Author: Odette Pollar

As much as I dislike having to say this, it appears to me that good customer service is extremely rare. Often what is called customer service is actually more accurately described as “screw-up repair.”

It is frightening when taken in the aggregate, the number of misfilled orders, broken equipment, incorrect or just plain wrong information a customer or client receives in simple day-to-day living. The picture is not all bad, but the few glimmers of light are few and far between. Consider two of my recent experiences.

The Bad

I once purchased a new Macintosh Performa 6400 computer. I have had constant problems from the beginning. Soon after installation, I began to experience frequent crashes and freezes, sudden document corruptions, unreliable keyboard commands and printing difficulties, to name a few.

On an average of every six weeks, the computer broke down. We initially believed that the problems were software related, but no matter what we did, they recurred. Each breakdown caused work disruption, delays and frustration. Attempting to solve the problem was expensive, whether that meant taking equipment in for repair or having repairs done on-site.

Finally, in July, I tried to return the computer to the store from which I purchased it. They suggested that I contact Apple directly since it was under a one year warranty. In August, I called the Apple hotline and spoke to a technician who refused to acknowledge the history of the problem and would not help me unless I agreed to repeat the exact same, time consuming and costly software reinstallation and debugging.

By this time it was very clear to all the repair people that had seen the computer, that it was a hardware not a software problem. My request to have an Apple technician sent to make a final determination was denied.

For the next two months, problems continued and I wrote my first complaint letter to Apple in November. I explained the history of the problem, requested a technician be dispatched and a refund issued for the futile repairs. I never received a response. One month later, in December, I wrote again and heard nothing.

I finally tracked down a real, live person in “customer care” who also refused to send a technician, referring me back to technical support. The tech support person required that I go through the exact same software reinstallation that is so costly in time and money.

Once again we reinstalled the software, the problems continued and finally a technician was sent to my office. He determined that I was having hardware problems and replaced the logic board and the hard drive of my computer. Six days short of the end of my one year warranty, I finally had a working piece of equipment. We have still not resolved the reimbursement issue.

The Good

I have a great postal carrier who delivers to our office in downtown Oakland. Our letter carrier is incredibly attentive to his work.

It always arrives by 11:00 a.m., he remembers the names of my staff and any special instructions he is given. I get only the mail for my suite, unlike on those days when he is off and I get mail for other buildings. One incident comes to mind, which illustrates outstanding customer service.

A couple of months ago, I received a panicked phone call from my travel agent. She had mistakenly mailed two tickets to my address that actually belonged to two other people. She needed them returned promptly.

When I explained the situation, he took the tickets back with him. Once back at his station, he sealed and re-addressed the envelopes and placed them in the correct outgoing bin so that the travel agent would have them the next day. He then checked back with me to be sure that the tickets had arrived safely. They had. When I expressed my appreciation, he did not feel that he had done anything unusual or extraordinary. It was simply his job.

Great customer service experiences revive my hopes, but they seem ever more rare. Tell me your customer service experiences. I will be happy to share them in a future column.

 

Customers remember two things — how they are treated when they walk into a store or call a company, and how quickly and accurately their problems are resolved. After another frustrating week of long lines, lost orders and bad attitude, I decided to check in with an expert, Paula Taylor, president of The Taylor Group, in Oakland, CA who specializes in customer service issues.

17. Paula, is it just me or is service really getting worse by the minute?

1. It isn’t just you, Odette. Customer service is sinking like a stone in a river. Last week a salesperson at Radio Shack conducted an entire transaction from finding my item, to ringing it up, to handing me my bag without saying one single word to me — not even thank you.

In our seminars we split the group in half and ask one half to relate positive service experiences and the other to talk about negative experiences. There have been times when no one in the room can recall having a single positive service experience. This is anecdotal, of course, but it reflects clearly what’s really happening out there.

The most recent update of the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) reported that customer satisfaction has declined in almost every industry. Taylor explained that although customer service is said to be one of businesses’ highest priorities, so is everything else. All the competing priorities need resources. The human interaction side of customer service which is what we’re talking about here, is still at the bottom of the list.

 

17. I know it’s not that hard to give good service. Why don’t we get it?
1. Executives and business owners don’t seem to understand three things. First, how bad the service is in their own business. Second, how relatively inexpensive providing basic service is compared to the payback. Technology is expensive, yes, but the basics are inexpensive. And finally, they don’t realize the extent to which bad service drives business away and good service attracts customers.

Taylor suggests five things that managers and business owners can do immediately that will ultimately result in improving service to the customer.

1. Be your own customer. This is a must. Shop in your stores; eat in your restaurant; call your 800 number; order your own products. Try to get something returned, explained or repaired. If you are easily recognized send in a “mystery shopper” — a friend or relative will do, but find out how it feels to be a customer of your organization. Be objective in your assessment. Would you buy from your business again? This information will help you establish a baseline so you’ll know which aspects of your service need improvement.

2. Set standards so customers experience consistency. Don’t make your employees guess at what you mean when you say, “Give good service.” Set standards that are clear and measurable yet allow for flexibility, latitude and individual personalities. Involve employees in establishing the service standards. Not only will their input improve the quality of the standards — they will probably set them higher than you would if you wrote them yourself — but employees will be more committed to them because they were included.

3. Hold people accountable. Standards serve no purpose unless people are held accountable for meeting them. Typically this means some method of monitoring, measuring or observing. Use positive measurements, such as the number of times things were done correctly rather than counting the number of errors. When giving feedback use positive language. You’ll set the right tone and find employees more receptive. Be sure, however, to be very clear as to which areas need improvement. Use accountability as a positive developmental experience with the goal of improving individual and group performance rather a punitive one and you’ll find employees anxious for feedback.

4. Provide the tools to do the job. Employees must be trained if you expect them to provide excellent service. Don’t take the smallest things for granted — many people today aren’t even familiar with the words please and thank-you. Whether you choose a formal classroom setting, on-the-job training or brief tailgate meetings, give every employee the opportunity to meet the service standards. Set an example. Be sure what you say and do exceeds the service standards.

5. Create a company of thieves. Steal good ideas anywhere you can. Check out how your competitors are doing things. Give employees a little notebook and ask them to record what they see or hear. Even unrelated businesses can give you ideas you can use or modify to improve your own service. You can discuss these ideas in group meetings, give prizes for ideas that are used and make improvements based on employee suggestions. You don’t have to be first – you just have to be best.

 

Consider a series of not uncommon incidents in the last month, all related to trying to get a product or a service handled. I called the local office of the company that owns our office postage meter to get the scale recalibrated.

The meter reader indicated that it was time for a service check. Calling to make an appointment, I was informed that scale repair did not occur at that location. Calling back later, I learned the opposite. Just bring it in.

My most recent Pacific Bell phone bill arrived without the last page. The very helpful, pleasant service representative promised to send another copy within a week. Although she really was pleasant, she failed to do so.

I had a picture framed a year ago. Recently I noticed it slipping from its mounting. This required getting the ladder, removing it from the wall and returning it for repair. Although they cheerfully reattached the picture, it should not have slipped in the first place. Of course, there is still my dismal service experience with Apple Computer. When was the last time you were in a store other than Nordstrom when you could even find as sales person? And when you could, could they answer your question?

Products and overall dependability and durability have declined frighteningly. Three years ago, a professor at the University of Michigan Business School, Claes Fornell created the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The Index is based on regular interviews with 16,000 customers of 200 different companies in 33 industries. Results have shown declining satisfaction with service in each quarter since it began.

See, it is not just me.

Businesses spend a vast amount of money, time and energy finding customers. If they spent the same amount of time satisfying existing customers, they would be riding high. It costs businesses six times more to gain new customers than to retain current ones, yet customer satisfaction is rapidly heading south and this is in spite of the incredible amount of time, training dollars and lip service paid to the importance of service, service, service.

Fornell thinks lousy service distorts our picture of the economy. “Prices may look the same, but a dollar doesn’t buy the same service it used to.” Nor does the dollar amount automatically equate to product quality. Much less energy and attention are placed on durability or reliability, regardless of price. We have truly become a disposable society. Examples of this abound.

My car, a late model, has electric windows. The driver’s side motor has needed to be repaired twice in the last three years I have owned the car. My parents purchased a 1964 Cadillac from their neighbor. Those electric windows have never been repaired and continue to work perfectly. Similarly, the toaster my parents received as a wedding gift still works. My mom purchased a new one because she wanted one with a wider width to accommodate bagels. (There are priorities after all.) They gave the old one to me, I used it for ten years, and now good a friend uses it. My mother is on her second new toaster.

Many factors impact the situation we find ourselves in. Deregulation, downsizing, reengineering, inefficient processes, and often a simple lack of trust. Security is cited as the cause of stores with many doors locking all but one. This forces all traffic into a narrow stream. Elaborate security requirements affect prompt service when the need for heightened security means that fewer people have the necessary information to solve even simple problems. When is the last time a cashier was able override a register problem?

Often a cashier, receptionist or front-line person is not entrusted with the keys, password, etc. to complete a transaction. This results in delays, longer lines and requires the intervention of quite often an overworked manager.

This slow erosion impacts the quality of our daily lives. Good service is so rare as to be notable. This situation takes a toll on us all but particularly so for home-based companies. It is all you can do to keep all the balls in the air.

It is made worse by having to constantly double-check, make three phone calls when only one should do, or rearrange your schedule when the repair person neither arrives when promised nor calls. You don’t need this extra level of aggravation. But be prepared for it.

 

No matter how large your organizing project may seem, it is manageable and it will move along more quickly than you think. Start slowly. Do not plan to complete it at one sitting or on the same day. To keep your energy up and your enthusiasm in place, stop when you get tired. Return to the task when you are refreshed.

This is better than forcing yourself into a marathon sorting job. The task will be less overwhelming if you break the project into small chunks of time. Maintenance is the key to success. Getting items back to their home quickly will ensure that you don’t face another overwhelming organizing project next year.

1. Commit yourself to making decisions now about what to do with each piece of paper. Handle paper only once. Ask yourself, “Do I really need it?” If so, file the document at once in the broadcast category to which it refers.


2. Keep close to you only the things you use frequently.


3. Store little-used items farther away. Even on a shelf, keep the least-used items in the back. Keep those items you use frequently in the front, for easy retrieval.


4. When clearing the top of surfaces, start with one stack of papers and sort from the top down. When finished with each stack, you will see a clear workspace, and your progress will be easy to monitor. This forces you to decide on each piece of paper and when finished, you will see the top of your desk again.


5. Spend 15 minutes twice a day clearing out your in-box. Don’t let it turn into a holding, aging or procrastinating tray. Sort incoming mail into categories by priority or by action.


6. Break the habit of writing things down on numerous scraps of paper. Write notes in the appropriate place the first time; in the client file, onto the calendar or on your to/do list.


7. Be realistic about the amount of information you can read and absorb. Limit the number of subscriptions you take, and copy articles as soon as you read them. Pass the periodical along to someone else, throw it away or recycle it.


8. Make lists regularly. Daily To-Do lists, as well as larger project lists help you get and stay organized. Use checklists to help do routine things more easily and quickly.


9. Say “No” more often. The best way to get off-track is to say “Yes” to every request. Every time you agree to a new demand, you say no to a previous commitment.


10. Don’t buy anything unless you have a place to put it. To keep excess at bay, if you add an item, you must remove an item.


11. Label everything that contains things: binders, folders, suitcases, etc.


12. Organize bookcases by placing similar materials together.


13. Schedule multiple appointments for the same day instead of spreading them throughout the week. This reduces your travel time and parking hassles.


14. Buy enough greeting cards for special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, get-well and thank-you at one time so that you need not make special trips to the store.


15. Keep two files, one for instruction manuals and one for guarantees. Staple the receipt to the guarantee or warranty page. Then when you need to return an item, all the information is handy. Purge periodically for appliances that have worn out, broken, or been sent to charity.


16. Label photos with the date and people’s names as soon as they are developed.


17. Keep a pair of scissors near where you read newspapers and magazines. You can easily clip those articles you wish to save.


18. Keep only one project or file open on your desk at any time. This reduces the likelihood of stray papers becoming attached to the incorrect document and misfiled.


19. When unsure about a what to do with a document, ask yourself, “What would I do if it were one week before vacation?” Act accordingly.


20. Clear the top of your desk at the end of each day. It completes the day’s work, makes a clean space for you to see the next morning and stops paper buildup.

 

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about time management:

 

You have spent many days getting organized. You have set up files, sorted the useful from non-useful and finally cleared out all those in and out baskets. How can you keep things neat and organized?

1. Get into the habit of deciding immediately where each piece of paper goes and what your next action step will be. Do not set it aside in a pile for a later decision.
2. After working with a file, put it away before starting another project.
3. Be very selective about what you save. Refile things quickly.
4. Jot notes in the proper location the first time, not on little pieces of paper that are easily lost.
5. Clear your desk at the end of each day.

 

There are a number of projects sitting on your “back burner.” These are things that you would like to do but never seem to have the time. How can you squeeze them into an already tight schedule?

1. Take each project and write a plan for accomplishing it.

2. Break the project into very small, discrete steps. Identify steps that will take 20 minutes or less to do.

3. Make a commitment to do them by scheduling these on your calendar.

4. Be sure to complete one 20-minute step on your back burner project every day.

 

You have a to/do list that is three pages long. It seems like a waste of time to keep rewriting it, and you are tempted to give up list making altogether. How can list-making be helpful instead of frustrating?

1. Be sure that you are only writing down the things you are likely to forget. Do not use the list to write down your entire job every day.
2. Split your list into two. Keep one list for large projects only, the other for daily tasks that you will complete in the next one or two days.
3. After breaking big projects into small, easy to accomplish steps, list those onto your daily to/do list.
4. Consider using your computer to track big projects and their due dates.

 

There are many things you are interested in and may need to refer to again. Your “articles” and “reference” files are too unwieldy. How can you find information that you’ve saved quickly and easily?

1. Set up subject files, using broad headings such as “personnel,” “educational tools,” “quality improvement,” “surveys.”
2. File articles and reference information by the subject they represent, not the form in which the information came to you.
3. Put away interesting-to-read items with related material the first time you touch it, even if you have not read it yet. Place a note on your to/do list or calendar reminding you to read the specific document.

 

Your office has an unofficial open door policy. Even the president invites people to “drop by any time.” How can you get your work done, other than between 6 and 9 p.m. or 5 and 8 a.m.?

1. Modify your open door policy. Practice closing it for 30 minutes a day. (That’s less time than you typically spend away at lunch.)
2. Use voice mail to screen calls, but indicate in your outgoing message that you will be returning calls at a specific time.
3. Let others know that you are always willing to help but encourage people to honor your need for time to concentrate.

 

Is there an easy way to say “no” to the many demands you are faced with? You worry about being rude, or risk being called unfriendly.

Getting used to saying “no” takes time and practice. Habitually saying “yes” to everyone else is really saying “no” to your own needs, priorities and promises. Say “no” to those things that sidetrack you. Help people by offering suggestions, but certainly do not be rude or insensitive. Keep in mind, you must be ruthless with time, but gracious with people.

 

Is there anyone you know who has not been affected by downsizing or rightsizing? How about by technological changes — laptops, e-mail, on-line, faxes and other forms of information management?

Not very long ago work was a calming, steady and above all predictable factor in our lives. No longer. As our workplace transforms, we all face these questions daily: “How can I do the work of two people?” “How can this department accommodate its new responsibilities given the recent merger?” Achieving and managing success is based on a new set of ABCs.

Accountability — Whatever your niche within the organization, you must take responsibility and be accountable for performance — your own as well as your teams. Remember when saying “it’s not my job” was acceptable and valid? Those days are long gone. The job you are doing now might not have even existed six months ago and may be gone again next year. Nevertheless, focusing on meeting and hopefully exceeding expectations is everyone’s job now.

Balance — Yes, there is more to do, learn, understand and create than our parents faced. However, there is also more to living than work. If you have career success at the expense of all else what happens? Career disenchantment. If your personal life looks like a train wreck — filled with stress, anxiety, stagnation, anger, exhaustion, or self-destructive behavior, you are paying too high a cost.

Having a balanced life does not mean simply leaving work to go home to work some more. What happened to guilt-free lazy Sundays? Or visiting casually with friends, reading for pleasure, or goofing off? Remember when weekends renewed your batteries? Now more than ever maintaining balance in your life is critical.

Control — You may be thinking, “How can I control my environment, it keeps changing. I can’t keep up.” When you experience that feeling, concentrate on the task at hand, shifting your view from “out there” to “right here.” Focus on the immediate by identifying those areas that you can influence. This will help give you a sense of equilibrium. Your span of control may have shrunk, perhaps significantly, but it has not disappeared. You may not be able to influence the next merger or reorganization. But you can do your best right now.

Urgency vs. Importance

How can you do more of the truly important things? Consider Marilyn, a manager faced with balancing the budget. Should she cut Research and Development, which would have an immediate result of improving the profit performance for this quarter? Or keep R&D and cut somewhere else?

We are continually faced with immediate vs. long term choices. Before deciding, it is critical to make a distinction between important and urgent tasks. Urgency is determined by time. Things with deadlines — the ringing phone, a person at your desk with a question — are all urgent.

Contrast this to important tasks. Important tasks and projects add value to people or to processes. They have an intrinsic value and are tied closely to long-term organizational success. Examples include: doing market research, new product development, employee training, planning and getting organized. These projects are often time-consuming or complex.

What stops you from doing these important tasks? It is all the little stuff, the “trivial few,” that actually keeps you from getting what you need done. Here is how to integrate long term tasks into your daily schedule, easily and without overtime.

1. Put the project in writing. A plan is much more useful than a vague idea residing on a piece of scratch paper or floating in your head.

2. Break it down into small, manageable steps. The steps should be quick and easy to do. Aim for each taking twenty minutes or less.

3. Set interim deadlines on your calendar. Putting a task on your calendar helps to make it real.

4. Set aside quiet time. Some tasks like writing and learning new software require more than twenty minutes; when that occurs, set aside uninterrupted time to work on it.

As the pace of change continues to accelerate, “no” may be the magic word for this decade. Say “no” to the extraneous that distract from the high value activities. Be ruthless about eliminating the attention grabbers that prevent you from saying yes to the important work.

 

Somewhere between a simple to do list and the project management strategies used by national relief agencies, there has to be some way to organize the projects on my desk.

This from a writer who was buried under a sea of papers. The two most common ways of keeping track of everything, both of which you have tried, are beginning to fail you. Keeping it all in your head no longer works as bits and pieces slip through the cracks and you begin waking up in the middle of the night worried about the status of the Anderson proposal.

Storing it all out in the open means you spend too much time shuffling papers and you still lose sight of deadlines. Added to this are the comments from others when they see you hunched over your lap writing on your brief case because there is no other clear surface available.

Sorting projects

Sort your projects by department, category, customer, or some other logical division. Then choose containers that are easy for you to use or portable if that is necessary. Assign each project to a file, clip board or binder.

Once you have each project in its own container, then group your projects together. Place all administrative projects in one drawer or on a shelf, all client projects in one section, etc. You can color code by using colored hanging files. Administrative in green, clients in blue, and proposals in red. This helps you quickly identify what goes where.

Tracking deadlines

Projects are complex with lots of components. Tracking deadlines is the key to a successful outcome. There are various options for monitoring due dates. Some people break each project down into sections and then use a master calendar to track the big steps. Others use a wall mounted calendar where both large and small tasks are written. This option provides a visual reminder of project deadlines. There are also software programs that can be useful.

Another strategy is to create a project status form. On it you would list each of the steps of the project, who it’s assigned to if appropriate, when it was assigned and when it is due back. This forces you to break long range projects into stages and helps in making realistic projections. After you finish planning out each of your projects and you note that 12 items are due the same week, it is time to make an adjustment.

Status sheets can be circulated if a number of people are working on the same project. These sheets are ideal for noting that the item was sent to engineering, is waiting for vendor response or budge approval.

Staying on top of it

Review your calendar or status form regularly. Beware the common pitfall of forgetting to systematically arrange for follow-ups a few days before the drop dead date. If you know your colleagues well you also know the ones that will need a subtle nudge. For planning purposes, it is always important to add a fudge factor. Give yourself some extra time in case of illness, either yours or theirs, equipment failure, and other office disasters.

To keep things organized throughout the day, this simple rule will help. Never start working on a second project if the first project is still open on your desk. Take the 15 seconds (I promise it will not take any longer) to collect the papers, return them to their file or binder and make a note on your to do list or calendar about your next step.

Clean up

Once a project is completed, your file or binder has gotten very large. Much of the information is no longer useful. Before sending it to central files or its final home, take two or three minutes to sort through it and remove the small sticky notes, the memos, the no-longer useful scribbles and all the drafts. Remove all paper clips and staple related papers. Streamlined files not only take up less space; they are easier to work with a year from now when you need key information again.

 

If you are like most people, balancing a busy personal and professional life is quite a challenge. Trying to keep current, whether that is with technology, your industry, changing expectations at work, or simply meeting your personal obligations, is becoming harder and harder. More than ever, managing time well is a key skill.

Time is probably the most precious and limited resource we have. In spite of our best efforts, time is unyielding — no one can stop it, slow it down, or truly save it. It is the rare person who has enough time to do all the things that he or she wants to do. For some reason, we keep adding “just one more thing,” and forget to eliminate others. The result is an ever-increasing time crunch. Do you take on too much, have difficulty saying “no” to extra demands, and fail to set priorities?

Paths to success

Considering how important goals are, it is amazing that goal-setting is not taught in schools. The biggest dreamers and most successful people — whether in sports, the arts, business or science — started with a dream, a driving purpose or inspiring vision.

Big-picture dreams are wonderful things. They inspire and excite, but left alone, they rarely create. Turn your dreams, intentions, and desires into firm, achievable goals. Specific, measurable, realistic plans are the building blocks to living your dreams. Not set in stone or intended to be inflexible weights around your neck, goals do make it easier to stay on track and resist temptations that may sidetrack you in directions you do not wish to go.

Plan yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily. The secret to successful planning is to allow extra time for unexpected situations, and not over-commit or over-book yourself. Establish priorities on your activities so that at the end of each day, you have done the most important things. Planning long projects by breaking them down into bite-sized pieces will help you dedicate a few minutes each day to important high-value activities that carry future due dates. By getting ahead on projects, you are less likely to have last-minute crises and time crunches.

Focus on yourself

Beware of creeping bad habits that can sabotage your best efforts. Recognize subconscious patterns that can make you your own worst enemy. Whether it is trying to keep everything in your head, versus making a list, being constantly late because you wanted to do just one more thing before leaving for the meeting or being easily distracted, you can change your habits.

Keep one job in front of you at a time. There is a fantasy that people multi-task. Actually, what people do is one task interrupted by another. It is nearly impossible to do two things equally well, simultaneously.

The best way to save time is not to speed up and attempt to jam more and more into a crowded schedule. The best way to do more is to do less. Saying “no” and delegating more are two important strategies. Saying “no” more often, will allow you to say “yes” to your priorities and to participate fully when you volunteer. Eliminate unnecessary and inappropriate activities. Those can creep in if you do not pay attention.

Identify those areas of greatest stress, and begin to make changes. A continual high-stress high-rush style can cause health problems, not to mention sleep and interpersonal difficulties. For example, make decisions quickly. Rarely does delay improve the quality of the choice. Over-analysis can be seductive and also stress-producing. Keep in mind that nearly all decisions must be made with imperfect information.

Focus on others

Control interruptions, time wasters and distractions. Whether at work, at home, or in a home-based business, these are insidious. Look for patterns in interruptions. Often, they are caused by a breakdown in a system, process or function. Low-priority items often masquerade as important things that require your immediate attention; however, they will often take care of themselves without your intervention. As a test of this, consider all the things that do not wait for your return from vacation. Somehow they get handled.

Manage your staff effectively. Delegate regularly. It serves as a training tool, and helps make others’ jobs more interesting. Actively look for things that your staff does well, and let them do more of it. Employees are more often limited by our ability than by their own.