A "service signature" program must enable us to move from the service ambitions and feelings we want to generate in our customers, to behaviors / facts observable by the customer. Our experts share with you the best practices for defining a service signature program. Take a look at our previous articles on Customer Culture or the Customer Experience Framework.
Contents
1. Design a simple, easy-to-understand framework that can be easily adopted by all employees
- A common base of service postures is defined for the entire company (for all employees, for all contact channels...): how we want our customers to perceive the company, what we want them to say about us.
- Each service posture must then be broken down by business and by stage of the customer journey into concrete behaviors and observable customer facts.
Service postures
DEFINITION:
- "What customers need to perceive and say about us".
- We're talking here about attitudes to be embodied.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS :
- Simple
- Easy to remember (between 3 and 5 attitudes maximum to choose from)
- In line with customer expectations
- Consistent with the company's positioning and values
EXAMPLES
- Reassuring
- Listening
- Reagent
Behaviour / facts
DEFINITION:
- "What I have to do every day".
- We're talking here about the words to use, the gestures to make and the tone to employ.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS :
- Observable by customers
- Embodying the fundamentals of customer relations
- Delivering a memorable customer experience
- Broken down by profession, by route/sensitive moment and by channel (mail, email, etc.)
EXAMPLES
- Posture: reassuring
- Trades: Train drivers
- Step: buying a ticket
- Gesture to perform: Give the title from hand to hand, looking the customer in the eye.
- Words to use "We're leaving in 5 minutes, take the time you need to top up if necessary".
- Tone: calm and serene
2. Identify in particular the behaviors to adopt at "sensitive" moments in the relationship
Particular attention must be paid to "sensitive" moments in the customer relationship. Indeed, certain moments are particularly important in terms of the customer's emotional charge (complaint...) or the impact on the company's image (first contact / first impression).
These sensitive moments need to be clearly identified. Then, relational postures must be translated into specific behaviors according to these moments.
3. Anchoring practices over time to establish a service signature
Service signature deployment projects are first and foremost change management and cultural evolution projects for all employees. Particular attention must therefore be paid to the development of the deployment plan.
Starting with the basics
- Seek to bring essential behaviors up to standard before aiming for very high satisfaction by moving towards differentiating behaviors.
- First and foremost, we need to ensure that everyone complies with essential behaviors which, if not applied, become irritants and generate dissatisfaction.
- These "essential" behaviors can be integrated into HR systems: recruitment advertisements, job descriptions, annual appraisals, etc.
Innovative deployment formats
- The adoption of new behaviors requires an active approach on the part of employees. Deployment measures should therefore give priority to role-playing exercises and/or behavioral training, whether face-to-face or via digital tools (e.g. augmented reality training).
- Supporting managers is particularly important, as they will then have to support their teams in adopting the system.
Sustainability to mobilize contributors
- To create the conditions for constant mobilization, regular awareness-raising campaigns, or even daily team building, are essential. Relying on managerial relays and individual support (on-site coaching, including attitudes on the agenda of every team meeting, etc.) are key actions to be taken.
"Tooling up managers
Managers therefore need to be equipped to facilitate this approach with their teams. They can be equipped with "logbook" type tools or online resource libraries structured around 4 themes:
- Raising awareness of customer relations (importance of service, differentiation, key figures, etc.) and customer knowledge (expectations, profiles, etc.)
- Working with teams to design and train the behaviors they need to adopt
- Day-to-day management of service postures
- Adopting service postures as a manager
Example: How can we raise managers' awareness of the challenges of customer relations?
-
The 5 customer minutes
Start every team meeting with a 5-minute focus on the customer (1 key figure or 1 study result on customer behavior or 1 concept (difference between customer satisfaction and very high customer satisfaction)...). -
Irritant of the month
Read together a complaint received about service quality. -
What customers say
Discuss the results of customer satisfaction surveys and mystery shopping. -
Quiz
Test your collective knowledge of customer needs and expectations. -
Examples of tools integrated into the online content library
Key figures, study results, benchmarks, online quizzes, mini videos, podcasts...
Example: How can we design new behaviors for managers to adopt?
-
New attitudes
Work in groups around a "service posture" sheet to identify new concrete behaviors to embody on a daily basis. -
Mirror effect
As a group, discuss situations you have experienced as a customer (of stores, hotels, restaurants) and draw up ideas for behaviour to adopt. -
My Everest
Group discussion on a situation that was difficult to manage. -
My most beautiful story
Share in a group the most beautiful experiences you've given to one of your customers. -
GO Live
Train with serious game-type tools or, more simply, by using generative AI tools to simulate exchanges with customers and test their perception. -
Examples of tools integrated into the logbook
Library of behaviors by service attitude, Workgroup facilitation methods.
4. Encourage teams to identify new behaviors on a regular basis and to take the initiative.
Valuing employees by giving them room for manoeuvre
Relationship signature programs showcase employees because they are at the heart of it all: they embody the service and added value offered to customers, in a process that has deliberately not been automated.
Implementing relationship signature and service attitude programs does not mean robotizing teams:
- It would be illusory to attempt to cover all customer contact situations.
- Customers reject overdone behaviors (ready-made phrases, excessive politeness), which we observed for a time in call centers through scripts.
- The service culture transmitted to our teams is not "the same service for all", but rather "a service adapted to each individual". It's up to each member of staff to play his or her part, while respecting the defined fundamental principles.
Encourage individual and collective initiative
The challenge lies in our ability to guide our teams, while promoting :
- Their intuition and initiative: I analyze the situation based on my experience and adapt my behavior accordingly.
- Solidarity between employees: I help my colleagues, I share my experience.
In additionharing tips and tricks at team meetings, and feedback on specific situations, enables everyone to continue enriching their day-to-day practices, and to benefit from the group's support in resolving difficulties.
5. Set up the appropriate measurement system
The measurement system can be built around the measurement of service rendered and service perceived.
Service rendered :
- Assessments by managers of the appropriation of postures/behaviors through daily/programmed observations
- Mystery shopping to measure compliance with postures/behaviors perceived by customers
Service received
-
On the spot:
Evaluate compliance with postures in a specific situation by means of on-the-spot surveys by SMS or email, with a maximum of 4 or 5 questions, within 24 hours of contact. Then track the percentage of customers who found the advisor's speech "reassuring"... -
Cold:
Evaluate the impact of posture implementation on overall brand perception via email or outbound customer surveys. Then track the percentage of customers who feel the company is "listening". -
Via AI:
AI can identify the emotions felt by customers, in particular by analyzing telephone conversations.
On the topic of AI and Customer Relations, we invite you to discover and download our complete guide.
iQo helps you build your signature service program: defining key attitudes in line with your positioning and strategy, and deploying them with your teams and across all channels.
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