• "To give real service, you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity." - Donald Adams

• 1001 Ways to Reward Employees Author: Bob Nelson. Publisher: Workman Publishing. Lots of low cost ideas and case studies on how to reward and motivate you most important asset.

• http://www.toolkit.cch.com/tools/tools.asp Rather than having to create business forms from scratch, this site has free downloads of a variety of document templates.
  

When I first arrived in Western Australia back in 1982, I was intrigued by the common use of the phrases "thank you for returning my call" or "thanks for calling back". I was also impressed as I thought it was a local ‘cultural’ common courtesy. It took some time to realise that the main reason for people saying thank you was because returning telephone calls was obviously not the number one habit of many business people, let alone returning the call promptly. As returning telephone calls were not the norm, the mere fact that I had was greatly appreciated.

To this day, the non-returning or tardy returning of telephone calls remains one of the most blatant demonstrations of poor customer service in business today. Not only is it downright unprofessional, it’s just plain bad manners.

My further observation is that the worst offenders are usually senior managers. In fact it is tempting to suggest that the chance of having your telephone call returned is inversely proportional to how high up the corporate ladder your intended contact is.

And yet some of the busiest and most successful people I know are meticulous in attending to returning telephone calls as quickly as possible. They realise that the prompt return of a telephone call is not only a simple way of demonstrating how much they care, but recognition that the customer is the reason for their business’ existence.

How and when return telephone calls are to be handled should be clearly stated in your Customer Service Charter that we discussed in newsletter number two. The stated response time will vary between industries and professions, however the absolute maximum response time is 24 hours. If for some reason, returning a call within this time frame is not possible, then it is vitally important for you to arrange some else to get a message to the caller saying that there will be a delay in their call being returned.

The ideal response time is during the same business time period. This means if you receive a call in the morning, then it is desirable that you return the call before noon. If it’s in the afternoon, return the call before the usual close of business.

If you know that you will be away from your telephone for an extended period of time, again make arrangements for callers to be advised of this. People generally are more tolerant of waiting if they have been advised in advance.

John McGrath of Sydney Real Estate fame employs a slightly different method of returning telephone calls, which may be worth consideration for those of you with extremely busy schedules. John does not accept telephone calls in the mornings, as he has determined that he needs this time to attend to the future development of his business. Callers however are clearly advised that John will return their calls after 1 o’clock. To ensure this happens, he blocks out a time in his diary each afternoon solely for the purpose of returning telephone calls.

Another problem, which is of growing concern in many organisations, is the practice of sending an internal email, rather than a written note, to advise a colleague that a customer has called. As more and more of us suffer from email overload, this practice greatly increases the delay time in which telephone calls are returned. My advice is to refrain from adopting this practice.

Another reason why this practice is being implemented is because many businesses have done away with traditional receptionists and telephonists necessitating all members of staff, no matter who or where they are, to answer incoming calls. This is another example of economic rationalism gone mad. BRING BACK your receptionist and you’ll be amazed at the results. They are worth their weight in gold.

Until next week, many happy customer returns!

Graham Harvey APS

Previous newsletters available at www.grahamharvey.com.au/Articles/

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