Bianca Angelico, Chief DayMaker, On Verve

Bianca Angelico shares five daily themes that guest services firm On Verve are following to celebrate National Customer Service Week (3-7 October 2022).

Monday: The Human-Tech interface

We still have not cracked the code of the human-tech interface relationship. As technology is being brought in to assist customer service teams, the integration hasn’t always been smooth sailing. However, giving my team the tools they need to fulfil their role to a high standard is essential. At one client site, a clear desk policy is used in the office, meaning any belongings that workers leave behind are taken to lost property.

The technology helps us to identify who was sat where and at what day, to keep people’s belongings organised and safe, whereas the human touch comes from the DayMaker at the front desk team who reaches out to the colleague in question to let them know how to receive their belongings. No one enjoys the automated experience that comes with technology, which is usually cold and unhelpful, so tech-led operations in customer service isn’t the answer quite yet.

Tuesday: Service with Respect Day 

Whilst service with respect is extremely important, it is equally important to remember that our customer service teams are still human beings themselves. So, whilst they need to deliver their service with a positive attitude and with the needs of the customer at heart, there shouldn’t need to be a sign next to them that reads “remember to be kind”.

DayMakers are trained to be able to deal with hostility from those that they serve and remember not to take things personally. At the end of the day, some people just love to hate, and we can’t avoid them. The best thing I can do as an employer is prepare my staff as best as possible to handle those situations with professionalism, remain calm and ask for support from their manager if necessary. Our model remains as service with enthusiasm, as we believe having a readiness to help is the priority.

Wednesday: The Professionalisation of Service: Skills & Capabilities

At On Verve, we are very people-oriented in our recruitment. When regarding the professionalisation of service, usually it is clear to choose a candidate who has had experience in customer service roles, especially for more ‘luxury’ clientele. However, we believe that skills and professionalism can be taught through training, therefore deeming experience unnecessary. We want individuals that have the passion for customer service, and the determination to learn and create an amazing experience for our guests and become a true DayMaker. Funnily enough, some of the most committed and eloquent team members that we have are those that have come to up with no experience, but their spirit for the job was all they needed, we provided the rest.

Thursday: Effective Strategy and Leadership 

Being prepared for all inevitabilities as a customer service provider is a large part of your daily strategy. That’s why, beyond the necessary training and development we give to our team, we also give them voluntary opportunities for growth. For example, we offered all our team members the opportunity to train as a mental health first aider, to help themselves, their team, and boost their own personal credentials.

The course had a positive uptake from the On Verve team, so much so that there is, on average, at least one mental health first aider on each team at the different sites we operate at. This therefore means all teams have a trained professional to turn to if something at work has upset them, or if they require general support.

Friday: Recognition 

This year we are collaborating with our clients. Each of our client is nominating a DayMaker in their team to be recognised for outstanding customer service. We wanted our clients to be part of this week and help us celebrate their amazing team that is delivering exceptional experience that is bringing the energy to their workplace.

Our clients love to see that we are doing this and that they are part of it!

Customer Appreciation Day is a special day set aside to show customers how much you appreciate them.

Customer Appreciation Day is celebrated on the third Friday in May but the date can vary depending on your location. This special event was created to encourage businesses to show their customers some love and appreciation. Here we will discuss exactly when customer appreciation day is and how you can celebrate it!

When is Customer Appreciation Day?

Although there is no official date for Customer Appreciation Day, many people celebrate it on the third Friday in May.

Here are dates for the coming years:

Friday, May 20, 2022

Friday, May 19, 2023

Friday, May 17, 2024

Friday, May 16, 2025

Friday, May 15, 2026

10 ideas for Customer Appreciation Day

Here are a few ideas for celebrating customer appreciation day:

1. Show your gratitude by personally thanking customers in person, via email or through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.

2. Take your customers out to lunch or dinner.

3. Give customers a gift basket with their favorite foods and treats in it.

4. Send out thank you cards or emails.

5. Offer special discounts and freebies.

6. Host a special event such as an open house where customers can come in and enjoy refreshments while browsing around your business location, set up booths for different services, or have product demonstrations.

7. Release a special edition of your product or service just for Customer Appreciation Day.

8. Write a blog post about why you appreciate your customers and what they mean to your business.

9. Make a video thanking your customers and post it on social media.

10. Give away gift cards to local businesses so customers can experience them too! This will help grow the economy in your area while also showing appreciation for what they do by sending more business their way.

There are plenty of other things you could do to show appreciation for your customers on customer appreciation day, but hopefully this list will give you some ideas.

No matter what you do, make sure it’s personal and from the heart! After all, that’s what really counts when it comes to showing someone how much you appreciate them. Have a great customer appreciation day!

It’s that time of the year again, the leaves are changing from green to gold and red, there’s a chill in the air and it’s time to celebrate… It’s Customer Service Week!

Traditionally Customer Service Week, held the first full week of October each year, has been the time to highlight and celebrate the great work employees do to take care of their customers. I also believe it’s a time to think about our customers as well.

With that in mind, now is a great time to ask an important question: What do customers want? Simply, customers want a good experience, and customer service plays a big part in that. It’s more than just the front line interacting with customers. If you have been following my work, you know my belief is that customer service is not a department—it’s a philosophy that is part of an organization’s culture and is everyone’s responsibility. Every employee has an impact on the customer service and the customer experience an organization provides.

So, the next question is what influences a good customer experience? We surveyed over 1,000 consumers as part of our 2020 Achieving Customer Amazement Survey and asked them just that. The top response, with over 65% of respondents in agreement, is that people just want to be treated like a valued customer—with kindness, respect and dignity. Customers are people, not account numbers.

Customers also want the customer service representatives they speak with to demonstrate knowledge and expertise—both about the products and services the company provides, and also about the customers themselves. They want the agents to provide quick solutions to their problems without having to give repeat information over and over again. That goes a long way toward creating a great customer experience.

On the flip side, what influences poor customer service? It’s useful to know what to avoid. The responses we got were pretty common sense (but of course, common sense isn’t always so common!). Rudeness and apathy, not being treated like a valued customer, lack of knowledge and expertise, slow response times and having to repeat information were the top pain points for customers. You’ll notice that these are the opposite of what customers say creates a good experience. Again, common sense.

I’d like to leave you with one final word on this subject—or rather, three words. We asked our respondents to share the three words they felt best exemplified good customer service. The results? Fast, helpful and friendly. This is huge. “Fast” is about creating a convenient experience, something I wrote an entire book on. “Helpful” is about getting answers to questions and solutions to problems. And “friendly” is all about that personal touch—an empathetic human connection—which is even more important than ever these days.

As celebrate Customer Service Week, I invite you to remember this information. Share it with your colleagues and employees. Remember, it’s within everyone’s reach to create customer amazement. Without customers, we don’t have a business, but without customer service employees, we can’t take care of our customers.

About the Author

Shep Hyken is the Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations. As a professional speaker and best-selling author, Shep helps companies develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees.

In recognition of National Customer Service Week, Shep Hyken provides some ways to deliver even better customer service.

In customer service, there are so many ways to do things right. The right way to manage first impressions, demonstrate knowledge, build rapport, ask the right questions and much, much more. I thought it would be fun to create a list of a few things that everyone should do right.

Since National Customer Service Week is five days long, here is a list of five simple ways to create a better experience for your customers and your colleagues at work.

The Greeting: In-person, look someone in the eye. Shake their hand firmly and with confidence. Dress for success, which means dressing appropriately. When answering the phone, don’t be gruff or short with your greeting. Warmly welcome the customer into the conversation.

Leaving a Voicemail: If you call someone and get their voicemail, you might as well leave a message. Thanks to caller ID, most of the time they will know you called, so take advantage and leave a good message. Start with your name, then immediately state your phone number. That’s the important part—giving the customer your contact info at the beginning of the message. Then leave the message and end by repeating your phone number and email, if appropriate.

Responding to Messages: This includes phone, email, social media, and any other messaging app. It’s simple—do it fast! There are different expectations for different modalities, but if you really want to be impressive, respond to your customers—especially their phone messages and emails—“freaky fast.”

An Apology: When a customer has a complaint, the first thing you want to do is apologize—in the right way. It should be sincere, but beyond that, there must be some acknowledgment of the problem. An empathy statement like, “I’m so sorry. I can understand why you’re upset. I’d be upset if that happened to me,” is a good way to apologize and acknowledge the customer’s problem quickly—in short, a perfect start to resolving the issue.

Building Rapport: What do customers like to talk about? Themselves! Take a moment to talk about them and their lives, not just business. It can be a five or ten-second interaction, but it helps break the ice. For example, say, “Where are you calling from today?” Or, “I hear a dog barking in the background. What kind of dog do you have?” If you’re talking to a colleague at work, ask about their weekend or their kids. You get the idea. There are many ways to add a little personalization to a conversation.

Now, here’s an idea to make these ideas come to life. Every day throughout the week, focus on just one of these tactics. Have each employee write down one example—just two or three sentences at most—that describes how they used this common-sense customer service tactic with an outside customer or one of their team members. Then, share these with the team.

As I like to say every year, National Customer Service Week is only a week-long, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t practice these tactics—and everything else customer-focused—for the entire year!

National Customer Service Week takes place October 7-11, 2019.

About the Author

Shep Hyken is the Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations. As a professional speaker and best-selling author, Shep helps companies develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees.

It’s encouraging to see companies across all types of industries make an effort to celebrate their commitment to customer satisfaction. However, many leaders are doing their organizations a disservice by not using Customer Service Week to its fullest potential as a platform for employee engagement that fosters a deeper culture of service.

There’s not a single customer service professional I know who wouldn’t agree that employee engagement is critically important to the service a company ultimately delivers to its customers. As reaffirmed in Gartner’s report, ‘How to Get Your Customer Service Employees to Care About the Customer,’ research shows “high levels of employee engagement contribute to higher levels of customer satisfaction.”

Yet, Customer Service Week – a time so clearly and publicly dedicated to recognizing customer care – is far too often overlooked as a critical opportunity to strengthen an organization’s relationship with and among its employees. It’s often swept aside as a ‘check-the-box’ activity fulfilled by simply giving staff members branded promotional items. Or it might be five days riddled with a host of activities that have been carefully planned but focus more on the fun than the functional. In many cases, Customer Service Week falls flat on strategy.

As you celebrate Customer Service Week at your organization, ask yourself these three questions to help ensure your initiatives are connected with a larger strategy. Use these considerations as a guide … and you may discover enhancements you can make on the fly to make this important week even more meaningful.

Are your planned activities fun and functional?

Of course, Customer Service Week calls for celebration. But the festivities should go beyond being simply fun and simultaneously serve a purpose that benefits the business. This doesn’t mean you have to cut your creativity short or make what should be lighter, enjoyable activities feel like they’re work. It does, however, require dedicated thought about how to make surface-level initiatives more impactful.

For example, consider a ‘Superhero Showcase’ dress-up day – a nod to the heroic feats customer service representatives are known for pulling off. Beyond building camaraderie by having staff members sport their favorite costumes or t-shirts on a designated day, use the opportunity to have each person share how the traits of their assumed characters relate to providing extraordinary service. This sharing will open up a meaningful discussion about what it means to embody service in its various forms and challenge professionals to think beyond traditional notions of customer service.

Do the activities engage other parts of the company?

The importance of service is hardly limited to the customer service department and Customer Service Week activities shouldn’t be either. There’s no better time to educate others within the organization about how customer service impacts the business, so use this week (and the weeks that follow) to connect with colleagues in other departments.

One way to do this is by providing employees with a “passport” and including an insert with different missions – such as spending time with peers across the organization – that need to be completed. During those visits, employees can learn about each other’s job functions and how they deliver service to their customers, then report back to their respective teams for broader knowledge sharing. Not only does this exposure enhance employees’ perspectives and further their professional development, it also helps to fortify a consistent company-wide culture of service.

What’s next?

The spotlight on customer service recognition during these five days shouldn’t just be a moment in time. Rather, look at it as a jump-start for longer-term or ongoing initiatives for engaging employees and strengthening the service culture. Use this week as a learning opportunity to determine which approaches and tactics were most successful as well as those that weren’t as well-received … and plan for the future from there.

Did the team have a blast with the superheroes? Keep their enthusiasm going by creating a ‘Superhero Shout-out’ bulletin board in a high-traffic area where they can publicly post and share kudos for their colleagues. Were the passports a hit? That’s your cue to organize more frequent peer-to-peer exchanges among different departments.

Regardless of your approach, keep strategy central to your Customer Service Week celebrations to make them count.

About the Author

CJ Stafford is president of Stafford Communications Group Inc., a boutique company with three distinct, yet complementary, lines of business: outsourced call center services, customer care consulting and marketing services. Stafford works with pharmaceutical, healthcare, food, consumer packaged goods and beauty care companies – ensuring their customer service initiatives are aligned to their marketing programs so they intrinsically support each other.

For more ideas or to learn more about how you can deliver outstanding care to your customers, visit www.staffcom.com.

There are many ways companies are celebrating. Everything from an employee appreciation event, like a lunch or dinner, to fun games that are about team building and comradery. And, of course, there is showing some love and appreciation to your customers.

What makes good customer service?

This year I want to take a different approach. While thinking about what to share with you on this important “holiday,” I remembered a question that was asked in a recent interview. “What makes good customer service?” Normally I would say attentive people, knowledgeable employees, great attitudes, strong relationship-building skills, and a desire to serve. While all that—and more—can create good customer service, there is an even bigger answer.

We cannot determine if we give good customer service. Only our customers can. In other words, it is our customers’ perceptions that determine if we’ve provided good or bad customer service. The customer acts as the judge and jury. As a business, we can only hope that our efforts are in line with our customers’ expectations. And, only our customers will determine if we have met or exceeded them.

Good customer service starts on the inside with the company’s culture. I’ve preached this before. Leadership must create a customer service vision that every employee can relate to. It must be concise, simple and easy to remember. I call it the service “mantra.” It must be trained—not just once, but continuously. Remember, training isn’t something you did. It’s something you do.

Every employee must do their part. Once they understand the vision and are properly trained, they must manage every interaction they have with their customers for an optimal experience. The secret to making it optimal is within reach of anyone or any company. Just make the experience better than average. Just a little. That may sound easy, but what makes it a little more difficult is that it must be all the time. In other words, the customer can count on it. A consistent and predictable experience, that is better than average, is what makes for good customer service.

So, for this year’s National Customer Service Week, take some time to talk about your service vision. If you don’t yet have one, this is a good time to start the process of creating one. Take this week to tweak the service. Talk about it. Practice it. Get feedback about it. And, make sure you’re not just meeting, but exceeding your customers’ expectations, if even ever so slightly. Your customers will tell you if you are. And, that’s how you’ll know if you are delivering good—even amazing—customer service!

About the Author

Shep Hyken is the Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations. As a professional speaker and best-selling author, Shep helps companies develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees.

To all the dedicated customer service professionals out there, we wish you a very happy Customer Service Week 2019!

This year, from the 7th-11th of October, companies across the US and around the world are observing Customer Service Week and celebrating the efforts of customer service, call center and help desk professionals – the people in the front lines of the service revolution.

Customer Service Week was started by the International Customer Service Association in 1988. In 1992, the U.S. Congress proclaimed it a nationally recognized event.

You might be tempted to groan as you assume that this is just another party that will detract from the work at hand in your company. In fact, Customer Service Week was created with five objectives in mind, all of which will directly impact your bottom line. They are:

1. Boost morale, motivation and teamwork in your customer service department.

2. Reward your frontline reps for the important work they do all year long.

3. Raise company wide awareness of the important role customer service plays in your organization’s success.

4. Thank other departments for their yearlong support.

5. Let your customers know about your company’s commitment to customer satisfaction.

Tips for a successful celebration

Whether you celebrate for an afternoon or with a full week of special events and activities, here are some can’t-miss ideas that can be incorporated into every celebration.

Create the right atmosphere. Decorate the customer service department and the entire company with posters, banners and balloons. Hang posters and banners early to generate excitement for the celebration to come.

Host festive parties. Parties are a great way to show your reps you appreciate their hard work. Start the week with a kick-off party. Invite senior management to discuss the role customer service plays in your company’s success. Then, wrap up the week by taking your reps to a special lunch or dinner out of the office and away from the phones.

Blow your own horn. This is the perfect time to let everyone know about the excellent work the customer service department does. Share information on the number of calls handled in a typical week, the dollar value of cross-selling in the last year, positive survey results and more.

Acknowledge other departments. Distribute certificates of appreciation and small gifts to those unsung heroes in other departments who make a great effort to meet customers’ needs.

Thank your customers. Send a thank-you card to each of your customers. For maximum impact, include a hand-written note, a copy of your service mission statement or a photograph of your team.

Reward your reps. Thank your reps for their valuable contributions with certificates of appreciation and special gifts placed at every workstation each morning.

Have fun! Games and contests of all kinds are great for relieving stress and building teamwork. Plan an activity for each day and be sure to award prizes to everyone.

The simple fact is businesses prosper or fail largely because of their customer service. The moment that any organization loses sight of the fact the Customer is King (or Queen) then they are riding for an inevitable fall.

So what kinds of activities will take place during Customer Service Week? Obviously you want to congratulate and reward your front line customer service people. They are the ones who bear the brunt of dealing with the public every day, and that isn’t always easy.

Then you need to involve the rest of your staff – the backroom boys and girls – to their role in customer service. Finally, you need to explain to your customers how much customer service means to your organization, and demonstrate how you are putting it in the center of your business.

The Customer Service Week website is just bursting with ideas for how you can make a big and lasting impression on your staff, and your customers, and yes, why not your suppliers too? After all, they are part of your team. The bright “Think Service!” logo features on all of the items in their range of support and promotional items, giving you a theme to use for the whole week.

Recognize Your Service Stars

One great idea is to have your customers nominate the Customer Service Person of the year. You are looking for really outstanding performance.

For example, I was staying at a small resort, Steppingstones, in Belize. As I headed off to the airport after an idyllic vacation, I didn’t realize that I had left one of my suitcases behind – a huge one at that. Luckily, about half an hour after I’d left a staff member spotted it tucked away on my veranda. He rang the internal airline I was flying with, and let them know the case was on its way.

He drove like a mad thing to the local airport, and put it on the next flight to the International Airport (my flight having already left) where staff matched it up with my onward flight. It was waiting for me on my arrival. I hadn’t even noticed it wasn’t with me! Superb customer service all round. This is the kind of service level that customers never forget, and which you are looking to reward.

Celebrate Teamwork

An important part of customer service is for departments to cooperate well with one another. Sometimes in large companies, it’s hard for staff members to develop relationships. That’s where local community service projects come in. Perhaps you can have a food drive for your local homeless shelter, or a sponsored run to raise money for the orphanage. Whatever you do, make sure that you mix departments together so that people can meet each other.

One of the many great ideas to be found on the Customer Service Week website is to have a chili cook-off. Each department creates it’s own special chili (or it could be apple pie, or barbecue, or jambalaya, or whatever is popular in your area) and everyone goes from department to department tasting the yummy offerings and voting for which one is best. Make it a dollar per vote, and the money raised goes to a good cause chosen by the staff.

Whatever you do, you need to make sure that you have solid reminders all around your business premises. Badges, posters, balloons, cups, thank you cards, certificates of appreciation, service awards – just about everything you can think of to make customer service week go with a swing.

Everyone Has a Part to Play

As Mahatma Ghandhi said, “The customer is not an interruption to your work, he is the reason for your work.” How many times do we go into a shop, a service outlet, a government department, and feel as if we are just completely unimportant to the people working there? You don’t want your business to be like that, do you?

Of course, you work hard on developing good customer service. But good customer service comes from the heart, not from a book of rules. Everyone in your company is part of customer service, so don’t leave anyone out.

My father had a very modest job all his life, and after he retired, he felt bored, and wanted to make a little money too. So he took a job in a local factory which made highly specialized machine tools (in the days when such things were made by men, not robots.) His job was to keep the factory floor clean, including the washrooms used by the workers.

He enjoyed the work, which meant he was with other people instead of stuck at home, and he took great pride in making sure everything was always so clean, you could virtually eat your dinner off of the floor – not an easy task with ample oil and grease and metal dust around. One day an important buyer came to visit the facility. The top brass of dad’s company came through the factory floor, inspecting everything.

The next day the Chief Executive came and sought my dad out. “We’ve never met,” he said, “but I wanted to come and shake your hand. The buyers were extremely impressed with the cleanliness of the factory floor. And one of them was caught short and had to use the men’s bathroom. He told me his bathroom at home wasn’t cleaner than the one here. You helped get us this contract. Thanks so much.”

So my dad was part of customer service, and he was made to feel very proud of his work in no uncertain terms. That’s the feeling you want your people to have.

Over forty years later, we understand more about the need for great customer service. And we have more tools at our fingertips to reach out to both customers and staff. Those companies who not only use those tools, but believe in making customer service the center of their operation will survive and thrive.

By showing the world you care about your customers and your employees this customer service appreciation week—and every week, you will surely will be among those who thrive.

Ellen Goodwright is a freelance writer and a passionate customer service advocate! You can read more of her customer service tips at Customer Service Basics.