Is Old Fashion Customer Service Really Outdated?

Even if you are using the latest in SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software it doesn’t mean you can’t practice good old fashioned customer service.

You don’t need us to tell you running a business is nonstop. If you’re already running one,  what you may need, is refresher course on good, old fashioned customer care.

Between the latest apps that are best for your business and consumers making product decisions with only a few simple clicks on their Smartphones, computers or tablets, customer care simply isn’t what it used to be. The challenge to simply get customer attention has changed as a result of our fast-paced, social media lifestyle – but that doesn’t mean we can’t care for our customers the way our parents, grandparents and generations past have enjoyed.

To start, consider the kind of business owner you believe yourself to be. Are you a veteran in your industry, delivering results based on expert experience, care and proven results? Or are you an up and coming entrepreneur looking to re-invent the wheel, so to speak? Possibly you stand somewhere in between these two types of business owners, having settled comfortably in doing okay at what you do, but not being the best in your market?

No matter who you identify yourself to be, it’s easy to get lost in the chaos of running your business and letting customer care slip away from your priority list. Keeping this in mind, consider how you can change this… and do so with sales, customer retention and overall business strength as your goal.

We all have those moments when the last thing we want to do is talk to anyone… nonetheless a customer who deserves, if not expects – maybe even demands, strong customer service. So what happens when you have a moment like this and still have to deliver customer attention? 

Unfortunately, all too often customers sense this, and as a result choose to spend their money elsewhere. Likewise, customers push through experiences with less than excited sales associates or support staff and still choose to spend their hard earned dollars anyway… only to walk away with an experience that leaves them dissatisfied and complaining to others about. 

To help avoid this, make the decision to leave your frustration, annoyances or anything else that has put you in a bad mood aside when working with customers. Sure, it sounds easier said than done… yet there’s a reason that expression exists. Train yourself, and your team, now to set your personal feelings or professional frustrations aside when supporting customers in order to reap the rewards of stronger customer care and, quite frankly, more enjoyable work moments, as well. 

Your key? You need to understand why you want to do this. Those wants and needs make a world of difference.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Are Your Customer Service Guidelines Fair?

Are your customer service guidelines fair?  Should your next question be fair to who? Are your customer service guidelines fair to your business but not to your customers? Are your customer service guidelines too Fair?

Answering these questions are very important. One thing is for sure your customers need to think that your customer service is in their favor. I know that many business have horror stories of customers that seemed to try to take advantage of returns or exchanges.

I spoke with a person who had a hard time getting a refund on a layaway plan when the store no longer offered or simply couldn't fill the item she had on layaway. They felt that the customer needed to accept store credit and select another item.  Was that a fair solution? Or should they have given the customer a full refund and an apology. With the cash back she would have been free to try and find the item she wanted at a different store. Yes, the first store would have lost a sale but, perhaps retained the customer’s good will.

Perhaps the basic question here is why they could not fill the original layaway transaction. Were they selling the stock on hand and expecting to fill the layaways with future orders. That could have been the underlying error. While this wasn’t a holiday purchase it could be a real problem trying to fulfill a last minute gift with a Christmas sales crush.

In this case the customer had to rely on her credit card to force the refund issue. So perhaps the store had forever lost that customer. How valuable are your customers? Do you try and calculate the cost of acquiring a new customer? What does the loss of a customer cost you.

I know a grocery store that threw away a $800 dollar a month customer over a poorly written ad and a difference of 9 cents a pound.  Was it the nine cents… no it was the attitude and the way the store manager treated the customer while saying no.  Are your customer service guidelines fair?  

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Has Your Business Chosen Your IT Service Management Software?

There is no question that there are many choices of customer service software for your business to choose from. But, like all categories of products they all aren’t created equally. One thing is for sure they have many different price points.

Another area that you have to consider is how much it costs to implement the solution. There are two other related factors.  How long it takes to implement the different products and how long it takes to train your staff (or new staff) to be able to successfully use the product.

There is a solution that is both robust and easy to implement and use. SMART Service Desk is that solution. It is scalable in cost so that no company is too small to benefit from our solutions.

Increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. Our SMART Service Desk solutions can be adapted very quickly, easily and economically to meet your exact business needs. Achieve faster implementation, successful change management, and lower total cost of ownership with our 100% configurable, intuitive and affordable solutions.

Here is what one of our customers said about SMART Service Desk; "We needed a tool with automated workflow and easy to use interface. SMART Service Desk’s built-in workflow has made big improvements in our Service Operations - especially having online approval."

Your company can benefit from improved customer satisfaction and life time value from initial contact to post-sales support. SMART Service Desk provides a detailed 360 degree view of your customer interactions. You can improve customer service and delivery operations, maximize revenue opportunities and delight your customers with our affordable and mobile solution.

SMART Customer relationship management (CRM) software, offered both on-premise and cloud-based CRM, help businesses reduce costs and increase profitability by organizing and automating business processes to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty in the sales, marketing, and customer service fields.

Through SMART CRM solutions we deliver outstanding ROI through automation in customer service, and sales force automation. We also offer mobile apps that allow you to manage your customer relationships on your mobile devices, and software integration adaptors that integrate data and reporting from social media directly into your CRM application.

With our solutions your business can foster employee engagement, retention and productivity. Your satisfied employees can help create more satisfied customers and Improve processes, products, and services, and ultimately your organizational profitability.

Is your company looking for customer service solutions to help you deal with customer interaction? SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is your answer. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

What Do You Know About The International Customer Service Association?

The International Customer Service Association (www.ICSAtoday.org) created National Customer Service Week in 1984 in support of its mission to recognize and reward individuals who provide service to customers as the primary function of their job. In 1991, the ICSA worked with the United States Congress in an effort to recognize this event as an annual National event.

Their Mission is to advance, strengthen, and promote the industry of Professional Customer Service. They exist to assist individuals and organizations with their professional growth, development, and recognition, and support service professionals world-wide.

Their Vision is to be the leading provider of programming and resources at the strategic, operational, tactical levels. By doing so, they will advance awareness of the importance of customer service within organizations, and position Service Professionals as the most vital element of any organizations growth strategies. They will assist their members and their organizations reach their professional growth and customer satisfaction goals and objectives.

The Values under which we will operate include:

Focus – The practitioner comes first

Excellence – Anything we do we will do with excellence

Professionalism – Service is a profession and only professionals provide the highest quality service

Flexibility – We will respond on a dime to the changing needs of our members

Passion – Customer Service is our passion!

Among others they have an Education & Professional Development Committee that is responsible to oversee the ICSA’s education and professional development offerings.  At the core of this work is building and maintaining the ICSA Certification programs.  To achieve this goal, the Committee will identify potential strategic partners who develop programming of the highest quality and consistent with the ICSA brand.  This Committee will work with the Conference Committee to insure that Conference programming is consistent and perhaps even integrated with the overall ICSA goals for education and professional development.

So to all CSR everywhere we will you have a great and fulfilling Customer Service Week.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

The History of National Customer Service Week

As you know we are talking about all the celebrations behind Customer Service Week.  Here is a more in-depth look at the background of the celebration and recognition. As National Customer Service Week – 2015 approaches (October 5th to 9th) We wanted to share the history of this annual celebration of service providers.

The International Customer Service Association (www.ICSAtoday.org) created National Customer Service Week in 1984 in support of its mission to recognize and reward individuals who provide service to customers as the primary function of their job. In 1991, the ICSA worked with the United States Congress in an effort to recognize this event as an annual National event.

In 1992, President George H. Bush signed a Presidential Proclamation setting aside the first week of October as National Customer Service Week. In the Proclamation, President Bush sited the clear value of service excellence in a free market economy. He said,

“A business will do a better job of providing high quality goods and services by listening to its employees and by empowering them with opportunities to make a difference. Customer service professionals work in the front lines where a firm meets its customers; where supply meets demand. With responsive policies and procedures and with simple courtesy, customer service professionals can go a long way toward ensuring customer satisfaction and eliciting the next round of orders and purchases.”

Every year, the ICSA establishes a theme for National Customer Service Week. This year’s theme is: “Everyday Heroes™” Great service and creating an exceptional customer experience has tremendous value. Yes, it creates a satisfied and loyal customer. But it also creates a bond between the customer and the company with whom they are doing business. They become – united, through that service experience.

Our hope is that this would be an amazing National Customer Service Week for every organization that understands the value of the customer experience.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Things To Do During Customer Service Week

As we talked about yesterday this year Customer Service Week is from October 5th through the 9th. It has been held since 1991.

Whether you’re putting the finishing touches on celebrating National Customer Service Week or have never heard of it before, you can pull off some meaningful events that include all the key players: front-line service reps and sales professionals, marketers, customers, support staff and leadership.

Here are some ideas you can use during National Customer Service Week to celebrate customers, service professionals and colleagues, as well as kick off initiatives to improve your operations.

Give Some Time Off
Many organizations try to get their customer service pros out of the office together without jeopardizing service levels. Put out notices to customers, letting them know that customer service will be a bit slower for a short time one day during Customer Service Week. Arrange for folks in other departments to handle calls and email, and take messages while the customer service team does a group activity, such as a picnic or BBQ with some team-building exercises.

Teach Your Colleagues
In another outreach effort, one service team uses the week to educate everyone in its company about helping customers, something nearly everyone ends up doing at one time or another. The team sends out a service tip via email each day. At the end of the week, the team gives colleagues a booklet with more tips, for reference throughout the year, and information on how different situations can affect customer satisfaction.

Kick Back and Hear How Good Your CSRs Are
This can be both fun and inspirational: Wheel in a large flat screen and a popcorn machine into the department during a slow afternoon and told the team to relax a little.

Then, before starting a rented movie, play a video of recorded messages from the company leaders and major customers thanking the customer service reps for all they do to help. The sales team helped gather the customer testimonials and the top brass was more than happy to give the shout-out.

Focus On Customers, Too
In addition to celebrating employees, banks often spend the week thanking their customers, the people who allow them to deliver great service. One gives the adults lollipops with attached thank-you messages.

Another puts out drinks and treats all week long, and when customers arrive, clerks ask them “Can I get you a refreshment?” Of course, they take care of customers’ banking needs, too. But the front-line service pros put an extra emphasis on customers all week. Can you apply this to your business?

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Customer Service Week Is Coming

Did you know that they have a whole week honoring customer service? Yes, they do and it is right around the corner. Customer Service week is the first full business week in October.  This year that makes it from October 5th through the 9th. It has been held since 1991.

During this special week, your organization should try to:

    Boost morale, motivation and teamwork throughout your organization.
    Reward your frontline CSR.
    Raise companywide awareness of the importance of great customer service.
    Thank your other departments for their continued support.
    Remind customers of your commitment to their continued satisfaction.

The Background of Customer Service Week

Customer Service Week is an international celebration of the importance of customer service and of the people who serve and support customers on a daily basis.

In 1992 the U.S. Congress proclaimed Customer Service Week a nationally recognized event, celebrated annually during the first full week in October.

Since 1991, the Customer Service Group has sponsored the official Customer Service Week program. The group provides how-to information; celebration materials imprinted with the official Customer Service Week logo; and inspiration from the hundreds of service and support professionals who share their celebration stories, plans, and ideas.

You can learn more about the customer service week celebration:

    Five reasons to celebrate
    Past participants
    Testimonials
    Organizer’s Guide
    Sample request for funding
    Celebration Supplies http://csweek.com

Around the world, the week is marked with celebrations, special events, and activities that recognize and reward those who serve customers across all industries and professions. This year’s (2015) Customer Service Week theme is Everyday Heroes™. The theme recognizes that everyday, frontline customer service professionals can and should be heroes in their customer’s eyes.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

When Will You Make The Right Change?

When is the right time to add or update new IT Service Management Software?  That pretty depends on what we are talking about.  Could it be… When is it the right time to retire?  When is it the right time to buy a new house? When is it the right time to ask for a raise?

 When is it the right time for your business to do something about your customer service headaches? Now there is a question that just might be keeping you up at night. Or do you just lay there watching your customers jump over the fence rather than counting sheep?

And, may I ask, just where are those customers jumping to? Or maybe, what are they jumping away from? Do you want to wait until all of your competitors have already improved their customer service?  That sounds like more than a little bit too late! In fact that sounds like a move that may end any chance of being competitive.

Finding a new customer is one thing. Have that customer return for another purchase is another matter altogether. Keeping that same customer long-term is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Have you heard the expression, “You don’t know what you don’t know?”  Unless you have a customer service management system in place that is exactly where you are… You don’t know what you don’t know and you don’t know it about the most important part of your business, your customers.

There is no need to lose sleep even one more night.  Your customer service business solution is as near as your phone, SMART Service Desk at 602-235-0975. Are you picking up your phone yet?  Why not?

Our system is easy to implement, easy to use, expandable and the best news yet, is that it is affordable.  Now are picking up your phone?

Do we need to say it again? SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software allows you to deliver a better, more efficient and personalized customer experience that is easy to implement, quickly establish and very cost effective.

Does there need to be another question?

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Customer Service Best When Personal and Proactive

How does your firm approach customer service? Is it personal and proactive from your customer’s point of view? How much importance does your reps place on using your customer’s name? Do you have questions for that customer to make sure their problems are solved?

It is true that proactive customer service is not a new strategy. But, given the clear business case and examples of success that many companies are having it pains customers that more companies do not pursue it as a viable strategy given the cost and customer engagement and satisfaction benefits.

Given that customer problems exist across the different stages of the customer life-cycle this will require a collaborative approach across organizational functions to ensure the design and delivery of a successful strategy. Successful proponents of proactive customer service understand this and ensure that the design of new customer interactions involve all of the right people.

Most organizations are still reactive when it comes to the delivery of their customer service. Therefore, in introducing a new proactive approach it is essential that any strategy focuses initially on piloting one or two new solutions to commonly occurring and costly customer issues. These pilots allow the business to test hypotheses, learn, quickly deliver benefits to the business and its customers and help build support for future initiatives.

Starting the implementation of a proactive customer service strategy with pilot projects will ensure that organizations minimize risk and resource requirements and take a learning and agile approach thus allowing them to learn and adjust new initiatives so that they deliver the maximum returns. The aim of these steps is to build trust and engagement both internally (across all functions and all departments) and externally with your customers so that both the organization and the customer benefits.

Proactive customer service can also solve problems customers didn’t even know they had by alerting them to something they may be missing out on and offering a way to fix this. Sending an email to a customer a couple months before their two year subscription renewal is due offering a 5 percent discount to thank them for their business is likely to seal their desire to renew. It also means the customer doesn’t have to call or email to renew themselves, which prevents any lapses in their subscription and ensures their continued satisfaction.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Does Heavy Lifting Describe Your Customer Service?

Is there a difference between a customer support team that simply does support, and one that’s really good at it? Can we ever replace “good” with “Great.” Is that last step in improving customer service the heavy lifting part.

Numerous studies have shown that happy customers buy more, they buy more often, and they tell their friends to buy, too. In fact, a happy customer, on average, tells nine people about their experience.

Did you know that empathy is the single most important customer service skill. Why? Because if you want your employees to help your customers to be happy and successful, it’s important for your employees to understand what happiness and success mean to your customers. And if you want an employee to help your customers overcome their concerns, it’s crucial for that employee to understand exactly how being in that jam is making the customer feel.

All employees who interacts with customers are candidates for customer service training. In addition to customer service representatives, this includes other positions such as receptionists, technical support representatives, field service technicians, sales engineers, shopkeepers, waiters, etc.

Good listening skills and questioning techniques can shorten the interaction time with customers. This allows an organization to serve more customers in less time, possibly with fewer staff. However, consumers are intelligent and do not want to feel rushed, when they have questions. So be proactive and make sure every consumer feels they are being heard and not just "listened" to. Being able to clearly explain the next step in a process and confirming that the customer is satisfied, will decrease the number of callbacks and return customers. Improving "first contact" resolution is one of the primary drivers of customer satisfaction.

You might find it interesting that Apple likes to say it “values a magnetic personality” as much as, if not more, than proficiency. When a company hires a troubleshooting specialist, clearly that candidate needs to have more technical know-how than a salesperson. But it’s interesting to note that the internal Apple Store training manual for Apple Geniuses spends as much time on communication skills as it does on process and technical knowledge.

Of course using the right software to support your CSMs is another important part of your customer service mix.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Customer Service And Social Media

Is your businesses’ customer service evolving? Is your company growing to match the rapid growth and development of social media and today’s most popular social media platforms? Using these platforms is the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the trend of the audience that is growing.

When most marketers and business owners think about the advantages of social media for their business, they think about attracting new customers to the business. Smart business owners and marketers focus on relationship building, either through regular content marketing or by having conversations with customers who are already familiar with your brand.

Straightforward and effective, this type of strategy has helped thousands of businesses spark new life into their marketing campaigns, but I believe social media has a much broader potential for business development and customer retention.

What happens to your customers when they try to get in touch with a customer service representative, do they encounter these challenges?

Find and Call a Phone Number Unless the number is immediate, just finding the number can be difficult. Wait times, lengthy unproductive conversations, and multiple call transfers are all disadvantages that can leave a sour taste in your customer’s mouth.

Submit a Contact Form It’s an impersonal experience, and customers never know where the contact form is going, when it will be replied to, or by whom.

Send An Email Invisible and impersonal, much communication can get lost over email, and responses often take days.

Find a Service Representative It’s the best option for most customers, giving them a friendly, personal, and authoritative response. However, it can be costly and inefficient to have dedicated account representatives ready for each customer.

Your Customers Are Turning To Social Media For Service

J.D. Power and Associates’s recent Social Media Benchmark study found that 67 percent of consumers have used a company’s social media page for service, compared to only 33 percent for social marketing. Those findings are huge.

Brands already know to invest in marketing on social media. But the general consumer is coming to them wanting more. They’re asking questions, expecting responses.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

The Changing Rules Of Customer Service

Many companies seem to think that social media is just one more channel for their advertising message. Nothing could be further from the truth. If all you do is scream Buy – Buy – Buy at the social media audience you won’t have one, or at least you won’t have a large and active audience.

There are many classic customer service rules and tips that need a makeover because they just don't make sense in today's digital environment and global markets. Service in a digital landscape is vastly different from ringing up a customer in a local boutique. Plus, protecting your employees from rude customers is now equally important as catering to a customer's needs.

Here are 5 new customer service best practices for the social media era. Remember, as a business you have to satisfy your customers and your workers, but don't worry. You often can make everyone smile.

Respect Your Customer's Time
Customer service automation can work in certain industries, assuming it's truly designed to expedite the process. In real life, showing respect for your customer's time by having more workers during peak hours and offering self-checkouts helps build your reputation and make your customers happy. Many customers today are all about getting in and out as quickly as possible, not hanging around to chat.

Hire More Multilingual Workers
This is an increasingly worldwide market. If you can't communicate with potential customers and clients around the globe (or even in your own neighborhood), you're opting out of what is potentially the majority of your market. Having multilingual staff on hand can instantly expand your demographic reach.

Reward Satisfaction
If you really want to build a thriving business, reward your customer service reps who achieve the highest satisfaction ratings--not necessarily (or just) the highest sales. There are many ways to gauge this, from satisfaction surveys to positive comments on social media.

Embrace Mobile Readiness
There are currently more people using mobile devices than desktop. Mobile readiness is two-fold. You need a separate mobile website or an app, or both. You can have one or both of these options depending on what suits your customers. You should also make sure your site provides similar user experiences across different devices. Not sure of the best approach? Ask your customers. A survey can reveal your real weaknesses. Also remember that your customers are using their mobile devices to talk about your product on social media platforms. 

Protect Your Employees
Sometimes the customer is out-of-line. Your employees deserve to feel safe, comfortable, and protected from abuse while on the clock. Make it a priority, to have procedures in place, and ensure that your workers know it.

Customer service is one of the toughest jobs out there, and it's only getting more challenging because it changes so much. Is your company ready?

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Find The Right IT Service Management Software

Is your business looking for the IT Service Management Software solution for your business you want to know many things about that software product.

Is the software scalable, so that it will work now and then continue to grow and support my business needs in the future?

Is the software easy to load, implement and use? How quickly will my employees be able to use the software to support our customer’s needs?

Of course the investment your company needs to make to bring this solution online should be a reasonable concern.

Considering how customizable the SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is the pricing is not like buying a new car where looking, liking and purchasing is a very set process and amount.

SMART Service Desk software enables comprehensive, best practice based Incident / Case management processes via intuitive, easily adopted, enterprise scale web technology. Integrates core service and support components into one complete Help Desk solution which help you to reduce service costs and increase service delivery operational efficiency. Manage service issues from the initial call; too complete job and service restoration. With SMART Service Desk you can reduce call volumes and encourage user self-service by letting users search FAQs, approved solutions, and workarounds. You can use Increase customer / user satisfaction ratings using surveys.

SMART Service Desk software can be both local or cloud service based for what best fits your solutions and what will be best for your individual business needs.

We think that our price structure will be pleasantly unexpected and very affordable for your small to medium sized business.

Our solutions are not only scalable but we have different solutions that can be a better fit for your specific business needs. Our SMART Service Desk Plus delivers a customer-friendly IT self-service portal, powerful dashboards and reporting, and superior mobility to your organization. With SMART, IT organizations can support ITIL® best practices for IT Service Management (ITSM), consolidating the service desk function with the processes that underpin the efficient delivery and support of service, With PinkVERIFY® certified ITIL® processes in SMART Service Desk Plus; you can be assured of the best practices you will implement for your process and workflow.

Is your company looking for customer service solutions to help you deal with customer interaction? 

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is your answer. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Body Language and Customer Service

You must first understand why body language is a powerful subliminal message that could derail your best customer service efforts. The effective use of body language plays a key role in communication.

If you want people to feel comfortable communicating with you, don’t multitask while they do. Avoid the temptation to check your text messages, check your watch, or check out how the other participants are reacting. Instead, focus on those who are speaking by turning your head and torso to face them directly and by making eye contact. Leaning forward, nodding, and tilting your head are other nonverbal ways to show you’re engaged and paying attention. It’s important to hear people. It’s just as important to make sure they know you are really listening to them.

To connect instantly with someone, shake hands with them. Touch is the most primitive and powerful nonverbal cue. Touching someone on the arm, hand, or shoulder for as little as 1/40 of a second creates a human bond. In the workplace, physical touch and warmth are established through the handshaking tradition, and this tactile contact makes a lasting and positive impression. A study on handshakes showed that people are two times more likely to remember you if you shake hands with them. The trade show researchers also found that people react to those with whom they shake hands by being more open and friendly.

To stimulate good feelings, smile when greeting them. A genuine smile not only stimulates your own sense of well-being, it also tells those around you that you are approachable, cooperative, and trustworthy. A genuine smile comes on slowly, crinkles the eyes, lights up the face, and fades away slowly. Most importantly, smiling directly influences how other people respond to you. When you smile at someone, they almost always smile in return. And, because facial expressions trigger corresponding feelings, the smile you get back actually changes that person’s emotional state in a positive way.

When people try to control their body language, they focus primarily on facial expressions, body postures, and hand/arm gestures. Since the legs and feet are left unrehearsed, they are also where the truth can most often be found. Under stress, people will often display nervousness and anxiety through increased foot movements. Feet will fidget, shuffle, and wind around each other or around the furniture. Feet will stretch and curl to relieve tension, or even kick out in a miniaturized attempt to run away. Studies show that observers have greater success judging a person’s real emotional state when they can see the entire body. You may not know it, but instinctively you’ve been reacting to foot gestures all your life.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

What Do You Think About Customer Service?

What do you think about customer service improvements?  Do you like that question better when it is a bit more focused? Customer service is a lot like that, the more focused it is the better it is.

So boiled down customer service is better when focused on the customer.  Before you think that is an over simplification remember that not all customer service attempts are truly successful.

Are you familiar with the acronym CARP as it applies to customer service?

The four stages of CARP are:

    Controlling the situation

    Acknowledging the problem

    Refocusing the conversation

    Problem-solving with the customer

By remembering and working through these steps, your team stays on track even during the most embarrassing mistake. It keeps the customer service session from veering off into other stages like "insisting you're right" and "taking unnecessary abuse."’

‘

One important aspect of customer service is learning when to say… "I Don't Know"

It's tempting to make something up or take your best guess when somebody thinks you're an expert, but it's a mistake. Instead, admit it by saying, "I don't know, but here's what I'll do to find out." Then set a time to get back to your customer with an answer.

The next step is to learn to practice “Active Listening.”

There's an expression: "Listen, don't just wait for your turn to talk." Too many customer service interactions, especially those run by scripts, fail to heed this advice. There are four components to active listening:

Clarifying: Asking questions to make sure you understand a customer's ideas.

Paraphrasing: Rewording what a customer just said to confirm you understand.

Reflecting Feelings: Using phrases like "that must have made you angry" or "you seem pretty excited about that" demonstrates empathy and shows that you're paying attention.

Summarizing: Finishing a conversation with a quick summary of the most important points ensures that everyone's on the same page.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk

600 West Ray Road

Suite D-3

Chandler Arizona 85225

602-235-0975

info@smartservicedesk.com

http://smartservicedesk.com

Are You Thinking About A Customer Service Degree?

Customer service programs are designed to help students deal with customers in different industries. They prepare students to work as customer service representatives who look after call center operations. The customer service degrees also instruct students in handling queries and complaints and making sure that customers are satisfied. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment of customer service representatives is expected to increase by 15% between 2010 and 2020.

Customer service representatives are responsible for interacting with consumers on behalf of an organization. They provide information about products and services, listen and respond to customers’ needs and handle returns or complaints. In addition, they are also responsible for taking orders, and overseeing billing or payments.

Customer service representatives who work in contact centers sit at a workstation with a computer, telephone and a headset. As these centers may be crowded and noisy, the job can be stressful at times. 

Customer service representative should have strong communication and interpersonal skills. Absolutely critical to this line of work are problem-solving skills as these workers are required to handle the customer complaints. In addition, they should also have telephone etiquette to manage customer queries in an effective manner.

Customer Service Degree Programs

A number of schools offer degree programs in customer services. Students can work towards undergraduate or graduate degrees and learn how to manage call center operations.

The associate degree in customer service may take two while the bachelor’s program may require four years. The master’s degree generally requires 1-2 years to complete. The duration of these programs depends on the enrolment status of the students. Aspiring customer service professionals can also work towards the customer service management degree programs that provide training for advanced management or leadership careers in various areas, such as business, hospitality and client services.

The curriculum in the customer service degree may include a variety of topics such as economics, quality assurance and customer behavior. Students can also take courses in specialized information technology, strategic and performance planning and analysis.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Celebrate Labor Day

Labor Day is a public holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. It honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country.

 Labor Day was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor, who organized the first parade in New York City. After the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago on May 4, 1886, U.S. President Grover Cleveland feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an opportunity to commemorate the affair. Therefore, in 1887, the United States holiday was established in September to support the Labor Day that the Knights favored.

In 1882, Matthew Maguire, a machinist, first proposed the holiday while serving as secretary of the CLU (Central Labor Union) of New York.[2] Others argue that it was first proposed by Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor in May 1882, after witnessing the annual labour festival held in Toronto, Canada. Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday on February 21, 1887. By the time it became a federal holiday in 1894, thirty states officially celebrated Labor Day.

Following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, the United States Congress unanimously voted to approve rush legislation that made Labor Day a national holiday; President Grover Cleveland signed it into law a mere six days after the end of the strike. The September date originally chosen by the CLU of New York and observed by many of the nation's trade unions for the previous several years was selected rather than the more widespread International Workers' Day because Cleveland was concerned that observance of the latter would be associated with the nascent socialist and anarchist movements that, though distinct from one another, had rallied to commemorate the Haymarket Affair in International Workers' Day. All U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the territories have made it a statutory holiday.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk

600 West Ray Road

Suite D-3

Chandler Arizona 85225

602-235-0975

info@smartservicedesk.com

http://smartservicedesk.com

SMART Service Desk Works With You To Care About Your Customers

Before you start thinking that customer service is isolated to one department within your company, allow us broaden your business view of customer service. 

If customer service is merely isolated to the people answering your calls, emails and chats, you will miss the mark you are striving for 100%. Caring customer service must permeate the entire organization, inside and out and from top to bottom.  Here are seven characteristics that are essential to caring customer service…

Stay In Touch With Your Customers
Following up with new customers can be a great help for navigating the welcoming and keeping processes.

Use Thank You Notes
A handwritten note makes it so memorable. Writing an amazing thank you note doesn’t take long at all, but the impact that it has is huge in today’s digital world.

Personalize Your Business
A local restaurant takes time to ask customers a little bit about themselves before serving them. They then prepare a custom dessert plate based off of the customer’s interests or anything notable about them.

Never Let Red Tape Get in the Way
Never use a policy excuse to side step your customer’s needs or finding a true solution that corrects a problem.

Really Sweat the Small Stuff
Nordstrom’s stellar service reputation is one case study where the reality lives up to the hype. From their infamous employee handbook to the celebrated tales of the staff’s service overtures, it is clear that Nordstrom is a company that prides itself on loving customers.

Seize The Opportunities
This might seem like strange advice at first, but when it comes to building reciprocity with customers and a reputation for exceptional customer service around your business, the key element is surprise.


Always Make Things Right
The common theme in these memorable customer service stories is businesses that go above and beyond to make a difficult situation right for a customer.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com