How to Enhance Employee Customer Service Organization

Returning phone calls in a timely manner demonstrates good customer service skills.

Increasing organization and productivity in your customer service department will boost overall efficiencies and customer satisfaction. Begin by reviewing how customer service is delivered at your organization. For example, is the help desk is always covered and are calls are returned promptly? Generate an action plan to remedy gaps in service based upon your review and rally employees to get on board with tighter, more efficient customer service.

Instructions

1. Meet with customer service employees to uncover which part of customer service delivery they find challenging or inefficient. Inquire about the work-flow organization structure. Are customer complaint forms easily accessible during a customer visit or do employees hear static on the phone while working with customers, for example? Review employee schedules to determine if you have too many or too few employees handling customer service during certain parts of the day.

2. Meet with employees individually to ask about employee morale. Sometimes low morale impacts overall customer service delivery. Ensure that the conversation is for learning purposes only and you aren't interested in employee bashing, just uncovering any negativity that may be impacting customer service.

3. Examine the customer service work-flow process. Break down what occurs during various service situations and review how each step impacts the next. For example, if you are a bank manager and your customer service representative opens a checking account for a customer, what are the steps the rep must complete to open that account. Explore if each step is necessary to delivering exceptional customer service or if certain steps are unnecessary or inefficient. List each step and assign a value to that step---determine if the step improves the customer service experience or inhibits it.

4. Create a list that fuses employee feedback and your work-flow process research. Compare and contrast information you received from employees with each work-flow process. For example, if one of your employees said that the front lines struggled to meet customer demands during a busy time, determine whether eliminating steps in the work flow would improve productivity while continuing to deliver the same level of customer service or if you should schedule more employees during that time.

5. Generate a new work-flow report based on your analysis. Consider every aspect of employee interviews including any information on morale. If you discover that you have a negative employee morale issue, integrate how you will improve morale into your report. In some cases morale may be low because of inefficiencies and disorganization in the customer service department and adjusting processes may remedy the situation. Otherwise, write down step by step how you will increase employee relations through special training, recognition or reward programs.

6. Meet with staff to introduce the new work-flow process and review the report. Make a copy of the report for every employee in customer service. Hold a roundtable discussion with employees to review the report in its entirety and invite questions and suggestions throughout the discussion. Be open minded to revising the report if employees offer a more productive way to deliver customer service.

7. Introduce a final copy of the report to staff. Hold training sessions on new work-flow delivery. For example, if customer phone calls weren't being returned in a timely manner in the past, train staff how to schedule return phone calls in a daily planner or special call sheet. Mandate a return-phone-call timeframe, such as one business day.

Tips & Warnings

• Meet with your customer service team frequently to ensure new work-flow processes are effective. Ask questions and make revisions as needed.

• Use positive rewards as often as possible when you see employees delivering exceptional customer service. Employees will want to perform more when you use positive reinforcement and other staff members will take note.

• Ask customers how you are doing. Quarterly or yearly customer service surveys can help you improve customer service efficiencies.

• Utilize technology to improve productivity. Email and a company Intranet can boost productivity and broaden communication.

References

• The ACA Group: How to Improve Customer Service
• Curtis Barry & Company: 70+ Ways to Reduce Costs, Increase Productivity and Improve Customer Service