Hi everyone.

Just a quick note to say that CallCentreVoice is supporting the Customer Service Week, which runs from October 7-11 this year.

Each year during the first week in October, thousands of customer service, call center and help desk professionals celebrate Customer Service Week. It’s devoted to recognising the importance of customer service and honoring the people on the front lines of the service revolution.

Now in its 11th year, it's not too late for your organisation to be involved:

Click this link to find out more and get involved!

John

Customer service professionals around the country are gearing up to celebrate Customer Service Week, October 7 - 11, 2002.

Customer Service Week is an international event celebrated by thousands of world-class companies to honor the contributions of their frontline service reps in customer service, contact centers and help desks. CS Week was begun in 1988. In 1992 the U.S. Congress proclaimed CS Week a nationally recognized event.

According to the Customer Service Newsletter, employee satisfaction and motivation drives as much as 40% to 50% of the margin fluctuations of a company’s profits. While CSRs don’t account for this entire amount, they do have a direct impact on profitability by satisfying and retaining customers.

Recognition is a cost-effective way to motivate. That doesn’t mean that huge raises or bonuses will motivate and satisfy reps. In fact, most experts agree that recognition
and appreciation create greater increases in employee satisfaction than cash does.

What better way to recognize and appreciate than to celebrate Customer Service Week?

About $30 per rep (the average amount spent during Customer Service Week according to The Customer Service Group survey), will raise morale by recognizing the contributions reps make to the bottom line.

Customer Service Week is the perfect time to focus on these five goals:

·Boosting morale, motivation and teamwork in your customer service
department.

·Rewarding your reps for the important work they do all year long.

·Raising companywide awareness of the important role customer
service plays in your company’s success.

·Thanking other departments for their yearlong support.

·And most importantly… Letting your customers know that your company is committed to customer satisfaction.

Customer Service Week festivities can include recognition awards, parties, luncheons, decorations, presentations by upper management, gifts or tokens of appreciation, contests and more. “Employees thrive on rewards and recognition. When you use Customer Service Week to recognize your valuable frontline staff, enthusiasm and self-esteem soars. The benefits last well beyond one week,” says Mary Dalessandro of The Customer Service Group.

The Customer Service Group is a leader in promoting Customer Service Week, and, since 1991, has created a new theme and logo each year, as well as an assortment of official celebration support materials.

For free Countdown to CS Week email bulletins, including planning information, calculators and worksheets, plus a full range of celebration materials, logon to http://www.CSWeek.com.

By Mary Katherine Moore, The Customer Service Group

Low pay, long hours and repetitive work. In many customer service centers across the nation, this is the formula for CSR burnout. A solution? Many customer service managers turn to recognition and reward programs to motivate their agents.

Recognition, say managers, give reps an extra boost to help them maintain their effectiveness. Agents who receive regular recognition for their efforts not only feel better about the company, but they also feel better about themselves — and will put forth extra effort. The more you can do to make agents feel sincerely appreciated, the more likely they are to stay with you and go the extra mile when required.

Before you rush to set up a recognition and reward program, make sure that there are not deeper problems in your department that are causing rep burnout. The best motivation programs are layered onto a working atmosphere that already gives reps a feeling that they are appreciated, a sense of empowerment, a pleasant work environment, fulfilling and challenging work, opportunities to enhance their careers, training and education, and management support. You want your employees to “buy-in” not be “bought-off” by a recognition and reward program.

To find out what kind of program will best motivate employees, managers should utilize the same techniques they practice with their customers: ask them what they value.

For example, when planning for an event like Customer Service Week http://www.CSWeek.com, you might let employees know that the week is coming up in October and ask them how they would like to celebrate. Give them suggestions — additional training, a picnic, some bonus time off, some bonus money. You might be surprised at the answers! Instead of just ideas for parties and events, you might hear things like “I’d like a new pencil sharpener, the one I have doesn’t work.”

Use these guidelines as a starting point for a new program or to breathe new life into an old program.

1. Set goals. Hold discussions to determine your top goals for the department. Get buy-in from your CSRs to find our if these goals are worth achieving.

2. Get to know your CSRs. What do they want? Time off? An award?

3. Make the criteria for achieving the reward clear. Be sure everyone understands the rules. If you design your program poorly, don’t penalize CSRs by changing the rules mid-stream.

4. Work your program into behaviors and practices. Determine what it is that you want your CSRs to do more of and then design a program that focuses on these activities. Also make sure that anyone can win the incentive. For example, if only 10 percent of CSRs have a chance to win, the other 90 percent will be demotivated. By the same token, make sure you reward your top performers appropriately. Recognize your top performers differently that those who just met the basic requirements of the program.

5. Do what you say you are going to do. If you announce a program, make sure you follow through on all of the specifics. Not keeping your word will demotivate your CSRs and virtually guarantee that your next program will fail.

6. Be sincere. Your CSRs need to feel that you sincerely appreciate their efforts and value their contributions.

7. Re-energize your program. Take time to evaluate what’s working and what’s not working. Do more of what works with your CSRs.

The primary thing to keep in mind with any recognition program is to make the person feel special. People like to be recognized, and they like to be recognized in front of their peers. If you deliver an award in private with no fanfare, that person won’t feel special at all. During Customer Service Week, plan an awards ceremony for your reps that takes place in front of the whole company. Also, put a notice in the company newsletter and send a memo to upper management.

No matter how small the prize, it is the thought that counts! Picture this... the president of a company took his private jet and flew to one of his company outposts to present an award to an employee during Customer Service Week. The award doesn’t mean as much as the fact that the president took the time and effort to award it personally. When presenting awards, have the “highest-ranking” employee of your company present the award. Or, at least ask the president or CEO to attend the presentation.

For more information on how to boost morale and motivation during Customer Service Week (October 7 - 11, 2002), logon to http://www.CSWeek.com for planning tips, budget calculators, event ideas and celebration materials.

Reprinted by permission of Customer Service Newsletter

© 2002 Alexander Communications Group, Inc. All rights reserved.