Even though you are now at lower or middle-level position, you certainly have to dream of becoming a CEO someday. Or, if you are at the position now, do you know how to become a  customer service-oriented CEO? Being a CEO, you are burdened with more responsibilities for handling customers’ complaints. Unless you can handle the complaints properly, you will your business sinking in no time.

It is not a secret that businesses do anything to make sure that the customers feel satisfied with their service. When you enter a bank, you can see a hotline phone at the lobby room. Each bank provides different customer service for different subjects. There may be one for credit card complaint, one for account opening, one for credit service, and many more.

How to Become a Customer Service-Oriented CEO

If you want to know how to be a customer service-oriented CEO, the following stories of Geoff Ballotti – A CEO for Wyndham Hotel Group – may inspire you:

Getting Involved Directly

As a CEO, Ballotti was responsible for 19 brands and more than 8.000 hotels located in 79 countries. He inherited a bland protocol of customer complain: they sent the customer complaints to local property and asked the GM to address them. Ballotti did not see anything interesting in the procedure. You just throw your mistake to others.

Ballotti wanted to make a significant change. He chose to get involved directly in the customer-compliant process. When a customer called for complaints, he was there to response. He sometimes directly responded the complaint and sometimes coordinated it first with the relevant Brand  Manager. He saw that the new approach worked better.

For him, when you respond to the customers with heart, they will feel recognized and heard. This is a part of the solution to their complaints. Even though there is a serious complaint, the customer will feel better when you respond them quickly and politely. Therefore, Ballotti got involved personally. He knew for sure that the customers would appreciate his involvement.

Maintaining WHG Social Customer Care

Ballotti established a social media-based WHG Social Customer Care. The company uses the customer service platform to see how its customers see its 19 brands. He provides three employees and 15 monitors to address and display the social media feeds on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. It covers all of its 8.000+ hotels and is available in eight different languages.

On average, the team received more than 31.000 mentions per month. Of course, they are not solely complaints and compliments, but also questions, discussions, impressions, and many more.  This way, the company can keep a close eye on every situation related to its products, services, and brands.

Setting High and Consistent Service Standards

The company designs special programs to make sure that the employees and managers comply with a high and consistent service standard. The company offers a training program for new GM before they manage certain property. In addition, they must complete a course that includes topics on service. The company respects every achievement by the participant.

At the end, Ballotti tried to be close to the employees. He tried to know the name, nickname, address, kids, and graduation status of the employees. When the employees feel respected, they will perceive a personal bond with a CEO. For Ballotti, these are among the things on how to be a customer service-oriented CEO.