Customer Service: It’s the People that Make it Good!

Outstanding customer service is at the core of every company.  In order to earn repeat business, companies must be willing to go the extra mile to deliver exceptional service.

Companies like Starbucks, Southwest Airlines and Apple are well known for being trailblazers in providing excellent customer service.

However, it is not the company that delivers the service but the people within the organization—the Customer Service Representative—Joe Bob and Mary Jane.

So what does it take to deliver excellent customer service?  There is one rep that I have had the distinct pleasure to work with at one of my vendors for many years.  She is the best that I’ve ever seen at customer service.  I would like to share my observations what makes her so accomplished:

• • Outgoing and personable.
  • Levelheaded under pressure.
  • Attentive to detail.
  • Willing to do whatever it takes to make the sale.
  • Knows the product line and available substitutes.
  • Keeps abreast of inventory levels.
  • Takes responsibility of making decisions on the fly.
  • Adept at working the corporate system.
  • Uses every opportunity available to learn about new product offerings.
  • “No” is not part of her vocabulary but “let’s see what I can do” is.
  • Thinks outside the box for solutions.
  • Sometimes seen as a rebel however always keeps the best interest of the client in mind.
  • Helps the client save time and money.

Many of these attributes are learned skills that can be taught.  However, this gal truly has the mindset of a servant–dedicated and willing to be a problem solver and insure the needs of her clients are met every time.

If your customer service representatives can embrace these skills and learn to serve the client, you will see sales increase because clients will come back again and again.

Peggy P. Edge (c) 2014

Networking: He simply doesn’t “Get It!”

“I don’t visit networking groups because they always have people there who sell the exact same products that I offer,” he said. 

This was a statement that a friend of mine made me recently when we were talking about networking and how we can be more effective in our efforts.  I was stunned because he simply doesn’t “get it.!”

The primary purpose of attending any networking event or trade association event is the opportunity to grow your business.  However, growing your business does not always mean making a sale.

As a matter of fact, a networking event is not a place to sell but to “make connections.”

I use networking events as a means to:

• meet potential vendors
• seek connections to those who have expertise in areas that I don’t have 

I also use networking to:

• learn how I can help others
• provide mentoring or coaching to others

When you attend any type of networking, trade association or civic group, rethink why you are there.  It’s not about selling.  It’s about making connections and then seizing opportunities.

Peggy P. Edge © 2014

Success: Envision Your Success – Are you aiming high enough?

Recently I was sitting in a seminar and the speaker was talking about success.  He asked us if we envision our success.  I was reminded of the time in 1971 when I made the decision that I would pursue my college degree.

As I reflect on my own personal successes, instantly I start to think about my education.  I am the only one in my family who finished high school or graduated from college.

Back in 1971, my boss sent me to a motivation seminar.  The speaker asked, “What are you going to be in 4 years from now?  You could be just 4 years older. Or, you could be 4 years older plus have completed your college degree.”

Right there, that day, I made the decision to go to college.  I knew in my heart that it might take more than 4 years.  That was ok but I knew that I knew I would accomplish that feat no matter how long it took me.

At the time I was 22 years old, married with a 5 year old child.  I had gotten married 6 days after turning 16, became a mother a month before I turned 17 and had dropped out of high school.

When I heard that man speak that day, I had at least managed to get my GED as well as having taken 6 hours of college credit.  However, I had a full time job and could not really see how on earth I could make this happen.

My husband and I immediately started putting the wheels in motion for both of us to quit our jobs and attend school full time.  I would be working on my bachelor’s degree and he would be going for his doctorate.  We both graduated in the summer of 1976.

As I was listening to the speaker a couple of months ago talk about envisioning my success, I was reminded of that statement about what I will be in 4 years from now.

A couple of years ago, I started speaking publicly on business networking. After much prompting from several friends who are in the business, I began to envision what that would look like as a full time business.  Consequently I started preparing myself by signing up for the National Speaker’s Association’s Charbonneau Academy last September.

This is a time in my life where so many of our friends are retiring and constantly asking me when I am going to do the same.  My response, “Nooooo! I don’t have time to retire!  I have too much yet to do.  Besides, I do not know how to knit nor am I interested to learn how.”

I want to encourage you that no matter how old you are or how impossible it may seem to be to make a change in your life whether it is personal or professional…go for it and don’t look back.

Conceive it. Envision it. Do it.  There is absolutely nothing that you can’t accomplish if you set your heart and mind like flint.

Peggy P. Edge (c) 2014