Engagement

As a customer service deliverer I can confirm that even though an employee could have the best soft skills, training, tools or approach to people, IF they are not engaged with their company by heart, it could be a future problem, no matter in which scale. When an employee doesn’t feel satisfied with the job, when is not loyal, they do not care, as simple as that. So make sure your employees are happy, feel comfortable working day and also give them a hand and don’t put everything on their shoulders when customer relationship talking. Suggestion box and surveys will help you both.

Remember? Dissatisfied employees = very, very sad customer.

CHALLENGE No. 2

Appear Natural

It’s difficult for some of us, me included, to give a natural look when smiling if we are not in the good mood for example, no one says it’s impossible, but no one either says it’s easier. So make sure you practice your proactive customer service strategies (the ones we talked about before) and the following clues that doesn’t need “powers”. Enhance your soft personality and then get personal, they are people as well, they want to feel they’re talking to a real person not robots. Be available, try to be there for them, in presence and online, the basis of any relationship is communication and the most important, trust. NEVER pigeonhole them. As I said before, we all have different needs and thoughts, make them feel important, care for them, offer special treatment, act as a human being basically.

CHALLENGE No. 3

Boost Customer Interactions

Another difficult work if the staff is not all set skilled. Who told you it’s just smiling!? I might have mentioned BUT I said it would help, not that it was the only thing that was required. Also you need to think about all possible perspectives, the customer’s one, the manager and yours. So here we’ll have four tips that surveymonkey.com kindly gave us and I can support, because THEY support me.

-        Ask reps to try to identify a common ground–like shared interests–with the people they help. 

-        Practice active listening so your customers feel heard. 

-        Admit your mistakes, even if you discover them before your customers do. 

-        Follow-up after a problem is solved. 

 CHALLENGE No. 4

Day-by-Day Expectations

Ugh, what a rough word, right? Sometimes we can’t even manage to handle that in real life, how are we going to make in this tough business world?

RELAX, and think of what you want and how would you like to be treated in the following situations.

 PLEASE READ THE 3 SITUATIONS UNTIL THE END*

 Having to serve multiple customers at     the same time?

(Apply for any Customer Service environment)

 Time management is everything.

 My very best advice: NO RUSH. Keep calm, make a pause and patiently answer questions accurately, be knowledgeable and let the costumer know what the situation is.

And please do-not-forget to repeat this “We are working on it”.

 2.     Have a question without an answer?

Never say you don’t know.

 Research and ask for their info in order to come back to them and solve the problem.

My very best advice: NO RUSH. Keep calm, make a pause and patiently answer questions accurately, be knowledgeable and let the costumer know what the situation is.

And please do-not-forget to repeat this “We are working on it”.

 3.     Are you facing an angry customer?

 Do not engage.

 My very best advice: NO RUSH. Keep calm, make a pause and patiently answer questions accurately, be knowledgeable and let the costumer know what the situation is.

And please do-not-forget to repeat this “We are working on it”.

Yes, repeat and treat! And remember, our bible of Sales Fundamental by Pearson p. 157 “Select solutions that create value”, we are not machines, we are human beings trying to create worthy connections in this crazy-busy-business world, let’s make our best to maintain our costumers satisfied!

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A MODEL FOR IMPROVEMENT

By Luisa Zapata 

There's not a specific model or ritual where we can guarantee to our business owners an imminent success, there's not an equivalent to the steps of any dance for business management and customer service. However, I can provide you with 7 simple steps that you can follow in order to gain experience and improve your results. Believe me, my manager told me it worked for a critical time, he also told me to not tell anyone, but I trust you'll do the right thing.

First of all, and personally the most important step to keep in mind: LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMER, I wish I could emphasize more. The basis of your success rest on not only provide the best experience and improve it, but to listen more than hear, and talk, you won't have the chance of fix something unless you know what's the real matter, wouldn't you? Secondly, we know technology is one of the greatest tools of all times, the bible of Sales Fundamentals by Pearson, p. 90 will tell you how retailing shoppers have changed the way they buy because of the social media era, and how the use of smartphones by Moms of all ages has increased rapidly, and it's true, it's a great tool, (it also makes you zombie but we'll talk about it in my next blog) so, yes! Such an amazing tool, the one that nowadays everybody relies on, and what happened to the employee-customer relationship, and the real needs? Differentiation and the ability to generate long-term value is what matters! Third TIP: Stop imitating and start INNOVATING, clearer it can be. Many companies try to do it but fail, why? It wasn't their original idea, they want what others have, they want to hire the genius p, but as a result it ended up as a cheap copy, crude but real. Nobody likes when you see the same tattoo in two different people, I've been there. So what I did was create my own, unique version. Number four, eliminate "high-effort experiences", I know, but it sounds more complicated that it really is, what this means is simply leave anguish plots for the movies. Customers just want to be satisfied in the most relaxing and painless way. So please, without being rude, go straight to the point and please them. Fin. Five, and almost there, explore multiple angles! Think outside the box! Brainstorm before redirect your answer to a customer, talk to yourself, and be creative! As Help scout suggest in its article 8 Ways to Improve Your Company's Customer Experience strategy, "...the best ideas and most creative solutions result from looking at the problem from multiple angles." Número 6, Make it Unique, do I really have to explain it?  Think about how you want to be remembered, think about that special feature that makes people coming back to your business, put yourself in their shoes, ask questions, try and fail, and do it again if necessary, until you find that special crystal that calls customers one by one. I'm not literally talking about real magic, but something similar will happen, you'll see. Once you find it, even generate a copy from others would be almost impossible.  And finally, last but not least, the cherry on top of the cake: Prioritize Customer Support! Meaning: enjoy what you’re doing which is helping customers fixing their problems, don't try to defend yourself, this is not war, don't offer a crummy customer support! They are the reason your company maintain its blood running, so be gentle, offer an apologize if they're right, do not waste time and energy killing your business that way, offer refunds if there was a misunderstanding, maintain your channels of communication open... I know, I know I've been a little dramatic but it's true, or my manager say so, so you have to believe me, believe in your business and the power of your soft skills reloaded!

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How to survive to the ‘Customer Service’ world.

I’m just another server/bartender in the world, you would say, I’m only 26, what do I know? Is it reliable information that we’re reading? Is it even the English correct? That’s not her first language! No, I don’t trust her.

That was me in front of a mirror. That and many other things I can say about myself when I’m not around, I hope you understand what I meant by that. Find the way to make things right is never easy, at least one mistake you’ll have to make in order to make you better, isn’t that the rule? So my advice to you, no matter the age, gender or even religion; go out, the field is waiting for you to throw the ball!

Nobody was born being a semi god or knowing math, in the customer service experience we are allowed to try and fail in some aspects, but the good thing is once you have made a mistake, it will never happens twice, so go out, do not be afraid to give the best and confident service ever, it’s like make new friends.

And talking about friends, remember customers are like the needy ones, they always will seek for attention, never ignore them, try to read the need of the room, ask if everything is going well so far in case you are in a restaurant situation, but remember not to be over protective, we don’t want them to go away that fast; please never be afraid of ask twice if you do not understand something, they are your friends remember? So treat them well, we are there to know them better, make them feel like home and have a great time.

If this is not your case, if you are terrible at making new friends and somehow ended up in this path, don’t worry either, try to find your own key, like the comedians, they are not all the same, there are different kinds of humor, try to find your strength, don’t force a smile if yours is a creepy one (just kidding), but there is a certain, you have a gift that can be your power when facing uncomfortable situations, find it, take it and never let that go, it will be the key for your patience, and probably the customer’s one. The more you practice, the better you get.

Another practical improvement you can make to offer the best experience, will be to watch how others do, focus on that, not everything is wrong or bad, watch the good servers in action, take what you consider is the best, what made the guest laugh; take it and improve it. For example, when I was at The bishop, as a guest I could also see how servers were delivering the food as fast as they could, and passing the plates from one hand to another, It is understandable that in a restaurant environment we need to be fast, but as I told you before, being effective is not the same as being efficient, so my advice for them would be to define roles and definitely have more staff on the floor, because what if that had happened in any other front desk service? The person picking up the phone, delivering mail and attending people on the line while receiving complains it’s the same. Wouldn’t that get a superior level of difficulty and wouldn’t that person be able to offer a good service so the image of the company wouldn’t be compromised? Are we clear we just went over how important is teamwork at the workplace?

My final advice from this side of the line to those who are just beginning or simply want to know more about the field, is that never let the customer feel you are scared, but if you are and there is no way you can hide it, just let them know saying for example, that is your first day and you’re learning, there is nothing wrong with that, also keep in mind the time, the tasks, and how would you manage to complete all without delaying others work or interfering with the business flow; just be aware of your personality in order to develop knowledge and capacities. As our bible for Sales Fundamentals page 33 remember us, “…recognizing our own feelings and those of others, motivating ourselves and managing emotions effectively in ourselves and our relationships” it’s called emotional intelligence. In my own experience, it’s there where the key for success is hiding.

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Service experiences!

I’m Aquarius, my birthday was on February and my boyfriend wanted me to have an unforgettable experience, so we spent almost three days jumping from surprise to surprise; one of the surprises was really comfortable, having in mind I had bad references from the Hotel we stayed on a Friday night.

The first surprise was getting off work and putting my bags into a car, is valid to mention that as an international student I’m still adjusting to life here and my boyfriend have never driven in snow, so 100 points for that! Anyway, when we arrived to Niagara Falls (which we both found very cliche, but as a Canadian experience, we had to) my first encounter was with The Marriot, because we were late due to the freezing rain, we had to run with everything, and I thought, me going to the front desk is definitely not going to be fun. Why? The rush, the lateness, the English!

However, one of the three ladies on the counter was really kind and helpful, she actually helped me calm down by letting me know I was right on time for my massage, with which I was surprised again. She took me to the massage area and very kindly put me in another hands, the most calm person in have ever meet, the front desk lady at the spa, it is also valid to tell you we had a very bonding but stressful 4 hours trip to Niagara Falls under the circumstances I just told you, which would have probably led to my fascination with all the front desk ladies.

The overall experience was gratifying, since the first moment, even before getting into the Hotel, the valet received us with a warm greeting and offered to help with the suitcases, while I ran to the entrance to not lose my longed for massage; since the moment I finally got into that spa and then went to the room, which had a great view towards the falls, as my boyfriend requested and told me didn’t have any complications. Until we finally got our dinner in a restaurant close to the hotel, I have to say everyone was really friendly and that weekend I felt in a movie maybe was the snow, the falls or my birthday, but everything worked out perfectly. Even the next morning at the buffet, well- cooked eggs and basically all the food I could eat, plus the server at the restaurant pleased me with everything!

The valet even let us leave the car longer while we finished packing and having lunch, so the only complain I could have it would be that I don’t feel there was a relationship with the guest, they just stuck to their jobs and made my birthday, a remembered one. As simple as that.

On the contrary, at The Bishop and Belcher, a restaurant close to Sherbourne and Yonge St. my friend and I couldn’t receive the same attention; the greeting wasn’t ideal, simple because the host wasn’t in his place, why? Because he was helping running food, then he attended someone who was after us and when we finally sat down, he left the menu and another server came to us to take our order.

The relationship with the customer was null since the beginning, the sense of belonging to the restaurant was not reflected at all, the spaced was reduced with too many tables and not enough servers and although the food saved the day, this restaurant is not going to be well remembered in case you want to have an special occasion.

I would say the deepest weakness is not having enough staff to do one specific task, I work as a bartender AND server in a restaurant where, unfortunately the staff has to do more than one thing at the time in some cases, and believe me, the customer will be never a 100% satisfied because they will never have a person with a 100% focused on one role at the time. As the bible of Front Desk Services says in page 21, “Effectiveness means producing a definite or desire result. Efficiency means producing the desired result with a minimum of effort, expense, and waste.”

Do the math yourself, and remember: a happy employee is a satisfied customer… and a satisfied customer is a happy employee.

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Customer Service Strategies?

As a student, worker, and simple human being I’m supposed to be treated properly in order to feel good… basically. Being respectful, tolerant and thousands of other adjectives is what make you a good person, as my grandma used to say. And it’s true; factors that will never change no matter the role, that will help you understand more about people, and the most important: will teach you about yourself. Really deep eh?

Don’t think that way, don’t get emotional, personal or disappointed, AND keep those words in mind, it will become handy some day, I promise. Customer service is not that hard, dealing with people’s needs can be tricky but it could help you develop that part of yourself that you haven’t even found yet. THAT was what happened to me.

Do-not-worry, we are not going to leave you alone, we’ll talk about the first experience as a customer service agent and how to handle any kind of situation. For example, if we are in a Hotel and a customer comes with a long face and an attitude, almost yelling at you and demanding something you can’t provide, your reaction shouldn’t be necessarily smile and try to fix they attitude or react in the same way, on the contrary, you should simply remain calm and explain the reason why you can’t help while being polite. It’s here when we start talking about the importance of soft skills and how much impact it has on your work.

We know we are all different, we don’t think the same and even less, have the same reactions when we feel threatened, this is the reason why the next few tips about customer service strategies will help you have a better understanding about this kind of situations and the role you decided to put on you.

The first and probably most important: knowledge! There is nothing more annoying for a customer than when they ask something about a product and you don’t know the answer, so they will have to figure things out by their own, and that my friend, is definitely not good for your business. Remember: meek customers are everywhere and what you need is a good word of mouth! Knowledge is what gives you confidence in any case scenario, is pleasure to their ears, it is satisfying and gratifying, and even if at the end they don’t buy anything, they will leave in a very good mood and at least won’t complain or cause any damage to your business, train your staff, in case you own your own business or simply make your homework, don’t leave any chance to the goods, be prepared in order to be effective.

Which leads us to the second important strategy: time management, as simple as that. A disorganized person will never achieve to make a great work if they do not know what to do first, don’t let the guest be aware of your mistakes by making a show, for sure it’s going to be entertaining seeing you busy, running and falling; and even funny (if the guest’s humour helps) in theory. But in real life, it is definitely not a good sign and you’ll probably be on the red zone, believe me, nobody wants to be there, don’t make it hard for you; keep track of what you have done, what you need and what was supposed to be done first, calendars, to do lists, and infinite way to manage time and give them the best experience they could have.

Thirdly, as important as the previous strategies, we have now something called ‘Feeling the pain’ and ‘Be a good listener’, very self explanatory, the first one requires to put yourself into others shoes and experience the anguish, the second one advice you to not only hear, but pay attention and carefully listen to what they need. As I told you, very easy to understand, however, here’s when your soft skills bumps up! The level of empathy you show will help you dealing with complicated customers, in fact, with any kind of customer. You might think the smiling tool is out of the spectrum, definitely not! And I believed it when I got the chance to practice on the field; it saved me a couple of times, that, and tell the truth, always. Smiling could change the day of a person or smoothly help you out in case of any mistake. Also, dress appropriately for the kind of job you have, as the book of Front Desk Services says in page 17 “keep it simple and you will look more elegant”.

We are probably leaving out tons of keys to be an excellent customer service agent and don’t dye trying; like for example creating a relationship with your customers letting them feel how special they are by little things, like remembering their names, creating rewards for loyal customers and personalizing experiences as well. Of course, without neglecting the welfare of its employees, generating a better work environment, discounts, training while promoting camaraderie and learning. We are all human beings and we deserve equality in the conditions of daily life.

A happy employee is a satisfied customer.