National Customer Service Week is October 2nd – 6th and it’s a perfect time to give your folks a special reward for doing a great job. Customer service experts C.A. Short* recently released a list of ideas for customer service gifts:
- Celebrate/Reward employees who received great reviews on transactional surveys and online review sites. **
- Write a handwritten note acknowledging a job well done — this goes a lot further than email.
- Send an eCard to your employees and their managers that highlights their contributions and lets them know they’re appreciated. **
- Create a wall of appreciation and post stories about exceptional customer service offered by your team.
- Have Managers recognize employees instantly using Instant Award Cards or On-the-Spot Cards. **
- Use our People Are Everything platform to drive engagement by posting event notices and photos of what’s going on. **
- Offer rewards for individual goals, team goals, and department goals.
- Make each day themed. For example, Superheroes of Service, People Are Everything, The Magic Inside of You, etc.
- Play BINGO through email during the week. This is popular in the Call Center world where employees may not have as much opportunity to participate in other events. Award points or Instant Award Cards as prizes. **
BAD IDEAS FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE WEEK GIFTS
In no particular order…
# 1 POORLY THOUGHT OUT GIFT CARDS
Is there anything more annoying than receiving a gift card you know you would never use? While iTunes cards might be great for iPhone owners, they don’t do very much for the 100 million + Americans using a phone powered by Android. It’s equally frustrating when companies give employees gift cards with balances so low they have to use their own money to complete a purchase.
A perfect example of this occurs when a company gives a $20 gift certificate to a pricey restaurant. Not only will the employee have to pay additional money to receive an entrée, but they’ll also have to pay taxes and tip. While it was certainly a nice thought, the only thing you really gave your employee was a bill.
# 2 CANDY AND FOOD ITEMS
When giving employees a thank you gift, candy and food items are a poor choice. 15 million Americans suffer from food allergies, and you can be certain that at least one of your employees fall into this category. You certainly don’t want a team member riding in an ambulance because the box of chocolates you gave them was “processed in a facility that manufactures peanuts.” The risks are just too high. And even if your team doesn’t have any severe allergies, many Americans have other dietary restrictions or simply choose to avoid a number of food products and types.
#3 PRODUCTS FEATURING A MISSPELLED NAME
If you’re giving an employee a gift with their name on it, double check spelling. This is the quickest way your gift, which should be designed to show your employees they’re appreciated, will make them feel like the company doesn’t care about them. Trust me, Jan doesn’t won’t a mug that says how great of an employee “Jane” is.
#4 GIFTS THAT ONLY PRAISE THE COMPANY
Customer Service Appreciation Week should be a time where you show your employees how much you appreciate them. So, a shirt that reads “Our Company Is #1” probably isn’t going to cut it. A shirt, in and of itself, is not a terrible idea – just make sure it’s one the employee would want to wear. And, most importantly, make sure the focus is on your employees and not just the organization.
#5 ALCOHOL
Unless you work at Jack Daniels, giving all your employees alcohol may not be the wisest decision. Some of your employees may not drink. Others may not like the type of alcohol they were given. And, worst of all, you could have an employee that struggles with addiction. If you don’t know the employee very well, restrain from giving this type of gift.
DO CUSTOMER SERVICE WEEK RIGHT
It’s critical for your company to make this upcoming Customer Service Appreciation Week one your employees will remember – just make sure they’re not remembering it for the wrong reasons! For some quality ideas that will make a big impact, you can check out our article here. Keep in mind, showing your employees they’re appreciated isn’t something you do one week a year. It needs to be a continual process, and every member of your team needs to be involved.
*Originally published by C.A. Short Company at https://www.cashort.com/blog/celebrate-2017-customer-service-week-cool-ideas