A recent study conducted by a top research firm * shows that there is still a lot of room for improvement in customer satisfaction and loyalty with the average U.S. consumer. Key findings include:

• In 2004, only three out of five customers (59%) were satisfied with the response they received when contacting a company for assistance.
• Only half (50%) of customers calling into a U.S. company are likely to purchase additional products and/or services from the company they contacted.
• Customer loyalty drops by 76 percentage points when a contactor is less than satisfied with the response he or she receives.

Superior Customer Service Management Is The Key To Company Success

The primary job of a Customer Service supervisor is to get positive results by planning, delegating, and monitoring the work of the people who report to him or her. A supervisor’s responsibilities may include: planning, delegating, instructing, problem solving, staffing, training, allocating resources, budgeting, motivating, monitoring, and improving both people and the processes of the department.

Today, many Customer Service managers and supervisors are promoted to their positions primarily because they have demonstrated technical proficiency or have seniority.

Unfortunately, after getting the job, they soon realize is that technical proficiency or seniority alone does not prepare a person to direct others. It takes a whole different set of skills that can’t usually be “learned” in school. It takes strong and positive “people skills” that accomplishes company or department goals by building effective relationships with staff members.

After discussing the subject with hundreds of customer service management participants at our seminars, conferences and workshops, here are the Top Ten Mistakes that even veteran Customer Service supervisors make on the job (in no particular order):

1. Not creating a positive work climate: using criticism and fear as a way to control employee behavior; demonstrating no tolerance for humor or playfulness; no celebrations of work well done; and no respect for employee input
2. Not seeing the ‘Big’ picture: keeping a narrow focus only on his or her area not sensitive to his or her manager’s priorities and goals not getting all the facts, data, or information in a situation not keeping his or her boss informed not keeping employees informed
3. Not open to feedback: not seeking feedback on his or her performance as a manager; not seeking feedback on projects, products, or services; gets defensive when someone (boss, customer, colleague, employee) is critical of his or her performance
4. Focus on personalities rather than performance: shows favoritism towards certain employees; sets one worker against another; overlooks performance problems with employees he or she likes
5. Not treating employees as individuals: employees treated as interchangeable parts; individual strengths not a consideration when assigning tasks; does not provide developmental opportunities for CSRs; no flexibility when dealing with employee requests
6. Focus only on employee mistakes: no positive feedback provided; no recognition for employee achievements; never “catches” employees doing something right and then praising them for it
7. Not communicating: assuming that employees understand without checking to be sure; not clarifying project goals; delegating responsibilities without the authority to fulfill them; giving mixed messages
8. Continue to deal with employees as co-workers: needs to be liked and accepted as “one of the guys”; not taking responsibility for discipline; too lax in maintaining standards
9. Ignoring internal or external customers: not following up on product or service to ensure quality; not actively seeking customer feedback; not responding to customer feedback; not a ‘team’ player with other departments
10. Not keeping his or her life in balance: not managing the additional stress of supervisory responsibility; getting consumed and overwhelmed by work; taking employee problems personally; not taking time off to recharge

How To Eliminate – Or Overcome – Customer Service Supervisory Mistakes

Fortunately, it’s not difficult for customer service managers and supervisors to avoid making mistakes like the ones we’ve described above. All it takes are an open mind and a few changes in your behavior:

• Actively look for employees doing something good
• Always recognize an employee when they do a good job, at the time it happens
• Express appreciation when an employee puts in extra effort, at the time it happens
• Link what is being recognized to good job performance
• Address performance problems when you first notice them, don’t let them accumulate
• Get employees involved in developing their performance improvement plan
• Develop solutions with those affected rather than take unilateral action
• Encourage employees to recognize each other for outstanding performance

Whenever workers are polled for what factors encourage them to stay with a job, or what they are looking for in a new job situation, one factor is consistently near, or at the top of the list. It is having a boss who respects them as an individual, recognizes their efforts, helps them develop, listens to their ideas, and treats them fairly.

Customer Service supervisors are in a unique position to provide these key elements of job satisfaction to their employees. The payoff is that the supervisor will have a team of dedicated, highly motivated, and high performing employees that can overcome any workplace challenge.

* Portland Research Group survey on U.S. call centers, 6/1/05