Blog Archives
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Being a Good Customer
By ServiceElements, Christine Hill - Wednesday March 27, 2013What does it take to be a good customer? Take a moment now to think about your best customers and write down some words or phrases that describe them. Here is a common list people come up with in this exercise: They communicate their expectations very clearly When things change, they tell us—they give us a heads up whenever possible Honest, polite Friendly Patient They do not make assumptions Interestingly enough, all of these qualities are the same ones that describe good customer service delivery. While good customer service delivery is a product of many factors, it is reasonable to suggest that customers who exhibit the qualities above will likely receive excellent service in return. Such customers realize... -
ServiceElements: Customer Service Tip of the Week
By ServiceElements, Christine Hill - Wednesday March 20, 2013
Promoted to Supervisor from the Floor or Frontline – What Do I Do Now? By Christine Hill Management Scenario: Mike has been a maintenance technician at XYZ Aviation for 18 years. He is the most knowledgeable and dependable maintenance professional on his team. Jerry, his supervisor, recently retired after 35 years on the job. Mike was promoted to Maintenance Supervisor because of his experience and commitment to the company. Mike was of course thrilled with the promotion, but he has had some challenges. The guys on the floor are all his buddies, so it has been a tough transition from “buddy” to supervisor. It has also been difficult for Mike because he has never had any formal management training with tips on how to be a... -
Consider Yourself an Underdog
By ServiceElements, Christine Hill - Wednesday March 13, 2013
When an organization or a department or an individual is trying to deliver the best service, it is important to constantly ask the question, “What can we/I do better?” Great organizations, departments and individuals who excel at what they do---the ones that are listed as the best of the best---never rest on their laurels. They always look for ways to improve, even if their service is the best. They never say, “I am No. 1 and I am happy.” In our customer service workshops at ServiceElements, we have service professionals who feel they give the best service already and see no reason to change or no room to improve the service the offer. There are also service professionals who are continually driven to look for ways to get... -
Customer Service Tip
By ServiceElements, Christine Hill - Wednesday March 6, 2013Customer Service is an abstract term. This is a real challenge for today’s organizations in creating customer service standards that are genuine for their customers. For managers and leaders who want to improve the service delivery of their organization, it is imperative to define the service expectations in concrete terms. Utilize real life scenarios as examples of what actions constitute good service and what actions would be bad service. -
Creating an Organization that is Truly Customer Service Focused
By ServiceElements, Christine Hill - Tuesday February 26, 2013Customer service has many connotations. Some people associate it with restaurant or retail companies. Others associate it with someone who deals directly with a customer. Still, other people think of someone answering a phone at a call center. Though the perceptions of customer service vary, standout organizations DO make customer service a central strategy to differentiate them from the competition. This is true for companies ranging from WholeFoods to Google — and it is more important in the aviation industry than ever before. Think about these questions: What will differentiate one airline or aircraft management company from another? How will an airport signal ongoing business value to its executive passengers? Should... -
Remembering the Basics
By ServiceElements, Christine Hill - Tuesday February 19, 2013Service is an area where a business can clearly set itself apart from the competition -- even in aviation … especially in aviation. By providing truly exceptional customer service to customers, organizations are realizing that they can increase their value in the eyes of those customers. There are now metrics and complicated standard operating procedures to measure and ensure the best possible service. But, in the words of Leonardo DaVinci, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” It is a good time to revisit the basics -- what brought us to where we are today. Customer service has been a formal cornerstone of competitiveness for well over 30 years. Though the nuances of how customer service may be delivered across... -
The Connection Between Customer Loyalty and Customer Complaints
By ServiceElements, Christine Hill - Tuesday February 12, 2013
Companies that receive a steady stream of customer complaints surely risk losing customers if there is no genuine attempt to first listen to the complaint and then take steps toward a resolution. In fact, some studies suggest that over 90 percent of customers who are upset and have a complaint will never buy products or services from the offending company again. The good news, though, is that nearly 75 percent of these customers can be won back if there is a process in place that makes them feel like their concerns are being heard — and that someone is taking steps to resolve their problems. Customers’ complaints may not even be solved in exactly the way they originally envisioned, but if they know that the service provider... -
What It Takes to Be #1 — From Football to Aviation Companies
By ServiceElements, Christine Hill - Tuesday February 5, 2013Over 110 million viewers tuned in to watch the Super Bowl last February between the Giants and the Patriots. This Sunday the news is reporting that there will be a shortage of chicken wings because of the amount of wings consumed by these football viewers---young and old, male and female as they watch Super Bowl XLVII. Football has become an important part of American culture---just like apple pie and red, white and blue. One of the great icons of football was former Coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vincent T. Lombardi. In fact, the “Super Bowl Trophy” was renamed in 1971 “The Vince Lombardi Super Bowl Trophy” because of his influence on the game. Vince Lombardi had many great words and inspirational themes for his... -
Service Commitment
By ServiceElements, Christine Hill - Wednesday January 23, 2013People who are committed to service excellence know why their jobs are important. They know their work has meaning. They know that they are providing something to the customer, something that is important and meaningful. If people feel like they are giving something of value, then they will also find value in how they provide it. In a recent workshop on motivation and teamwork held at a Las Vegas hotel, there was a wide variety of hotel employees: chefs, cocktail waitresses, poker dealers, human resources and other professional staff. It was quite a mixture of folks. Prior to the start of the workshops, when asked why he liked his job, one of the chefs replied that he like his job because he “made creations” that satisfy people... -
Profiling the External Customer
By ServiceElements, Christine Hill - Wednesday January 16, 2013All organizations have one thing in common: they depend on customers to stay in business. There are many ways to make customers want, need, and even depend on particular products and services, but in order to create this relationship it is important to understand the customer. Customers are multidimensional, which means they do not come in standard packages and act the same way. They have different backgrounds, expectations and experiences. Further complicating the issue, a customer may be buying the same service at two different times for two totally different reasons. Consider a restaurant patron who arrives one day with a group of business associates, but visits on another day with a group of friends for a special occasion. The two...
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Events
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- 06/17/13 - 06/23/13
- Paris Air Show
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Conference/Expo, Paris,
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- 06/18/13 - 06/19/13
- Sherwin-Williams Aerospace Coatings Training Program
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Training, Andover, KS
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- 06/19/13 - 06/20/13
- 2rd China Aerospace Propulsion Technology Summit
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Conference/Expo, Shenyang,
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- 06/24/13 - 06/24/13
- Ultrasonic Testing Level 2 Training Course
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Training, Houston, TX
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- 06/25/13 - 06/27/13
- SMART Terminal Asia 2013
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Conference/Expo, Jakarta,
