Develop your ability of what customer service means and how to apply the win-win philosophy.

1. WINNING CUSTOMERS THROUGH SERVICE
BY: ELIZABETH IBARRA, MBA
HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT
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2. AGENDA
 Defining Customer Service of
Excellence
 The Evolution of Customer Service
 Principals of Government Contracting
 Strategies for Obtaining Customer
Service Satisfaction
 Relationship Building
 Open Floor Discussion
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3. CUSTOMER SERVICE DEFINITION
The Impact of Customer
Service of Excellence:
 Continued success
 Increase profits
 Higher job satisfaction
 Improve company or organization morale
 Better teamwork
 Market expansion of services and products
CUSTOMER = REVENUE = JOBS
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4. Predictions:
1. Technology Makes
Experience Better
2. Customer Service Is Open
24/7
3. Customer Is In Control of
Where Interaction
Happens
4. Company Knows
Information From Every
Channel
Forbes / Leadership:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2016/04/18/the
-evolution-of-customer-service/#71b3e6524428
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5. THE EVOLUTION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
The basics of customer service - the essential elements of what
customers need and value, and their expectations based upon
these fundamental needs - will remain remarkably persistent and
consistent. Customers will still require organizations to be efficient,
polite, know their name and take responsibility when things go
wrong.
These elements will continue to form the foundation of good
customer service, but the edifice of the service experience built
upon these foundations will be far more idiosyncratic and more
dynamic. This will have profound impacts on how businesses
manage the service experience in order to meet evolving
expectations from both customers and employees.
IMRI Core Values
Accountability
Collaborative Communication
Dynamic
Forward-Thinking
Integrity
Reflective-Learning
Respect
Solution-Oriented
Teamwork
Win-Win Relationships (Win-
Customer, Win Employee, Win-
IMRI) 5

6. THE EVOLUTION
OF CUSTOMER
SERVICE
New Breed of Customers:
 Within in the next 3-5 years, there will be a change in the notion of
‘customer’, resulting from the separation of the entity contacting the contact
center for service and the customer themselves.
 Companies extend and enhance self-service
 Social media customer service is becoming standard
 Demand for live chat support is growing
 Automated chatbots are becoming even more prevalent. Thus support will no
longer be a human-to-human interaction, or even a human-to-bot
interaction; it could involve no humans
 Mobile messaging apps are on the rise
 AI and predictive intelligence tools are becoming critical
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7. THE EVOLUTION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
The Digital Economy
The Digital Economy will essentially provide a
huge sandbox for ideation, experimentation and
delivery of new service paradigms. It will not only
continually fuel expectations but also enable
those companies who are listening out for new
ideas to source, copy, adapt and deliver them
rapidly – speeding the innovation-to-
commoditization lifecycle.
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8. Generation Y to Z
Thus younger generations may be a larger
proportion of early adopters and the early
– acting as change drivers in terms of
and behaviors.
By 2025 companies will have become far more
adept at collecting, combining and leveraging
customer data – including being able to utilize
in real-time and in context to gain more
meaningful insights into customers, drive more
innovative experiences and expectations, and
up new revenue opportunities
THE EVOLUTION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
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9. STRATEGIES FOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Instead of making broad assumptions about
customers, companies can utilize a more analytical-
based approach to deliver a deeper and more
enriched level of service by understanding
customer needs and preferences, and utilizing both
historic and real-time data from a variety of sources
to deliver a personalized service paradigm.
Businesses will marry this insight with their own
goals (which might be to minimize costs, raise
satisfaction or retain more customers, for example)
to deliver a far more sophisticated approach to
service.
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10. PRINCIPALS OF GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING
Government Contracting Guidelines:
• IMRI is solely responsible for the management of its employees
for Prime and Sub-Prime government contracts.
• The government does not directly supervise or control IMRI’s
employees. Instead, the government reviews the final product or
services performed by the IMRI Team on an overall basis after
completion of work. If government personnel directs you to do
work that you believe is not within the scope of the contract,
refer the matter to your IMRI Site Lead and Program Manager.
• As an IMRI employee, independent contractor, or subcontractor,
you represent the company and have a directly impact our
reputation with the government. Therefore, you should strive to
make it the best. It is not your responsibility make decisions for
or make commitments on behalf of the government. Instead,
your role is to advise the government in the decision-making
process, and work side-by-side with other Prime contractor’s
personnel and government officials. The goal is to work in
collaboration with these other individuals to best help the
government meet its goals and achieve its mission.
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11. PRINCIPALS OF GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING
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Outside Employment & Activities: An executive branch employee may not engage in outside employment or any other outside activity that
conflicts with the employee’s official duties or that would violate a law or regulation and may be required to obtain approval before engaging in
specified outside activities.
Post Government Employment: An employee may be disqualified from working on a particular Government matter while seeking post-
Government employment. Certain former employees are prohibited from engaging in certain activities after leaving Government service.
IMRI employees and partners should not release sensitive and confidential information without written approval of the government. Consult with
your IMRI Site Lead and Program Manager.
Organizational Conflict of Interests (OCI):
 Preventing the existence of conflicting roles that might bias a contractor’s judgment.
 Preventing unfair competitive advantage
 FAR subpart 9.508 provides examples where OCI may arise.
 Contractors may be excluded from a procurement opportunity if it is determine that an OCI exists.
 IMRI employees or partners should notify their Site Lead and Program Manager of any potential OCI.

12. STRATEGIES FOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
 Commit to Quality Service
 Create a positive experience for the customer
 Go above and beyond customer expectations
 Know Your Products
 Helps win a customer’s trust and confidence
 Know Your Customers
 Tailor your service approach to their needs and buying
habits
 Get to the root of customer dissatisfaction by talking to
people and understanding complaints
 Treat People With Courtesy
 Every contact with a customer leaves an impression
 Use phrases like “I am sorry to keep you waiting,” and “It’s
been a pleasure helping you”
 Never Argue With a Customer
 Be solution focused instead of problem focused
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13. STRATEGIES FOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
 Follow Through
 All communications with our customers needs to be
handled with a sense of urgency
 Always Deliver on Your Promises
 Failure to do this is a sure way of losing credibility
 If your are unable to accomplish your promise,
apologize and offer a different alternative
 Focus on Making Customers, Not Making Sales
 Focus on the quality of your service rather than the
volume of your sale. Research show that it cost six
times more to attract new customers than to keep an
existing one.
 Assume That Customers Are Telling The Truth
 The majority of the customers do not like to complain;
in fact, they’ll go out of their way to avoid it.
 Make it Easy to Buy/Acquire Services
 Make the process simple and user-friendly 13

14. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Always Remember:
In your dealings with customer, be the one to initiate honest,
respectful and thoughtful communication. Because to them, you
not only represent the company….YOU ARE THE COMPANY
Step One: Saying what you mean and meaning
what you say
The message has to get across the way you mean it; otherwise you
may not get a second chance.
How to do it:
- Choose the right words
- Make sure the voice tone fits the message
- Adding welcome words
- Keeping business conversation professional
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15. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Step Two: Asking the Right Questions
We ask questions for many reasons. Customers
ask questions to figure out how to solve a
problem or raise a concern.
Use Open-Ended Questions: This requires more
than a yes or no answer and encourage the
customer to give you more information
• Keep your question simple
• Take time to understand the customer’s
question first before providing an answer
• Try to give more than one word answer
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16. CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION
Step Three: When the Customer Says “No”
Always do what is right for the customers and uncover the reason for objections,
even if you have offered a valid solution and the customer still says “no”
 Listen to the customer’s objection: Understand the reason/s behind the
customer objection by asking a combination of open and closed questions.
 Acknowledge the objections: Validate the customer’s reason, then respond
with a positive statement. Empathize with customer’s objection, but make
sure you put additional benefit to the solution you proposed.
 Follow-up with a questions: Make follow-up questions to validate or clarify if
the customer agrees with your proposal or has the understanding of your
recommendations.
 Consider the customer’s response: The customer’s response will determine if
you successfully made the customer believe in you.
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17. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Step Four: Active Listening
Focus on the Message: Pay complete attention to
the customer while he/she is speaking. Do not
think of any response yet while the customer is
talking.
Remain Objective: Gather all relevant information,
and paraphrase the customer’s words and ask
more questions to clarify.
Consider the Customer’s Answer: The customer’s
response will determine if you successfully made
the customer believe in you.
Listen to What Is Not Said: Pay attention to your
customer’s body language and expression. 17

18. RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
To provide the best possible service, you must get close to your customers by
building a strong relationship with them:
 Establishing Rapport: It begins the moment you start communicating with
your customers.
 Interacting Positively: Be helpful, committed, credible, and believe in the
quality of your services.
 Identifying Customer Needs: Ask questions, summarize customer’s needs,
recommend solutions, and handle objections.
 Making the Customers Feel Valued: Be reliable and committed to your
customers, validate their decisions, instill positive feelings.
 Maintaining Ongoing Relationships: Learn and remember something
personal about your customers, and their preferences.
 Handling Different Types of Customers: Customers are individuals who have
different styles and point of views. Learn how to identify their individual
styles.
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19. Redesign the business from the customer back
• Focus on improving the most important
customer journey first
• Improve the steps that make up that journey.
• Manage expectations
• Design supporting processes with
customer psychology in mind
• Remove pain points in interactions
• Set in motion the culture of continuous
innovation
NEW BUSINESS APPROACH
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20. Even if employees execute well on individual
touchpoint interactions, the overall
experience can still disappoint
Quantify what matters to your customers.
Customers hold companies to high standards
for product quality, service performance, and
price.
NEW BUSINESS APPROACH
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21. Establish metrics that capture customer feedback
• Key to satisfying customers is not just to measure what
happens but also to use the data to drive action
throughout the organization. The type of metric used
less important than the way it is applied
• Start at the top, with a metric to measure the
experience, and then cascade downward into key
customer journeys and performance indicators, taking
advantage of employee feedback to identify
improvement opportunities
• Build an explicit link to value creation by defining the
outcomes that really matter, analyzing historical
performance of satisfied and dissatisfied customers,
focusing on customer satisfaction issues with the
highest payouts. This requires discipline and patience,
but the result will be early wins that will build
confidence within the organization and momentum to
innovate further.
NEW BUSINESS APPROACH
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22. CONCLUSION
Perfecting the customer
experience is a bit of an art
and a science; and an effort
that will never end. While
striving to ensure that you and
your employees, processes,
messaging in and place are all
designed and delivering
exceptional experiences; be
sure to innovate to keep
relevant. While venues,
technology and society are
ever evolving, we will always
be human and the standards
that humans desire will neve
change.
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23. OPEN FLOOR
DISCUSSION
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24. CONCLUSION
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