Customer Service

Reducing Travel

My job involves meeting people and therefore travelling. Where I live and work is well connected to London, but not so much to the South Coast or the surrounding towns and villages.

I go to a lot networking events, plus I like to meet clients in person. This means I spend a lot of time in the car travelling between appointments and events. Although I have a hybrid car and try to drive efficiently, I am still concerned about the impact of my travel on the environment.

I’d like to take public transport more, but the journey times and the cost start to make it look more prohibitive. A thirty minute drive to Brighton equates to just under two hours by either bus or train. The bus is the cheapest option but the WiFi is not stable so precludes much working on the way. The train costs twice as much as driving and is generally unreliable.

Of course I am looking at this cost in terms of time and money and not the impact on the environment.

But I need to have a mindset change. A lot of my client conversations can be quite personal and detailed. I like to meet face to face as I can see their full reaction to questions and suggestions. In my previous corporate life I used to use video conferencing a lot. The picture quality was ok, but time lag could make conversations difficult. I have tried Skype over the years but always found that the system drops out after about 15 minutes.

Recently I was introduced to Zoom. I joined a group call and was amazed by the quality and stability of the system. So I have started to book Zoom calls with existing and potential clients. This has so far been met with enthusiasm.

Using video conference to reduce travel — Photo by Alejandro Escamilla on Unsplash

Looking at my diary this is freeing up much more time in the office and means I can walk to work more.

There will still be days where using the car will be the only practical option, however I am committed to making these days the exception rather than the norm.

July 20, 2019 0

Would You Hide From A Client?

Have you ever hidden from your client – even when they are coming into your office or a meeting?

This occurred recently at work. Following a particularly difficult meeting with a client and their adviser my colleague decided to stay away from the office completely when they can back to resolve the issues. This left our member of staff, who had been quite upset at the previous meeting, to deal with the client on her own.

I was quite shocked at this. The adviser had been quite rude and are to the meeting gunning for a fight. But to avoid the situation after and leave a member of staff to pick up the pieces astounded me. I do not know what my colleague is hiding from, or what the full issues are, but to me this is not leadership.

The previous meeting had been intense. Our client had not stood up for us in front of her adviser. I wonder if she had enough knowledge to do so, or if she just kept quiet – bemused by the whole episode.

It turns out that following this episode my colleague has decided not to take on any more clients for this specific service. They are also avoiding talking about what happened.

hiding from the client — Photo by John T on Unsplash

One thing strikes me though – you can’t garner, or mend, good client relations by hiding. Things go wrong. Mistakes get made. But keeping away so you don’t have to face them is wrong. I have never been given this option since starting this company, and even if I had I don’t think I would have shied away.

Facing up to mistakes and client problems help you grow as a person, improves your skills and shows leadership. If you want to hide then you may as well not have the client. If my colleague had faced the issues head on perhaps they would have learned how to change the offering going forward, and how to avoid this mistake in the future.

Would you hide from a client?

June 29, 2019 0

No Can Do Attitude

I tend to think of myself has having a “can do” attitude. If a client rings with a problem or issue I see it as a personal challenge to find a solution within the required timescale. This isn’t always possible, and I’m not a miracle worker, but most of the time I can get things done, or find an interim solution.

I have a colleague who has a “no can do” attitude. If a client needs something done last minute she fixates on why they didn’t ask for it earlier. Their poor admin is not her problem. She tells them how difficult it will be to sort it, but without finding a solution first.

I find this really frustrating. And it also causes friction in the office as others find her attitude too fixed and negative. We have all had days when things crop up that we hadn’t planned for, or had forgotten about. But we think on our feet and get through it.

If you have a friend that needs something done and is in a fix, you will do your best to help them. I don’t see a difference between a friend and a client in these circumstances (although there are things I’d do for a friend that I wouldn’t do for a client!)

I don’t know what the answer is to changing her attitude. She is not good at learning new things. Perhaps we are the ones that need to find a way to look past this perceived weakness and put in place a better way of dealing and communicating with clients in these circumstances.

June 8, 2019 0

It never ceases to amaze me how the attitude of staff in the same company can vary so much and make so much of a difference to your experience with that company.

Today I ventured out to meet a friend and decided that I would take the bus rather than drive or take the train. I travel a lot for work and tend to drive so was keen to be able to switch off for a bit. I could have taken the train however it means changing and hopping the connecting trains are working. And with Southern and that is all a bit up in the air. The bus gave the option of starting my journey within easy reach of my home, takes rough the same time as the train, but required no changes. On top of that the return fare was over £4 cheaper.

It is my first time doing such a journey on a bus and the driver on the way out did not instill me with the sunny disposition a first time journey requires. In fact he was quite gruff and appeared bored, even slightly annoyed, that someone wanted to get on his bus. When I arrived at my destination I wanted to check where the return bus stop was. He looked slightly miffed at my question and, whilst answering, did not look at me at all.

Ho hum. At least I knew how to get home.

The driver on the way back was completely different. Friendly smile when I got on, and happily checked my ticket and welcomed me aboard. He greeted everyone who got on board and patiently and politely answered all questions- giving extra details so you would know exactly where you were going to get off. This is a man who knows that just having a seat on a bus does not make the journey for a lot of people.

Overall the bus journey was a lot more sedate than taking the train. The passengers tended to be less noisy and would be having happy conversations with each other. They tended to be on the more mature side. As there are no tables on a bus there was less spreading of belongings and generally people kept themselves and their litter, to themselves.

I will be taking the bus more often in the future.

ravenousveggie

Thoughts on veggie food, work, play and life in general

Category