TANTO

Service Advisor Customer Service Skills

Introduction

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According to Wikipedia, “Customer experience is the sum of all experiences a customer has with a supplier of goods and/or services, over the duration of

their relationship with that supplier.”

Introduction

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What can you do as a Service Advisor to ensure you deliver on your customer expectations? According to a survey by Zendesk the following three behaviours are in the eyes of your customers, the most important three: • The problem was resolved quickly. • The person who helped me was nice. • The problem was resolved in one interaction – no passing

around to multiple people.

1. The SAD Model

2. Service Delivery and Beyond

3. The Customer’s Journey

4. The Customer’s Reception – Warm and Friendly

5. Building Trust from the Word Go

6. Displaying Empathy

7. Taking ownership of a customer’s concerns

8. Keeping promises

In this session on customer service, the following topics will be handled with practical examples.

Intro

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ction

Introduction

1. The SAD Model 2. Service Delivery and Beyond

3. The Customer’s Journey

4. The Customer’s Reception – Warm and Friendly

5. Building Trust from the Word Go

6. Displaying Empathy

7. Taking ownership of a customer’s concerns

8. Keeping promises

Ind

ex Index

Objectives of SAD Behavioural Model SA

D M

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el We will discuss the SAD model in the next pages with

the following objectives in mind: • Understanding and applying the SAD behavioural model. • Identifying customer interpersonal needs that must be

satisfied during any customer interaction. • Discussing the behavioural elements that one can use to

satisfy each of these needs. • Diagnosing the customers need during interaction with the

service advisor.

The SAD Behavioural Model Interpersonal Skills to Satisfy Customer’s Needs When we are dealing with other people, for instance on a one-to-one basis, or in a group context, we all have certain needs which we would like to have satisfied. The customer’s, with whom we associate, also have the same needs. We can use the SAD model to understand the three most important of these needs.

SAD

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The SAD Behavioural Model

The three most important needs • Supportive • Accommodating • Directive

SAD

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SAD Model - Need One: Supportive N

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Means the need to be handled in a positive manner. How can we satisfy this need in a customer? The aim of supportive behaviour is to promote mutual trust between you and the customer and also to build his/her self-esteem (to make him/her feel good about him/herself).

1) Recognition and encouragement This is any behaviour which credits (praises) a good suggestion, deed, idea, or any particular achievement. It is aimed at motivating the other person to exhibit the same positive behaviour in future. Examples of recognition: • "That is a good suggestion." • "We have always done good business with

your organisation." • “I like your thinking.”

2) By offering assistance This includes any behaviour which shows that a person is willing to offer assistance and will in fact help where he/she can do so. Examples of offering help: • "I would like to help." • "To help you I will arrange that ..." • "I'll do the following ..."

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Supportive action consists of the following behavioural elements:

SAD Model - Need Two: Accommodating N

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ating By being accommodating we can satisfy this customer’s need. The

aim of accommodating behaviour is to bring about mutual understanding between us and our customer, as well as to get the customer involved in the discussion.

The need to be involved (or to contribute.)

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Accommodating action consists of the following behavioural elements on the next page.

SAD Model - Need Two: Accommodating N

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Acco

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ating 1) By inviting opinions and suggestions

This is any action which invites a customer to express his opinion or his feeling about something. It is aimed at getting the customer involved in the dialogue. Examples of inviting an opinion or suggestion: •"What do you think we can do?" •“What is your take on the matter? •“What are your feelings on the issue?” •"Have you any suggestions or ideas about how we can solve the problem?“

2) By showing understanding or interest This will be affected by any behaviour which shows that you are really interested in the customer and in trying to understand his/her position. This can contribute towards an atmosphere of trust and complete understanding between you and the customer. Examples of understanding and showing interest: •"Tell me about it, I'm listening." •"I have got time if you want to talk about it." •"I would like to understand the situation better, tell me more.“

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The three behavioural elements:

SAD Model - Need Two: Accommodating N

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3) Creating an opportunity to converse This is creating an opportunity for the customer to express their needs and or concerns. Examples of creating an opportunity to converse: •“Go ahead and tell me, I’m listening.” •“I have time if you want to talk about it.”

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The three behavioural elements continued:

SAD Model - Need Three: Directive

The need to know what is happening (or to understand the process). Directive behaviour on our part can satisfy this need in a customer. The aim of directive behaviour is to introduce purpose to your and the customer's discussion. This kind of action not only promotes joint problem solving, but more particularly structures your discussion. We will discuss the directive behaviours in the following pages.

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SAD Model - Need Three: Directive

Directive action consists of the following behavioural elements:

1) By providing suggestions or opinions

These are any actions which show how you feel about an issue or how you think a

problem should be solved.

Examples:

• “I think we can do it by ..."

• "I would like to suggest ..."

• "One way of solving the problem is to ...“

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ed

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e Directive action consists of the following behavioural

elements: 1) By providing suggestions or opinions: These are any actions which show how you feel about an issue or how you think a problem should be solved. Examples: “I think we can do it by ..." "I would like to suggest ..." "One way of solving the problem is to ...“

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2) By asking for clarification This consists of any actions which show that you would like to clarify ambiguities or uncertainties by means of specific questions. In other words the aim is to gain information from the customer about a certain matter. Examples of asking for clarification: •"I don't understand fully; could you please explain again?" •"What exactly do you mean by what you have just said?" •"What happened there?”

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SAD Model - Need Three: Directive

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3) By summarising This consists of any action whereby you, as an employee of the dealership, present your own position regarding a matter, or when you clarify something for a customer regarding rules regulations, procedures, etc. It is often also necessary to summarize at the end of a discussion or to consolidate during a discussion what has been discussed. Examples of summarising: •'To ensure that the handover is on time we must ..." •'According to regulations we have to offload the vehicles right here." •"Let me explain again." •"I would like to summarise everything we have discussed." •"To summarise ...“

To help make more sense of this, let’s put it in a table format.

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SAD Model - Need Three: Directive

Table Format: Unacceptable Behaviour Frame

Step Behaviour

1) Explain to the other person exactly what you have noticed, and the

reason why it is unacceptable.

Directive

1) Ask for and listen openly to the reasons given by the other person for

his/ her unacceptable behaviour.

Directive/Accommodating

1) Explain the rules and regulations to the other person (if necessary). Directive

1) Offer to help the person to comply with the rules and regulations. Supportive

1) Decide which steps each of you will take. Directive

1) Set a specific follow up time and or date Directive

Unacceptable Behaviour Frame

Be

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1. The SAD Model

2. Service Delivery and Beyond 3. The Customer’s Journey

4. The Customer’s Reception – Warm and Friendly

5. Building Trust from the Word Go

6. Displaying Empathy

7. Taking ownership of a customer’s concerns

8. Keeping promises

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ex Index

Service Delivery and Beyond - Objectives se

rvice d

elivery

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d During Service Delivery and Beyond we will be looking at the

definition of service quality and we will be discussing the customer’s expectations against their experience and how to go beyond these. The objectives of service delivery and beyond is: Understanding what service quality is. Knowing the moments of truth for a customer. Knowing what customer’s expect. Knowing how the service advisor’s should behave. Understanding the support that is needed. Identifying opportunities to go beyond customer expectations.

By understanding and knowing the above you will develop loyal customers for life who come back again and

again ensuring retention, dealer profitability and prosperity for all concerned.

Service

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Definition of a Service Quality se

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Δ= 0

Needs

Promise

Expectations

Product /Service

CUSTOMER

COMPANY

Service Quality is the absence of a gap between the Brand's promise and the service

delivered to the Customer

Service

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Customer Needs and Expectations C

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We will discuss the 8 needs and expectations of customers expectations om the next page.

Customer Needs and Expectations C

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The following 8 needs and expectations are what the customers expect from you:

1. Greet me if I am the first and only customer. 2. Really listen to me and establish my specific needs. 3. Qualify my service or repair intentions after you have establish my real

needs. 4. Give me the right advice on my service needs. 5. Keep me updated regarding the process of my vehicle. 6. Provide me with a clear and thorough explanation of the work performed. 7. Call me within a reasonable amount of time after I have serviced my vehicle

to ensure that I am completely satisfied. 8. Be responsive to my questions or concerns and follow through on

commitments.

Expectation vs. Experience Exp

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Expectation Perception

Satisfaction

Expe

ctation

vs. Exp

erien

ce The following model depicts a customers expectations. Should a

customer have a medium expectation of good service and give excellent service the customer is delighted, if he gets what he expected he is satisfied and should he not receive the expected service the customer will be dissatisfied. You can make the difference!

1. The SAD Model

2. Service Delivery and Beyond

3. The Customer’s Journey 4. The Customer’s Reception – Warm

and Friendly

5. Building Trust from the Word Go

6. Displaying Empathy

7. Taking ownership of a customer’s concerns

8. Keeping promises

Ind

ex Index

Objectives of the Customer’s Journey Th

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“Customers for Life” a customer of a motor dealer, will over a 25-year period spend $332,000 with a dealership. This he will spend on vehicles, servicing, parts, accessories, insurance products and so on. Source: Customers for Life – Carl Sewell

Objectives of the Customer’s Journey Th

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Introduction In this session we will discuss the importance of customers and revisit the moments of truth in order to view these against the interpersonal customer skills required of you. Objectives • Understand the customer’s journey. • Identify the Interpersonal Customer Skills (ICS’s) required. In any business today customer retention is critical to future success and the way customers are treated creates loyalty, retention and a profitable business.

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A Moment of Truth M

OT M

OT Any exposure your customer has to your service department where they can make a

positive or negative judgement

Some of what we have to do to win customer loyalty is to make all these moments of truth positive...

Service Department MOT’S

Interpersonal Customer Skills In

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Cu

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Warmth and friendliness

Saying “hello” and holding good eye contact while displaying a relaxed, open style, reducing the customer’s anxiety and making him feel truly welcome.

Trustworthiness Build rapport by dealing with the customer as they want to be dealt with right from the start while understanding the customer’s point of view.

Empathy Develop empathy by adopting a more open attitude and listening to others’ points of view, listening in an active way and identifying with the customer’s world.

Responsiveness This is the attitude and skill of being action oriented and creative – taking ownership of a customer’s concern and coming up with a mutually beneficial solution.

Keeping promises This is about displaying a high degree of integrity, honesty, truthfulness and reliability.

Inte

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al Skills

1. The SAD Model

2. Service Delivery and Beyond

3. The Customer’s Journey

4. The Customer’s Reception – Warm and Friendly

5. Building Trust from the Word Go

6. Displaying Empathy

7. Taking ownership of a customer’s concerns

8. Keeping promises

Ind

ex Index

The Customer Reception – Warm and Friendly C

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Introduction In the next pages we discuss the behaviours required to greet the customer in a warm and friendly way will be discussed.

CREATING THE BEST 1ST IMPRESSION

"We never get a second chance to make a good 1st impression". We very quickly realise that a simple "hello" can reveal our mood.

Behind our words, customer’s perceive our emotional state. This "hello", our 1st contact with the Customer, is a vital moment.

It merits very special attention: it sets the tone of the relation.

The first “Hello”

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We need to build trust from the start. Every first customer

contact has the potential of being a

customer for life

The Customer Reception – Warm and Friendly C

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"We never get a second chance to make a good 1st impression ” One of the pillars of communication

The eyes are the 1st key to communication

A radar to "read" others' emotions

A laser to convey your emotions

"Making eye contact with Customers gives meaning to their approach as purchaser"

Eye Contact

CREATING THE BEST 1ST IMPRESSION

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The Customer Reception – Warm and Friendly

CREATING THE BEST 1ST IMPRESSION

"We never get a second chance to make a good 1st impression’’

The face is fundamental to the encounter. To create the contact, the face must be: Open. Expressive. Relaxed. Smiling.

The face says it!

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The Customer Reception – Warm and Friendly

« You never get a second chance to make a good 1st impression. »

Some gestures improve and reinforce your message.

Open gestures (arms and hands uncrossed) reflect a kindly attitude, frankness and availability.

High gestures (at and above shoulder level) express conviction, a winning attitude and success.

Gestures turned towards others reveal closeness.

CREATING THE BEST 1ST IMPRESSION

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The Customer Reception – Warm and Friendly

Keeping your distance

CREATING THE BEST 1ST IMPRESSION

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Make sure that you respect the customer’s culture and show respect by not invading the customers personal distance when communicating.

The Customer Reception – Warm and Friendly C

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« You never get a second chance to make a good 1st impression. »

Service advisors are "mood conductors" A first and vital contact.

Greeting a customer means creating a good atmosphere.

In excess of 70 % of our communication is non-verbal

The words only account for 7% of communication

A sincere warm welcome

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1. The SAD Model

2. Service Delivery and Beyond

3. The Customer’s Journey

4. The Customer’s Reception – Warm and Friendly

5. Building Trust from the Word Go

6. Displaying Empathy

7. Taking ownership of a customer’s concerns

8. Keeping promises

Ind

ex Index

Building Trust from the Word GO! B

uild

ing tru

st Introduction We discuss and examine the trust model and the concept of the emotional bank account as well as the ability to establish rapport with the customer by evaluating his or her personality style and adapting your own to suit. We will also come to understand the customers’ stress levels.

The objective is to give you the opportunity to acquire the skills to build trust from the outset of the relationship!

Bu

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g Trust

By winning the trust of the customer at the outset of the

relationship we immediately open the door to a more free-wheeling, open and productive relationship. This leads to a

more relaxed environment – friends doing business with friends!

Adapting your Style to be More Effective P

erso

nality Personality can be defined as a dynamic and organised set of personal

traits and patterns of behaviour. Personality includes: • Attitudes • Modes of thought • Feelings • Impulses • Strivings • Actions • Responses to opportunity and stress and • Everyday modes of interacting with others.

Personality style is apparent when these elements of personality are expressed in a characteristically repeated and dynamic combination.

Your personality style is your organising principle and it propels you on your life path. It represents the orderly arrangement of all your attributes, thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behaviours and coping mechanisms.

Effective

Style

Adapting your Style to be More Effective P

erso

nality Why is the understanding of yourself and other people so

important?

It is the distinctive pattern of your psychological functioning - the way you think, feel and behave - that makes you definitely you. Used appropriately, psychometrics and personality tests can be hugely beneficial in improving knowledge of self and other people - motivations, strengths, weaknesses, preferred thinking, working styles together with strengths/preferred styles for communications, learning, management, being managed and team-working.

Effective

Style

Understanding People U

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Understanding People There are 2 basic forms of behaviour which allow us to categorise people: • Assertive behaviour. • Responsive behaviour.

Assertive behaviour Assertiveness is the degree to which a person is perceived as being outspoken and states opinions openly or reserved and keeps opinions private. The more assertive one is the more they tell people what to do. The less assertive a person is the more they ask things of others.

Perception of the

Ask Assertive Behaviour

Perception of the

Tell Assertive Behaviour

Reserved Aggressive

Observes and listens Directs and tells

Acts deliberately Acts quickly

Minimises risks Takes risks

Wants appreciation Wants visibility

Makes suggestions Makes demands/required

Responds Initiates

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Understanding People

Understanding People U

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Responsive Behaviour Responsiveness is the degree to which a person is perceived as being in control as opposed to displaying feelings openly.

As you will see from the diagram above, behaviour varies from high responsive to low responsive. People who are high on the responsiveness scale will tend to show emotions easily and are more interested in relationships than those who have a low responsiveness score. These people tend to be more controlling.

Understanding People U

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Perception of the

Controlled Behaviour

Perception of the

Emotive Behaviour

Control (self-contained) Emotive (open)

Serious/reserved Expresses freely

Monotone voice Uses intuition

Thinks Feels

Relies on facts Wants collaboration

Responds carefully Responds spontaneously

Wants response

Controls expressions

Protects feeling

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Understanding the Customer’s Stress Level U

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Servicing a vehicle is a grudge purchase and the customer is already inconvenienced by taking time from work to bring his vehicle for a service or repair. To add to this, the customer is also concerned about the cost or level of service, hence the stress levels of certain customers.

When dealing with a customer, after having shown empathy, identified the customer's stress level and the gravity of the incident, you need to adapt your behavior, to suit the situation and the person opposite you. This enables you to be more efficient when dealing with the customer (from a technical and psychological standpoint).

Understanding the Customer’s Stress Level

Understanding the customer’s stress level can also help us to build rapport by understanding the customer’s situation a lot quicker and responding appropriately.

Directive When the customer shows a high level of stress and the problem concern is of a low nature (can be solved easily) your response should be: • Key attitude: re-centre the customer. • Once the customer is ready to listen "openly", show that the incident is a minor

one. • Non-verbal attitude: "strong and clear”.

Objective When the customer shows a high level of stress and the concern is of a high level of gravity your response should be: • Key attitude: make a precise diagnosis and project the customer immediately

towards a "problem solving" mode. • Make a diagnosis and adopt a positive approach.

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Understanding the Customer’s Stress Level

Low concern When the customer’s stress level is low and the gravity of the concern is also low your response should be: • Key attitude: don’t forget that although the stress is low the concern has not

gone away. • Adopt a warm non-verbal attitude and derive mutual pleasure out of the

incident.

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High concern When the customer shows a low stress level and yet the concern is high in gravity your response should be: • Key attitude: making the customer realize the gravity of the incident without

making the customer look like a fool or suddenly stressing him or her. • Adopt a precise non-verbal attitude.

1. The SAD Model

2. Service Delivery and Beyond

3. The Customer’s Journey

4. The Customer’s Reception – Warm and Friendly

5. Building Trust from the Word Go

6. Displaying Empathy 7. Taking ownership of a customer’s

concerns

8. Keeping promises

Ind

ex Index

Displaying Empathy

Introduction In the next few pages we will discuss the nature of empathy and acquire the skills to display empathy. Objectives • Understand the nature of empathy. • Practice the ability to display empathy. When we first seek to understand before seeking to be understood we display tremendous maturity and respect for the other individual and this produces high levels of trust and cooperation.

Disp

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Empathy is

Seeing with the eyes of another,

Listening with the ears of another,

And feeling with the heart of another.

The Nature of Empathy Empathy is the ability to appreciate and understand someone else’s feelings while not necessarily agreeing with them. It is summed up in the saying “To walk a mile in another man’s moccasins”. One wouldn’t want to walk in his moccasins for the rest of one’s life but, to understand another person one needs to take the time to be in his or her shoes for a period of time. Three Phases of Empathy There are three phases of empathy: • Adopting an inner attitude. • Active listening. • Temporary identification.

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Displaying Empathy

Adopting an Inner Attitude Adopting an inner attitude is the process of always keeping an open mind – there is always something to be gained from understanding others. While this is an innate or inborn quality in humans it does not happen immediately when talking with others. It has to be worked at.

Active

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We discuss the three phases of empathy as listed on the previous page: • Adopting an inner attitude. • Active listening. • Temporary identification.

Displaying Empathy

Active listening Active listening is the discipline of listening, really listening to what the other person is saying both verbally and non-verbally. • Giving undivided attention • Asking open-ended questions • Listening for meaning and not only content • Observing and interpreting the non-verbal • Paraphrasing and reflecting back one’s understanding of

meaning

Temporary Identification Temporary identification is the discipline of suspending one’s own point of view and agenda for a period in order to be able to fully see and understand the feelings and point of view of another. It is the opposite of listening with the intention of relying!

Active

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s Displaying Empathy

1. The SAD Model

2. Service Delivery and Beyond

3. The Customer’s Journey

4. The Customer’s Reception – Warm and Friendly

5. Building Trust from the Word Go

6. Displaying Empathy

7. Taking ownership of a customer’s concerns

8. Keeping promises

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ex Index

Taking Ownership of the Customer’s Concerns

Introduction Let us now examine a vital skill – that of responsiveness and how important this is to the customer as well as a tool to resolve customer concerns which includes creative problem solving. The objective is to understand responsiveness and its importance when dealing with customers. Research has shown that up to 96% of people, if their problem is resolved to their absolute satisfaction, will come back and ask for you by name and become loyal customers. Too few people take ownership of resolving customer concerns.

Taking

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Taking Ownership of the Customer’s Concerns Taking

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Responsiveness – What is it? Responsiveness is the action orientation one has to adopt to take immediate ownership of a situation, to commit to resolving the situation, to think creatively and resolve the situation, and to follow up and make sure it is resolved.

Handling Objections and Concerns

As long as there is doubt in a customer’s mind, he will not agree to additional work. Objections often arise because the customer does not see the value of the maintenance work or accessories that you have been suggesting. Objections take the form of statements or questions, and can happen at any time during interaction or the summary of work to be done. It is important that you deal with the objection as it arises, and that you do not see a customer’s objections as a failure on your part, or take them personally.

Taking

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Taking Ownership of the Customer’s Concerns

Listen This shows the customer that you are interested. It also allows you to isolate the real concern.

Restate or refine the objection This proves to the customer that you have listened and also allows you to confirm your understanding of the objection. “So what you are saying is that ……..”

Qualify the objection or concern This allows you to see whether there are any other concerns. “Other than your concern with fitting smash and grab, is there anything else that may be worrying you?”

Taking

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Taking Ownership of the Customer’s Concerns

1. The SAD Model

2. Service Delivery and Beyond

3. The Customer’s Journey

4. The Customer’s Reception – Warm and Friendly

5. Building Trust from the Word Go

6. Displaying Empathy

7. Taking ownership of a customer’s concerns

8. Keeping promises

Ind

ex Index

Keeping Promises

Introduction Let us now examine the nature and importance of integrity and the impact of not keeping one’s promises. The objective is to understand the impact of broken promises. Customer relationships, like personal relationships are built on trust. Once a promise is broken it is nearly impossible to regain the trust of a customer.

Keeping one’s promises is part of your personal brand. Your brand is what people remember about you.

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Keeping Promises

As I believe, so I think and thus I act!

Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and

outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the quality of having an intuitive sense of honesty and truthfulness in

regard to the motivations for one's actions.

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s Keeping promises is not negotiable and is simply the right thing to do as it reflects on your personal brand and how your colleagues and customers experience you!

Keeping Promises We do it simply because it is the right thing to do! We end with a quote from Steve Maraboli.

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This concludes the e-learning module Customer Service Skills for Service

Advisors Thank you for your participation

End