Complaints are a celebration! - Pop-up Event for Service Champions in Vienna

05 October 2018

On October 4th, BSI, CCC, Contact Management Magazine, and Wir Kunde invited guests to the pop-up event for Service Champions at the Erste Bank Campus in Vienna. The 45 customer service experts were inspired by two exciting keynote speeches and an interactive workshop with the charismatic “Butleresse” Zita Langenstein.

Best Practice Service Excellence: IKEA in change

In his presentation, Sebastian Knisch from IKEA Austria explained how the furniture store meets new requirements and demands on the company with the help of its “Multichannel Transformation Program”.

Faced with external (urbanization, technology, customer expectations, value for time) along with internal factors, the original business model is no longer appropriate.

The current change requires leaving old things behind, prevailing against resentment and a lot of convincing.

Innovations at IKEA include Lockerboxes, which enable 24/7 furniture collection, furniture taxi, express deliveries and augmented reality applications. For example, the “Click and Collect” system was rolled out in 26 IKEA countries within just 11 months.

Best Practice Leadership: Applause, applause for your words

Anke Schiller from the CSF Immobilienservices spoke in her presentation about a “turnaround in customer service in four theses”, which she implemented in her former position at Direct Line Insurance, today Verti.

More process management does not necessarily mean greater customer loyalty. Often even the opposite is the case. With the reorientation away from the AHT as the most important measure towards customer loyalty as the sole criteria for success, this could be increased from 80 to 91.5%.
Real customer orientation needs real interest and genuine emotion and cannot be cast in rules. Instead of service consultants, service artists need to be able to touch and move customers in a positive way.
It’s not about management but about transformational leadership and change to create the appropriate framework for service artists.
Focusing on positive customer feedback and praise creates positive energy – not focus on complaints or mistakes. The hunger for applause from the customer motivates employees to peak performance.

Complaints are a celebration! – From the everyday life of a “Butleresse”

A special highlight at the pop-up event for Service Champions was the appearance of Zita Langenstein. She was the first woman who successfully graduated from the prestigious International School for Butlers in London. Dealing with discerning customers is her daily business, and it’s a real pleasure for her.

In an exclusive workshop, the head of training at GastroSuisse shared her secrets on the interaction of complaints – customer loyalty and lively examples from her work in royal houses and private families.

Zita gave a new understanding of complaints and pleaded for them to be understood as a chance and a gift and the need to pay special attention to them.

Satisfying reclaiming customers brings a higher level of customer loyalty (95%) than the satisfaction of the customer without a previous complaint (90%). The charismatic speaker subdivided complaints into four categories according to their nature and characteristics.

She gave valuable tips on dealing with complaints (“listening, showing understanding, apologizing”) and the right approach to the customer (“body language and voice are crucial, the content makes up only 7% of the impression”).

Zita concluded her captivating appearance with a focus on the so-called “adventurous customers” who primarily want to vent their anger. One should give them the desired room and then calm them down with skillful questions.

At the Apero, the service champions enjoyed a stimulating exchange of knowledge and experience along with the wonderful view of Vienna from the winter garden of the Erste Bank Campus on the 13th floor.