Putting Yourself In Your Customers Shoes

Being in customer service, you have the unique opportunity to meet the needs of the customer. Many times when a customer calls in they are calling about something they are upset about or something that is wrong. Either way they want something fixed.

Who hasn’t experienced poor customer service before? How did you feel when you had a negative experience as a customer? Whether it was on the phone or in person with an employee of the company you were doing business with? We have all been on the receiving end of poor service.

Now in the role of customer service, try to see things from your customer’s perspective. Think about when you’ve been the customer. How do you feel and what do you want from the people you are buying from or doing business with? Take the time to consider what are the three most common things you want from the people and/or the company? Think about it for a minute.

Most people want the same things: helpful information, solutions to problems, common courtesy, a friendly voice or friendly smile. A good value for the product or service they have spent their hard earned money on. And who doesn’t want quick service?

What happens to you when you’re angry or frustrated with a person or company you do business with? Think for a moment about what kind of emotions you have when you feel like you’ve been ripped off, gotten poor service and/or are just unhappy about the situation? When people are rude to you, how do you react? Ever been given the run around to a question? What emotions drive you in those moments? How do YOU react?

In those moments, how do you want to be treated? What kinds of actions or reactions to you want and expect from the people and companies you do business with in this situations? How do you want the problem to be resolved by them?

In customer service we have the unique opportunity to walk a mile in the shoes of our customer because we have been in their shoes before. In that moment, we can understand the customer. We have empathy with their situation. We are there to serve our customers. To be the solution to their problem. With that kind of perspective, how will you look at the way you act and react to your customers?

The Missing Piece To Customer Service Excellence

Most great customer service training will often provide very similar instructions and skill set development for dealing with unhappy customers such as:

• listen to the customer without interruption
• the ability to empathize
• to validate their experience
• to apologize if needed
• take responsibility
• agree on a solution

They are great foundational principles that every good customer service rep should have in their skill set. Having these skills is essential to customer service but it does not always resolve or diffuse an angry customer. There is an important part of turning a negative experience for the customer into a positive one that most people & customer service educational training overlooks. The key piece missing from excellent customer service is to be able to ease the customer’s inconvenience.

For many customer service reps, they’ve listened to, empathized with, apologized to, taken responsibility for, and given their customer a solution to the problem, yet the customer remains angry and unhappy? How is that possible? Well, it comes down to the fact that the customer is still upset. Why? Simple, you did not ease the inconvenience they have experienced. The problem is STILL a problem in your customer’s mind even when they have been given resolution to the reason for their complaint. They have been inconvenienced. They are having to talk to you about something that is wrong.

To successfully turn unhappy customers into happy customers, while listening to them, you must be aware of their words, their emotions and assess what inconvenience the problem is causing your customer. Will the problem with the product cause the customer any inconvenience? Will the solution cause the customer any inconvenience or will it provide satisfaction?

Try to create a solution that will both wow the customer and be fiscally responsible. For example, if I order a medium-rare fillet mignon steak, but am served a well done steak, the biggest wow is to immediately cook a new steak, but also comp my meal and offer dessert for free because that’s what does the most to ease the inconvenience in that moment for me personally having to wait another 15 to 20 minutes. But be reasonable: Offering me a $160 bottle of wine for a $40 steak doesn’t make financial sense, no matter how much it wows me.

So pay attention to how you can go the extra mile, within the means of what is available to do for the customer by your company, when you have a customer that needs a little more “care”.

The best part about being able to ease a customer’s mind about the inconvenience caused, is that you look like a hero to the customer. They are thankful for having had you as their customer service representative taking care of them. Truly serving their needs.

Customer Service Telephone Essentials

In customer service, every telephone call is an opportunity to win or to lose a customer. If you take time to implement some of the essential customer service telephone techniques and best practices, it will go a long ways to ensure that your customers have a very positive experience with your company.

Our goal in customer service is to set a positive expectation with each and every call. In the very beginning of your call, it’s important to set the right tone for the rest of the call with the customer. Within the first 10 seconds of a phone call, that impression you make with the customer will set the stage for whether the customer is going to interact with you in a positive or adversarial way.

Here are a couple of thoughts…

Smile
When you are smiling and talking on the phone it is incredibly difficult to have a dead and/or negative tone to your voice that your customer can pick up on. With a smile on your face, you project a positive energy. Smiling really does work.

Get the customer’s name and use it
Everyone appreciates to be treated with respect and not just as an account or a number. Asking “Could you tell me your name please?” is a very polite way to do just that.

Positive 1^st Response
After the customer’s first initial explanation for their call, having a positive response like “I’d be happy to…”, “No problem, I can definitely assist you with that”, or “Certainly, I’d be more than happy to help you”. Responses like these will have a have a reassuring impact on your customer.

Verbal Nods
These are little used, but a powerful trick that makes the difference in whether your customer feels like you care about what they were saying, or if the conversation was cold and they were talking to a computer. When listening to the customer, utilizing “verbal nods” makes the customer feel that you are listening. Using phrases like, “I understand; I see; I appreciate that; etc” for example, may seem obvious, but it’s surprising how many customer service reps don’t use them. Your customers feel like you are engaged and listening to them.

Use positive language instead of negative language
When speaking to customers, one of the worst things you can do is use negative words in talking to your customers. In doing so, you set the customer up to hear only whatever is wrong. Using words with ‘not’ in them, for example: “don’t, can’t, won’t, etc.” Negative words like these stick in your customers’ mind and that will be all they hear throughout your conversation with them. Be intentional on using the phrases that will always sound positive. Instead of saying, “I am sorry, but you can’t have that for 2 weeks” it can be, “I can certainly have that for you within 2 weeks“. Providing the customer a positive option at the end of a negative experience will lead to a happier customer. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT tell your customer what you cannot do without giving them a positive resolution. That is unacceptable in serving the customer and will only result in further frustrating them and prolonging your call.

Summarize & Repeat
Another important piece to making your customer feel like they are being taken care of, is to summarize what they have shared with you and the step(s) you are taking or have taken to resolve their need at the end of the call. Repeating back the reason for the call not only lets them know you were listening, but also gives you the opportunity to make sure you understand their needs AND gives the customer a change to add any additional information that may have been missed. This gives you the ability to know you have met the need for the customer’s call.

In Customer Service, we want the customer to go away with a very positive impression of us. Callers remember the first impressions, and the very last impressions.

Keeping these simple, yet powerful telephone essentials will go a long way towards giving your clients a consistent customer service experience.

 

60 Amazing Customer Service Quotes

The Customer Service wisdom below is a collection of quotes from vastly successful individuals across the business world who understand the VALUE of serving customers. Keep these in mind as you interact with your customers. We hope you enjoy this post of inspirational Customer Service Quotes.

• The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary. ~Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart
• Customer service is just a day in, day out ongoing, never ending, unremitting, persevering, compassionate, type of activity. ~Leon Gorman, CEO L.L.Bean
• It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages. ~Henry Ford
• If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful. ~Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon.com
• Customer satisfaction is worthless. Customer loyalty is priceless. ~Jeffrey Gitomer
• Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it. ~Peter Drucker
• Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong. ~Donald Porter, V.P. British Airways
• Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends. ~Walt Disney
• There is a spiritual aspect to our lives – when we give we receive – when a business does something good for somebody, that somebody feels good about them! ~Ben Cohen, Ben & Jerry’s
• Our mission statement about treating people with respect and dignity is not just words but a creed we live by every day. You can’t expect your employees to exceed the expectations of your customers if you don’t exceed the employees’ expectations of management. ~Howard Schultz, CEO Starbucks Coffee
• The more you engage with customers the clearer things become and the easier it is to determine what you should be doing. ~John Russell, President, Harley Davidson
• One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others. ~Lewis Carol
• If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends ~Jeff Bezos
• Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game. Service wins the game. ~Tony Allesandra
• You’ll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can’t be copied. ~Jerry Fritz
• There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else. ~Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart
• If we do not lay out ourselves in the service of mankind whom should we serve? ~John Adams
• If you’re not serving the customer, your job is to be serving someone who is. ~Jan Carlzon, ex-CEO SAP Group
• In the world of Internet Customer Service, it’s important to remember your competitor is only one mouse click away. ~Doug Warner
• Know what your customers want most and what your company does best. Focus on where those two meet. ~Kevin Stirtz
• Loyal customers, they don’t just come back, they don’t simply recommend you, they insist that their friends do business with you. ~Chip Bell, Founder Chip Bell Group
• Customer service is not a department, it’s everyone’s job. ~Anonymous
• Dealing with people is probably the biggest problem you face, especially if you are in business. Yes, and that is also true if you are a housewife, architect or engineer. ~Dale Carnegie
• Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you. ~Mark Cuban
• When people talk about successful retailers and those that are not so successful, the customer determines at the end of the day who is successful and for what reason. ~Jerry Harvey
• If you work just for money, you’ll never make it, but if you love what you’re doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours. ~Ray Krock
• For us, our most important stakeholder is not our stockholders, it is our customers. We’re in business to serve the needs and desires of our core customer base. ~John Mackey
• We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better. ~Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon.com
• You’ve got to look for a gap, where competitors in a market have grown lazy and lost contact with the readers or the viewers. ~Rupert Murdoch
• In our way of working, we attach a great deal of importance to humility and honesty; With respect for human values, we promise to serve our customers with integrity. ~Azim Premji
• Don’t try to tell the customer what he wants. If you want to be smart, be smart in the shower. Then get out, go to work and serve the customer! ~Gene Buckley, President Sikorsky Aircraft
• The most important adage and the only adage is, the customer comes first, whatever the business, the customer comes first. ~Kerry Stokes
• Every company’s greatest assets are its customers, because without customers there is no company. ~Michael LeBoeuf, Author of: How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life
• Excellent firms don’t believe in excellence – only in constant improvement and constant change. ~Tom Peters
• Friendly makes sales – and friendly generates repeat business. ~Jeffrey Gitomer
• Service, in short, is not what you do, but who you are. It is a way of living that you need to bring to everything you do, if you are to bring it to your customer interactions. ~Betsy Sanders
• Every contact we have with a customer influences whether or not they’ll come back. We have to be great every time or we’ll lose them. ~Kevin Stirtz
• Here is a simple but powerful rule: always give people more than what they expect to get. ~Nelson Boswell
• Customers today want the very most and the very best for the very least amount of money, and on the best terms. Only the individuals and companies that provide absolutely excellent products and services at absolutely excellent prices will survive. ~Brian Tracy
• It helps a ton when you learn people’s names and don’t butcher them when trying to pronounce them. ~Jerry Yang
• Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business. ~Zig Ziglar
• I don’t do business with those who don’t make a profit because they can’t give the best service. ~Richard Bach
• If you don’t genuinely like your customers, chances are they won’t buy. ~Thomas Watson, former CEO IBM
• Merely satisfying customers will not be enough to earn their loyalty. Instead, they must experience exceptional service worthy of their repeat business and referral. Understand the factors that drive this customer revolution. ~Rick Tate
• Men are rich only as they give. He who gives great service gets great rewards. ~Elbert Hubbard
• People expect good service but few are willing to give it. ~Robert Gateley
• Revolve your world around the customer and more customers will revolve around you. ~Heather Williams
• The customer’s perception is your reality. ~Kate Zabriskie, Author of: Customer Service Excellence: How to Deliver Value to Today’s Busy Customer
• The single most important thing to remember about any enterprise is that there are no results inside its walls. The result of a business is a satisfied customer. ~Peter Drucker
• When the customer comes first, the customer will last. ~Robert Half
• Profit in business comes from repeat customers; customers that boast about your product and service, and that bring friends with them. ~W. Edwards Deming
• Every client you keep, is one less that you need to find. ~Nigel Sanders
• Only a life lived in the service to others is worth living. ~Albert Einstein
• Good customer service costs less than bad customer service. ~Sally Gronow, Welsh Water
• Whether you are big or small, you cannot give good customer service if your employees don’t feel good about coming to work. ~Martin Oliver, MD Kwik-Fit Financial Services
• Everyone in an organization should be involved with customer service, not only are they feeling the customer but they are getting a feeling for what’s not working. ~Penny Handscomb
• There are no traffic jams along the extra mile. ~Roger Staubach
• Good leaders must first become good servants. ~Robert Greenleaf
• Whatever your business is, talk to your customers and provide them with what they want. It makes sense. ~Robert Bowman, CEO Major League Baseball Advanced Media
• It starts with respect. If you respect the customer as a human being, and truly honor their right to be treated fairly and honestly, everything else is much easier. ~Doug Smith

The Timeshare Title Transfer Process with Preferred Transfers

If you are a timeshare owner looking to sell your timeshare, it’s important to understand the title transfers process. As the largest timeshare transfer company in the nation, Preferred Transfers can transfer your timeshare on average in 30 to 60 days.

Timeshare Title Transfer Process

When you hire Preferred Transfers, we then take the following steps to ensure a quick and accurate transfer of your timeshare:

Research the Property –
A detailed property review is completed to determine clear and transferable title.

Estoppels from the Resort –
An Estoppel notice is next sent to the resort to verify the property and any outstanding fees that may impede or delay transfer.

Document and Deed Preparation –
We then prepare the necessary deed and membership documents to complete the transfer of title and/or transfer of membership with the resort.

Appropriate Documents to both Buyer and Seller –
Each party is then provided with the appropriate documents be that a deed or membership transfer form and copies of contracts for reference purposes.

Courthouse Recording –
Recording the appropriate legal documents, filing of state and county tax forms and payment of real estate property transfer tax if applicable. All filing and recording is completed within the state agencies affiliated with such capacities as determined by state or county.

Resort Transfer –
Monitoring and communicating with the resort and all applicable management companies to insure finalization of timeshare transfer. On average this can take the resort 6-8 weeks for them to update their records to reflect the ownership change.

Each step of the way, Preferred Transfers provides you with a status update on the transfer of your timeshare. You also are able to call Preferred Transfers to get an update on your timeshare title transfer or if you just have questions about the transfer process.

If you have more questions about timeshare transfers here is a set of frequently asked questions about timeshare transfers. If you would like to talk to us, contact Preferred Transfers about handling your timeshare transfer.

Testimonial Thursdays

 

Preferred Transfers completed the transfer of our timeshare in a very short period of time and we couldn’t be happier. We had been told by many other timeshare transfer companies that it could take up to six months to finalize and complete it, but Preferred Transfers was able to accomplish the seemingly drawn-out task within 2 months.  With our finances getting tighter during these tough economic times, it was very important to us that the timeshare transfer be completed before the next maintenance fee season came around. Thank you Preferred Transfers for getting it done so quickly and saving us from another expensive maintenance fee bill!

Peggy & Otto Meyer – Atlanta, Georgia

You can find Preferred Transfers on Twitter and you can visit the Preferred Transfers website for even more information.

Timeshare Transfers

Whenever you are dealing with the transfer of property, it can be a very confusing process.  It becomes especially confusing when dealing with the transfer of timeshare properties.  Many timeshare owners believe that the process for transferring a timeshare would be simpler than regular real estate, but the reality is, it can be just as complicated as doing title work on a home.

Timeshare transfers should be handled by reputable companies that have proven experience in the industry and who have a long list of properties that they have worked with in the past.

There are many benefits for transferring out of a timeshare ownership. One of the main benefits is that owners will no longer be responsible for high maintenance fees and special assessments. As complaints are on the rise from timeshare owners about the cost of ownership, there has been a major increase in timeshare transfer and closing services as well.

In order to complete a timeshare transfer the right way, you will want to hire a licensed, bonded and insured title company that can guarantee the transfer as being legal and permanent.

To see a copy of the transfer timeline from Preferred Transfers, click here!

You can find Preferred Transfers on Twitter and you can visit the Preferred Transfers website for even more information.

Great Customer Service Article

Having great customer service is a huge key to growing a successful business. At Preferred Transfers we keep it a main priority to make sure each and every employee is equipped with great customer service skills.

The following is an article on the various tips and guidelines for successful customer service.

There are a couple of ways to handle every problem.The immediate solution is to take care of the customer, leave him or her happy, and go on with your day.

But why stop there? It’s beneficial to take into account the reason behind the problem from the beginning. It’s good to understand why the problem arose in the first place.  You need to consider how to prevent it from happening again. Awareness of consistent problems, and implanting strategies to prevent them from happening again will make your customers happier and improve business overall.

Remember that your customers are people, and deserve to be treated like a human beings. That means treating them with dignity and not being annoyed at them for interrupting your day. Keep in mind that most businesses do just enough to make a customer happy. By doing a little extra, you can make your business stand out from the crowd. If there’s a real problem, and you can do just a little more to make a customer’s day, he or she is going to remember it. Happy and satisfied customers will give you free word of mouth advertising and repeat business.

Don’t avoid taking responsibility for your mistakes. If it’s your fault, say so. Don’t try to blame it on the customer, the circumstances, or another vendor because it will only make the problem worse.Making a simple statement of admission and acknowledgement that the mistake will be fixed, goes a very long way. Your customer will see you a lot differently if you don’t make excuses. Always understand that the customers problem is with the situation, not with you as a person. This is certainly one of the most difficult concepts to get  used to because of the fact that customers are sharing their frustrations with you.  Understand that the customer only wants you to help them solve their problem but is not specifically angry with you.

Don’t just hear what your customer is saying, listen to them. Don’t assume you know what they want. You never know what information and knowledge they have, so let them talk.

Be mindful of what you are promising the customers. It’s easy to get carried away and offer more than you can easily deliver.  Know your commitments, and limits. Don’t let clients convince you to promise to do something that is impossible.

It’s good to let your customer feel like a priority. Make sure to stay away from working on other things, and let them know you are 100% focused on helping them. Spend the few minutes it takes to really pay attention.Customers will see that you are keeping them a priority and will appreciate you for it.

Do your best to fix a customers problem right away. No one likes to face an upset customer, but the sooner their problem gets addressed the happier they will be to see that you are proactive in getting the issue resolved.

Be sure to follow up with your customers to ensure that they were satisfied with the results. Follow up! Just by making a simple phone call, you can let the customer know that you truly care about whether or not they were taken care of.

Written by Preferred Transfers Customer Service Department

You can find Preferred Transfers on Twitter and you can visit the Preferred Transfers website for even more information.

Testimonial Thursdays

At Preferred Transfers we understand the importance of trust and knowing that you are working with a good company. We have dedicated our Thursdays to sharing with you our customer testimonials. If you have any questions regarding the closing process and how we can help you with your timeshare. Please feel free to contact us!

We were very impressed with Preferred Transfers customer service and communication during our closing process.  We were aware that the timeshare transfer process would take a few months, but we were pleasantly surprised when we received a completion letter informing us that the transfer was done in one month!  It was so nice not having to deal with the hassle ourselves.  Their staff handled all the details and required very little of our involvement. Being business people ourselves we appreciated the great customer service and the quality work that we received.  Thank you Preferred Transfers for your great service and taking care of our transfer.

Linda & George Peterson- Miami, Florida

FAQ About Timeshare Transfers

“Closing”  on a timeshare property means legally transferring ownership from seller to the buyer. This process can take and average of 30 to 60 days, and involves signing of contracts and passing over title from the seller to the buyer.

FAQ about Closing and Timeshare Transfers

1. What Are Closing Costs

Closing costs are charges that are paid when property changes hands. These costs cover the services and processes required to properly and legally complete the transaction. These processes include title work, appraisals, inspections, document preparation, recording fees and other expenses. In some cases, timeshare properties will require a filing of state and county tax forms along with payment of real estate property transfer tax.

2. How Much Are They?

At closing, you typically pay 1% to 2% of the purchase price for “closing costs” and another 1% to 2% for “pre-paid items.”  Fees that timeshare transfers typically accrue are:

Outside Vender Costs: Appraisal, Credit Report, Flood Determination Fee

Title Costs: Settlement Fee, Title/Abstract Search, Title Insurance Premium, Owners Title Insurance Policy (optional and paid for by Buyer)

Government Fees: Title Recording Fees, real estate property transfer tax

Resort Fees: Resort Transfers Fees, Membership Change Fees

3. Do I Really Need Title Insurance?

Title Insurance is highly recommended with the transfer of timeshares. This is because title insurance protects your claim to the timeshare property from potential problems caused by mistakes and irregularities that may have occurred in the past.  On a dollar for dollar basis, it’s one of the most cost-efficient forms of insurance for both buying a home and timeshare purchases. It’s a relatively low, one-time premium that will protect you against legal issues that could arise and potentially cost you tens of thousands of dollars.

4. How is it determined if the maintenance fees and property taxes have been paid to date?

Preferred Transfers will request an Estoppel Letter from the resort which discloses the status of the properties taxes and other fees. Unlike most timeshare closing companies, our Estoppel Letter/Resort Disclosure Packet is included in the price of our service which provides you with an added measure of security during a timeshare purchase.

You can find Preferred Transfers on Twitter and you can visit the Preferred Transfers website for even more information.