- Build pride in their performance.
- Keep following it up so that it becomes a (good) habit.
Take comfort when you start hearing phrases like: -
“I’ll take care of that for you right away”
“I’ll go and get it for you myself.”
“Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll find out now. Please take a seat for a moment.”
“I’m sorry to hear about that. Let’s find out what went wrong, and I’ll put it right now.”
- Lack of communication
It’s not fair to expect commitment and unstinting loyalty from your staff if you keep them in the dark. Unless you keep your staff informed they will progressively feel that they are not a part of things. They will start to lose any sense of ‘ownership’ or responsibility.
They will lose motivation and become frustrated. Before long you will be faced with the “It’s not my job” attitude.
What’s the answer? Full, regular and clear communication.
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Lack of staff welfare
Marks and Spencer are renowned for their staff welfare. They are also renowned for their customer care.
If you give your staff dirty untidy rooms and toilets, what right have you to expect that they should treat customers beautifully?
There had been persistent staff problems at the clothing factory. Productivity was low, absenteeism was high and labour turnover was rapid. Increasing the pipe work bonus had little effect. Shouting and threatening to fire people didn’t work either.
Finally, the staff were taken on one side and asked what they weren’t happy about and what they would change if they could have their way.
Their complaints were wide ranging, but two things were criticised most frequently. These were the toilets and ladies rest room area and the absence of a pay phone. At the cost of a few hundred pounds, the former were refurbished and redecorated and the pay phone installed.
Productivity, absenteeism and labour turnover rapidly improved. So did customer care. So did profits.
7. Lack of internal co-operation
Remember that everyone who works in a firm has ‘customers’. These are the people who receive their output. For example, the buyer’s customers are other members of staff.
Everyone in the firm needs to be treated as a good ‘customer’. That is, they need co-operation, support, smiles, good manners, appreciation, consideration and help.
If that happens, the ultimate customers – the firm’s customer – is likely to be treated better.
Behaviour begets behaviour. So, if one member of your staff treats a colleague badly, they in turn may treat you badly and you, stung by this behaviour, may take it out on the final customer.
Sometimes you can produce a dramatic improvement with very simple technique…
‘How do people see you?’ Ask your colleagues to say (perhaps anonymously) how they see each other – what they think of each other’s behaviour.
A new manager used to answer the phone with a blunt ‘Smith’. His colleagues perceived him as impolite, unpleasant and aggressive. Since people respond in kind they tended to treat him in the same way. And that was how he tended to treat customers.
When the error of his ways was pointed out to him, he altered his phone manner to, ‘Good morning/afternoon, Terry Smith’. This simple thing improved his relationships both with other staff and with customers.
Stroking
‘Stroking’ is any kind of attention you give to (or receive from) another person.
Being ‘stroked’ is a vital human need. A prolonged absence of it can cause serious adverse effect ranging from a lack of confidence to mental illness.
How good a customer feels about your firm’s services is directly connected to the amount and type of strokes (ie. attention) they have received.
Stroking can be positive or negative. It can be given physically, verbally or non-verbally. Here are some examples:-
How to improve the way you give strokes
- The best stroke you can give is to really listen. Read again the section ‘How to really listen’.
- Be natural. Be sincere and spontaneous.
- When you stroke people, do it about things they feel are important to them.
- Avoid superlatives, flannel and clichés.
- If someone doesn’t respond to a positive stroke, keep at it. Give them more positive Strokes
- Eventually the more positive strokes you give, the more you will receive.
SELF-IMAGE AND PERSONAL POWER
1. Assumptions
All people have an image of themselves, looking at themselves in relation to the outside world and the other people in it. Sometimes they feel good about themselves and confident of their worth at other times they feel less confident. They may see other people and their behaviour as acceptable but sometimes they may believe that the actions of others are unacceptable and devalue those people.
However opinions and attitudes change about themselves and others, each person has a basic and favourite self-image, adopted in early childhood and operated throughout their life. It is said that this self-image is much formed by the treatment received by the child and the child’s perception of the world.
A child, encouraged, loved and given mainly positive recognition, is likely to see themselves as OK and the people around as OK. A child, constantly criticised, punished and receiving mainly negative recognition, may see themselves as almost worthless and not OK and others similarly. These early decisions made by a person about themselves and others around them, in terms of being OK or not OK, provide four alternative ways of relating to the world. These alternatives are called Life Positions, expressing how people relate to others in thinking, feeling and behaving.
2. Characteristics of the Life Positions
2.1 I’m OK, you’re OK (I+ U+)
- sometimes referred to as the “get on with it” position. People in this position are generally optimistic, confident and happy about work and life. They use time constructively, doing the things they most want to do. They exchange positive recognition freely with others, accepting other people and declining to put themselves or others down. They are assertive in reaching their aims. Their main working style with others is collaboration and mutual respect, sharing authority and responsibility and listening constructively, even if they disagree. Problems are faced and dealt with as constructively as possible. They are likely to succeed in life within the limits they have set themselves, experiencing satisfaction with work and in relationships.
This position is not seeing everything through rose coloured spectacles but a more realistic assessment of the situation. “I’m OK, despite my deficiencies” and “Other people also have deficiencies” but are acceptable.
Criticism and conflict, tackled from this OK-OK position, is more likely to achieve satisfactory outcomes. “I care enough about you to fight and argue with you”, rather than “I am criticising you, to make you feel bad and put you down.”
2.2 I’m OK, you’re not OK (I+ U-)
- referred to as the “get rid of” position, characterised by feelings of anger, fury and hostility. Other people are seen as inferior, unworthy, incompetent, wrong and not to be trusted. Behaviour to others includes spite, victimisation, shaming, blaming, trapping, condescension, abuse and disregard. People in this position may try to destroy the sense of self-worth of others. Also, they can inflate their own self-worth, deny personal problems and find it difficult to give positive recognition. At work they are highly competitive, climbing over other people at whatever cost to achieve status and power. In social terms they exploit others, are dogmatic, believing their course to be the only right one.
2.3 I’m not OK, you’re OK (I- U+)
- said to be the “get away from” position, typified by feelings, such as sadness, inadequacy, stupidity or a sense of being ugly, for example. People see themselves as inferior or powerless in relation to others. They put themselves down and find it difficult to accept positive recognition. They undervalue their skills and potential at work and avoid or withdraw from difficult situations and problems. In life generally they do not succeed, are unhappy, often ill and/or depressed.
Almost everyone experiences such feelings at some time, either in certain situations or in relation to certain other people. This, however, is an attitude and not a reality.
2.4 I’m not OK, you’re not OK (I- U-)
- described as the “get nowhere” position, accompanied by feelings of confusion, aimlessness and pointlessness. “Why bother, what’s the point?” is the attitude of people in this position. They do nothing very much in life. Most people experience low times but tend to shake off those feelings. But people, who demonstrate this self-image for longer periods of time, are likely to show extreme apathy and are unproductive.
3. Origins of the Life Positions
It is said that infants are fundamentally in an I’m OK, you’re OK position with trust being the starting point of a child but it is suggested that by the age of three to four years a person’s basic life position is established. Circumstances will bring about that position.
People move through the life positions with differing severity of experiences in each Not OK positions. Some individuals, however, may spend most of their life in severe circumstances in one life position. At work people act differently according to their assumptions and attitudes about a situation and the other person(s), with whom they are interacting. A manager may move from a I’m OK, you’re OK position with his/her team to a I’m not OK, you’re OK position with directors in a Board Meeting and then to a I’m OK, you’re not OK with an individual employee. He/she may not be aware of the changes in their thinking, feeling and acting. Some may rarely change positions, however, whatever the situation.
4. Discounting
Self-image can be seen through the process of discounting, which refers to a situation, where some aspect of the work of a person or another person is diminished or ignored. People, whose basic position requires them to see other people as Not OK, frequently ignore or devalue the work or worth of others. Conversely people, whose own basic position is Not OK, will often discount their own value or worth.
Such discounts may be verbal but can also be non-verbal, such as shrugs and facial gestures – “negative strokes”. A fine line needs to be drawn between constructive criticism and discounting.
5. Behaviour at work
Many formal and informal policies and procedures in companies may be carried out in such a way to make managers appear more OK than employees. Outward symbols, such as large offices, lunch rooms, flexible hours, etc., given to senior managers, provide a sense of prestige and power. Managers should use those symbols, however, to get the job done effectively, not as ways to flaunt position and power. Attempting to make employees feel Not OK can lead them to become apathetic, compliant or rebellious.
In the work situation the four life or psychological positions can be explained, as follows:
I’m OK, you’re OK – “This is what I think, what do you think?” The manager gets work done by committing, self-directing, co-operating, exploring and informing.
I’m OK, you’re not OK – “Do it or else.” People are used but not developed. Work is done by threatening, controlling, dominating, manipulating and persuading.
I’m not OK, you’re OK – “I never know what to do.” This person depends upon others and gets work done by abdicating and hiring competent employees.
I’m not OK, you’re not OK – “Nothing can be done.” This person gets work done by withdrawing or doing nothing.
Key variables in I’m OK, you’re OK are:
- information is shared
- trust is built through teamwork
- dilemmas are openly discussed and the basis of decisions is understood by all concerned.
- people are basically solution-oriented, when they deal with problems alone or in groups.
6. Personal power
Organisational power is often thought to be related directly to a person’s formal position and authority in the organisation structure. Power, however, can be seen in ways other than just formal authority and as something advantageous to both individuals and the organisation. Other sources of power not commonly recognised are:
Power of knowledge and skill – possession of such knowledge and skill, especially where few other people have that knowledge and skill, is personal power.
Power of where you are located – where your job is geographically situated, such as in the organisation’s Head Office, may provide power.
Power of who you know - people who know others with formal authority are often perceived as having some extra power, for example, directors’ secretaries.
Power of options – people who can generate alternatives in a problem solving situation create power for themselves as individuals.
Power to think – people, who operate from a Not OK position frequently surrender their power to think. Managers operating from a You’re not OK position either ignore their employees’ ability to think for themselves – for example, by being over explicit in their instructions – or discourage them in other ways.
Parent
Critical Parent
Words used - should, always, never, bad, ought, stupid, ridiculous, Naughty, don’t.
Voice - critical, condescending, disgusted, sneering,
authoritive.
Facial Expression - frowning, scowling, hostile, rigid.
Gestures, Posture - arms folded, pointing finger, tapping feet, shaking head, lips tight, closedup.
Nurturing Parent
Words used - let me, dearie, honey, beautiful, nice, tender clever, don’t worry, I care.
Voice - concerned, loving, encouraging, sympathetic,
supportive, understanding.
Facial Expressions - smiling, nodding, proud, loving.
Gestures, Posture - loving touch, caressing, relaxed, open arms.
Adult
Words used - now, what, when, facts, who, why, alternatives,
results, reasons, check it.
Voice - even, confident, enquiring, calm.
Facial Expressions - alert, open, thoughtful, attentive, responsive.
Gestures, Posture - erect, open, level, regular eye blinks.
Child
Natural Child
Words used - I want, now, mine, won’t, I love, wow, gosh, golly,
fun, scared.
Voice - loud, energetic, giggling, swearing, excited, playful,
aggressive.
Facial Expressions - relaxed, alive, wide-eyed, angry, joyful, seductive,
curious.
Gestures, Posture - spontaneous, uninhibited, fidgety, lively.
Adapted child
Words used - can’t, I wish, I’ll try, please, thank you, sorry, help me, I’m telling.
Voice - defiant, winning, sullen, servile, manipulating.
Facial Expression - pouting, sad, helpless, eyes downcast, eyes upward.
Gesture, Posture - dejected, curled up, perfectly still.
DEFINITION OF THE EGO STATES
In TA the P.A.C. concepts all refer to observable manifestations of the ego. The verbal and non-verbal clues are summarised below.
The Parent ego states Behaviour Verbal Clues
is composed of Critical Do’s
messages which were Nurturing Don’t’s
‘taught’ – recorded Prejudicial Should’d
from external stimuli.
By gathering data, Behaviour Verbal Clues
analysing it and Gathers data “I think”
making a decision, Analyses data Why?
the Adult ego state Makes decisions What?
functions like a How?
computer. The date
and decisions are based
on reality – the here and
now. It is composed of
messages which are
thought.
The Child ego state Behaviour
is composed of Little professor (Adult in Child)
message which are Natural Child (Child in Child)
felt – from an Adapted Child (Parent in Child)
internal stimulus.
Verbal Clues
I want
I feel
(I want, what I want, when I want it)
Two types of feelings
OK Not OK
Loving Fear
Caring Anger
Laughing Sadness
Happiness Rebellion
Fun Hurt
SESSION 1 – EGO STATES
Exercise 4 – Drawing your own ego-gram.
- Choose 4 people with whom you have close contact, 2 in the work situation and 2 outside of work.
Try to select contrasting people so that one of those at work and socially is a person you get on well with and the other two are people who present you with more difficult relationships.
- Draw an ego-gram of yourself to illustrate what predominant ego states you find yourself operating out of with each of the 4 people.
EGO – GRAM
IDENTIFYING EGO STATES
A Company's Best Friends
And Worst Enemies
Although it is important to track customer satisfaction it is equally as important to understand their behaviour and attitudes. Customer behaviour can be categorised into four basic types, namely Loyalists, Defectors, Mercenaries and Hostages.
The Loyalist and the Apostle
Most cases the Loyalist is a customer who is completely satisfied and keeps returning to the company. The Loyalist is a company’s bedrock. The customer's needs and the company's product or service are well matched. These are often the easiest customers to serve.
Within the Loyalist camp there are often customers who are so satisfied, and whose experience far exceeds their expectations, that they share their experiences with us. These people are Apostles and quite clearly a company's best friend.
The Defector and the Terrorist
Dissatisfied customers who have experienced poor levels of service and who have encountered total failures in service will defect to the competition. An opportunity to convert the Defector to a Loyalist and even an Apostle usually arises at the point of customer complaint. Failure to convert dissatisfied customers prior to defection may turn them into Terrorists.
Terrorists are the most dangerous of all the customer types, as they will be quite willing to tell others of their bad experiences and share their anger and frustration. This can quite often mean sharing their experiences with the media and therefore Terrorists are quite clearly a company's worst enemy.
The Mercenary
This is another customer who can make a company's life misery. Even though they may be completely satisfied, they exhibit almost no loyalty and are often expensive to acquire and quick to depart. They chase low prices, buy on impulse, seek the best deal or seek change for the sake of change. As there is no long-term loyalty a return is not gained for the investment in their satisfaction.
The Hostage
This type of customer experiences the worst levels of service but must accept it as there is no alternative supplier to defect to. Many companies who have a captive customer base (e.g. the Water companies) often see little or no reason to respond to the plight of Hostages "The customers can't go anywhere else so why bother to correct their problems" is an all too frequently spoken phrase.
There are two main reasons why a company should bother, firstly, the competitive environment may change (British Telecom once had a captive customer base) and secondly, hostages are difficult and expensive to serve. They may be trapped but still take every opportunity to complain and this can have a devastating effect on company moral and ultimately on the cost effectiveness of the company as a whole.
Jo Girrard’s Law of 250
You may not have ever heard of Jo Girrard, but he is in the Guinness Book of Records as the most successful salesman.
How many people do you know personally? Well Jo says it about 250 on average. Jo developed his law at a catholic funeral where it is customary to hand out photographs of the deceased as a memory of their life. Jo was bemused as to how the undertakers knew how many photographs to have made, so he asked. He was told “Oh 250 is usually about right”
This may not be always exact but if you know 250 people you could tell them about a poor service experience and they could each tell 250 other about the poor experience and so on.
As you can see the possibility of a poor reputation spreading are immense.
Could your company afford 250 terrorists running your service or product down?
Dealing With Complaints
No matter how hard we try there will be occasions when the level of service given to your customers will fall below an acceptable level causing them to complain. Handling complaints is an important part of customer care, as complaining customers give us a unique opportunity to identify where we are going wrong and to turn Defectors and Terrorists into Loyalists and maybe even Apostles.
When a customer feels passionate enough to telephone or write to complain, the level of care they expect will be even higher than normal. It is important therefore that complaints are dealt with efficiently and effectively. There are few golden rules to follow;
-
Never argue- Remain calm, listen, and establish the facts
-
Never be rude- This will only make things worse, if the customer is face to face with you take them to a quiet corner or room.
-
Use silence - Let the customer talk, let them get rid of their anger and have their say, listen carefully and do not interrupt.
-
Ask questions- Use open questions to get all the facts, try to identify the actual problem or complaint from the relevant points.
-
Be honest- Be as open as possible and don't be afraid to admit when you are wrong or a mistake has been made.
Of course the best way of dealing with complaints is to stop them from occurring in the first place. When you know that the service to your customers is going to suffer, letting them know in advance will not give them an opportunity to complain.
You are the company as far as the customer is concerned so you must maintain the company's image as well as solving the customers problem.
Remember - Prevention is always better than cure.
Do's and Don'ts For Handling Complaints
Do:
1. Show interest - Listen, treat with respect
2. Show empathy - How would you feel if this happened to you?
3. Restate the problem back to the complainant - It confirms in your mind what you have been told, and reinforces the communication channel with the customer.
4. Admit the problem - If there is one, and if a mistake has been made, an apology is required. There is no point trying to wriggle out of an obvious short fall in your product or service.
5. Ask the customer what they want you to do - This can often be less than you have geared yourself up to provide, a replacement product is simple to provide.
Don't:
1. Be defensive or aggressive - It may not be your fault
2. Just say no - There must be an added explanation to give to the customer rather than a straight denial.
3. Assign blame - You will probably know who or what is responsible, but the customer doesn't need to. They just need to know that a mistake has been made and that you will put it right.
4. Give the customer orders - Be nice and friendly.
5. Make unrealistic promises - This will only make things worse and will cause further complaints later.
6. Leave the complainant in the lurch - keep them informed of progress in settling the complaint.
Case Study
Sprockets Engineering are a well established company, with over ten years of experience in manufacturing precision turned parts and pressings for the automotive industry. The company is a family owned business, who prides themselves in high quality work. This is reflected by their policy of `Right First Time - Every Time` for all levels of the organisation, this is especially true of the customer service staff who are relied on to maintain the company's profile.
The company has recently been awarded a contract with Hyrindu, a major motor manufacturer, for components on their new executive class of car. The directors are totally committed to meeting all of the delivery requirements of the contract as it is a major achievement for a small company to be awarded a contract of this size, having beaten some large competitors for the contract in the tendering rounds.
In the first three months of the contract there have been a few teething problems with a new machine that was purchased especially for the contract and this has effected the delivery of the components due to machine down time and loss of production. This has now been rectified and production seems to be running well.
On Thursday afternoon Matt, the production supervisor receives a call from Hyrindu who have moved ahead of their production schedule and need next weeks order by Monday at the latest. Matt agrees to this and promises delivery before 2.00 P.M. on Monday.
Immediately after putting the telephone down Matt realises that he is not at work for one week, from tomorrow, due to an allocation of annual leave which he must take before the end of the financial year. However this should not effect Hyrindu’s order as the department is well ahead of their production and Simon, the Production Manager, will return from paternity leave tomorrow, after two weeks off
Matt leaves a detailed message for Simon on his office answering machine and tells Adrian the machinist to make sure that Simon receives the message regarding Hyrindu's order.
On Friday morning Simon returns to work to a mountain of problems, Adrian is off ill due to food poisoning, his desk has piles of unanswered correspondence on it and he is called into a management meeting at 10.30 AM which runs through to 3.30 PM.
After a busy day Simon retrieves his messages from his answering machine at about 4.00 P.M. and to his horror receives Matt's message regarding Hyrindu's order requirements just as the whistle goes and the workforce leaves for the weekend.
Weighing up the situation, Simon decides that there is nothing he can do as no overtime is currently allowed due to a cost cutting exercise, he decides to wait until Monday when Adrian will be back and they should be able to catch up then.
On Monday morning, with the problem of meeting Hyrindu’s order on his mind, Simon gets into work especially early. Unfortunately, on arrival he discovers that Adrian is still off ill and realises that the only way that he will meet the order is to operate the machine himself
It has been sometime since he has operated this machine and quickly finds that his rate of production falls way below the required standard. At 2.00 P.M., even after working through lunch, he finally accepts that he cannot meet the requirements of Hyrindu's order.
Just then the Production Director walks into the machine shop, explains to Simon that Hyrindu are on the telephone and he demands to know why the order has not been met. He adds that he wants Simon to ring Hyrindu back and explain why the order has not been received and apologise for the shortfall.
Discussion Points
1a) What are the principle reasons that Sprockets did not meet Hyiindu's order?
1b) What could have been done by Matt to prevent the problem from occurring?
2.) How could Simon have avoided the problem even though he knew on Friday that the order might not be met?
3.) Describe how you would explain to Hyrindu why the order has not arrived.
4.) How could this experience be used to prevent such a situation arising in the future.
5.) How could the damage done to the relationship with Hyrindu be repaired considering that Joe Sprocket, the Managing Director, is relying on renewal of the contract next year to help finance a company expansion and relocation of premises.
Case Study
At 6.15 p.m. Sandra is working late at the office as she is swamped with a backlog of work left during her holiday, the previous week. She really hates staying over, her husband and family complain and she doesn't get paid, but the work has to be done as if she doesn't do it nobody else will. At least that’s what Alex Simpson, her manager, says.
Sandra has worked at J.T. Simpsons Electrical Contractors for seven years, originally for John Simpson until his retirement last year, but now for his son Alex. Things will never be the same she thinks, John was such a nice man who cared about his customers, all that Alex cares about is costs, budgets and balance sheets.
Out of the quietness of the empty office Sandra jumps as the telephone rings, and on answering it gets bombarded with a hail of shouting and abuse. Sandra tries her best to calm the caller down but he is insistent on speaking to the owner. She explains politely that Mr. Simpson has left the office for the evening, but the caller will not accept her explanation and with his closing statement of "your useless, why do they employ stupid women who know nothing, you should be at home cooking!” slams the phone down.
This is all I need, Sandra thought to herself why do they always pick me? She
looked at her watch, it was 6.30, time to go home and face the family.
The next morning Sandra arrives at work as usual, and begins to wade through the piles of customer orders and invoices left from last week when Alex arrives. "Can you clear all of the invoices by lunch time please Sandra, and I've got visitors this afternoon so I want you to get coffee and biscuits." Sandra reminds Alex of the orders that are outstanding but he is adamant that the invoices are more important.
Sandra spends the morning clearing all of the invoices and when lunchtime comes she is glad of the opportunity to get out of the office to get the coffee and biscuits for Alex's visitors.
On her return, Sandra is greeted by a very red faced man who immediately begins waving a pile of papers at her and demanding to know why he hasn't received his order that was placed a week ago and promised for last Friday. Sandra explains to the customer that she does not know why he has not received his order, but if he would like to take a seat she will look into it for him.
Sandra knows quite well why the order has not been received, so from the other office she telephones the warehouse to put the order up right away.
When Sandra goes back into the other office she finds Alex dealing with another annoyed customer who also seems to be complaining about an order. '”Sandra this man says you were rude to him on the telephone last night, and this other man hasn't received his order what's going on?"
Discussion Points
1 Why do you think that the level of service has dropped at Simpsons in recent months?
2. What do you think could be done to solve the problems of the two irate customers?
3. How would you re-organise the work load to prevent this from happening again?
4. What should Sandra do to make Alex aware that he caused the problems?
