ATEM Auckland May 2014

1. CUSTOMER SERVICE LEADERSHIP ATEM Auckland May 2014

2. Customer service leadership challenges today... • The pace of change is making the forward picture less clear • What to keep doing, modify, cease doing • What new offerings to introduce – and when • Changing technology and delivery models are changing customer interaction models • From cashiers to consultants • From clerks to help desk operators • From service providers to trouble shooters • Less visibility of the simple transactions • Higher proportion of difficult issues

3. With all these challenges, what are the characteristics of successful customer service leadership today?

4. A Compelling Story “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry • Successful leaders tell a compelling story. The story puts current state and future state, and the journey between them, in context.

5. Plan Proactively • “Efficiency is doing the thing right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing.” • Peter F. Drucker • Successful leaders plan proactively, rather than managing reactively. They take a proactive approach to what will be done, rather than waiting to see what arrives. • They analyse and manage demand and build flexible resourcing models. • “Today’s work today”

6. Engage and Enable Staff • “Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” • Sam Walton • Successful leaders engage their staff for maximum effectiveness. • They are clear on the work/value proposition that underpins job roles and responsibilities. • They set high professional standards and expectations and hold teams and employees accountable.

7. Embrace Change • “Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity” • Reed Markham • Successful leaders embrace change with great energy. • They maximise the opportunities of the change rather than cling to the familiar. • Attempting to minimise change often results in ineffective planning, especially for contingencies.

8. Think Outside the Square • “You don't know what you can get away with until you try” • Colin Powell • Successful leaders are high on efficacy, and encourage thinking outside the square. • They can change pathways but still be clear on the purpose. • They practice highly effective stakeholder management.

9. Set Clear Customer Focussed Goals “In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.”Author Unknown • Successful leaders engage with, and understand their customers. • This enables them to set clear goals and milestones, and ensure measurement and reporting on successes and achievement. • When setting goals, they start with the end in mind.

10. Celebrate Success “Celebrate what you want to see more of” Tom Peters • Successful leaders use recognition to embed good practice. • They reward the behaviours and outcomes they want to see, and are not afraid to expect excellence. • They understand the impact of leader recognition.

11. Contact Details CUSTOMER SERVICE BENCHMARKING AUSTRALIA Level 5, 10-16 Queen Street Melbourne VIC 3000 t +61 3 9605 4900 | f +61 3 9620 7672 www.csba.com.au Robyn Reilly Director, Business Improvement robynreilly@bigpond.com.au