Agreement # 1 – We both came to the agreement that we wanted to define customer experience as just that: everything a customer experiences while dealing with a specific company.

Agreement # 2 – We agreed we wanted to define customer service as all of the human-to-human interaction between customers and the representatives of the company they are dealing with.

Agreement # 3 – We agreed customer service and customer experience are two very different things.  Customer service is a component of overall customer experience just like products, locations, technology, etc.

Agreement # 4 – We agreed we consider the “human-to-human” customer service components to be incredibly important and controllable elements of the customer experience.

Agreement # 5 – Last but not least, we agreed that too many people seem to have forgotten about good old-fashioned human-to-human customer service.  Nowadays, people seem to be so very excited about doing everything electronically and, unfortunately, many of the core, personalized, high-touch business and customer service skills and practices seem to be falling by the wayside.

This last conclusion is troubling!  As the Dalai Lama says: “social interaction between human beings is the essence of our existence.”  Last time I checked, saying something is the “essence of human existence” means it is probably pretty important.  He did not say email is the essence of human existence, he did not say product quality is the essence of human existence, he did not say best price is the essence of human existence.  He said: “social interaction between human beings is the essence of human existence.”  Pretty powerful stuff I think.  Unfortunately, too many executives do not see how this plugs in to their business model.  The best ones not only see how it fits in, they embrace it and are passionate about it.

We are not suggesting product, price, technology, facilities, etc. are not important components of the customer experience.  Of course they are!  They are all incredibly important!  We are suggesting you make sure you maintain a strong human component to your business.  People are sometimes loyal to products, but most of the time they are loyal to people and they will drive past two stores to get to a third to see people they like dealing with and they like doing business with.

Here is how we define the key components of a great human-to-human customer service interaction:

We use the term G.E.A.R.S. when we talk about the key phases of great customer service:

Greet – The first step in any great interaction is the first impression.  The greeting considers everything from the way you are dressed, your body language, facial expression, handshake, smile, and first words.  There is something to be said for making the first few seconds warm, comfortable, and welcoming.  There is also something to be said for demonstrating to the customer that you are actually genuinely interested in helping them out.

Engage – Once the greetings are done and you have made the person feel welcome it is time to engage them in a deeper conversation.  Engaging somebody has a lot to do with asking questions and effective active listening.  As a general rule a great conversation is typically the result of great questions and great listening skills.  This is the phase where the CSR ventures to learn as much possible about what the customer need is.  They have to ask base questions and in many cases continue to dig deeper to fully understand the customer’s needs.  In this phase they should also be reading body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. At the same time they should be in full control of their own as they listen to the customer explain their need or situation.

Advise – Ahh!  Here it is!  The holy grail of customer service excellence.  Being able to deliver tailored advice that works backward from the information shared in the engage phase is the pinnacle of high-value customer service.  Being able to suggest specific products and services and, in some cases, suggest a lower cost alternative is what this model is all about.  Believe it or not, I might want to be talked out of buying that blue shirt when you think the green one looks better on me.  It is sincere advice and not “sales hook” advice that I want.

Resolve – In this stage we help the customer resolve to move forward.  We answer any questions they might have, deal with objections and, if there are any terms to negotiate, we do that as well.  Finally, we resolve their problem and make a decision on the right solution for them.  The sale is made and I went with the green shirt because the CSR told me it matched my eyes and the colors of the season.

Service – Once the the person we are dealing with becomes a customer now it is up to us to make them a repeat customer who is likely to recommend our company to others.  We do this by doing all of the little things well.  We need to be responsive, proactive, easy to work with, energetic, and very knowledgeable.  We also need to start the G.E.A.R.S process all over again the next time they come in.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could get everybody to do this during every business interaction?

Wouldn’t it be great if these were the rules for every form of customer interaction?  Maybe our electronic presence should be a bit more human as well.  Maybe our web sites should employ the G.E.A.R.S approach.  Why shouldn’t a site greet, engage, advise, resolve and service?

Come to think of it maybe they can.

So the question is this:  What are the characteristics of a great (flowing, natural, successful) customer service interaction?

The answer is this:  The best customer service interactions are CRISP!

First of all, let’s quickly look at the definition of the word “crisp” before we move on to the actual components of the acronym CRISP.

As defined by my trusted online dictionary, the word “crisp” means a way of speaking, interacting or writing briefly, decisively and concisely, without hesitation and/or unnecessary detail. I think that is a pretty accurate description of how I would like my customer service interactions to flow.

Now let’s look at the acronym CRISP because I think you will all agree that these are exactly the types of interactions you would like to have but, too often, do not participate in:

The C in CRISP = Compassion – Feeling or showing concern or sympathy for others.

The R in CRISP = Rewarding – Providing satisfaction; gratifying.

The I in CRISP = Interactive – Two or more people influencing and having an effect on each other.

The S in CRISP = Simple – Easily understood and done with limited to no difficulty.

The P in CRISP = Personalized – Interact in such a way as to design or customize to meet a person’s individual requirements, needs or preferences.

Sometimes I am still amazed by the power of the average dictionary. A big shout out to Dr. Samuel Johnson for giving the English language it’s first really kick-ass dictionary. If more people read to truly understand the contents of the average dictionary we would have a much better world to live in.

This acronym above clearly defines for me exactly what I am looking for in most interactions with customer service professionals. And I really want to emphasize the personalization piece. We have to allow our interactions with customers to flow and take on a shape, texture and life of their own. People are different and unique and we want to be treated as such. We want to be heard by somebody who will react to us and not to the next box in their customer interaction flow chart! We want our interactions with a CSR to be CRISP! Compassionate, Rewarding, Interactive, Simple and Personalized.

If your team cannot move away from “strict adherence” to rigid and consistent scripting for every call you are going to have a tough time competing with those companies who have the ability to conduct unique, customized, CRISP conversations.

Are you a CRISP conversationalist or are you a robotic script reader? Where do you rank on the CRISP Olympic Scale (1 to 10)? How CRISP are your leadership conversations and how CRISP are your CSR teams conversations with customers? Move these scores as close to a 10 as possible and you will have very loyal customers!

Have a great weekend everybody.

Hank!