The Ten Commandments Of Customer Service

I. Do things right-every time.Of course everyone tries to process items correctly. Why do we need to be so absolute in this commandment? When Agency Consulting Group, Inc. analyzes an agency's operations, we inevitably find that simple errors in the process comes at an extreme cost in time, money, and customer satisfaction. One mistake made today may cost the time and effort of a CSR, accounting department, and producer to sort out and correct three months from now. The answer is to develop zero tolerance for errors. Will mistakes be made? Of course. However, the agency must make every effort to remedy any system or training issues that permit mistakes. Zero tolerance for errors protects the client by providing the fastest, most efficient service and saves the agency countless hours of analysis and correction. This commandment does not require checking all transactions. However, quality-control audits should be a part of each manager's responsibilities. A sampling of transactions taken randomly once a month on every employee will easily highlight where errors are being made because of poor training.

The complaint about disloyal customers moving their accounts elsewhere to save a few dollars in premium becomes moot when the agency has shown its added value and service differentiation. The best opportunity to reflect that value comes when a customer has a problem. We must actively seek customer problems and attack them in a way that thrills the customer. Complaints are not bad; they're the opportunities on which heroic service is built.

A CSR drops off an ID card to a client at a local auto dealership. An agent visits the site of an active claim to support the client. An agency employee, sensitive to the needs and restrictions of a new mother, arranges to have forms delivered for signature instead of requiring the client to drive to the agency. These are all examples of thrilling things agents have done to make life a little easier for customers. Generally, clients talk about their insurance agents only to complain-or when something so out of the ordinary has happened that they feel they must share the experience. Every agent should provide an incentive bonus pool that awards serious dollars to an employee who has thrilled a customer during the prior period. If none can be documented, let the kitty build. If there are bonus dollars left in this budget at the end of the year, the agency can consider itself a failure: 'We didn't thrill enough customers.'

With the notable exception of abusive clients, every agency staff member must treat every customer exactly as the employee dreams being treated by a service company. 'Do unto others' is truly applicable. If many of us heard ourselves telling customers what they will 'have' to do, we would be repulsed. We play our roles at customers' whim and discretion. Even when your customers are stressed, your job is to treat them as nicely as you would your own grandmother. The solution is to police each other in service teams. If any of the staff hears customers being treated in a brusque manner, it's their responsibility to bring this to the attention of the person making that mistake.

The best agents and staff members are aware of their strengths, but never satisfied with them. They constantly seek better ways. If they can get transactional filing to work, fine; now they should move on to investigate optical scanning, as the next step toward excellent service. Our continuous question must be, 'How can we make this better?' Since there's no perfect system, never leave well enough alone.

Do you ever find yourself arguing with a customer about his incorrect perception of the situation? If so, you've put yourself into a 'lose/lose' situation. If they win, you lose. And if you win, you lose anyway because customers don't like losing. The best way to attack this type of problem is to apologize and ask how you can make it right-even if you did nothing wrong in the first place. This action yields the battle to the customer, but does so in a way that permits him to forgive you and to explain how the situation can be remedied (which often involves re-explaining the actual events in different terms).

If it's not right, apologize, fix it, and prevent it from happening again. (If you can pay for it without violating the law, that would be great, too!) I believe you guarantee your work anyway-through E&O insurance. Denying a mistake for fear of a lawsuit usually gains you a lawsuit anyway and loses you the customer, too (never mind the stories he or she will tell about you for the next 10 years). On the other hand, taking blame when it's due, assuaging your customer's concerns, and fixing it may thrill your customer (see the Third Commandment).

I guarantee that employees who enjoy their work will perform better-be more productive, creative, and efficient-which doesn't mean that you never have a bad moment (or a bad day). You can certainly differentiate between employees who enjoy their job and those who drag into work, can't wait to leave, and watch the clock for breaks and lunch hours. Some employees are simply in the wrong place. Perhaps they've realized too late that they don't enjoy customer contact, or they're stuck in their career. If that's the case, you've got to ask yourself why you should be stuck in their career? Your only mistake was to hire them. 'Career-adjustment' may be a negative term, but some employees who have been let go eventually thank the agency owner for getting them to move from a job they hated to another that they better enjoyed. Other employees need motivational efforts, including a break from the routine every once in a while (for instance, 'Surprise, you have tomorrow off!'), little contests that put some fun back into work, and departmental or agency events that relieve tension and give employees something to look forward to once a month (picnics, potluck lunches, speakers, and so on). We even know one agency who brought in a physical therapist for midday massages for those who wanted one.

This ties in with continuous improvement but refers more to the agent's attitude with him- or herself, the staff, the agency, the industry, and so forth. 'Stinkin' thinkin'' has brought down more agents than bad business ever did.

Whether you have the best agency in the country, the city, or the block, be proud of what you and your staff have accomplished-not upset with your deficiencies. Don't put on rose-colored glasses and call a jackass a thoroughbred. Almost every agency has strengths that deserve pride, but most overlook their strengths. They concentrate instead on their weaknesses-which will prove to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you think of yourself and your agency as a failure, you become one (even if you're outwardly successful).

Never 'them and us' the customer, referring to other people, departments, or managers. You are the agency to the person on the other end of the line. Blaming claims, customer service, accounting, or management for a deficiency or problem weakens your position with respect to the customer.

Similarly, your agency is the company to your customers. Even though the company, not the agency, may have caused delays and made mistakes, don't pass the buck before a customer whose transaction is delayed or wrong. In many cases, they'll think (but rarely say) that if you have to fight the company for something as simple as accuracy and timeliness, maybe they have the wrong company and the wrong agent. After all, it was you who placed the customer with that company, saying that it was the best for them!