Customer service requires teamwork in order to be effective

Everyone knows that an organization’s service level is only as good as its employee’s. In many cases, especially in the absence of that employee, whether or not his colleagues are able to follow up on his cases will determine the service level of the organization, in the mind of the customer.

It is important to give quality customer service training to our staff and give them autonomy in their work. Nonetheless, it is also of paramount importance to train our staff to think and work as a team.

Imagine this: A customer calls an organization and enquired on a product. The staff promised to get back to him but did not. A week later, he calls again…

What is the thing that will cause customer to get fuming mad?

a) the staff no longer works in the company/ is on leave
b) they tell him that only that previous person he spoke to can handle the case
c) no one in the team knows what on earth was going on
d) they tell him that he should be calling another department

The possibilities listed above are fictional but not remote. Chances are that many of us may have experienced some or all of them.

The question is how do we avoid a situation like this?

Good customer service does not happen overnight – it requires teamwork, knowledge, systems and motivation.

Customer Service and Teamwork

Companies serious about customer service know that all staff (yes, including the cleaners) has to be trained on basic customer service skills like communication and follow up skills. Service breakdowns can occur when employees are not trained or when there is breakdown in communication or follow up. Breakdown in communication can occur between the customer and the staff or between two employees.

That is where teamwork comes in. The organization has to think teamwork when it comes to customer service. They have to realize that the customer does not classify individuals in the company based on their business unit, department or position. They see them as one entity.

Employees who are not from the customer service department need to know how to refer enquiries to the correct departments and ensure that they are being followed up.

Employees from the customer service department have to be in teams and they must have access to communication logs (whether computerized or manual) that enables them to follow up where one of their teammates left off.

Implementation of Systems

Management has to be the driving force to introduce any change in a company, including the implementation of any systems to improve customer service. All employees have to know that there are systems in place to:
1. track performance
2. seek out and reward positive behavior
3. discourage negative behavior

Delegation of Duty

Service recovery has traditionally been the job of managers. Whenever a staff makes a mistake, the manager will come in to see how the situation can be rectified. This is a good system and it does help to appease unhappy customers, however, mangers are usually busy and they cannot be around 24hrs a day, 7 days a week. There will be times he will not be around.

If supervisors, team leaders or even rank and file staff are taught a trick or two in doing some service recovery (up to a certain monetary amount), service break downs will be followed up in a much shorter time and a dissatisfied customer can be won over promptly.

there also needs to be clear realms of authority and chain of command for this system to work. it may require time and effort to draw up a system but it will definitely come in handy when "crisis" arises.

motivation through Team building

last but not least, we have to understand that people who thrive in the customer service department are usually relational people (i.e. they are interested in how people and what they feel, as opposed to what they do). to motivate relational people, you will need to reach out to them on a personal level, find out how they feel about issues and during team building sessions, focus on exercises or activities that allow them to express themselves (even though they may not seem too keen to do so). We will also need to have social gatherings that encourage team bonding among staff and if possible, family outings where they can bring their partners or family along. This will strengthen social relations and eventually, it will help teamwork in the office.

as a last note, remember: our service level is only as good as the level of customer service that our staff can deliver and how well our staff communicate.