We all want to be seen as professional.

There is no point in highlighting one group(service people in trucks). We all produce waste, and as such we are all part of the problem. But we can also be part of the solution. Of all the environmental issues we face today, trash is one each of us can (and should) do something about. It’s all about making wise choices.
How about office trash…..?
Let’s look at one item thrown out many times during the day in some offices – coffee cups!

It can add up to a lot of garbage. Take a typical office of 50 people using throw away cups or even liners. Each person has on average 2 cups per day and then there are guests and meetings etc. Total waste count could be 150 cups a day into the trash.

Why not have ceramic mugs that can be reused. If the Company above had 72 mugs ( 1 for each employee plus extras for guests) it would only cost the company about $.75/year. Granted the throw away liners and cups may be more inexpensive but when thrown into the land fill site they become very expensive taking years to breakdown if they breakdown at all, and taking up much space. We can save money and reduce garbage long term.

So not only is it environmentally friendly, it helps us maintain that professional image – all good when considering the “Moment of Truth”!!

Despite being less financially prepared for retirement, once retired, women are more likely to enjoy their retirement than men, says a report by the BMO Retirement Institute. It found women have traditionally faced unique challenges when planning for retirement that often result in a lower level of financial preparedness when compared to men. These include lower earnings ‒ women earn just 83 cents for every dollar earned by men and, therefore, tend to accumulate a smaller retirement nest egg; intermittent work histories ‒ women are more likely to interrupt their employment to act as family caregiver; and women are expected to live, on average, three years longer than men, putting a higher demand on household resources for basic living expenses and the need to pay for healthcare needs and long-term care. The report says women are succeeding because they are more likely to seek advice, are better at choosing an advisor, and are better able replace work with other activities.

People often ask, “What level of service should we strive to provide? Should we give ‘Unbelievable!’ service if our customers are not willing to pay for it?”
My answer is definitely no! You can measure customer service needs to set a reasonable level to provide.
Don’t go to the moon on service if your business model on the moon doesn’t work. No sense “serving yourself to death,” bending over backwards but going broke in the process.
You need to measure customer service costs to determine what level of service your business can provide, and match that with what your customers are willing to pay.
Take note: customers rarely put voluntary limits on their service expectations. That’s why making clear service agreements is so important to you…and your customers.
You must communicate clearly what you promise to provide, and what you are not promising, too! When you measure customer service make sure to set the limits and clearly define them to keep clients satisfied.
The manager of a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) approached me with this relevant complaint that demonstrates the need to measure customer service levels:
His staff go into customers’ homes and offices to install modems and communications software. They train their customers to access new e-mail accounts and surf the World Wide Web.
Before his staff can leave, however, office-based customers start asking about unrelated hardware compatibility, new software upgrades and suggestions on how to fix non-working printers!
Eager home-based customers insist on help installing new games and joysticks, debugging new versions of Windows, even assistance repairing their children’s Nintendo!
His staff’s explanation that, “We are just an Internet Service Provider, not a computer repair service,” seem to fall upon deaf ears. As far as his customers are concerned, “You are the computer people, and we have a computer problem. Now that you are in our home or office…fix it!”
One look at his brochure reveals the source of the problem and the need to measure customer service levels and clearly define them. It reads: “Enter the digital age! Modernize your life! Capture the computer advantage!”
Plenty of glittering encouragements to buy, but no clear and detailed listing of the actual service promise.
To eliminate the problem, this company must clarify and specify what services they do provide…and what services they do not after they measure customer service levels and determine their own parameters.
For example:
We provide A, B and C.
We do not provide X, Y or Z in the normal service package.
We can arrange X, Y and Z for you at an additional charge, or
We have associates who can do X, Y and Z. Reliable referrals are provided on request.

Key Learning Point To Measure Customer Service

Take the time to measure customer service value. Then be sure the service agreements you make with your customers and internal partners are complete and clear. Misunderstanding can lead to disappointment once delivery of your service is underway.

Action Steps To Measure Customer Service

Check with your customers and staff. Find out where misunderstanding and disagreements arise. Then look closely at your proposals, contracts and service level agreements. Wherever uncertainty is found, replace it with accuracy, clarity and understanding. Take the time to measure customer service value and define limits and misunderstandings are less likely to happen.
Note: Don’t use this principle to avoid regularly upgrading your service agreements. With technology you may improve the quality of your service without increasing your costs. (Your competitors are working on it now.) 

In the last decade or so the notion of good customer service has been on the lips of customers and business  managers alike. Generally good customer service is summed up as a company’s ability to continually exceed the expectations of the customer.  In actual fact many companies claimed they are concerned about customer service , but do not continually exceed the customer’s expectations.

Lets answer a question assume you are a small manufacturing facility producing a widget;  who is your customer? The immediate answer is that it is the end use customer that is purchasing the widget.  This answer is, only     partially correct. It is at this point, where the outstanding companies exceed the pretenders.

In actual fact the sales department sells to the end use customer and they do everything they can to provide the top level of customer service. Where does that widget come from? The Production department . Their customer is the sales group, and they sell it to this group. They too must provide on  time delivery and good customer    service. The production department is the customer of the purchasing group who supplies the raw material, and so on. A break down in customer service at any level is ultimately felt by the end use customer. Many companies forget who the actual customer is.

Customer Service must extend right through a Company and be accountable by all, including the President. If this happens one can genuinely say that that company provides great customer service.

Are you providing good customer service?

So are businesses stronger these days? One might hope so. The fact remains that, businesses are only as strong as their customers are. A strong customer base and the business flourishes. It takes a lot of time and effort to find new customers to fill that base.

It is more expensive to find new customers then retain old ones. For example financial institutions are continually trying to gain new customers by way of credit card incentives. Those points for dollars programs come right off the bottom line.

Retaining a customer is less expensive than finding a new one. Don’t let your customers go; keep them through great customer service.  As many know the key is to provide the best service possible and as professionally as possible, the first time and every time you contact your customer. In the words of Will Rogers, “You never get a second chance at a first impression.”

The second key to success is…

“Never forget your customers and never let your customers forget you!”

It is important that your customers recognize your logo and brand. You must always keep your company name in the fore front.

This has led us to expand our business into the promotional wear and item side. A good way to retain customers is to wear the company logo when you see them and give them something they can have that will remind them of your business every day.

We can supply, caps, golf shirts, jackets, ties, golf balls , organizers  and many other promotional items. Each of these can be either monogrammed or embroidered with your company logo.

It doesn’t have to be an expensive item. It can be small. Your customer will be reminded about your company, every time he picks up that item.

So don’t forget you customers and don’t let them forrget you!

On March 22, 2010, the City of Burlington effectively lost a jewel in the heritage  crown when Council could not make a decision on the relocation of the Freeman Station. On May 31, 2010, some 70 days later, not only was that jewel lost but the heritage crown of the City tarnished, as Council again failed to come together and save the Station. Instead of locating the Station they received and filed the report and directed Staff to find a new “owner “ and report back in six months. If no owner is found the Station is to be demolished. Last night, June 14, 2010, Council voted to dispose of the Station. Demolishing the station is irrevocable and permanently tarnishes our heritage crown, but questions the values that we place on heritage and culture in Burlington.

So why couldn’t Council decide on a location? This question was asked by the Mayor, during the  Committee meeting.  He concluded that it seemed a few negative responses on a site and Council was turned off.  We may never know the answer why. Perhaps each member of Council had a very good reason.

Now we have 6o days to watch the grand old lady – much like a prisoner on death row wondering when the end will come. She will sit proudly as she has for over 100 years and innocently wait and then on a cold December evening Council will make their ultimate decision to have it disposed. This Council couldn’t make that choice.  Ironically it will fall to a new Council to make that decision – what a legacy to pass on.

Over the next six months there will  no doubt  be an out pouring of comments  some in favour of demolition and some not. We do know that her glorious past is exactly that, past, and her future, not  so bright. We will always remember her for what she did to help make the Town of Burlington a City.

Like a pet owner watching his/her pets life slide away; the heritage groups will also be watching her in the final days. We can hear the fat lady singing in the wings now – it’s just a matter of time albeit a short time compared to her colourful history, before the singing will stop and then the silent air broken by the sound of her wooden walls being crushed, her life finally squeezed out of her and hauled to the land fill site out of view and out our mind forever. A terrible way to treat our culture and heritage…

Ringgggggggg – it’s the telephone. You quickly glance to your PC its already 5:00pm, and with a desk of paper work and as Manager of a Transit system, this means another long late night.

The caller identifies herself as Jane Smith and she wants to know how you are making out with her recent complaint. You have no idea what she is talking about. You definitely don’t know how close it is to being resolved. You ask her for the particulars and tell her you will get back – probably tomorrow or the next day. She is not satisfied and after telling you how poor your service is, she finishes by saying she will call the Mayor. This is a call you don’t want to happen. You scribble a note for your marketing coordinator and hope he will be able to sort Mrs Smith out quickly in the morning. If the complaint is not resolved soon , the next call will be from the Mayor.

You hang up the telephone on a very upset customer at 5:10pm

Scenario Two:

Ringgggggggg – it’s the telephone. You quickly glance to your PC its already 5:00pm, and with a desk of paper work and as Manager of a Transit system, this means another long late night.

The caller identifies herself as Jane Smith and she wants to know how you are making out with her recent complaint. You have no idea what she is talking about. You definitely don’t know how close it is to being resolved. However you recently installed the Cornerstone Management Services database : Customer Relationship Management Reporting System. You confirm her name and address and click on the key “Customer Incident Lookup” and highlight her name and double click. A list of complaints comes up and you double click on the last one. This takes you to the Communications page for that incident. Here you can now see at what point your staff is in, in the resolution process. You apologize for taking a few seconds to bring her information up and then explain to her what has occurred and that it looks like it will be full resolved by tomorrow at the latest. Mrs Smith is quite satisfied and thanks you for your prompt response and subsequent resolution. Any call to the Mayor will be in praise of his Transit group looking after their customer.

You hang the telephone on a very happy customer at 5:07pm.

Which scenario would you prefer? I think we would all agree on number two. So why not install a database that can provide you the answers quickly, when you need them? It’s easy to use and inexpensive. Call us today for more information 905 -336-6503 or by e mail at dave.morris@sympatico.ca  or ww.cornerstonemanagementservices.com   .

The TTC and its workers have started to mend the relationship with the general public by holding town hall meetings and listening to the complaints. The news of a driver allegedly assaulting a passenger did nothing to improve this process. We only can hope this was a very isolated occurrence.

Listening to complaints now is a good first step. Solving them when they occur is the next step. Keeping track of the complaints when made is paramount. The TTC does not want to find itself back where it was this past winter.

The question is now what have you done to improve your  Customer Service? I am sure there are some that did take steps to see they didn’t fall into the same fate as the TTC. However, I think many hope that it would never happen in their town or City. Perhaps thinking they are too small and no media coverage  available that would report this like the print and television outlets in Toronto did.

The fact is it can and will happen. Ridership will fall, or not grow as other similar sized transit systems. The media brought to light what had been happening gradually over time. The fact is that some  Towns may be suffering this now and not realize it and the  media outlets too small to report it. Suddenly someone will ask where did the riders go? Do you know?

Our database system can track the complaints and through the use of query reports you can see trends occurring. We have had a number of Transit Companies approach us see our database and then leave it in the IT hands. Months go by and nothing. No database collecting complaints and probably decreasing or at least only minor increases in ridership. How much longer can you wait. I would suggest not long.

Managers should take another look at what we offer: “Customer Relationship Management Reporting System”. This system, in short, tracks every complaint ,encourages rapid resolution and then allows for reporting by complaint type for management information and action. It also measures the complaint resolution rate by department. It is easily manipulated for each organizations configuration. It is simple to use and as such very competitively priced to those large add on modules available.

Call us today or e mail us – can you really afford to wait any longer?

April 2010

“A commitment to service excellence must be unequivocal. It radiates from senior managers, who must eat, breathe and sleep customer service as the nucleus of their corporate culture.”

Customer  service becomes a philosophy that spreads through the company. It must come from the top down. Each employee must be  empowered to solve customer problems. If  your Company has exceptional customer service you will retain your customers  and result in increased sales. If not you could be driving customers away.

Many will say “we” practice good customer service polices. Does your company really? Determine if yours does and review the following five questions.

A simple yes /no answer is required.

-          The dealership goes out of the way to encourage customers to do business with us.

-          Customer feedback is continually used to improve the business operation and are passed on to all employees.

-       Employees are empowered to resolve customer complaints promptly and directly.                                                        

-        We are always working to exceed the customers needs and requirements.

-       This dealerships goal is to do what the customer wants and to get it right the first time.

                                                             Dissatisfied customers impact revenue and reputation

Please take time to fill in the answers to these questions on our web site. We are always interested in hearing your prospective.

                http://www.cornerstonemanagementservices.com/questionnaire.html

The TTC got caught not providing what their customers wanted. While the service might have been great 10 years ago it is not any more. A few incidents in the media and it is now a feeding frenzy.

There’s a higher expectation today and the TTC needs to line up to that expectation,” said TTC chair Adam Giambrone.

 What is true for the TTC is true for any transit company. Are they providing the service their customers require? Unfortunately many do not have formal tracking programs so, one, have no idea how many complaints they may be getting and, two, have no idea of what their customer’s expectations are.

Cornerstone Management Services Inc. has a formal tracking system for customer complaints, “Customer Relationship Management Reporting System”. This system, in short,tracks every complaint ,encourages rapid resolution and then allows for reporting by complaint type for management information and action. It also measures the complaint resolution rate by department. It is easily manipulated for each organizations configuration.

A system like this would show what the customer’s expectation trends were long before they hit the media and caused a frenzy in the public. So why doesn’t every transit organization have this? Many try to keep track by hand, but can’t keep up. Others do resolve their complaints, perhaps not as quickly as they should,  but then do not or can not easily retrieve reportable past history. There are some that have too many projects to bother implementing the tracking system.

In light of what the TTC is experiencing perhaps every transit organization, even smaller ones , should be looking at a reporting system so they could improve their service. Improving customer service should be priority one. Making no improvements will cost business. This is lost business that many can ill afford to lose.

As written in the Toronto Star by Royson James, “Maybe Giambrone will make customer service his highest priority. After all, as the TTC goes, so goes his soon-to-be announced candidacy for mayor. Can’t run the TTC; can’t run the city”. Clearly the TTC is losing ridership and a young Chairman could well lose his political aspirations, all due to poor customer service.

Our reporting system is easy to use and in expensive. We can tailor it to your own configuration. Don’t wait to find your organization is in a hole, call or e mail us today.