Book description
Customer service goals have been articulated, messages drilled, and incentive programs created. But many employees still deliver lackluster service. What does it take to get them functioning as stellar frontline representatives of the company? Rather than offering another set of tactics for improving customer service, this book takes a novel approach by rooting out the real reasons employees aren’t delivering the service they should. The results can be both surprising and illuminating, such as: • Company culture doesn’t always support service excellence • Over-emphasis on cost reduction often increases the cost of service • Employees are torn between doing the right thing for the customer and following policy • Poor products and services can make helping the customer nearly impossible • Employees’ interests often don’t align with company goals Once core problems are identified, the book offers corrective solutions, including redirecting coaching efforts, revisiting policies and procedures, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and more. Filled with inside stories from well-known organizations and the latest scientific research, Service Failure helps people overcome the obstacles preventing them from doing their very best.Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I: Understanding Obstacles to Outstanding Customer Service
-
Part II: Overcoming Obstacles to Outstanding Customer Service
- Chapter 2 The Customer Is Not Always Right: Equipping Employees to Handle Challenging Customers
- Chapter 3 They’re Your Customers, Not Mine: Aligning Employees’ Interests with Those of the Company
- Chapter 4 Your Employees Are Double Agents: Bridging the Gap Between Doing the Right Thing for the Customer and Following Company Policy
- Chapter 5 Mutually Assured Dissatisfaction: Getting Beyond Broken Systems That Cause Employee Disengagement
- Chapter 6 Conformity Is Contagious: Creating a Company Culture That Encourages Outstanding Customer Service
- Chapter 7 Attention Is in Short Supply: Getting Employees to Notice What Customers Really Need
- Chapter 8 What Role Will You Play Today? Emphasizing the Primary Responsibility to Delight Customers
- Chapter 9 The Problem with Empathy: Encouraging Employees to Empathize with Their Customers
- Chapter 10 Emotional Roadblocks: Helping Employees Overcome Their Own Emotions
- Chapter 11 Casualties of Cost Consciousness: Seeing Customer Service as a Profit Generator Rather Than a Cost Center
- Part III: Putting Lessons into Action
- Index
Product information
- Title: Service Failure
- Author(s):
- Release date: November 2012
- Publisher(s): AMACOM
- ISBN: 9780814432006
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