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Cate Schreck
Lightbulb Training
www.lightbulbtraining.com.au
Cate is on a mission; to populate businesses with staff who work together in harmony and have the skills and the drive to provide consistently excellent customer service. She calls these employees Customer Service Professionals.
Having spent over 30 years working in, managing and training customer service in a range of industries across Australia/New Zealand, it was clear to her that businesses faced 3 challenges when aiming to create a culture of service excellence:
➊.Knowing what customer service support and training is available and necessary
➋ Motivating staff at all levels to attend and value service excellence training
➌ Finding a customer service training provider who has a proven process to take a team from good to great.
Since 2010, businesses have been using her 6 Step ACTION process that empowers staff to provide a level of service that leaves them feeling as valued and respected as their customers do.
She is so passionate about giving business owners/managers the confidence to step back and watch their customer service staff shine, that she wrote a book for them to give to their teams. “The A – Z of Service Excellence -The essential guide to becoming a Customer Service Professional.”
During my conversation with Cate she shared:
- The importance of Customer Service
- What Customer Service really is
- The seven mistakes that franchisees make when trying to create a culture of customer service excellence in their business
- The six steps to create a culture of customer service excellence
- What it takes to motivate a team from good to great
- How a culture of service excellence saves time and money
- Why you should make training videos
- Knowing your employees “What’s in it for them” to provide good customer service
Cate’s “One Thing” that she does every day…..
- The “To do” list – she has a “to do” list to do a “to do” list
Cate’s secrets are
- To getting “Me Time” – is working on her business as it is her passion – She thinks this is her “me” time plus she listens to her body and takes time out when her body tells her to
- To getting the right employee – look for somebody who is a 70 – 80 % fit to your company and train the missing skills
- To keep on top of cashflow – productise your business – move from “we can do everything for you” to “selling a range of specific products”
Cate’s tips for Franchisees
- Buy my book – “The A – Z of Service Excellence -The essential guide to becoming a Customer Service Professional.” and give it to your employees or better still put it in your induction kit.
- Interview Question – What has been your most difficult experience with customers?
- Ask your Franchisor – about communication – work out the best method of communicating with your Franchisor – it may be via video
Who is responsible for the success of your business – the franchisor or the franchisee?
Its 50 -50 Franchisor/Franchisee
The books Cate recommends
Cate recommended two books that she has found valuable:-
Working with Emotional Intelligence – Daniel Goleman
The Personal MBA – Josh Kaufman
and of course her book
“The A – Z of Service Excellence -The essential guide to becoming a Customer Service Professional.”
http://lightbulbtraining.com.au/the-book/
In Cate’s words……
I wish I had known…..
How much I would love running my own business – I would have done it earlier.
Quotes in this episode…..
“Hire people with great people skills not people that you like” – Cate Schreck
“an induction process must have a customer service component” – Cate Schreck
“Don’t provide training to your team because there is a problem – training is professional development not a punishment”– Cate Schreck
“Plan your time off – give yourself a break” – Cate Schreck
“you as the business owner should not manage, lead and train – they are three very different hats to wear” Cate Schreck
“Don’t ignore bad customer service in your store” – Cate Schreck
“Some people naturally have it (Customer Service Skills)- you know those people; you have been served by them; you have employed them” – Cate Schreck
Selected Links For This Episode
https://au.linkedin.com/in/cate-schreck-1a369134
http://lightbulbtraining.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/LightbulbTrainingSolutions/?fref=ts
For your FREE E-course click on the link http://www.franchiseesuccess.com.au/wish/
