service quality, customer care and customer service

Service quality

ef provides consultancy support in service quality. If you have customers, service quality is a priority.

For years companies have worked at improving product quality and now service quality has come of age. Service quality is not only customer care. Service quality also involves strategic and managerial processes which enable a holistic approach to managing customer service.

ef offers a unique approach to managing service quality: decentring and cares competency training.

Decentring on service quality

What is it?

Decentring is a service quality improvement technique created by Calum Webster. It is a psychological and numerical approach to helping service providers see things from the customer viewpoint and improve standards.

Decentring is about perceiving things from a position other than your own. Decentring on service quality (DSQ) is a straightforward yet powerful technique that is based upon perceptions of customer service delivery. It uses hard data and developmental workshops to encourage people to direct their energies on key performance dimensions — having put themselves in the customers’ shoes. Calum has used DSQ for clients ranging from Local Government, health care product manufacturing and the hospitality industry.

How does it work?

First, ef works with you to design a means (usually a questionnaire) of measuring customer perceptions of your service quality track record. Next, customer perceptions are surveyed. At this point, ef usually interviews key stakeholders to integrate their unique perspectives on the service quality agenda. Service providers also complete a related questionnaire to use for special comparison.

Developmental workshops allow service providers to review the resultant data in a way that encourages “TLC” — thinking like customers. The survey information and the developmental workshops act as levers for change. The process establishes commitment towards service quality excellence. This might mean increasing efforts in some areas and reducing efforts in others.

Improvement actions will depend upon what is more important to your customers and how you deliver your service. Previous assignments that Calum has led involved structure change, process improvements, system refinements and competency-based training and development.

DSQ lends itself to monitoring and evaluation since it uses objective “metrics” or performance data. Clients can repeat selected measurements to evaluate actions or identify new improvement priorities.

Cares competency framework

The CARES competency framework is a generic competency framework for those people who provide customer care. The framework lists key skills, behaviours and areas of knowledge that are the secrets to effective service. On its own, it is a powerful list of customer care behaviours. If necessary, it can be adapted to suit your particular circumstances.

ef provides a self-profiling workbook for the CARES competencies which allows individuals to begin developing themselves in these key behaviours. The workbook can also be used as a platform for customer care training and development.

Decentring and CARES

In combination, decentring and CARES provide a comprehensive, tried and trusted, creative approach to improving major of service quality - from front line customer care skills to strategic service quality process design.

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