Service Orientation is a Competence Skill

How do you see the term 'service'? What picture comes to your mind?

The other day, I walked into a big supermarket – not a mall – to buy some household needs. As I walked into the shop I nodded at someone I think should be the attendant. You see, I've come to realise that each time I greeted attendants in a number of supermarkets in Nigeria – simply out of courtesy – I realized too often and rather sadly how they ignore your greetings. In order not to feel I have wasted by breathe greeting them, I decided to device the ‘nodding technique’ and believe me it works! They immediately greet me properly. Why, does it work? That will be another discussion for another day or you can drop in your comment after reading this piece. 

As soon as I walked in though I was completely ignored but I noticed they had their eyes fixed on me as I moved from one aisle to another, their eyes also checking to see that my handbag was not bulkier than when I came in. Round and round the aisles I looked for what’s on my list and yet nothing. Almost feeling exasperated not getting what I came the long distance for, I decide to walk up to one of the attendants and asked for what I needed. The first two attendants said, “I don’t know all these products Ma. I don’t think we have them.”

Determined to get what I wanted, I walked up to the cashier and asked politely. She smiled and said, “Common you!” she pointed at one of the attendants, “Go and check that row near that corner. Na there wetin she dey look for dey.” Surprising they were they! 

The quantity I bought from the shop that day so shocked the cashier, I overheard her say to the other attendants, “Chai! See wetin the woman buy! Na so we for lose plenty sales today!” as I stepped out. 

The morale? Service orientation matters.

But what does service orientation mean?

Service Orientation means:

• To Anticipate
• To Recognise
• Meeting Customer’s Needs 

When you have the service orientation mindset, you:

• Understand customers needs and have matched them to services of products
• Seek ways to increase customer’s satisfaction and loyalty
• Gladly offer appropriate assistance
• Grasp a customer’s perspective, acting as a trusted advisor
• Being able to identify a client’s real, underlying – and often unstated – needs, then matching them to one’s products or services.
• It also means taking a long term perspective and so sometimes trading off immediate gains in order to protect and preserve the relationship
• Sales or continued patronage is no longer the sole goal of the relationship, but rather a by-product of servicing the client’s needs
• It also means occasionally letting another person take credit for a job well done
• To shine at service we need to monitor the satisfaction of customers, not waiting to hear complaints.

In service orientation, listening well is the key to empathy – and often winning more customers through word of mouth.

How to Listen Well With Empathy

To listen well with empathy means:

• Asking astute questions
• Being open minded
• Understanding
• Not interrupting
• Seeking suggestions
• Being in control of our own moods is essential to good communication
• How well you handle your emotions determine the degree to which those around you preferred to deal with you
• In dealing with peers and subordinates, calmness and patience are key. Stay cool and collected always, no matter any circumstances
• As an employee, do not be overly aggressive with dealing with your boss. It puts them on the defensive or becomes a turn-off
• Aiming for a neutral mood is the best strategy in anticipating or dealing with someone else, if only because it makes an emotional clean slate and allows you to adapt to whatever situation calls for, for example like a car in neutral can go reverse, low, or high gear, etc.
• A neutral mood leaves us ready to be more fully involved, present rather than emotionally removed.

Have you ever encountered that kind of customer who would not back down no matter what you say unless you hear them out or give them what they want? This is where your negotiating skills comes creates the desired effect you want.

Options and Approach to Negotiation

Problem Solving: in which both parties try to find the solution that works best for each side

Compromise – where both parties gives in more or less equally regardless of how that serves their needs

Aggression: where one party forces unilateral concessions from the other side. In this case, threats and demands poison the waters of negotiation

When conflict arises, as negotiation is ongoing, what do you do?

How to Handle Conflicts

First calm down, tune into your feelings and express them:

• Show a willingness to work things out by talking over the issue rather than escalating it with more aggression
• State your own point of view in neutral language rather than in an argumentative tone
• Try to find equitable ways to resolve the dispute, working together to find a resolution both sides can embrace.
• To achieve all the above, you need self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control and empathy.

Reference: Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman.