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<\/strong><\/p>\n1. Provide Ongoing Learning<\/strong> \u2013 It\u2019s important that you not only provide training on organizational policies and technology, but also how to handle customers.<\/p>\n Create an ongoing system for training and feedback. Request continuous feedback and have the \u201ccourage to listen\u201d to your customer service team\u2019s responses. Your customer service team members, because they are on the frontline, can provide you with excellent information on how to service your customer.<\/p>\n Market conditions are changing all the time and the one piece of information your customer service team can share with you can make the difference between success and failure. After receiving the information from your customer service rep, if necessary, provide the training to your customer service team so that they can provide outstanding customer service.<\/p>\n 2. Adjust the Attitude<\/strong> \u2013 Constantly work on your own attitude and your team\u2019s attitude to providing outstanding customer service. As a customer service leader, always be aware of the tone you set and how your customer service team will be motivated by your attitude.<\/p>\n If you are upbeat, your team will follow the lead and provide outstanding customer service. If you have a negative attitude, your customer service team will follow your lead and communicate this negative attitude to the customers they serve.<\/p>\n Work with your customer service team members to create a positive attitude in the following ways:<\/p>\n * Look at every customer service experience as a learning experience that is preparing them for future opportunities.<\/p>\n * Put your team in the customer\u2019s shoes to understand the customer\u2019s \u201cpain\u201d and create empathy for outstanding customer service solutions<\/p>\n * Have your customer service team take on the persona of a positive individual they admire to help them through a difficult customer service situation.<\/p>\n * Create \u201cpositive triggers\u201d to remind your customer service team why it is important to give outstanding service. Your trigger could be as simple as a family picture or a picture of an item (new car, home, etc.) that is important to you.<\/p>\n 3. Give Incentives<\/strong> \u2013 Motivate your customer service team by giving incentives based on meeting your organization\u2019s mission, goals, and values. Be timely, fair, and public with your incentives. Also, when putting together an incentive program, ask your customer service team what they would like as incentives.<\/p>\n Many times organizations will invest thousands of dollars on incentives which are not the ones their customer service team wants. Just ask!<\/p>\n 4. Show Appreciation<\/strong> \u2013 Appreciate to motivate your customer service team as much as possible. Remember, many times they are facing very challenging customer service situations everyday. Keep them motivated by sharing your appreciation in a timely, sincere, fair, and encouraging way.<\/p>\n For more detail on this, go to my article, Appreciate to Motivate, on my website. By consistently showing appreciation, you will motivate your customer service team to excel when it is most difficult for them to do so.<\/p>\n 5. Support Outstanding Customer Service<\/strong> \u2013 Support and motivate your customer service team in a number of ways. You can support and motivate your customer service team by making sure the technology supports them and the customers.<\/p>\n For example, I recently called my internet broadband company about a mistake on a bill. The automated system disconnected my call five times before I finally spoke with a customer service representative; and I told him that he must experience many upset customers if they experience the same. The customer service representative agreed and said it made his job very difficult.<\/p>\n Support your customer service team by \u201ccheer leading\u201d their concerns to upper management. Champion their concerns to upper management and let your customer service team know the progress of each concern.<\/p>\n Support and motivate your customer service team by keeping standards high for customer service. When your organization is facing challenging times, it is very tempting to lower standards. That\u2019s the last action you should take. By lowering standards, you decrease customer satisfaction, increase customer service turnover, and muddy your organization\u2019s name in the marketplace.<\/p>\n Apply these customer service motivation secrets with your customer service team and you will have highly motivated customer service teams and happy customers, and your organization\u2019s bottom line will increase.<\/p>\n