Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/120608
Twelve Step Program continued from page 53 "We will take ownership for inquiries or problems to be solved. "We will not let go until we receive confirmation from within the company that someone else is taking over. When the inquiry is handled or the problem is solved, we will call the customer to thank them for their business. We know this demonstrates that we care." "We will communicate on a high level. We will over-communicate with customers: • Ask complete questions, paraphrase (reconfirm) what they want • We will follow through and do what we say we are going to do. "We will be proactive in preventing problems and helping to increase sales." "We will not make a commitment we can't keep." "We will not turn away business, unless we are sure we can't supply it." "We will treat each other with mutual respect." "We will be accountable to each other, not only for our performance, but also for the attitude we bring to our job each day." "We will help our customer in every way possible and do our best to exceed their expectations." "We will come forth with ideas and offer solutions to problems." "We will look for every opportunity to help our sales team and parts and service managers. Without them, we wouldn't get a paycheck." "We will think and act as "brand-ambassadors" and project a positive image for our company." "We will never fail to thank and appreciate customers." c) Documenting and reporting complaints. Give employees an "Incident Defect Form" or "Complaint Report." Document every complaint, so that you know where improvement is needed or what you could have done to prevent it from occurring. d) Establishing a Code of Conduct. Establishing and adhering to a code of conduct is an important step in developing a sense of trust and cooperation and ensuring accountability for cultural shifts and changes. Explain that the two essential characteristics of conduct are behavior and attitude. Ask your team to create a code of conduct that sets ground rules that will determine what is, and is not, acceptable conduct within the organization. e) Creating a written service policy. Prepare a written service policy. Reproduce it so that people can place it on their desks until the company's service policies are memorized and become second nature to them. Give one to every employee. f) Coming forth with ideas to improve your level of service, identify service flaws, find ways to make it easier for customers to do business with you, and provide cutting-edge solutions to any service problems that may exist. Making sure equipment and parts are properly tagged and parts are put in the right place the same day they arrive can help in this area. g) Finding ways to be proactive in preventing customer dissatisfaction, or worse, customer defections. h) Coming up with new ideas to put the "Wow" into the customer experience. No detail is too small. You want to be better and different than your competitors. How can you "Wow" customers during the delivery of a new machine or field demonstration? Step #3: Form teams to get started on making your culture transformation initiative. Form diversified teams of people from different departments and job roles. Appoint a CEO (Customer Experience Officer) to oversee the initiative. (Some companies use the term "Director of Customer Experience.") Instruct them to report to you (or your CEO) every two weeks at first, then once a month. Empower each team to set their own meeting times, rules, and agendas. Ask employees to be accountable for doing their part in creating a Sales-Service Excellence Culture. Everyone must participate. Step #4: Listen, respond, and select the best ideas from individual and team feedback. Look for the gems that will improve customer service and better support your sales team. Respond to the thoughts and ideas presented, and select the best ones to implement. Take action! Otherwise, your people will feel that they are wasting their time, because their opinions are falling on deaf ears and nothing positive will happen. Step #5: Set up a system for measuring customer service. What gets measured gets done. Set up a system for customer service measurement. Include customer retention rates, customer satisfaction, response times, number of complaints, and number of loyal customers. Determine what measures are important to your business, and make your people accountable for improving them. Step #6: Obtain customer feedback. Implement ways you can consistently obtain information from customers. Surveys are good tools, but the most effective method is talking one-on-one with your customers. Also, ask every salesperson to complete a monthly report on what they are hearing in the field—the good, the bad and the ugly. Step #7: Create customer service surveys. Customer satisfaction surveys provide the tools to improve organizational performance and profitability. Customer loyalty and satisfaction levels can be determined by analyzing the data gathered from survey questions, such as "Do you plan to do business with us in the future?" "Would you recommend our dealership to others?" "Have we demonstrated urgency to serve?" Add additional questions. Step #8: Set up a communication system to stay connected. Far too many dealers operate without a system for branch managers, service managers and sales teams to stay connected. Set up a communication process for your sales teams, so that they can Continued on page 57 IDA UNIVERSAL March-April 2013 55