FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August, 2007
Contact: John Tschohl
E-mail: quality@servicequality.com
Web: www.customer-service.com
(952) 884-3311Note to Editor: Feel free to use all or parts of this news release. John Tschohl also is available for personal interviews.
NEW TRAINING PROGRAM
FOCUSES ON SPEED
by John Tschohl
“Do it fast, do it now—and do it right.”
That’s the message behind a new customer service training program developed by the Service Quality Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “Everyone—the customers, the boss, and the employees—value speed,” says international service strategist John Tschohl, founder and president of the Service Quality Institute and author of several books on customer service. “Once you have mastered speed, you will destroy your competition.”
Tschohl has been developing and delivering customer service training programs for more than three decades to clients throughout the world. Exceptional service, driven by accuracy and speed, he says, is what differentiates customer service leaders from their competitors. “Speed means dramatically reducing the amount of time needed to complete any task by altering factors such as your mindset, empowerment, and organizational policies and systems,” Tschohl says. “You must determine a deadline for a project—and then aggressively work to beat it. If a task normally takes one hour, do it in 10 minutes. If a project normally takes six days to complete, do it in two.”
Speed, Tschohl adds, is exceptional service, and exceptional service leads to customer loyalty and increased sales and profits. Speed is good for the organization—and for the employee. “Speed positions the organization as a service leader, signifying to customers that they are so important that you will over deliver on your promises—that you will do so quickly but not at the expense of quality,” he says. “Speed also positions employees as leaders and role models within the organization and improves their chances of being promoted.”
Tschohl cites Amazon.com, Federal Express and Dell as three companies that built their reputations on speed. “They have mastered speed; they are the best of the best,” he says. “Amazon.com processes millions of orders every year—with speed and accuracy. Federal Express built its business by focusing on people who procrastinate, who put off the completion of projects until the last minute and then need to have deliveries made within 24 hours. Dell Computer, which industry surveys have consistently ranked number one in service and customer satisfaction, makes custom computers and ships them within four hours of receiving an order.”
Focusing on speed, however, also means dealing with external barriers such as issues with vendors, organizational policies and procedures, and faulty systems that can put the brakes on a task or project. “Organizational policies and procedures are security blankets for people who fear making empowered decisions,” Tschohl says. “They give employees an ‘out’ in the decision-making process and allow them to regress to the safer and more comfortable mindset of ‘slow.’ They eliminate the need for employees to think and to make decisions that increase and support efficiency.”
Internal barriers include an employee’s mindset or lack of empowerment to make decisions to satisfy the customer. “Taking things slow and easy is less risky and more comfortable for most employees,” Tschohl says. “Encourage them to do things quickly, without sacrificing accuracy, and let them know that you will not penalize them if they make a mistake while serving the customer.”
Empowerment not only is a key to providing exceptional service, Tschohl says, it is a critical element of the Service Quality Institute’s Speed training program, which examines the purpose of speed, the barriers to speed, and ways to increase speed. “Speed hinges on empowered employees making empowered decisions,” he says. “When you do things quickly and accurately, it tells clients, customers, and coworkers that you value them.”
The goal of the Service Quality Institute’s new Speed program is to encourage organizations to dramatically beat a deadline. “Speed saves your customers time and saves you and your business time and money,” Tschohl says. “Speed builds a perception of leadership that sets you apart from the pack.”
John Tschohl is an international service strategist and speaker. Described by Time and Entrepreneur magazines as a “customer service guru,” he has written several books on customer service, including Loyal For Life, e-Service, Achieving Excellence Through Customers Service, The Customer is Boss, and Ca$hing In: Make More Money, Get a Promotion, Love Your Job.
You can contact John at 952-884-3311 or e-mail him at quality@servicequality.com .