"Customer service guru" John Tschohl’s free master class at AlmaU

On December 7, 2018, AlmaU held a free master class from John Tschohl, internationally recognized expert in sales and business development, “Customer service guru”, according to Time and Entrepreneur magazines, best-selling author, consultant on service strategy implementation, President of Service Quality Institute (USA). The event was held with the support of Almaty Akimat, Technodom Company and JSC Kazakh Invest.

Have you ever thought about what quality service is for you? According to John Tschohl: “Service is a strategy as powerful as marketing and as effective as a high-quality product.” 

John Tschohl is founder and president of SERVICE QUALITY INSTITUTE (USA). He is also recognized as a guru of first-class service and has consulted the world's largest companies such as Amazon, DHL, Coca Cola, Dell Computers, Wal-Mart, Metro bank, Commerce-bank, General Electric, 3M, Miller Brewing, Kodak, FedEx, Disney Nordstrom. He also consults Russian companies in the service sector. In total, Service Quality Institute has trained more than two million people in 40 countries around the world.

During the master class, John told how to manage the team and ensure that customers receive first-class service, how to use technology to attract new customers and retain existing ones, and why world-leading companies have a large flow of customers, both regular and new.

In his speech, John Tschohl told about the most effective marketing tool - “Word of mouth”. According to him, there is a strong association between quality service and word of mouth. If the company has provided first-class customer service, and he was satisfied and happy to “communicate” with the company, then the client will accurately tell and recommend you to his friends and acquaintances that will serve as an excellent channel for attracting new customers.

In particular, John told the excellent case of Metro bank, mentioning that the concept by which the bank works is unique. "In Metro Bank, in order to say “no” to the client, you need to get permission from two managers. In conventional banks, the same thing needs to be done to say “yes” to the customer", says John Tschohl.

Also, John Tschohl mentioned the well-known company Apple and how the employees of this company “take care” of their customers. John claims that top-class service is the key attractive weapon of Apple. In all Apple Store stores, employees call on each customer by name and provide full advice, which is undoubtedly a key element in building high-quality service from the company, and also pay great attention to packing their goods.

Customer focus is directly related to the first-class service in the company. Provide a truly high-quality service that shows how much you think and care about your customers. In the finale of his speech, John spent a little exercise to motivate himself.

John Tschohl finished his speech by answering some questions from the public regarding service, entrepreneurship and motivation.