Appletree Answering Service

Remember when you were a child and your parents would harp on you to send thank you notes, clean your room when family was coming over or make sure you invited all of your classmates to your party instead of singling people out?  As my experience grows and I interact with Employees and Customers, I am now convinced that our parents constant nagging was a precursor to “paying attention to the details”. I could think of a million scenarios where the little details mean so much.  Remembering someone’s name, following up on a problem to ensure it was not only resolved, but there were no other issues to address or sending a thank you note to a new Customer.  Isn’t that just common curiosity to thank someone for their business?  We live in America for goodness sake; there are more options for Customers to have their needs serviced than anywhere in the world!!!Being a part the Service Industry where the widgets we sell are packaged in a friendly hello, accurate message and a delivery of that message, it always amazes me to be subject to exceptional service.  The details…  I recently took a weekend trip to Atlantic City with a friend of mine, where we did some shopping, people watching and caught a concert at the Taj Mahal.  During our shopping excursion, we made a pit stop in Tiffany’s and of course, we treated ourselves to a little silver present with a gorgeous turquoise box.  As if the product was not perfect enough, it comes with its own little residence!  And to end it all, 4 days after my return to reality, I received a hand written thank you note from Ambur.  Ambur remembered me, my name, what I bought and how my face lit up when I put on my new necklace.  Of course Ambur was thanking me for my business, but she also made my purchase memorable by paying attention to the details.  Thanks Tiffany’s and Ambur for raising the bar on Customer Service!

This blog was written by guest blogger, Candy Myura

How do you communicate and educate 400 people across 12 sites nationwide?  You go on a Road Show!

I know it seems silly, but I will tell you, aside from the topic of my traveling expedition, it is as real and worth while as any project I have worked on.

The overwhelming objective that came to light pretty quickly after speaking to a few of our front line agents was they were not aware of the company’s goals, how they impacted those goals and the importance of their role within the company.  So with those initiatives in mind, I created a presentation that was not only informative, but drew from real examples in their everyday lives and experiences at Appletree, and tried to make it fun. 

The presentation kicks off with a very clear description of the company’s goals, the respective site level goals and drills down into how each individual person impacts those goals.  We talk about initiative, attitude, respect and the tangibles, like showing up to work on time, being efficient on the phones and taking accurate messages.  The combination of communication, education and tying the two together seem to be the missing piece of the puzzle.

We expect a lot from our people, and work towards aggressive goals to service our customers well.  In my experience, I have found that the more you share with people, the more apt they are to feel part of the big picture.  A company is only as successful as each of its individual employees; it’s my job to arm them with the tools and information necessary to be just that.

This blog was written by guest Blogger Candy Myura.