101 Activities for Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service

Ann Thomas of Performance Research Associates, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN) carries on the legacy begun in 1972 by the late service legend, Ron Zemke. The firm consults with corporations and nonprofits of all sizes around the globe.Jill Applegate of Performance Research Associates, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN) carry on the legacy begun in 1972 by the late service legend, Ron Zemke. The firm consults with corporations and nonprofits of all sizes around the globe.

• CONTENTS Our Thanks Introduction: About This Book SECTION ONE The Fundamentals of Knock Your Socks Off Service 1 What Customers Want, What Customers Expect 2 Who’s Your Customer? 3 Knock Your Socks Off Service 4 Customers’ Ever-Changing Needs 5 The RATER Factors 6 How Do I RATE? 7 The Value of Reliability 8 Reliability: Promises, Promises 9 Reliability: Secret Shopper 10 Assurance: The Language of Competence 11 Assurance: The Knowledge Game 12 Assurance: Secret Shopper 13 Tangibles: Take a Field Trip 14 Tangibles: Sensory Perception 15 Tangibles: Customer Feedback 16 Tangibles: Secret Shopper 17 Empathy vs. Sympathy 18 Empathy: Building a Statement 19 Empathy: Scripting Tough Situations 20 Empathy: Partnering for Practice 21 Responsiveness: Identifying the Barriers 22 Responsiveness: Proactive vs. Reactive 23 Responsiveness: Role-Play 24 RATER Self-Assessment 25 The Ten Deadly Sins of Service 26 The Customer Is Always.. . the Customer 27 Educating Your Customer 28 Filling the Knowledge Gap SECTION TWO The How-To’s of Knock Your Socks Off Service 29 Good Question: Honesty 30 Identify the Rules: Red Rules/Blue Rules 31 Making Exceptions 32 Why Customers Don’t Trust 33 Create an Environment of Trust 34 Barriers to Effective Listening 35 Go Ahead, I’m Listening 36 Follow My Lead 37 Listening: Taking a Mental Detour 38 Crafting the Best Questions 39 The Name Game 40 Who Knows? 41 How Did I Do? 42 When Questions Go Wrong 43 Winning Words and Soothing Phrases 44 Scripting Better Responses 45 Give a Nonverbal Cue! 46 Face-to-Face Charades 47 Receiving Nonverbal Cues 48 Telephone Checklist 49 Be a Standout on the Phone 50 Just Phone Home! 51 Telephone Etiquette: Secret Shopper 52 Tongue Twisters with a Twist 53 E-Mail vs.Telephone 54 Written Communication Review 55 Practice E-Mail Communications 56 E-Mail Etiquette 57 Communication Sensitivity 58 It’s a Small World 59 The Generational Divide 60 Generations at Work 61 Saying “No,” Positively SECTION THREE Seamless Knock Your Socks Off Service 62 Communicating Across Functions 63 Hitting the Target 64 Visit an Internal Customer 65 It’s Not My Job 66 Mindbenders 67 It’s All About Kindness 68 Details, Details, Details 69 Creating a Cycle of Service 70 Analyzing Moments of Truth 71 Details That Make a Difference 72 Value-Added Service 73 Good Selling Is Good Service 74 So Many People to Thank 75 Making “Thank You” Personal 76 Thank-You Round Robin SECTION FOUR The Problem-Solving Side of Knock Your Socks Off Service 77 The Service Recovery Process 78 How Ready Are You to Recover? 79 Using the Well-Placed “I’m Sorry” 80 Finding the Right Fix 81 Putting Recovery Knowledge into Action 82 Tell Me a Story 83 Make Customers Your Partners in Problem Solving 84 Maximize Your Web Site Impact 85 Matching Atonement to the Error 86 Fix the Customer First, Then the Problem 87 Fix the Customer Role-Play 88 Calming Obnoxious Customers 89 Customers From Hell® Hall of Shame 90 Difficult Customer Match Game 91 A Question of Control SECTION FIVE Knock Your Socks Off Fitness 92 Stress Reducers 93 Create a Stress Log 94 Coping with Change 95 The Web of Support 96 The Power of Positive Talk 97 Keep It Professional 98 Learning Assessment 99 The Power of Curiosity 100 For All You Do, This Note’s For You 101 What’s Important to Me? Credits Index About the Authors