CDaespbiraan S Wteovoednss Keep them b coming back r i l l i for more. a n t Brilliant Customer Service is your guide to help you deliver exceptional customer C Customer service and keep your customers coming back time and time and again. It’s u for anyone involved in any organisation – whether you run your own business, s manage people or you are a customer facing employee. It doesn’t matter what your budget is, you’ll find lots of simple changes you can implement right now to t o build a highly successful customer service strategy. m e BRILLIANT OUTCOMES r Service • Identify your customers real needs and how best S to meet them e • Build trust and long term loyalty with your r customers to stay ahead of the competition v • Make sure you are remembered and recommended i c e S t e £12.99 v business e n s Visit us on the web www.pearson-books.com CVR_STEV8077_01_SE_CVR.indd 1 7/10/10 11:54:29 brilliant customer service brilliant customer service Debra Stevens Pearson education Limited edinburgh Gate Harlow cm20 2Je tel: 144 (0)1279 623623 Fax: 144 (0)1279 431059 Website: www.pearsoned.co.uk First published in Great Britain in 2010 © Pearson education Limited 2010 the right of debra stevens to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the copyright, designs and Patents act 1988. Pearson education is not responsible for the content of third party internet sites. isBn: 978-0-273-73807-7 British Library cataloguing-in-Publication data a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of congress cataloging-in-Publication data stevens, debra. Brilliant customer service / debra stevens. p. cm. includes bibliographical references and index. isBn 978-0-273-73807-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. customer relations. 2. customer services. i. title. HF5415.5.s7376 2010 658.8'12--dc22 2010033868 all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in the united Kingdom issued by the copyright Licensing agency Ltd, saffron House, 6–10 Kirby street, London ec1n 8ts. this book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, without the prior consent of the Publishers. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 14 13 12 11 10 typeset in Plantin regular 10/14pt by 3 Printed by Henry Ling Limited, at the dorset Press, dorchester, dt1 1Hd I dedicate this book to all my customers; they have taught me more about brilliant customer service than any books I have read or research I have done. I have learned from their example, and their high expectations have resulted in me having to raise my game. Without my customers I wouldn’t have written this book. And to my beautiful daughter Emily. Contents about the author ix acknowledgements xi introduction xiii 1 Customers have changed 1 2 The cornerstones of brilliant customer service 9 3 Make ‘virtual’ service brilliant customer service 47 4 Use the ‘emotional scale’ to create loyalty and trust 61 5 Read between the lines – silence is never golden! 81 6 How to handle any complaint 99 7 How to say ‘no’ and still keep the customer 129 8 How to offer more 143 9 Seven ways to ‘wow’ your customers 157 conclusion 179 index 181 About the author Debra Stevens is a successful trainer and speaker with over 15 years’ experience of training people at all levels to improve their customers’ experience. she is the founder of sold out trainers, a highly successful experiential training company specialising in facilitating behavioural change in all aspects of dealings with people whether in customer service, sales, management or with colleagues and team mates. debra has run her own successful small business for 14 years using the principles of Brilliant Customer Service to create successful partnerships with com- panies such as royal caribbean cruise Lines, Penguin Books, carlsberg, coke and the royal Bank of scotland. debra would love to hear from readers with any comments, feedback and especially examples of where the principles in this book have ma de a real difference. to contact her email: [email protected].