Positive Attitude Review Exercises

Want your reps to improve their service attitude? David Freemantle, author of The Buzz, a book on "little things that make a big difference in custome service," offers these end-of-day review practices.

• "At the end of every day, spend five minutes with your colleagues and share stories about how each of you has cared for customers in the last 24 hours."
• "Sit down for five minutes or so every evening to reflect on the positive choices you make at work that day. List them if it helps, and revie them with your teammates the next morning."
• "Be curious about things you don't know and don't understand. Ask 10 new questions every day and put the answers to good use."

Contact: David Freemantle, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, www.nbrealey-books.com

This is from the ICSA Fun Facts website http://www.icsa.com/news/FunFacts.cfm as is this tidbit:

What Demotivates Service Staff

There are a number of ways in which you can demotivate your customer service staff without even realizing it, says Peggy Morrow, author of Customer Service: How to Do It Right! (Southern Mountain Press). They include:

• Rewarding the wrong things. For instance, when you say you want behavior that pleases customers, yet give promotions and bonuses to those who push through the greatest number of customers regardless of service.
• Signaling right and turning left. That is, when you say you want to put the customer first and then create workplace rules and procedures that make it difficult to follow precept.
• Implementing unnecessary rules, processes, and procedures. In general, when a service rep doesn't understand why a rule is in place, it will get in the way of good service to customers.
• Introducing constant change. If there's constant downsizing, reorganization, or reengineering, reps will quickly turn off their discretionary effort and begin to deliver the minimum performance to do their jobs.

Contact: Peggy Morrow, Peggy Morrow & Associates, www.peggymorrow.com