Good Customer Service Part 2

Level 2 customer service is all about supporting the first echelon personnel and helping them to resolve situations that are beyond their ability. How you go about this, and what style of management you use, are dependent upon the nature of the company, the industry you are in, and individual style and experience; I’ve seen everything from a coaching style (like the coach of a basketball team) to a commanding style (like a drill sergeant leading a squad), and any of them can work if done properly. Second echelon personnel will need a more extensive knowledge of the product than the first level people do, and they will have to carry a higher financial limit – the ability to authorize larger refunds, make larger purchases, or spend whatever funds are needed. Even if you can promote Level 1 personnel into the role, you will need to make provision for additional training, regular refresher classes, and more extensive background checks – and this may prove problematic anyway…

Growing your own supervisory personnel is always a good idea; it saves money on recruitment, training and retention costs, and improves morale for anyone who wants to be promoted in the future. Unfortunately, it isn’t always possible to do so, since the skills and temperament to be a good supervisor aren’t always the same ones you need to be a good CSR. A customer service supervisory (hereinafter CSS) needs at least a rudimentary understanding of management topics, including organizational behavior and human resources theory, and a significant level of leadership ability, in order to be effective in the role. Someone who can’t handle enforcing company policy, reprimanding people when required, or any of the less pleasant (but still necessary) parts of the manager’s role won’t do well in the CSS position, and anyone who can’t handle issuing orders to people they perceive as personal friends – a common perception after years of working closely with someone – will not succeed in making the transition to supervisor…

Whatever their origins, the CSS should understand all of the aspects of the CSR position well enough to train new personnel, or settle matters that confuse existing CSRs, and be able to step in and take over the CSR function without further discussion. However, the CSS should rarely if ever do so; his or her job is not to provide customer service, but rather to direct the people who do. And while no one should ever be rude to a customer, it is the CSS’s responsibility to stand up for his or her personnel, refuse to allow anyone to abuse them (verbally or otherwise), and politely but firmly settle any disputes that a CSR can’t handle in the first place. When I did this job I generally took the position that they were my CSRs, and nobody – not the customers, not the CEO, not God Himself – was going to mess with them while I was still around. It’s not a coincidence that units whose supervisors behave that way generally outperform every similar group in the company…

The other thing to keep in mind is that the Level 2 personnel shouldn’t be analyzing performance, forming strategy or setting policy; their job is to keep the first echelon people going and handle anything complicated, confusing or disturbing that comes up in the process. They may serve as the gate keepers for higher headquarters, but they don’t have time to take care of higher functions as well as doing their own jobs. Shooting trouble is the responsibility of the customer service manager, operations manager or group manager, depending on what the Third Echelon supervisor is called in your company…