Motivate Your Team for Outstanding Customer Service: Six Secrets of Customer Service Motivation

by: Ed Sykes


Providing outstanding customer service is one of the most rewarding yet challenging activities within your organization. Exceptional organizations that provide outstanding customer service will experience the following benefits:

* Increased customer satisfaction
* Increased revenues
* Increased repeat and referral customer traffic
* Less employee turnover
* Increased profits

So how do we support and motivate our customer service team to give outstanding customer service? The following are six secrets to motivate your customer service team to give exceptional customer service to your customers:

1. Provide Ongoing Learning – It’s important that you not only provide training on organizational policies and technology, but also how to handle customers. Create an ongoing system for training and feedback. Request continuous feedback and have the “courage to listen” to your customer service team’s responses. Your customer service team members, because they are on the frontline, can provide you with excellent information on how to service your customer. Market conditions are changing all the time and the one piece of information your customer service team can share with you can make the difference between success and failure. After receiving the information from your customer service rep, if necessary, provide the training to your customer service team so that they can provide outstanding customer service.

2. Adjust the Attitude – Constantly work on your own attitude and your team’s attitude to providing outstanding customer service. As a customer service leader, always be aware of the tone you set and how your customer service team will be motivated by your attitude. If you are upbeat, your team will follow the lead and provide outstanding customer service. If you have a negative attitude, your customer service team will follow your lead and communicate this negative attitude to the customers they serve.

Work with your customer service team members to create a positive attitude in the following ways:

* Look at every customer service experience as a learning experience that is preparing them for future opportunities.

* Put your team in the customer’s shoes to understand the customer’s “pain” and create empathy for outstanding customer service solutions

* Have your customer service team take on the persona of a positive individual they admire to help them through a difficult customer service situation.

* Create “positive triggers” to remind your customer service team why it is important to give outstanding service. Your trigger could be as simple as a family picture or a picture of an item (new car, home, etc.) that is important to you.

3. Give Incentives – Motivate your customer service team by giving incentives based on meeting your organization’s mission, goals, and values. Be timely, fair, and public with your incentives. Also, when putting together an incentive program, ask your customer service team what they would like as incentives. Many times organizations will invest thousands of dollars on incentives which are not the ones their customer service team wants. Just ask!

4. Show Appreciation – Appreciate to motivate your customer service team as much as possible. Remember, many times they are facing very challenging customer service situations everyday. Keep them motivated by sharing your appreciation in a timely, sincere, fair, and encouraging way. For more detail on this, go to my article, Appreciate to Motivate, on my website. By consistently showing appreciation, you will motivate your customer service team to excel when it is most difficult for them to do so.

5. Support Outstanding Customer Service – Support and motivate your customer service team in a number of ways. You can support and motivate your customer service team by making sure the technology supports them and the customers. For example, I recently called my internet broadband company about a mistake on a bill. The automated system disconnected my call five times before I finally spoke with a customer service representative; and I told him that he must experience many upset customers if they experience the same. The customer service representative agreed and said it made his job very difficult.

Support your customer service team by “cheer leading” their concerns to upper management. Champion their concerns to upper management and let your customer service team know the progress of each concern.

Support and motivate your customer service team by keeping standards high for customer service. When your organization is facing challenging times, it is very tempting to lower standards. That’s the last action you should take. By lowering standards, you decrease customer satisfaction, increase customer service turnover, and muddy your organization’s name in the marketplace.

Apply these customer service motivation secrets with your customer service team and you will have highly motivated customer service teams and happy customers, and your organization’s bottom line will increase.


About The Author
Ed Sykes is a highly sought after expert, author, professional speaker, and success coach in the areas of leadership, motivation, stress management, customer service, and team building. You can e-mail him at mailto:esykes@thesykesgrp.com, or call him at (757) 427-7032. Go to his web site, http://www.thesykesgrp.com , and signup for the newsletter, OnPoint, and receive either free ebook, "Empowerment and Stress Secrets for the Busy Professional," or "Secrets of Outstanding Customer Service."

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Reverse Mortgages and the Softening Housing Market

by: Byron Warnken


This article talks about reverse mortgages in the context of the softening real estate market.

One question we have been asked is: What happens to reverse mortgages as the United States housing market weakens. It is a good question.

There is no question the United States housing market is softening. Although prices may not yet be going down, and some markets remain relatively strong, as a whole the robust gains in real estate value across the country is over. Maybe not forever, but certainly for now.

Recently, new housing starts were down 20% and the number of houses being sold has slowed year over year. Houses are sitting on the market longer and long gone are the days where sellers get 25% over their asking price within days.

So what does the softening market mean for the reverse mortgage?

A reverse mortgage is a loan that is not paid back until death or permanent move. Moreover, the borrower can never owe more than the value of their house. Therefore, reverse mortgage lenders must be careful with how much money they lend. The amount of money they lend is based on a number of factors. They are: borrower age, location of property and importantly, the value of the property.

The first two factors determine a percentage of the property value. So a reverse mortgage is based on the value of the property. The property value is determined by an appraisal. As the real estate market weakens, appraisals are not as high for a given property. This means that the reverse mortgage borrower receives less money.

Over time, real estate values have gone up and have gone up relatively consistently. Does this mean that real estate will always go up? No. Does it guarantee home prices will be higher five or ten years from now? No. Anyone who says, “Real estate prices may not go up as fast, but they will never go down,” is flat out wrong. While we at the http://reversemortgagepage.com do not predict real estate prices, history does not bear out that values will always increase, even in a given period of time.

Does this mean that you should rush out and get a reverse mortgage before the value of your home goes down. No. It just means that you shouldn’t assume that your home will be worth more five years from now. A reverse mortgage should be obtained when the time is optimal for your financial situation. When that time is depends on many factors. For advice on timing, turn to the Reverse Mortgage Page.


About The Author
Byron Warnken is an expert on reverse mortgages and his company owns and operates a leading website that can help you learn about Reverse Mortgages.

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Five Myths That Effect The Decision To Just Do It!

by: Judy Winslow


Whether you own a business or are responsible for generating interest in someone else’s, the topic will arise. What will I get for hiring Branding professionals? Just because big businesses have whole departments dedicated to such an endeavor, many still believe that it may not be what they need. After all, there are lots of reasons not to buy into this concept. Many of those I interact with state the following as the top five myths/objections:

MYTH #5. These people don’t know what I need

Of course, your business is unique. There are benefits to doing business with you that no one else possesses. Having a specialist will allow you to identify clearly the unique attributes your business has for the consumer and package them in a way that will attract business. That will leave you free to run and grow your business.

MYTH #4. What about the investment vs. the impact?

What amount have you deemed as a budget for this aspect of your business development? In a way, branding is something like the stock market. Only you & your professional can determine what level of risk you’re comfortable with and how to configure your investment. Will every item payoff? Perhaps, perhaps not. However, there are ways to get the most for your money, and a specialist can assist. I’m willing to bet you don’t know all the opportunities available to you, so by teaming with a professional your chances for success are greatly enhanced.

MYTH #3. They don’t understand my business.

Isn’t that great?! You now have the opportunity to share your knowledge and passion for your business with someone who can interpret that information in a way that’s easy for the average bear to digest. Voila! Now a professional can position your business in a way that an outsider can embrace, while speaking your vision unencumbered by other perspectives. That’s one heck of a great benefit!

MYTH #2. These people don’t listen to me.

Having a connection with your Professionals is essential. You wouldn’t want to visit a doctor who keeps prescribing medicine for an illness you don’t have…so if you aren’t feeling ‘heard’, you may be working with the wrong people for you. Try something else. Fast!

And the number 1 myth:

MYTH #1. I can do it myself.

Yes, you know your business better than anyone. That said, you really can’t do it yourself and also grow a healthy business that realizes your vision and provides the life you deserve. Furthermore, why would you want to? Go play more golf or be with your kids. Just like a doctor, lawyer or personal trainer, your Branding Professionals provide an invaluable service that is key to your success. Just be sure to evaluate their efforts as you would any other part of your strategy for success.

So, I ask you - If branding and marketing isn’t all that big a deal, why do Nike, Coke, Proctor & Gamble, Starbucks and countless others put so much energy and funding into their programs? Keeping your brand highly visible does affect growth and profits. Have fun & create a Brand!


About The Author
With a strong focus on Branding, award winning graphic abilities, plus a marketing and business development background in both the corporate and entrepreneurial worlds, Judy Winslow offers her clients a unique perspective. She is committed to assisting people worldwide in their personal and professional growth. Her result oriented processes have enabled companies of all sizes to grow and her diverse clientele ranges from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups seeking specialized branding and innovative communications strategies. All of her work is customized to fit the needs and vision of her clients to ensure their sound success. Contact her at http://BrightPointeInfo.com or judywins@mac.com.

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Business Success is Influence!

by: Rosemary Hossenlopp


Do you feel frustrated when sales prospects don’t return your calls? Does your anxiety about paying your bills give off a I’m frantic to get a sale look?

When you are successful business owner you have a platform to position your product or service with more people. Doors then open to client opportunities. You sell more when your platform is working for you. You can raise your rates and finally have money to go on vacation.

How do you get a platform?

Business success is influence. Influence gives you a voice in your industry. Influence gives you customers that listen. Warning: Influence is not a one-minute sales tip. The proven first step to more influence is to understand how you serve your customer. This requires tough introspection. You need to be serious about serving your customer. Many guru’s call this your unique selling proposition. Many professors call this a point of view. But they don’t tell you that you need to first serve your customer with passion and purpose. If you serve your customers first, you will have success. Profits will follow excellent customer service!

Proven Advice for Understanding your Business Purpose

Increase Your Business Platform Tip One. Understand your primary purpose for serving your client. You could serve clients by increasing their profitability when you are a business selling to another business (B2B). This allows the clients CEO to tame a nasty board of directors. To make this clear to your customers, clearly state the business purpose in your statement of work, in your presentation of information and your action plan. Have a single minded focus on your purpose; to increase their revenue! You could also sell your services to other businesses to decrease their operating costs. This allows them to crush their competition. Your key business purpose for the engagement is a gigantic personal benefit to these key decision makers. They will invite you back again for another engagement if you make them look good.

Easy Ways to Increase your Business Passion

Increase Your Business Platform Tip Two. Understand your key reason you wake up in the morning to serve your customer. Document your key passion. This could become your mission statement. It is a statement of who you are that will attract clients to you. For example, you could enhance customer’s lives in some measurable and tangible way when you are a business selling to customers (B2C).Write down three specific ways that your customers feel as a result of an interaction with your product or service. You may provide information that transforms their thinking which has a benefit of less stress. You may cause them to be more physically vibrant causing them to live life more alive. You can bring them more financial prosperity that increases their confidence about facing their future. These benefits rock! Write your reason down today.

When you don’t understand how to build of platform of business success and influence……. you are missing out. You make your customers miss out. On what? You! Your product or service benefits them and if you do not have a platform for success, you can not enrich the lives of those you serve.

Write down how you serve your customer with passion. Drive all your business activities to this sole purpose. This guarantees that you will have a platform to position your product or service with more people.

Rosemary Hossenlopp © 2006 All Rights Reserved


About The Author
Rosemary Hossenlopp, MBA provides proven business advice to Small Business Owners. If you are ready to start accelerating your business, then we have free tips here. Go here right now. http://www.BusinessSuccessPlan.com.

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