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101 Ways to Improve Customer Service
Pfeiffer
800-274-4434
www.pfeiffer.com
Reviewed By: Kim Neubauer
I expect a lot from Pfeiffer, a company that has produced many valuable resources for human resources practitioners. I was impressed with the background of best-selling author of 101 Ways to Improve Customer Service by Lorraine L. Ukens, and her contributions to the field. When I found a training design that I can use in my work, I decided that the book could serve other training professionals as well.
101 Ways to Improve Customer Service is full of resources to improve frontline employees’ ability to provide exceptional customer service. It is organized into six sections: Awareness, Communication, Planning, Problem-Solving, Quality and Teamwork.
Each section contains several training designs as well as tools (questionnaires, checklists, etc.), tips (ideas and recommended actions), and techniques (guidelines, models, and strategies). In addition, the author suggests both print and website resources for further information.
A nice complement to the book is the accompanying CD, which enables the reader to print clean copies of the handouts, worksheets, and other documents featured in the book. The reader may also click on links to the websites of relevant organizations such as ASTD, ISPI, and SHRM.
This collection has notable strengths:
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Trainings have catchy titles
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Most require only basic supplies, a worksheet or handout.
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Timeframes are short enough to fit into a meeting or to stand alone.
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Designs are straightforward enough for managers, team leaders and other non-trainers to understand and use.
Almost all designs start with forming subgroups of three to eight individuals for an activity, followed by a large-group discussion. Exceptions include a scripted roleplay, the Nominal Group Technique, and an obstacle course to be conducted with an intact work group of eight to 12 participants.
Ukens is clear and right on the mark in her statements of need, which open each section and are the rationale for the resources that follow. She provides multiple training options, ideas, and information to address the competencies necessary for excellence in customer service. Readers can zero in on areas of interest and immediately find practical applications.
Some of the techniques offer very useful information, for example, how to reduce misunderstandings when a customer isn’t paying close enough attention, how to give and receive effective feedback, and how to negotiate a win-win solution. “Actions” include ways to improve mental flexibility, open one’s mind, and reduce stress.
A few designs are excellent in their creativity, construction, and debriefing discussions. In "On Course,” the author offers appropriate cautions for both physical and emotional safety. It is helpful when the author suggests examples of the kind of learning to draw out of the discussion.
101 Ways to Improve Customer Service is priced comparably to similar collections. It is a huge 366-page paperback book with a wealth of content.
Its layout, however, reminded me of an elementary school friend of mine. Martha always exceeded the page requirements of school assignments with her large, sprawling handwriting. The book's Contents alone takes up 18 pages! The "Topical Index of Interventions" adds another three pages. A tip for international communications makes one point on two mostly empty pages: avoid slang, buzzwords, and clichés.
Although simplicity is a notable strength of this collection, it also has its downside. A simple training design or discussion question sometimes raises serious issues. In Stressing the Positive, for instance, trainees check off applicable factors that contribute to stress in their workplace. The subsequent discussion elicits each factor’s cause and what the trainees can do to correct it.
I question the potential consequences of discussing reasons or solutions for “a lack of direction,” “too much direction,” “lack of performance feedback,” and “incompetent or unmotivated people.” There is no mention of whether a manager should or should not be in the room during the discussion.
I found many debriefing questions that leaped far beyond the activity or prior discussion. In "It’s a Jungle Out There," trainees prepare a list of positive and negative traits that describe animals. The author says participants should be asked how closely their descriptions match those of others.
Trainees are then asked how they would relate this to stereotyping people. Personally, I would not know how to go from describing and comparing animal pictures to stereotyping people.
Some discussion questions relate to the exercise but not to the learning goal. The goal of “Tongue-Tying Twisters" is “to communicate clearly and precisely through voice and diction.” After repeating tongue twisters individually and as a group, trainees are asked how it “can…be related to the importance of teamwork in customer service.”
Recommendation
The sheer number of activities, tips, and techniques in 101 Ways to Improve Customer Service provides something for almost anyone in any customer service setting. The simplicity of the activities and discussion questions allows trainers and non-trainers alike the use the book successfully. I recommend this resource to facilitators who prefer simplicity to depth of learning and who are able to modify the discussion questions as needed to improve the flow and probability of meeting their learning objectives
Overall rating: 3.0 out of 4.0
Note: ratings use a four-point scale, with 4.0 the highest rating and 1.0 the lowest.
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