Encourage Peer Recognition

Encourage Peer Recognition Peer recognition brings team members together and reinforces the principles of great customer service. Have you considered awarding “Atta Boys” and “Atta Girls” to team members based on nominations from their colleagues? Zappos has several ways of honoring standout performers who best epitomize the company’s culture and spirit of customer service. Their peer rewards programs give team members the opportunity to recognize and encourage one another. An example is the “Zollars” program where team members can award one another “Zappos dollars” by filling out a form describing why their colleague is deserving of recognition. Zollars can be
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Ask “What Can I Do To Make You Happy?”

Ask “What Can I Do To Make You Happy?” Customer service is really put to the test when something goes wrong. What makes an exceptional business better than the rest is the ability to recover from these setbacks.  In the past I made an online purchase and received a package with missing parts. I immediately emailed the company’s customer service department. I got an email response from a customer service representative within the hour. “Please just let us know what you would like us to do and we will happily be of service,” the representative wrote. In other words: “What
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Give Team Members Something to Remember

“Three to Remember” I’m a strong believer in the KISS Rule: Keep It Simple Silly. It is easier for our team members to remember our priorities for Out-Of-This-World Customer Service if we keep our expectations simple and clear. I developed our “Three to Remember” to reinforce the most important principles for serving our clients. We share these often with our team members. Team members learn our “Three to Remember” their first day on the job and will see the “Three to Remember” time and time again in internal emails, company newsletters and repeated in our team meetings.  Our “Three to
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Get Your Point Across Quickly in Emails

Get Your Point Across Quickly in Emails Email is virtually inescapable, especially in the professional world. In many organizations, it’s essential. Ideally, you should keep yours as concise as possible. Here are some tips for getting your message across efficiently and effectively: Start with a salutation. When beginning a message chain, especially in the morning, a little “hello” or “TGIF” goes a long way. Choose one topic and stick to it. For example, the central topic here is Paul’s vacation; the offshoots are the delegated responsibilities: Hi, all. Reminder that I will be on vacation next week. In my absence:
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