Author: Jacob Ahmadzai

Helping businesses improve performance with proven learning and development solutions. London based with a global reach.

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Professional & Management Professional Development Sales & Customer Service

Customer Service Excellence

Customer service matters! We all have brands or organisations that we love to keep returning to, and also those who after we receive poor customer service, vow will never see our business again!

So, what is Customer Service?

Customer service is the assistance and guidance a company or an organisation provides to people before, during and after they buy or use a product or service. There is a direct link between satisfied customers, brand loyalty and profitability. Service is the biggest driver of customer loyalty – more than pricing or even the product itself.

 

So how can you ensure you get it right for your customers? On our brilliant Customer Service Excellence course, we look at the Servqual RATER model which was developed in the mid-1980s but is still extremely relevant. RATER stands for Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy and Responsiveness. Let’s look at the model and see how it can assist you provide excellent customer service…

Reliability of service

This is about having the ability to perform a service dependably and accurately, this means doing what you say you’re going to do, when you said you were going to do it. Customers want to be able to count on you and your team, so find out what your customers value. Organisations first and best efforts are better spent making their service reliable.

Reliability builds trust in the brand and is valued three times more than tangibles such as a shiny new website or smart uniforms.

Assurance

This is about the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust, competence, and confidence. How can you provide more assurance? Know What You’re Doing! Also, by communicating your expertise/competencies – before people do the work, which will be seen by customers. e.g. display industry certifications on badges worn by employees, include certification logos on emails, letters, reports, posters, newsletters, feedback statistics and webpages.

Servqual research showed it’s important to communicate that expertise to customers. If you’re highly skilled, but customers don’t see that, their confidence in and their assessment of you will be lower.

Tangibles

Even though this is the least important dimension, appearance matters. Make sure your employee’s appearance, equipment, and anything else that’s visible to your customers, looks good. The danger is for organisations to make everything look sharp, and then fall short on Reliability or Responsiveness, so don’t sacrifice these two for the tangibles as first impressions really do count.

Empathy

This is about the provision of caring, individualised attention to the customer. Your service can be outstanding, but do your customers feel cared for? Would or will they recommend you? Think back to the best service you’ve had – What made it outstanding? Service can be performed completely to specifications, yet customers may not feel your employees care about them. This will affect their assessment of your service quality.

Responsiveness of service

This is the willingness to help customers and to provide a prompt service, no one likes being put on hold or pushed from one person to another, so how can you be more Responsive? By responding quickly, promptly, rapidly, immediately, instantly.

Service providers benefit by establishing internal SLAs for things like returning phone calls, emails and responding on-site, but establish them not just for emergencies, but for everyday responses too.

 

Summary

So, some ideas to help you provide excellent customer service – learn more with STL.

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Hints & Tips Professional & Management Professional Development Soft Skills

Presentation Skills: Nerves and Structure

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking or giving a presentation, is extremely common. Experts estimate 77% of the population has some level of anxiety when giving presentations or public speaking. There are many things you can do to feel more comfortable when presenting, but practice and preparation really are the key.

presentation

 

Our fantastic Presentation skills course examines and more importantly, helps you master your next presentation. Here are ways to help manage your nerves and a way to structure your presentations.

 

Handling nerves

It is perfectly natural to feel a little nervous before a presentation. When confronted with a perceived threat, our bodies get ready for battle. This leads to the emotional experience of fear, which gets in the way with our ability to perform comfortably in front of others.  Another factor that causes our nervousness is our beliefs about public speaking and our own skills. When we overestimate the risks of communicating our ideas in front of others, it can feel like a threat to our credibility and image.

Here are a few tips to help:

  • Arrive early. Give yourself plenty of time, avoid looking at emails, making last minute calls before your presentation and ensure you have all the resources and equipment you need in advance.

  • Meet & Greet ahead of presentation, If possible, try to chat to some of the audience before the presentation. This makes you more likeable and approachable and helps you feel more at ease, whether face to face or virtually.

 

  • Turn nervous energy into enthusiasm. The energy you create when feeling nervous is very similar to the sensation of feeling excited. So harness that energy and channel it is a positive direction!

 

  • Take deep breaths. When we’re nervous our muscles tighten, which can affect both our verbal and non-verbal communication styles. Take deep breaths to get oxygen to your brain and relax your whole body.
  • Smile! Even if you don’t feel like smiling, forcing yourself to smile increases endorphins and replaces anxiety with calm, positive feelings. It also demonstrates your confidence and professionalism to the audience.

Presentation Structure

Having a well-structured presentation keeps your audience interested and improves their understanding and recollection.  A good structure is even more important for those who are not as familiar with your topic area as it provides context. A clear structure will also help with your nerves as you know where you’re going and so assists with helping you to remain calm and to stay on topic.

A classic and very effective structure is the newsreader method, it is a simple way of putting together an effective and engaging presentation and looks like this:

 

  1. Tell them what you’re going to tell them

    Tell your audience why they are there and what you are going to share with them and why it is important. Always include a WIIFT (What’s in it for them) moment.

  2. Tell them

    This is where you share the main content of your presentation, the knowledge, information, learning, and actions happen here. If you are covering more than one subject in your presentation, ensure there is a break between subjects, so the audience know you are moving on.

  3. Tell them what you told them

    This is where you remind the audience of the key points – what do you need them to think? Feel? Do? Make sure they have actions and tangible takeaways.

skills

Conclusion

Presentations need not be scary and certainly should never be boring! Try these tips to help your presentations efficiency, and therefore leave a feeling of productivity to your guests at the end!