Interview with Customer Service Extraordinaire Kristina Evey

Kristina Evey wants you to wake up to your customer’s call. In the current economy we can no longer afford to be sloppy with our customers. Evey feels providing customer experience is a lost art. She sees part of the problem as the lack of top-down focus on the customer. She believes we are still at square one. Defining who you are and how you would like to be seen by customers is crucial to your brand. Leadership should establish this kind of culture. When the leadership takes an initiative to empower their staff and walk the talk it trickles down to the customer. Evey wants leaders to get into a new customer service excellence mindset. In reality most leaders are not there yet. Evey wants her clients to lead by example and set the tone for the culture. At the very minimum, customer service representatives need to be sensitive to the customer’s needs. This includes a return to small gestures including something as small as an apology. Most customer representatives don’t remember to apologize when necessary. Think apologies are obvious? Well most companies don’t encourage this. Evey advises that when you apologize you are actively building and strengthening your customer relationships. An apology, according to Evey, will make a world of difference to your customers. Validating the customer and figuring out how you can help them will differentiate your brand. Surprisingly, research shows that a cash payout is less effective than an apology. Who knew the natural reaction when an apology is offered is to forgive. In this podcast Evey talks about creating memorable customer experiences and why a little goes a long way for the customer and will keep them coming back.