Tyler Watson

Put yourself in situations that feel uncomfortable, but are net neutral to your life. For instance, sing karaoke in front of strangers if you can’t sing. Walk up and talk to a group of smokers if you don’t smoke. Join in on a line dance at Texas Roadhouse if you’re a terrible dancer. When you live to tell the tale a few times over, you’ll realize confidence is something you’re thinking about more than the person you’re talking to is.

Up- and cross-selling are the transitions from what your customer thought they needed to solutions for problems they likely don’t know you can help them with. Curiosity is the most important skill a salesperson can possess. You may lack confidence now, but curiosity is comforting when people are seeking help. Ask questions with genuine intent and be honest about what you cannot do. That vulnerability coupled with intentional curiosity is going to show your customer that you’re seeking to understand them, their obstacles and precisely where you can intervene to make life easier for them.

Accessibility tools are right at your fingertips. Having these readily available on all CS devices is a great way to show your consumers with disabilities that your company is proactive in its approach to accommodate them.

Having the folks who consistently underachieve shadow department leaders in areas such as Operations, Sales and Marketing is a great way to show them how critical their part in the process truly is as a front line ambassador representing the organization as a whole.

Create incentives for CS team members who consistently exceed the standards. This could be in the form of top notch secret shop results, positive consumer survey feedback, customer compliments, etc.

Identify a customer service champion within your organization, but external to the CS team. Sales and business development leaders are oftentimes great candidates for this. Have these individuals conduct secret shops on your CS team and determine whether the established CS process is being followed consistently. Allow them to present their findings publicly without calling individuals out. If you don’t already have one, a grading scale for each interaction will create goalposts going forward. You should use these to survey your customers going forward.