Are You Professional?

Hello,

Professionalism! I deliberately made this the last principle of service to be discussed because to a great extent, it engulfs the first four we have discussed.

Have you ever wondered why it is so easy for you to tag a person as being unprofessional or cite them as examples but a bit challenging to define who A Professional is?

This post will take a quick look at what professionalism entails in its broad sense.

• Excellent and Updated Knowledge

Being on top your game with your job description, keeping yourself abreast of changes in the products and services offered or within the organization structure and taking it a step further into gathering information about what competitors are doing and current trend in your industry and other relevant ones would definitely set you aside as one who knows his onus.

• Integrity and Responsibility 

These attributes can certainly never be overemphasized. The need to be truthful, follow through on promises, say what you can and will do then do what you. Ensure to take appropriate actions and be willing to take responsibility for its consequences. Ultimately gain a good control of yourself, avoid arguments or disagreement in the public.

• Respect for Yourself, Others and the Organization you Represent.

This includes regard for other people's time (punctuality) resources (assisting to ensure they get value for every penny paid and their personality or opinion (paying attention and listening to their views, requests or issues. Be open to criticism, deal with sensitive and volatile issues privately.
Try to communicate effectively to ensure your message is passed on undistorted and learn that either as a superior or subordinate, certain slangs, words or phrases are not permissible.

• Uphold and Improve on Standards

While industry best practices exist, organizations also have laid down policies/standards and this explicitly states how each tasks is to be carried out as well as the turnaround time. It is expected of a professional to know what obtains in his or her firm and be consistent with the process at all times.

• Selfless Disposition 

A professional will be willing to share knowledge or information with colleagues on the job, open to learn from anyone.

In other words, professionalism demands that you look beyond your immediate needs or gratification but the lasting impact on the organization, your reputation and everyone connected with the decision you are about to make.

How Difficult Can it Be?

Are you one of those who share the opinion that some customers just cannot be managed and refuse to be helped?

Maybe "YES" if your actions and choice of words are inappropriate for the moment or better still wrong. 
Certainly "NO" if you apply the five basic principles of service earlier discussed.

An irate or angry customer is an individual representing his or her own personal interest or that of an organization whose expectations have not been met leading to a disappointment.

These expectations could either be:

• Poor Product Quality or
• Poor Service Quality.

Let us work our way through these steps with the acronym "CLASSACT" Trust me it works all the time

• Courtesy: Be courteous, a moment when the customer is fuming with anger is not the time to put up terrible attitude, it will ruin whatever effort by you and probably anyone else all together.
• Listen: An angry customer customer needs all the attention, he/she wants to be heard, listen carefully to all the details to be able to identify both spoken and unspoken issues of concern. Never attempt to interrupt while the customer speaks
• Ask Questions: Once the customer is done speaking, ask open ended questions to be sure you understand what the customer's concerns, follow this with close ended questions to narrow it down.
• Soothe: At this point the customer is giving you the needed attention, try to pacify him or her with an assurance that the issue will be resolved.
• Apologise: Express an unreserved apology for the error, the error as well as the inconveniences it may have caused. This will make the customer feel good.
• Control: You are in the position to provide solutions to the clients challenge. As such, you need to be in charge of the conversation, do not loose your calm, endeavour not to get over emotional so that you do not compromise on policies or make promises you cannot deliver on.
•  Thanks; Appreciate the customer for bringing the complaint to your notice, assure him/her that the feedback would be worked on by the relevant authorities to prevent a reoccurence. Thank him or her for the patronage, encouraging the client not to bbe silent over any other challenge they may have.

With the steps highlighted above, the you would be able to easily convert an angry customer to a neutral or loyal one.

Give this a try and see your customers leaving with a broad smile! Also, feel free to share your experiences.

Enjoy your day,

Abimbola,

Are You a Professional?

Hello,

Professionalism! I deliberately made this the last principle of service to be discussed because to a great extent, it engulfs the first four we have discussed.

Have you ever wondered why it is so easy for you to tag a person as being unprofessional or cite them as examples but find it a bit challenging to define who A Professional is?

This post will take a quick look at what professionalism entails in its broad sense.

• Excellent and Updated Knowledge

Being on top your game with your job description, keeping yourself abreast of changes in the products and services offered as well as that within the organization structure also taking it a step further into gathering information about what competitors are doing, the current trend in your industry and  relevant ones would definitely set you aside as one who knows his onus.

• Integrity and Responsibility 

These attributes can certainly never be overemphasized. The need to be truthful, follow through on promises, say what you can and will do. Ensure to take appropriate actions and be willing to take responsibility for its consequences. Ultimately gain a good control of yourself, avoid arguments or disagreement in the public.

• Respect for Yourself, Others and the Organization you Represent.

This includes regard for other people's time (punctuality) resources (assisting to ensure they get value for every penny paid) and their personality or opinion (paying attention and listening to their views, requests or issues. Be open to criticism, deal with sensitive and volatile issues privately.

Try to communicate effectively to ensure your message is passed on undistorted and learn that either as a superior or subordinate, certain slangs, words or phrases are not permissible in the work place.

• Uphold and Improve on Standards

While industry best practices exist, organizations also have laid down policies/standards which explicitly states "how" each tasks is to be carried out as well as the turnaround time. It is expected of a professional to know what obtains in his or her firm and be consistent with the process at all times.
This definitely affects the looks, you are required to dress neatly smartly and look your profession to earn the respect.

• Selfless Disposition 

A professional will always be willing to share knowledge or information with colleagues on the job, open to learn from anyone, go the extra mile to assist team mates with tasks to ensure the interest of the company is protected.

In other words, professionalism demands that you look beyond your immediate needs or gratification but the lasting impact on the organization, your reputation and everyone connected with the decision

Have you got comments or contributions, please feel free to post.

Enjoy your week!

Compliments of the Season!

Dear Customer-centric Readers,

I believe we all enjoyed the festive season in our various ways.

It has indeed  been a pretty long break and a moment of further refection on how we can collectively put our voices to good use to drive home the change we so desire in our nation.

Once we are done educating ourselves on the basics of good customer service, this page would deal with service issues more precisely including companies and service providers who are doing things exceptionally well and those handling customer issues with levity.

As usual, your regular visit and relevant contribution to trending topics will always be appreciated as it will be of great benefit to other readers as well.

Here is wishing us all a profitable and fulfilling year 2014.

Abimbola Ajilore,

Effective Listening

Dear Readers,

Do you know that it is very easy to turn your day to day interactions with clients to a routine forgetting the fact that no two issues are exactly the same?

To connect, establish and/or build a healthy rapport with your clients in the course of a discussion, endeavor to do this.

Not with apathy though as this will be evident in the final output of the discussion but carefully taking note of issues of concern.

Ask close ended questions with such words as What? When? and Who? to narrow down the information gathered.

Use open ended questions where more information is required with words like Why? and How?. This allows the customer to open up and express themselves better.

The listening Process

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following the process above helps to build good rapport not just with a client, it works for friends too.

Try it out!

Positive Communictaion

There is nothing as rewarding as using the right words at the right time with the intended message undistorted.

These words help;

• I can
• We will 
• It will be my pleasure

Avoid these words that severe the relationship between a client and an organization

A genuine positive communication comes from a heart, with a calm tone of voice, full if empathy and willing to help.

Either via face to face interaction, over the telephone or via e-mail, you can touch the heart of a client using these words.

Have a warm evening!

Bimbo,

COURTESY!

The second principle of service we will be discussing is the simple but expensive art of Courtesy!

Simple because as little and ignorable as they appear, it is capable of turning a customer experience around in your favour and expensive because it can cost you your business when downplayed or taken out.

Learn to use these magic words and see how things turn around.

• May I: Be polite when demanding anything or information from your clients.

• Please/ Sorry; Do not hold back an apology where a customer expresses disappointment at a failed service or where it is apparent.

• Excuse: Seek and be sure to have the consent of your client before placing the call on hold or leaving them for other tasks even if its in the process of granting their request.

• Thank You; Be generous in your expression gratitude to your clients either for their patronage, stopping by or assisting with information in the process of attending to them.

• Pardon Me: Should you have a challenge comprehending or hearing your customer clearly, be nice about requesting that they repeat themselves. 

Everyone likes to be treated 'Special" even you so Why Not if this is all it takes?

Food for thought...

Bimbo,