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Issue #45: April 27, 2005
To our readers:
You can offer better customer service by simply Removing The Question.
Removing The Question is answering the simplest questions your client, customer, colleague, employee, or boss might have so they can remove them from their list of things to wonder about. With the question removed, they can focus on other priorities. Where you're concerned, they can feel relaxed, relieved, informed, calm, tension-free.
Some of the simplest questions you can answer:
1. Are you going to call? You said you'd call when the contract arrived, but it should have arrived by now. Did you forget to call? Did you make arrangements for someone else to call if you're out of the office when the contract arrives?
2. Did you get the message? You haven't responded, which could mean you don't have anything to report, or that you're waiting for information on your end before calling. On the other hand, it could mean you never got the message. Do I have to call you again?
3. Will you attend the meeting? You didn't RSVP for the meeting-are you one of those people who fails to RSVP? Did you not receive the meeting notice? Have you forgotten about it?
4. Are you on track with your project? Your deadline is several weeks in the future, but I haven't heard from you in a couple of weeks. Are you on target? Are you running into roadblocks? Have you been sidetracked by fires that need dousing? Do you need my help? Will I get bad news a few days before your project is due because you've tried valiantly, but unsuccessfully, to conquer some roadblocks without "bothering" me?
Don't let the people you work with spend their valuable time asking and answering these questions. Remove The Question before it can contribute to someone's workload.
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Three Tips for Providing Painless Customer Service by Removing The Question
1. Keep it as short as possible.
You don't want to add to someone's load, you want to ease it, so don't send a wordy message to Remove The Question. Use a brief e-mail if that will work, and if you can, put your entire message in the subject line. For example, if you're going to attend a meeting, the subject line could read: "Will attend 4/11 meeting at 8:00 a.m. in your office (EOM)" (or "End of Message"). Make sure you include all the information necessary so the recipient doesn't have more questions, such as "Does she know the meeting is in my office instead of the conference room?", "Does he realize the meeting's been changed to 8:00 a.m.?" Offer the same brief yet complete message if you leave a telephone voice mail.
An easy way to Remove The Question is to leave as much information as is useful and appropriate in a voice mail, so the recipient doesn't have to wonder what the call is about, but can in fact respond to it even if you're not at the phone when she returns the call. Not this: "Please call Scott at 404/299-1480 ASAP," but "Please call Scott at 404/299-1480 and tell me if you're available for a board meeting Tuesday, May 17, 9:30 a.m. in the conference room here, and if not, two alternative times you can meet."
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2. Offer interim information.
If you're on deadline, report that to the person(s) who might be concerned about it. When appropriate, provide an idea of the information you're gathering, the conclusions you're drawing, the kinds of help and hindrance you're running into. If you're going to miss your deadline, let the concerned person(s) know right away. Alert them to what your obstacles are and how you're overcoming them (e.g. "the accounting department hasn't received the forms it needs to give me the information I need, but they expect to get them by Friday. I should be back on track within four days.")
3. Avoid the "Perfect Package" Syndrome.
If you find yourself not updating a colleague, boss, or client because you don't want to hand over anything less than a complete package, reconsider how this will make you look. Unless you know that the intended recipient does not like anything but the neatly tied-up end-result, you risk looking like you're stalling, or unresponsive, or secretive and self-protective. Go ahead and provide interim information; it might provide your customer - internal or external - information he or she finds useful even before you can deliver the completed project. At the very least it saves him or her from having to call you to see how you're doing with the project.
Shipping firms like Federal Express and UPS have built superior customer service by not only getting packages to their intended recipients, but letting them know where the packages are at any time. You can do the same for your own customers by Removing The Question.
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