In the spirit of new beginnings and fresh starts, last week we asked a few CSOFT members to share their New Year’s resolutions for 2012. A recurring response, as well as a common intention of many resolution-makers around the world, was better time management skills.

As with most resolutions, the underlying issue lies not in deciding what to improve about yourself, but in how to sustain these healthier habits for the long haul. Because of this, we started thinking of methods that would facilitate better time management and task prioritization; today’s post will provide you with some food for thought about a concept identified as eating that frog!

“If the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is eat a live frog, then nothing worse can happen for the rest of the day!”

This old saying sets the stage for the phrase eat the frog, made popular by leading motivational speaker and self-help author Brian Tracy. According to Tracy, “frog” is a blanket term used to metaphorically represent anything on your to-do list that you find yourself dreading and putting off, such as the client phone calls, that discussion you’ve been meaning to have with your boss, or even the leaky faucet you’ve been planning to fix for months now.

Thanks for stopping by for our final entry of CSOFT’s Customer Service Week with our fifth, and arguably most important, virtue. If you’re just joining us now, the concept of Customer Service Week originated from the desire to enhance the traditional customer service model with a fresh and more efficient approach. Every day this week, we’ve introduced different virtues that we believe are central to quality customer service. So far, we’ve already covered the importance of focus, perception, responsiveness, and innovation.

Each one of these virtues was chosen with the ideas and concepts of the Taoist tradition in mind. Thousands of years ago, Taoism was founded on the basic belief that followers should find harmony with the Tao, or the Way. The Tao describes a balanced and harmonious way of living with the natural order. Similarly, we believe customer service should not be a reaction to a situation that occurs; rather, it should be an integral part of the entire buyer-seller relationship, shaping attitude, behavior and disposition. Today we will discuss the value of having a sense of humor.

We’re back with day four of CSOFT’s Customer Service Week series to offer you another fresh perspective on ways to enhance your approach to service. Similar to each post this week, today we will discuss how to improve  customer service through a Taoist lens. If this sounds wacky and offbeat… well, we admit that it is! But give it a few more minutes’ thought (and reading), and trust us, it’ll all come together in the end.

The philosophy and teachings behind Taoism form more than just a simple belief; Tao is a way of life that requires mindful application in daily living. As it applies to customer service, we have long thought that the traditional customer service model needed a change. Customer service should not just be a reaction to situations gone wrong or focused merely on placating dissatisfied customers; like Taoism, customer service should be a combined set of beliefs, attitudes and practices that build and nurture the relationship between client and service provider.

In our previous posts, we’ve set forth the concept of focus, the importance of understanding your client’s angle of perception, and the art of responsiveness. Today we will discuss how innovation is related to customer service.

It’s day three of Customer Service Week, where each day of this week is devoted to highlighting different ways to transform the traditional customer service model into a more enhanced, dynamic approach to foster better  relationships between clients and service providers. Why is this important? According to the International Customer Service Association, 68% of customers will stop doing business with a company because of bad service.

It is important to note that customer service doesn’t just exist behind a designated counter at your local shopping center, or on the phone when reporting a faulty delivery—customer service underlines the entire supplier-buyer relationship. It is present even before a official relationship begins and (should) remain in sight during the entire exchange. When understanding this, we start to see customer service not as a process, but as the adaptation of certain virtues in day-to day work. Hence, this week’s customer service series can really be defined as the Tao of Customer Service.

Like Taoism, customer service describes a practice—not a reaction nor a process—but a practice that should be integrated into daily work life. By identifying certain virtues to follow, your customer service model can be transformed into something that is beneficial to all.

In parts one and two of Customer Service Week, we highlighted the value in sharpening your focus and identifying your client’s angle of perception. These two virtues emphasize approach and behavior. Today’s post will concentrate on how to respond in various customer service situations.

Welcome back for part two of Customer Service Week! Yesterday, we emphasized the importance of maintaining an unwavering focus to better understand customers’ needs. Such a focus will help service providers place greater attention on active listening, thereby producing more accurate and positive results.

For this series, we have been using Taoism to identify what we believe are the most essential virtues that underline great customer service. Why Taoism? Because Taoism is founded on a system of simple beliefs and values that are implemented into everyday life. We believe in a customer service approach that is integrated into the whole equation, not just used for problem solving or to pacify a customer.

In today’s post, we address the benefits of understanding the client’s angle of perception.

The Second Virtue: Acknowledge the varied nature of perception

Your customer’s perception counts for everything. That is, doing what you think is best for your customer isn’t necessarily what they think is best. Granted, sometimes you might feel that what the customer wants isn’t good for them, but the point is that regardless of how well or accurately you execute a project, the only thing that matters is whether or not your customer feels that their needs have been met. After all, it’s a safe bet that they’re more familiar with their needs than you are. And learning to appreciate that fact is a natural repercussion of properly applied focus.

From the early 20^th-century phrase “The customer is always right” to Burger King’s Have it Your Way slogan,  the buyer has always been the focus of great attention in the business world, for no insignificant reason. After all, without the buyer, a great product or business plan means nothing at all. Creating and developing a professional relationship with customers sounds easy, but it can actually be quite complex when you are dealing with cross-cultural differences, busy schedules, multiple projects… and the list goes on and on.

Earlier this summer, CSOFT’s very own Jesse He was featured in CIDM’s (the Center for Information-Development Management) July newsletter with a fascinating article on the philosophy of customer service. Jesse has been with CSOFT from the very beginning, a central and fundamental team member who has been visionary in developing our highly attentive approach to customer service. His article in CIDM’s newsletter was so enlightening that it would be a shame to not share it with you all. Therefore, we welcome you all to Customer Service Week, where we will introduce CSOFT’s five virtues of customer service through a Taoist lens.

The Tao of Customer Service

Tao (sometimes known as “Dao”) can be loosely translated as “the Way.” It represents the natural order of the universe as a whole, and also the path for synchronizing or aligning yourself with that order. The Tao itself is nameless and unidentifiable, but it can be understood to a degree by adopting certain virtues (in Chinese, these virtues are known as Te or De) that derive from Tao.

Like the Tao, “good customer service” can’t be defined in a strictly coherent manner. Because good customer service isn’t a process; it’s more of an attitude or disposition that can only be achieved in reflection of certain virtues you adopt in your day-to-day work.

One of CSOFT’s most lovable team members is here to share some localization tips from a project manager’s perspective. Read on to see what Cristina has to say about staying informed, making time for gossip, and smart approaches.

For today’s post, here are some no-fuss, straight-to-the-point reasons why localization is the right next step for your organization.

1. You’re invested in your product’s international success.
According to the 2006 report “Can’t Read, Won’t Buy” from leading market research group Common Sense Advisory, 72.4% of people said that they are more likely to buy products with information written in their native language. Localization makes products and services more accessible on a global front.

2. You want more business.
Localizing a product or service creates more opportunities for business growth because it expands your market reach across borders and languages. The more exposure your brand/product receives, the greater the potential of increasing demand, which leads to more business.

We had the great privilege and pleasure of welcoming Dr. JoAnn Hackos of Comtech Services to our World Localization Summit last week. In addition to the great honor of having her compete in CSOFT’s annual Stump the Experts game, it was most enlightening to listen in on her keynote presentation on The Role of the OASIS DITA Standard in Translation Management, which outlined the importance of information management and the impact DITA can have on managing translation.

The following is a brief summary of JoAnn’s presentation.

JoAnn Hackos, presenting at CSOFT’s 2011 World Operations Summit.

1. What is the definition of localization?
   1. Localization? Ha! Now you’re just making stuff up.
   2. Localization is another way of defining sociology, the study of society and social interactions between individuals and groups.
   3. Localization is an industry, which focuses on making products linguistically and culturally appropriate for a specific local market.
   4. Localization is when you move to another country and get down with the locals!
2. What percentage of consumers say that they are more likely to purchase a product with information in their own language?
   1. 56.2%
   2. 38.7%
   3. 12.8%
   4. 72.4%
3. What is the difference between source language and target language in localization?
   1. Source language is your mother tongue; target language is the language you wish to acquire.
   2. Source language is for translation; target language is for interpretation.
   3. Source language is the original language of the text; target language is the language the text will translate into.
   4. Source language is the original words that come out of your mouth; target language is what people think they hear.