In any industry, good customer service is the sole determining factor for the client. You may have the most posh reception or the swankiest address in town. But if the service you render is below par, that alone can do detrimental damage to your brand.
Welcome to today’s customized training workshop for Drew & Napier LLC. One of Singapore’s leading and largest full service law firms, it’s good to be invited back for a training (following my last sharing). What made it even more memorable was a few participants in the audience could still remember me from my last grooming talk.
Even though it was a Saturday, all the ladies in the room were in high spirits. It wasn’t difficult to see why. Offering a unique blend of topics, the workshop ran the gamut from communication training to telephone etiquette skills training. There was going to be fun from the moment it kickstarted.
The initial shy moments quickly melted away with the icebreaker games. Not one to follow the norm while training, I ensured there was a good mix of fun and sharing. The ladies bantered, joked and asked lots of questions. That certainly lifted the entire mood of the workshop.
I loved the energy of the group when we touched on topics like effective communication and telephone etiquette skills training. Getting them to know themselves better, I exposed them to personal profiling tools like the DISC and went to lengths to explain why knowing the personalities of others is the easiest way to building instant rapport.
In any organization, the essence of good customer service is establishing a close relationship with the clients – a relationship that moves beyond that of client and service provider. In the literature, this is called customer relationship management. If you are able to get others to like you, credit must go to you because you have taken pains to understand how to connect effectively with others. People like people to be like them. Birds of a feather flock together.
Much has been written about the dual aspects of communication – both verbal and non-verbal. I cannot not agree. And through my demonstrations, I showed the ladies why one aspect cannot do with the other. What’s most interesting is that even when it comes to telephone etiquette training, both aspects still play critical roles in projecting the right impression. Yes, you may not be able to see the other person on the line. But you can still hear her voice. From that voice alone, you are able to tell from the pitch, volume, intonation and speed if she’s happy to receive your call. More importantly, you can even tell from that voice if she’s smiling when conversing with you. To add on further, you can also accurately detect her body language – whether she’s slouching in the chair while talking or simply bored with you and can’t wait to cut the line off.
First impressions matter. They matter even more for a business. Whether you call, email or simply walk in, all these customer touch-points cannot be neglected. And for each customer touch-point, a different approach is needed for your business to stay ahead of the competition.
Remember, nobody appreciates bad service. And word of mouth advertising is the most powerful form of endorsement or condemnation. Your corporate image is dependent on each and every staff in the organization. Spare no effort to get everyone in the office to think, act and be the model service ambassador.
Till the next training, have fun everyone!