How can you make yourself customer-oriented?

1. Customer Orientation
The views expressed are based on personal 1
experience and information collected from the net.

2. 2

3. 
“Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.”
- Peter Drucker 3

4. Customer Orientation

What does Customer Orientation mean to you?
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5. You as a customer

Your experiences

Share a good service experience

Share a bad service experience

What will be your future actions w.r.to ‘good service’ and ‘bad service’ provided to you?
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6. You as a customer (contd.)

Do you demand action?

Are you very direct and to the point in your statements?

Do you make it clear what you want?
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Do you lack patience?
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Do you tend to speak faster?
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Are you focused on results?

Are you usually not interested in details?
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7. For your customers

Your customers are people like you

Their reactions will be similar to that of yours
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8. Why do customers leave?

Move away -4%

Friendships -5%

Competition -9%

Dissatisfaction -14%

Indifference -68%
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9. What could “indifference” mean?

Not being empathetic

Not listening carefully

Not reverting as discussed

Not looking for solution but quoting “Company Policy”
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10. Why service matters

86 % of customers expect better services than they did five years ago.

82% of customers will switch loyalty if better services are not given

35 % said that a mere ‘Sorry’ would have stopped from moving off.

The cost of acquiring new customers is 5 times the cost of keeping old ones happy

Old customers bring returns about 3 to 7 times more than a new customer.

Increasing customer retention by 5 % can raise profits by 25 to 30%

Reducing customer problems by 1 % can increase profits a few crores over the years
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11. Some Statistics

Out of 100 dissatisfied customers

Only 4% will complain

96% will just go away

Of those who go away, only 5% will return

91 will never return to you.
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12. Some Statistics (contd.)

64% of customers feel companies with which they frequently interface by telephone are not respectful of their time

It takes between 2-5 times the cost to find a new customer as to retain a customer

Reducing these customer defections by 5% could increase profits as much as 50%.

13. However.....

People largely understand that those providing the service are humans, and can make mistakes too.

70% will do business with you again if you resolve their complaint satisfactory.

95% will continue doing business if their complaint is resolved immediately.
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14. Know your customer

Who are your customers?

What characteristics they have?
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What products / technology areas they work in?
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Are they the end users or ISVs or VARs or OEMs?

What are the customer’s requirements?

What is the customer satisfaction level?

How do we project our organization and how does the customer perceive our organization?
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15. Know Your Customer Type

16. Know Your Customer Type (contd.)

Business-like customer

No nonsense, always crisp and to the point

Don’t waste time, be to the point in communication

Tough customer

Egoistic, aggressive

Listen carefully, allow him / her to talk first; Express your points as suggestions; Be courteous but firm

Uncertain customer

Non-demanding, indecisive, unsure, seeks reassurance

Break barriers, listen, ask right questions, make suggestions
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17. Know Your Customer Type (contd.)

Angry customer

“I WANT IT NOW! I SAID, I WANT IT NOW!”

Be assertive, not angry or aggressive; be polite and to the point, calm and clear voice, don’t give hollow promises; empathize

Knowledgeable customer

Demanding, technically sound, has good knowledge about product

Satisfy his desire for details; don’t try to fool him

Friendly customer

Talkative, discusses a lot of generalities, warm and good natured

Respond to his warmth and hospitality; keep to business
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18. Characteristics of customer-centric employees

Motivation

Proactive behavior

Ownership and responsibility

Conscious listening

Understanding responses
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19. Characteristics of customer-centric employees (contd.)

Motivation

To motivate yourself, adopt this mindset - “It’s my choice”

Make a conscious decision to push yourself to excel. Don’t find excuses like “I have an unfair customer” or “I dislike this aspect of my work”.

Proactive behavior

Anticipate unpredictable events and changes and view them as challenges. Be proactive.

“I can expand my freedom and influence by being proactive.”
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20. Characteristics of customer-centric employees (contd.)

Ownership and responsibility

“It’s not what people do to us that hurts us. In the most fundamental sense, it is our chosen response to what they do to us that hurts us.” - Stephen Covey

Conscious listening

Understanding comes through listening

Misunderstanding from not listening
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21. Characteristics of customer-centric employees (contd.)

Levels of listening

Ignoring: Make no effort to listen

Pretend Listening: Give the appearance of listening
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Selective Listening: Hearing only parts that interest us

Evaluative listening: Judging speaker’s capabilities

Emphatic Listening: Listening and responding to speaker with mind and heart to understand speaker’s words and feelings
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22. Characteristics of customer-centric employees (contd.)

Understanding responses

Advising: Giving advice, solutions to problems

Probing: Asking questions from own frame of reference

Interpreting: Trying to understand other’s behavior based on own experiences

Summarizing: Repeating what is conveyed in concise manner
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23. Successful customer calls

Present customer benefit

Focus on collecting information from customer

Put customer needs at the center-stage, not your product/ service

Customers open up slowly; don’t force the pace

First impressions are very important- be polite and tactful

Try and assess personality type of customer. Don’t make hasty judgments.
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24. Remember

As far as customers are concerned, you are the company. This is not a burden, but the core of your job.

You hold in your hands the power to keep customers coming back – perhaps even to make or break the company.
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25. Famous quotes

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

“You need to give customers what they want, not what you think they want. And, if you do this, people will keep coming back.”

“If we don’t take care of our customers, someone else will.” 25

26. Summary
Customers want what we want – a positive interaction when doing business with every Service Provider Representative that they come in contact with.
ITS ALL ABOUT THE
RIGHT ATTITUDE
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27. THANK YOU
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