Is being "nice" over-rated? End the tyrannical reign of "The Nice" in customer service!

Have we lost sight of true customer service in the vise-grip of "niceness"?

I think it's very fair to say that one of the values that drives much of customer service in the USA is "niceness". While I don't disagree that being surly is unlikely to get you repeat customers, the idea of "being nice" for its own sake has always made me itchy. 

My natural personality, while not Cruella DeVille, is more cerebral, intense, and reserved. Combined with my height (5'10") and my piercing stare, I tend to get feedback like "you seem harsh" or in a memorable conversation "You're the Talented Tyrant [type of person]". Oof. 

I've given this a lot of thought, because throughout my career, I've been "the sweetie" and "the headmistress" both. 

When I worked in collections, my coworkers (who included one guy who was arrested at work for breaking his probation!) called me "The Nun" and were visibly shaken one day when I imitated a debtor swearing. I didn't even do the swearing myself! 

When I worked in the Philippines, I was "The Irate Customer" and my long suffering account manager boss had to tell me twice in one week to let it go (the issue was speaking English only on the production floor, a particular bugaboo of mine) and wind down, I was scaring people. 

So which is it? Am I a "nice person" or am I a jerk? Neither. I'm human, and so are your customers and your staff. 

Again and again, I have read comments saying "My rep was very NICE but I couldn't understand her/ she had no idea what she was doing/ she didn't fix my problem" or "My rep was very sweet, but he transferred me several times to the wrong departments". Yes, being POLITE is a must, but we have seen customers value competence, solutions, and confidence just as highly as they value a syrupy tone and dozens of gushing apologies. 

It is one of my core beliefs that there is room in your team for all types of people, and trying to cram everyone into a mold of "niceness" is only going to backfire. In my experience, most people who get hired at a business level are pretty "nice" and presentable. 

It's seldom that you get a true jerk who made it past the interview process. What you do get is backstabbing, passive aggressive, victims, and a lot of high school drama-- a team who uses buzzwords like "misunderstanding" to cut each other to ribbons, and create cliques and a pecking order, all under the pink umbrella of niceness. Ugh. 

Also, on your production floor, when you ask your team to "whitewash" their personality (especially those that are a bit flat, technical, reserved, or quiet), you get a bland, cardboard-y product. 

Customers want a genuinely pleasant interaction, and in my opinion and experience, that can take many forms besides "It-is-our-pleasure-to-provide-you-exceptional-customer-service-today" (something that not only does no one believe, it actually makes people angry with its empty promises). 

So how do you get the customer service you want out of people who aren't naturally bubbly, perky, upbeat, and "nice"? 

First, find their strengths. Then work with those to find ways you can raise the profile and reputation of your quiet or intense types and avoid the 'so and so is a B on wheels' thing. 

---Are they a technical whiz? Perhaps they can contribute to the group with a weekly or monthly tech newsletter or Twitter feed. Just a few sentences on the latest gadgets or the office tools might work. 

---Are they a bit of a loner or shy? Maybe they can be encouraged to join the conversation on the SharePoint or other "group media" tools that your office uses. With the extra buffer zone between them and others, their true personality may shine (let's just hope it's socially acceptable!) 

Secondly, try to create an atmosphere in which gossip, backstabbing, and petty drama are discouraged. 

When Geri comes to you to whisper that Bettina is "really quiet" and "not doing so great on sales", firmly tell her to keep her eyes on her own paper. You'll never get rid of all cattiness, that's how any group works, but you can set a tone that teamwork AND the quality of someone's work are valued equally, and people who are *only* perky and fizzy at 8 am without the work to back it up won't last long at your office. 

Lastly, mix it up. Be real. Being "nice" is not as good as being kind, tactful, supportive, and genuine. 

Yes, there are mandated scripts that some conehead in the home office thought sounded terrific, but outside of those, try to inject some life into your interactions with your REAL personality. 

Just ask yourself: "Would I say this to a friend, in this way, with this tone and these words?" If not, remove half the syrup, ditch the scripts, and use your own good hearted-ness to guide the way. You don't have to be "nice" to give wonderful customer service.  

Wear your Service Heart on your sleeve: Why service jobs are the best kind of jobs.

Service job. 

Image from "Weheartit" on Tumblr Images

What does that phrase mean to you? To many of us, it's a code word for a stop-gap job, a stepping stone job, or a job that is taken by people with few choices-- a last resort. 

I disagree with that characterization and I'd like to rally the customer service community to start revamping the image and connotation that goes with "service" and "service jobs". 

For almost my entire working life, I've been in service or "support". Even unrelated-seeming jobs such as window dresser and nanny have actually boiled down to "service." When I was younger I couldn't wait to get away from the dreaded customers, and it burned me to know that people I was waiting on were having fun while I was working. 

Now I think about service slightly differently, for a few reasons:

Expanding types of service jobs, such as online goods selling or DIY entrepreneurs have refashioned the market and injected a much needed "cool factor".

Whether it's the barista who knows everything about coffee and has a tattoo of a vintage esspresso maker, or the small batch craft beer guys, the rise in DIY and entrepreneurship has raised the profile of what we would consider "service" jobs. Celebrity nail polish artists, food truck rock stars, SuperNanny? They all work in service jobs!

I realize my years in service gave me valuable skills I could use later. 

I know the customer backwards and forwards, and I've sold all kinds of goods to all kinds of people. I've honed my sales pitches on literally thousands of customers, and I have had the benefit of dealing with hundreds of irate customers. This is equally true for all the teaching and child care jobs I've done: creating games and activities has translated into an effortless creativity and deep well of ideas for classroom training events. 

I found a way to look at the concept of service differently. 

In reading a non fiction book about the personal staff of the very rich (I can't remember the title to save my life!) I came across a term I love: "Service Heart". The person being interviewed explained that some people are just born with a service heart. It's natural for them to intuit what others need and want, and to figure out ways to create moments and events that delight, dazzle, and satisfy. This changed "service" into a kind of calling like the ministry or educating, that allowed me to think of service in a more elevated light, and I encourage you to do so as well. 

I joined a community.

When I started my professional Twitter feed, I was astonished at the amount of like minded people who were almost crazily passionate about customer service, the same as I was. Many had bios that strongly resembled mine! There are also entire businesses who make it their only goal to help other businesses provide better customer service! With a strong, active community around me, I came to see that customer service, and having a service heart was not just a bottom of the barrel designation: 

It's something to wear proudly on your sleeve!

Ignore your Customer: The 8 types of Voice-of-Customer responses you can safely toss.

What do irrelevant VOC survey comments look like? (And how do you handle them?)

Source: Zazzle.com

When I first came to my language and cultural coaching job, I was appalled at the comments I was seeing from customers. They were so angry! Listening to my first few calls, especially those that had  angry comments attached, I could see why they were so mad. But over time, I learned that not every comment has merit, or is even true! 

Here's the easiest to spot types:

(Let's say your call center is handling KableForAll, a mega-provider of Cable Services )

1: Response clearly refers to another company's product or service. 

Looks like:
 "Every time I call you clowns, it takes three hours to get through. And then you still can't take my order right. All I want is to get easy, correct phone service. How hard is that in this day and age?!"

2: Response is mostly or fully based on the fact of outsourcing itself.

 Looks like: 
 "If President Whatever had a good head on his shoulders, he would BRING JOBS BACK TO AMERICA!"

3: Response is upset about out- of- scope issues:

Looks like: 
"Look, if I pay for a one year warranty, I think it's not too much to ask for you all to extend the courtesy by at least 2 months!"

4: Response is unintelligible or garbled. 

Looks like:
"yea, whatevs. You guys sux. Haterrrssss!"

Medium- Easy to spot

5: Response is based on the quality or standards of the product, and not your services:

Looks like:
 "This throttling is not what I paid for! GIVE ME MY FULL CABLE AND GAMES!"

6: Response is a reaction to a chain of events your rep just happened to be the last person to handle:

Looks like:
 "I am cancelling my service because since July of 2007 I have NEVER received good service. Good day to you!"

7: Response is specific, but upon reviewing the call, in your professional opinion, the rep did not commit the errors you read about:

Looks like:
"The rep kept me on hold for 45 minutes!! Is that what you yahoos call service!!! And when he got on the phone I could barely understand him, his accent was so thick!"

Hardest level: 

 8: Response is specific, but does not hit the issue. However, there were issues on the call, just not what the customer called out.

Looks like: 
"How many times am I going to call these phone lines and get an INDIAN on the phone? I am so tired of hearing the same scripted CRAP over and and over." (Your reps are not Indian, and do not use scripts, but they had accent and delivery issues). 

How do you handle these?

Well, every call center has its own protocols, but usually your Quality Assurance Team has come up with tags that will clearly indicate that the response is not relevant to your scores, and why. 

It's also key to have calibrations, both with your teams and with your clients. Ensure that what they consider an out of scope response is also what you consider out of scope. Equally important is the "why" they agree to toss out a survey response-- make sure that when you're discounting responses it's for the same reasons as your clients'.

Ensure that you are not biased, as much as you can. As a trainer and a coach, I had soft spots for certain reps, favorites, and people I did not give any inch of excuses for. We all do it. Just make sure you're not dismissing a comment because you "know Jim is a great guy" or giving more weight to a nutzy comment because that "Misty kind of *is* a b----".

Make sure you read the comments, the Quality Reports, and the breakdowns of the tags every time they come out. Again, different call centers have different tools, and they can sometimes vary from account to account, but most call centers track all kinds of stats. Ensure that you as a trainer or a coach work with your operations team to get access to those tools and reports and for goodness sake, use them!

Finally, it's important to do lots of audits. I used to audit almost 100 calls a week, and I became very good at spotting good calls that the customer would  wind up giving a bad review to. Calls where the customer couldn't get what they wanted, they were just plain mean people, or they had an axe to grind with the system or the product. 

Remember: when evaluating criticism, first consider the source.

The 5 types of reps EVERY call center should have

The 5 types of reps you need on your phones and working your floor. (And how to get the best from them!)

Who are they? They are....

•  Diamonds
•  Pearls
• Jades 
•  Marcasites
•  Golds

 Diamonds

Who are your Diamonds?

Diamonds are your superstars—they’re expensive, dazzling, sparkling, upbeat, high energy, and can be a little flashy at times. They love to show off, be loud, and get the party started. 

How do you use your Diamonds?

 Diamonds need to be appreciated with thank-you’s, bonus structures, public praise “Wow, everyone, Jeremy just got 1500$ before noon- let’s all give Jeremy a hand!”, and good news when coaching. Diamonds can be a bit moody, fragile, and temperamental, so if you have to give them coaching, use the “poo sandwich” method—praise the good, give the coaching points, end with more praise.

Diamond famous quotes:

"Hey, did you see that last sale I just got? I wam- bam- thank- you- ma'am-ed that customer! Woooo hooo!!" 

 Pearls

Who are your Pearls?

Pearls are your quietly glowing mother/ father figures. They have a gentle aura about them (and this applies to plenty of men too!) that seems to just melt customers that can’t even see them! They float serenely around the stations, dropping off kisses, hugs, and “how are you?’s” to all your staff. Everyone loves them.

How do you use your Pearls?

Pearls are great early warning systems for unhappiness and attrition on your staff. Because other types may enjoy or even thrive on chaos and gossip, you may not really see a problem if you ask them—you may not notice until half your staff has left over the romantic fallout between your Manager on Duty and your Team Manager. Pearls may drive you crazy with their slow pace and need to greet everyone and have (several) coffee and chat breaks a day, but they keep the human side running, and that’s important. “MVP” or “World’s Best Employee” plaques or mugs might be welcome, personal time with you (the boss) such as a coffee or a “reward dinner” might also work. Personal, thoughtful gifts are best.

Pearl famous quotes: 

"Hi, Shelia? How was your husband's knee surgery? And how's the new house working out, Fred?"

Jades

Who are your Jades?

Jades are cool, calm, collected, brainy types. They don’t get emotional, they just fix the problem. Sometimes they can be “clueless” about “people stuff” but they are key for those Tier III tech support queues you’re running. 

How do you use your Jades?

Jades do well as technical trainers because they often naturally command respect due to their technical expertise. Jades also make up good Team Leads and Subject Matter Experts—they seldom let interpersonal “drama” affect their business decisions the way other types can. Jades like challenging work, respect, and to be recognized for their expertise.

Jade famous quotes:

"Guys, if you would have listened to me about the server last month, we wouldn't be in this situation now. But good news is, it can be fixed." 

Marcasites

Who are your Marcasites?

Marcasites are your oddball creative types. They biked to work, they have tattoos, they have a side gig in a band. They tend to do pretty well with customers since they think out of the box and are willing to come up with creative solutions. 

How do you use your Marcasites?

Marcasites shine in creative endeavours. Find their talent (acting? Let them M.C. your next seminar. Flair for media? Let them try out a company twitter feed) and nurture it. Ensure that they are focused (they can be a bit scattered) and that you work with them on a long term growth plan (they hate to feel stuck or trapped). Use them to shake up the team and give everyone fresh ideas and fresh perspectives.

Marcasite famous quotes:

"What if we created a robot IVR that sounded like a cat purring? Wouldn't that be so rad? Customers would love it!"

Golds

Who are your Golds?

Golds are your basic, everyday employees who show up, come to work, do a very solid job, and go home to their families. They don’t give you any issues, but neither do they swing from the rafters with 5000$ checks in their hands after sales. They’re the setting in which your other types shine.

How do you use your Golds?

Treat them well, keep your word, and set a reachable but high standard. Treat them the way you would have wanted to be treated in your work, or the way you were treated by your best boss and you’ll find yourself with a very solid staff.

Gold famous quotes:

"Hi Boss, how was your weekend? What's new?" 

To be successful, you need a mix of people. With the right blend of your "jewels" and the right treatment, you'll be on your way to a very effective team!

Love thy trainer as thyself....creating trainer-friendly stuff!

How trainer- friendly is your training design?

                                                               Source: Flikr.com

First, what do trainers want?

·         Easy to teach

o    I have been guilty of creating training materials that are just too ambitious, and I think most designers have. They get excited about new technology or a new program, they use themselves as a model learner, they plan around a superstar trainer who could conduct training while doing aerial yoga…it’s hard to crash to earth when you see that your training is just too difficult to teach and you need to start over.

That’s why good designers should consider the following:

•  Mechanics and Logistics: how many students are there? What is the general condition of the technology in the rooms?
•  Your audience: Who will be learning these lessons? Are we talking about experienced, tenured professionals having a “boot camp” experience? Or are we talking about shy, nervous 18 year olds putting a toe into their first job post school?
•   Your teachers/ trainers: Who will be teaching this? What is the mean level of experience of your trainers?

·         Easy to break down, shift around, plug and play, stop and start

o   When I was training for Call Center Communication Basics, the company I worked for made a decision that to slow down attrition, they were going to ramp up “engagement”—the end result was a 2 hour mandatory speech/ Q and A session with bored, restless HR professional that ate up a big chunk of our already-tight weeklong schedule. We also had students coming in for the first time on Day 2, regular hours long delays due to weather conditions, and so on.

 If your training plan is timed to the minute as falls apart if it has to be broken up….time to rethink.

·         Easy to customize or change 

o   I think most of us (or maybe all of us) have trotted out shiny new lesson plans or materials that we’re just bursting our buttons over (mine was called “The Psychology of Selling”—and boy howdy was it going way over the heads of the front- line retention reps that I was teaching it to! There may have been a “tell me what emotions these ads evoke in you” unit, but I’m trying to erase that from memory) only to discover it’s not working.

The best lesson plans, materials, and agendas have a little wiggle room and plan B built in, so that if it’s flaming out, you can smoothly switch, downgrade, or customize your items to fit the situation. 

How do you make training that’s trainer friendly?

1.       Talk to trainers

a.       Sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) when you get to a certain level (Director, Global VP) it’s easy to forget what it was like to be a trainer. Some Instructional Designers were never trainers, they were perhaps computer experts, or Captivate gurus, and therefore have no earthly idea what a pain it is to find a whiteboard marker at an offsite location. Meeting with your trainers has many benefits, including getting their buy-in, helping them become comfortable with changes and new materials, helping you develop a good relationship for follow up and measuring your success, and last but not least: finding out early in the game what pitfalls, particulars, and hurdles your training program will face.

2.       Teach it yourself

·         Wow, it’s really hard to spell out http://savvyauntie.com/About.aspx?GroupId=39&Name=How%20to%20Become%20a%20Savvy%20Auntie

letter by letter! I guess we better find a solution for that if I want my trainees to surf that site during class!

·         Wow, that big mouth in the back of the room is dominating all of your rhyme and song games!

·         Wow, everyone really hates role playing games and the energy after lunch is just nil!

You get the idea.

3.       Attend classes regularly

a.       Things that worked in one classroom, with a particular trainer and class, might not work so well in other environments. It’s really key to attend more than one class, over time—see if the training agenda, materials, and overall structure are holding up--- and if it’s being taught the way you envisioned or your trainers need more explicit instructions.

4.       Talk to students

a.       Usually, students can tell the difference between engaged, excited trainers and “barking seals”—those trainers that substitute volume, slogans, and goofy facial expressions for genuine passion for the job. 

Discreetly ask around and see what the students think-  do the trainers seem comfortable with the materials and lessons, or do they seem like they’re going through the motions dying for their next coffee break?

Your trainers are your pit crew, your driver, and your race car all in one—it’s vital to keep them interested, excited and on board with your ideas and execution. Now you know how!