Archive for August, 2012
Kegan’s Reflection
0Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service Reflection
Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service presents the reader with 200 pages of common sense material. Although the vast majority of this book is obvious, there were a few small aspects that were unique and could easily be applied to any customer service position to make the customer happier. This book was divided into five key parts. Part one dealt with fundamental principles (primarily qualities that you must be to help achieve customer satisfaction), whereas part two discussed more qualities and tactics including honesty, creating trust, and listening (as opposed to simply hearing). Part three discussed communication, which was the most informative aspect of this book. Part four and five of the book discussed problem solving, and “taking care of you”.
The first part of this book was entirely common sense knowledge. This portion discussed “fundamentals”. The most important aspect for me was the idea that you represent the company that you are working for. It is important as an employee to think about your actions in relation to how they will affect the company/institution. If I were to make a poor choice when I was working in the center for academic technology, and a customer saw my actions, the customer would likely think less of Butler as a whole, or think less of the entire information technology department. This crucial aspect of customer service should be a staple of what the employees should think about before helping customers. The remainder of part one discussed important qualities including being reliable, consistent, predictable, empathetic and responsive.
The second part of the book presented a few new aspects from part one, but primarily reemphasized/ repeated key portions. The biggest takeaway that I had from this portion of the book is to just be honest. When I am a customer in any business, I would much rather hear bad news concisely than to hear a representative rambling about how they think that they can fix the problem (when they have no idea whatsoever). I found this point to be the most important idea in the second part of the book. Yet, 20 pages later in the book (on page 74), they present phrases that avoid telling the customer the truth, or tell the customer the truth indirectly. The authors of this book claim that you shouldn’t say “I don’t know”, instead you should say “Gee, that’s a good question. Let me check and find out”. I think that it is absolutely fine to say that you don’t know the answer to a customer’s question as long as you don’t just leave it at that. If you don’t know what to do, you should use your resources to try to find out on your own prior to asking a superior. The book initially suggests honesty, yet later finds a variety of ways to ‘sugarcoat’ the truth to make the customer feel better.
The third portion of the book discussed communication in the workplace. This is relevant to any position, but for my position the email section has the most relevance. The book claims that it is important to be personal in your email responses, to write clearly and concisely, and finally to not write in caps lock. This portion of the book was also common sense, but I found this section to be the most informative section in the reading.
The fourth and fifth sections of the book discussed problem solving and taking care of yourself. These portions helped conclude the reading by reemphasizing the previous points that were repetitively presented.
Overall, I did not like this book. It presented an abundance of relevant yet obvious information that the average employee should already know. With the exception of several key takeaways (that were also relatively obvious), this book could have been written in under 50 pages with the same amount of detail and information.
Kay’s Reflection
1“To the customer, you are the company.”
As a marketing major with a minor in PR/Advertising, I have taken many classes that teach you the fundamentals of business; however, it is only through actually working in customer service that I have come to understand the significance of salespeople to a business. Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service has reminded me of all the keys to being a successful force in customer service. The line I referenced above stood out to me because it is so true. The experience I have with employees at different companies has reflected directly on how I feel about that company.
My first job was with Build-A-Bear Workshop, and since then I have worked for a privately owned business called Broadway Sand & Gravel. Going from selling retail to families with young children to working with landscapers and tandem truck drivers has exposed me to a wide variety of characters. Performance Research Associates hit it on the nose when they explained how the employee should read the customer to try and fit his or her need. Serving people can be the most frustrating thing and the most rewarding thing, but the way a person handles his or herself definitely affects those around him or her. I have seen the happiest people and the grumpiest people, but being positive never hurts!
I really appreciated when the book talked about handling questions that you do not know the answer to. Three years ago I would not be able to tell you the first thing about crushed limestone, but now I am quite helpful concerning it. Any employee will appreciate your honest efforts to helpful if you are genuine and respectful.
Overall, the book was a good read and very applicable to not only a job in Info Commons, but any job!
Erin’s Reflection
0There were several parts of the book “Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service” that stuck out to me, the first being the RATER factors. Reading these made me recall experiences I have had as a customer in which employees possessed few if any of these factors. Being unsure of the reliability of a product or service is stressful, as is doubt in the fidelity of the employee serving you and appearance of facilities and products. Perhaps even worse is the feeling of being written off by an employee or that they just don’t care. Recalling these bad experiences makes me want to be a better employee so we will not lose customers or gain a poor reputation. As reiterated throughout the book, keeping customers happy is a vital part of service industries and I think remembering these RATER factors could help us all serve customers better.
I also found the Communication section of this book to be very relatable, in particular the “Communicating with Customers in the Digital Age” chapter. Here at Information Commons we have numerous ways for students and faculty to reach us and I think this a major asset. The fact that we are available by phone, IM, email, face-to-face, and even Facebook and Twitter makes us accessible to the entire campus, thus allowing us to serve our customers wherever they may be. Remembering the proper etiquette when using these various forms of communication is also important, as we serve people all across the spectrum of ages and technological know-how. Responding promptly is also stressed, in both this book and Information Commons. Customers left hanging can be lost very quickly.
I enjoyed reading this book and found that much of it could be applied to our work at Information Commons (hence our reading it). I think that putting its tips into practice can really enhance customer’s experiences while working with Information Commons.
Jessica Lynn Reflection
0I readDelivering Knock your Socks off Serviceover this summer and I found this book very interesting. As a person who used to work in the restaurant business I felt like leaving this book on my ex bosses desk with a note that said READ AND USE!!! It seemed that everything that was mentioned in this book as “great service” was being ignored at that restaurant. I really liked Chapter 23 about communicating with customers using the internet. Everything is done using the internet now and those who do not use the internet are left behind and cannot deliver the kind of service we now expect from those we do business with. Even the smallest businessess need email accounts or webpages to stay relevant. This is something that I found most important. If you are not accessable via the internet (or even if it is not easy to access the webpage or contact information online) the customer will not use your business and find an alternative. Tjhis was just one of many things that I found interesting while reading this book and I look forward to discussing this during orientation.