by: Tom Flodeen, VP and GM of Customer Support – Mentor Graphics Corporation Most of us believe we are great change advocates, but the reality is we also all like stability. Especially when it is stability in our own operation. I have learned over the years that change is often the result of pain. As [...]
What is Your Customer’s “Statusfaction”?
October 7, 2009 By 1 Comment
Escalations are the bane of all service managers and are often a result of poor communications about unresolved customer cases. Keeping customers informed of what you are doing to resolve their issue is key to driving their ultimate service satisfaction. Unnecessary, low value escalations, often times occur when a customer finally gets fed up with waiting for their issue to be resolved or hearing something from the engineer, and escalates their case. These escalations result in higher per case costs, needless interruptions, lower customer satisfaction and frustrated technical staff. So how can you improve customer “Statusfaction”?
Mentoring – They Said They Were Ok. So What’s The Problem?
August 13, 2009 By Leave a Comment
You’ve just hired a new front line support rep. To decrease ramp up time, you assign one of your experienced people to mentor the new employee. Now you can relax, knowing that things will go smoothly in bringing the new person up to speed. However, a few months later you become concerned when it appears that the new person is struggling still with what could be considered basic skills and seems to be frustrated, almost to the point of being negative.
I’m in Customer Service, Not Sales
June 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Customer service today requires more than the ability to communicate professionally. In today’s competitive market a new role, that of cross selling, is becoming an integral part of the customer service function. It is a natural function if done professionally with the customer’s needs in mind. Many customer service professionals resist the role of cross selling because they are uncomfortable with it. It feels like sales rather than support. It feels as if they are forcing something on the customer that he or she did not ask for. It feels like telemarketing. It doesn’t have to.
The Fragile Balance between Agile Development and Customer Support
June 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
he latest fads and trends seem to blast onto the scene with a focus on the upside but often there are delayed downsides lurking. In the world of software development there always seems to be a creative way to mess up or miss-interpret a great new practice. There are many articles about Agile Development’s positives and negatives from a development perspective. Google is all about Agile and it seems that every development organization will at least tinker around with Agile trying to emulate Google’s success. But let’s face it, replicating Google’s culture, bank account and stranglehold on a cash cow service (search) is nigh impossible.
Develop Shock and Awe through Service Recovery
May 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
One of the most powerful relationship-building tools available to services organizations comes from a situation most of us dread — screw ups — the installation that never worked or the problem fix that never stuck. These very things that result in a hassle for you and a headache for the customer are marvelous opportunities to turn lemons into lemonade. Yet, even services execs with a lifetime of dealing with (and solving) tough customer problems often blow their chance.
Do You Know the Skills Your Staff Need to be Successful?
April 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Do you know the skills and knowledge staff members require to meet and exceed your customers’ support expectations? Do you know the skill level of each member of your staff? Have you defined a skill attainment process that ensures skill levels have been reached by your staff before advancing them or placing them on the front line with customers? Well you’re not alone. Many support centers lack a clearly defined skill attainment and certification process. Some centers have a list of skills but they are frequently just a list of product names or modules leaving the details up for interpretation.
eServices Gut Check
March 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Are you experiencing escalating case volumes, 24×7 demand for support, and needing to do “more with less”? What about Knowledge-Centered Support, Web 2.0, and online communities? These days, you must have an effective eServices offering – your company and your customers need it. What’s that? You haven’t really gotten traction yet? If you are just getting started in launching your eServices offering (or in some cases, relaunching), now is the time to ask yourself and your organization some key questions. I’m not talking about technology platforms, knowledge bases, or ROI calculations, you’ll get to those soon enough. I’m talking about some “gut check” questions that will help shape your strategy and ultimately determine the success of your execution.
It’s a Recession? Now What…
February 12, 2009 By 1 Comment
The impact of the economic downturn on your customers could quickly turn their attention to questioning the value they receive from your service contracts. They may have already cut back internal staff that support your products, which may result is higher service demand, loss of local advocates and product expertise within your accounts. Now what?? [...]
Getting More from Customer Satisfaction Data
January 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Delivering service that achieves consistently high customer satisfaction over the long term is not easily accomplished. It requires focus, attention to detail and organizational discipline. Event surveys have provided service transaction feedback for many years and are a key component of an effective customer feedback process. Event surveys provide a good benchmark of customer satisfaction over time; however as improvements take affect the number of actionable events based on survey results diminishes. Service organizations need to drive beyond the traditional event survey process to develop a deeper understanding of customer satisfaction and the support processes that deliver it.
