Engage with Customers

Notes

13
ENGAGE WITH CUSTOMERS

For many organizations active and productive engagement of customers is a big

challenge. It involves additional effort, skill and design on top of keeping the business
running. However, many challenges businesses face can be resolved through better
relationships with customers enabled by engaging them at the right moment with the right
offer. Today's consumers, however are much more empowered than in the past and are
forcing companies to build plans that more perfectly cater to their actual wants and needs.
This means that businesses must start doing a lot more to ensure the customer experience
by living up to the demands of the modern consumer, both from a product perspective and,
importantly, a customer service viewpoint.

In this lesson, the details and best practices of customer engagement and interactions are
being discussed in detail. It will serve as a guide for employees who handle where
customer interaction and engagement.

OBJECTIVES

After reading this lesson you will be able to:

z effectively interact with the customer prior to the visit.

z explain customer's requirements prior to and on visit.

z suggest possible solutions for customers.

z understand the documentation process involved in customer engagement.

z improve productivity and quality based on customer feedback.

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13.1 INTERACTING WITH CUSTOMERS

Notes The way you interact with your customers will determine how your customers identify
you, your business and your products or services. It is important that you promote your
company at every turn and this does not necessarily only involve times when you are
meeting customers. Networking is something that you are doing every time you leave your
house, you should always be as prepared as possible for meeting prospective clients and
dealers. The interaction between a company and its customers is becoming more and more
important. Interacting with your customers can go a long way in not only helping you
develop your brand, but also in bringing in additional customers as well.
For effective engagement and interaction with customers, you need to look into following
aspects:
z Call the customer based on inputs logged into customer care
Check in the details of complaints, suggestions, feedbacks logged in by the customer.
Try to understand the customer profile. Call the customer and discuss with them all
the relevant issues with an open mind. A key element of delivering excellent customer
service is the way that you interact and communicate with your customers.
z Greet the customer and listen to their problems attentively
Greet customers in a courteous, friendly, and professional manner using agreed upon
procedures. Listen attentively to customer needs and concerns; demonstrate empathy.
Clarify customer requirements; probe for and confirm understanding of the problem
customer is facing. Avoid prejudice - think about the words you are hearing and not
the person saying them.
z Check with customer about time for visit, field work and confirm location
The customer visit should be well planned. There should be clear communication
with respect to the time of visit, place and date. Meeting space should be booked well
in advance. It’s always a good idea to communicate the agenda of the meeting well in
advance.
z Follow etiquette when interacting with customers
Everyone person who is supposed to interact with customers should be aware of
company policies regarding the same. People interacting with customers reflect the
image of the company. Give time to customer to explain the problem. Be patient
whenever you hear the same question again and again. Be responsible by taking the
responsibility for helping the customer.
z Seek feedback from customers after completion of work
Project feedbacks are often ignored by the vendors or project teams, which are valuable
in building a successful team and company. After completing each project, feedback
from the customers becomes a self- evaluating tool for the team, more often they
trigger process changes within the company. So for long term success of the
organization, seeking feedback from the customers is key aspect after completion of
the assigned task.

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13.2 UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER'S REQUIREMENTS

Understanding customer requirements is the first step towards customer satisfaction. Notes
Understanding user requirements is a difficult task in any Industry. More so in new age
technology driven companies, where the field is growing and customer expectations are
changing fast. Changing technology makes the process of satisfying customers more
difficult. Customer requirements are dynamic and can change very quickly depending on
market conditions, the economy, the competition, etc. Address your customers the way
they want to be perceived: as people who can be identified by names, phone numbers and
email addresses.

A business cannot survive without conducting ongoing efforts to better understand

customer needs. To discover if your product or service is having a positive effect and
creating customer loyalty, take time to determine your customer’s emotional and material
needs, then offer valuable incentives for remaining loyal to your company. Getting
customer feedback does not have to be expensive; from creating simple email surveys to
taking an extra minute to engage on the sales floor, you can learn a lot about what
customers want just by asking and listening. Also to learn more, you could even ask them
for a little bit of time just to fill out a questionnaire.

“What do our customers expect from us?” “What aspects of production could be changed
while not affecting the satisfaction level of customers?” These are the questions to ask
oneself when defining customer requirements and expectations. In our market-based
economy, there is nothing more important than satisfying customer expectaions and
establishing long-term business relationships with clients, which is why meeting or
exceeding the requirements of customers, with precision, time and time again, is essential
to a successful or flourishing enterprise.

Understanding the basic needs and a requirement of the customer is vital to managing a
successful business. It’s a competitive world out there, and attention to detail and being
helpful goes a long way. The needs and requirements for service and support differ greatly,
by customer, by site, by usage, and by many other aspects too numerous to mention.

For effective understanding of customer’s requirement, you need to look into following
aspects:

• Understand location requirements of customers.

The Customer Support Executive should ensure optimum operational performance
for hardware systems installed at the customers’ site. They deliver technical service
to customers including installation, relocation, repair and preventative maintenance.
They optimize system performance to minimize equipment downtime and ensure
maximum overall customer satisfaction.

z Seek inputs to understand symptoms for the problem faced

Seeking input from customers is an important component of effective customer service.
Take the time to ask questions. Give customers the opportunity to express their
opinions (both positive and negative) about the quality of the products and services.

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Use problem situations to obtain information from customers. A customer concern

or complaint is really just a request for action. If you seek inputs from the customer,
Notes the symptoms of the problems faced will be more clear.

z Ask open and close ended questions to understand the problem faced

Specific questions such as how or why questions, will invite positive interactions
and will lead to better understanding of problem faced by the customer. Open ended
questions are easy for the responder to answer and can lead to more specific questions.
Closed questions, which require only a simple yes or no answer, yield less but specific
information. Both are important and employees should develop the skill to ask right
questions for effective resolution of problems faced by the customer.

z Inform customer about the replacement or repair process

After a product or service is delivered to a customer, there are continued opportunities

to service the customer. This is a troubleshooting, repair and replacement, data
collection and communications activity. These services are critical to customer
satisfaction and provide excellent opportunities for long term engagement with
customers. Customers should be politely and clearly communicated about the
replacement or repair process if there are problems with the service or product being
delivered. Be clear about the relevant company policy and communicate the same to
the customer. Apologize for the issue if required.

z Enquire about warranty coverage

Customer relation executives should clearly understand the warranty clauses for
various products sold to the customers. They should enquire about the warranty
coverage from the customers. In case there is a mismatch in the customers version
and what the company policy is, the executive should inform the customer about it
and ask him for the next steps (paid visits, purchase, extended warranty) etc.

z Educate about other useful products and maintenance contract

While interacting with customers, it’s a good opportunity to educate them about
various other products of the organization without making it sound like a sales pitch.
Also inform them about the annual maintenance contract. These are agreements with
customers to maintain and service equipment located at customers end. Such
agreements are typically and preferably conveyed at the time the product is purchased.
Service may initially be provided without separate charge during the warranty period,
and then made available at pre-set rates in the years after any warranty has expired.

13.3 SUGGESTING SOLUTIONS

Customers, buyers and clients want to pay a fair price for quality service or products, and
feel satisfied they have paid for a service/product and received what they have paid for in
return. They also want someone to take care of them. They need someone to understand
their needs and help to answer them. Customer service starts with the ability to listen to
the customer and find out through polite questioning to know their expectations.

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Customer service and contact with a client mean that the customer will be heard and their
problems will not go unanswered or ignored. It also means getting to know your client,
likes-dislikes, ideas, background, etc. The other most important aspect to do is to listen to Notes
what the customer is saying. If people do not understand what is appealing the customer,
they will not be successful in handling them. Do research on customers, their habits, and
what they want and expect.

One commonality among all companies or organizations that provide good service is the
development of a system and attitude promoting customer friendly service. By “customer
friendly” we mean viewing the customer as the most important part of your job. The
saying, “The customer is always right” is derived from this customer friendly environment.
The two main tasks of successful customer relations are to communicate and develop
relationships. Positive dialogue/communication with your customers and developing
ongoing relationships with your customers are perhaps the two most important qualities
to strive for in customer service.

When a customer asks you to do something that you do not know how to do or do not have
the authority to do, become a facilitator by leading the customer to the person or
department who can help them is solving the problem. Many inexperienced customer
service representatives think by sympathizing with the customer’s trouble, he/she will win
over the customer rather than actually doing something to solve the customer’s problem.
If a customer expresses annoyance or frustration, do not make it worse by consoling with
him/her. Understand the customer problem but seek to solve the problem.

Suggesting appropriate solutions to customers takes some training and experience:

z Summarize the problem and suggest possible solutions

Summarize the problem in a problem statement and get it validated by the customer
so that its clears that you are solving the right problem.

If you can suggest a solution, do it. If not tell the customer what actions you will take
and what actions will follow. Never make the mistake of promising something you
are not able to do. Suggest the customer alternative solutions, if they exist. Customers
appreciate the opportunity to choose the ways of problem solving. Make sure that
the promised measures are taken. If you do not fulfill what was promised and ignore
the customer’s complaint, the problem will grow. Next time it will be more difficult
to solve.

Emphasizing what you can do for the customer and what’s unique about your solution
creates a perception of value that can raise your proposal above the rest, even if
other solutions might cost less.

z Inform customers whether module needs to be replaced or repaired

If the customer is facing problem with a particular product module which requires
replacement or repair, the customer service executive should apologize for the trouble
caused to the customer. Any such problem should be prioritized so that customer
feels comfortable. It should be resolved as soon as possible as it is impacting the
customer experience about the product as well as the organization.

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z Explain to the customer about repair process, time taken and charges if any

Notes Having good systems in place ensures repairs are carried out correctly, within a
reasonable time, and that the customer is kept informed. This is essential to ensuring
the customer has confidence in your work. Where there are no legal obligations,
offer a solution that in the circumstances best meets the needs of your business. For
example, if the law says a customer is entitled to a repair, you may be willing to offer
a replacement if that is what the customer wants and is not causing too much financial
burden.

z Seek customer’s approval for further service

If there are value added services, inform and educate the customer about it and the
applicable charges. Take customer’s approval before putting extra financial burden
on the customer. If the customer is not ready to take the additional services, do not
force the argument further.

13.4 COMPLETING DOCUMENTATION

z Provide note to customer and retain a copy

The executives dealing with customers must provide a detailed note to customers
about the problems and issues encountered by customer, what actions the company
has taken to rectify the problem and the cost involved which needs to be paid by the
customer. A copy of the same shall be retained by the company after taking signatures
from the customer.

z Provide invoice for purchased parts

Proper invoice and bills shall be provided to the customer for all the parts purchased
by the company or by the customer. It should include parts replaced or add on
components/parts purchased.

13.5 ACHIEVING PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY

z Interact with customers within specified time agreements

Every company has a detailed policy on customer interaction, clearly outlining the
timelines for servicing a customer initiated complaint in Service Level Agreement
(SLA). It’s a major objective for quality improvement for customer service agreement
and must be tracked properly for improving the customer experience.

z Identify the customer’s requirement and available resources

For new customers, the requirements shall be accurately identified to streamline the
purchase process and enhance customer experience. Also executives shall be able to
identify the resources and records at their end to let the customers know about the
availability and timelines in a crisp manner.

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z Accurately assess the problem and suggest solutions

Understanding the customer viewpoint on problems faced by him is very important
to serve and suggest the possible solutions. It goes a long way to establish a relationship Notes
with customers. So the quality matrix must ensure that this assessment is properly
measured.
z Communicate problem effectively
Customer executives not only need to assess the problem faced by customer but also
need to communicate their understanding back to customer. A clearly understood
problem wins customer’s confidence, so it’s an important measure of quality for
customer service executives.
z Gauge customer satisfaction during service visits
A cordial discussion with customer regarding location, placement and other details
about the module or equipment (product) sold to customer is important to understand
their satisfaction with the product as well as service being provided.
z Achieve good feedback and customer satisfaction
Every organization must strive hard to achieve 100% customer satisfaction and good
feedback from the customers. It is important to win new clients for your products
and services. It gives you a good starting point to sell your services and products to
new customers.

13.6 KNOW ABOUT YOUR COMPANY

From organizational perspective, the concerned individuals dealing with customers
should be aware of following aspects:
z Company’s policies on customer care
Every organization has clearly defined policies on how a customer service executive
should deal with customers. Customer service executives as well as all those people
who need to deal with customers like marketing executives should be aware of the
company policy regarding the same.
z Company’s code of conduct
Employees should be aware of company’s code of conduct, both in terms of internal
code of conduct and external code of conduct.
z Organization culture and typical customer profile
Employees should be well versed with the organization culture and values. They
should also be acquainted about the typical customer profile to serve them better.
z Company’s reporting structure
Employees should know the reporting structure of the organization in order to escalate
the matters which need immediate attention.

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z Company’s documentation policy

Employees should be properly trained in documentation policy being followed by the
Notes organization vis-a-vis engagement with customers and clients. This is very handy in
case of issues arising at a future date.
From technical knowledge perspective, the concerned individuals requiring customer
engagement roles should be aware of following aspects:
z Companies products and recurring problems reported
Executives should be thoroughly aware of the products being sold by the company.
They should also know about the recurring problems faced by many different
customers and should suggest appropriate feedback for such issues to the satisfaction
of customers.
z Communication etiquettes
Customer service executives should be well trained in the etiquettes of communication
with customers. They should be polite and good listeners. They should empathize
with customers in case of severe problems faced by them.
z Functionalities of various parts and modules
Customer service executives should be aware of various functions being performed
by the modules and different parts of the system or product being sold to the customer.
z Behavioral aspects at customers premise
Customer service executives dealing with on the field roles, should be well behaved
and should interact with customers in a cordial manner whenever they are visiting
the customer premise.
z Precautions to be taken while dealing with customers
Many a times, executives are faced with rowdy customers or phone calls. They
should be patient and be well trained to take appropriate precautions while handling
such calls or customers.
z Appropriate reference sheets and manuals
Field service executives should carry appropriate reference sheets, manuals and other
relevant documents at customer location which can make their task much easier.

13.7 SKILLS
Apart from important aspects as discussed in above sections while engaging with
customers, there are certain generic and professional skills which can enhance the
customer experience and engagement further.

z Generic Skills
Field executives dealing with customers should be able to read the product and module
serial numbers and interpret the details like manufacturing date, model number etc.
in an easy and fluid way. They should be able to document the issues on job sheet and
also enter the details of work being done.

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z Professional Skills
Professional skills include interpersonal skills which will help in developing the rapport
with the customers. It improves the listening capabilities and executives are more Notes
aware about the problems and possible solutions. Communication skills are very
important in order to seek inputs and assess the problem, making customer bit more
relaxed about the issues and informing them about the contractual obligations in an
easy manner. Behavioral skills include personal grooming, etiquettes on maintaining
appropriate physical distance during conversation, being patient and courteous with
customers. Decision making skills are also very important in situations where
supervisor is not available or customer is being restless.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 13.1

1. Which of the following is important for good customer engagement?

A. Understand the issues faced by customer

B. Speaking without listening
C. Having dinner with customer
D. Suggest problems at customer's end

2. Documentation is important for customer initiated complaints because:

A. It creates an agreed upon reasons, solutions and cost to customer

B. It gives promotion to customer service executives
C. Customers always lie
D. Customer service executives always lie

3. Which of the following is not a professional skill required for customer engagement:

A. Interpersonal skill
B. Communication skill
C. Decision making skill
D. Computer Programming

4. Service Level Agreement (SLA) contains:

A. Details of products or modules

B. Timelines to close service requests from customers
C. Costing for the product
D. Competitors details

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5. Suggesting solutions does NOT include:

A. Summarize the problem

Notes
B. Suggest possible solutions

C. Explain time required to rectify the problem

D. Companies policy on customer care

WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT

In this lesson you have learnt about important skills required for effective and long term
engagement with customer which are required to enhance customer delight and cause
repeated business opportunities for the organization. You have also learnt
z effectively interact with customers
z understanding customer's requirements
z to suggest possible solutions to customer's issues
z the importance of documentation in customer dealings
z the importance of company policies and processes
z various professional skills required for efficient delivery of customer service

TERMINAL EXERCISE
1. Suggest important ways in which customer service executives should interact with
customers.
2. What best practices should be followed while suggesting solutions to the customers.
3. Elaborate four professional skills which are required for effective customer
engagement.
4. What is the importance of documentation while dealing with customer initiated
complaints or requests?

ANSWERS TO INTEXT QUESTIONS

13.1
1. A 2. A 3. D 4. B 5. D

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