Most people agree that customer service is one of the most important part of the company’s strategy to conduct business. Without customers you really have no business. If this happens, why is it almost everyone as consumers can easily give examples of poor customer service in their daily lives? Each company has whether has or thinks it has a good customer service. However, if the certain steps are not taken to make sure this, the reality of their situation is often far worse than their current perceptions.
In every successful business or organization, commitment to customer service always starts at the top, the business leaders must buy into the fact that they do not only need to meet the expectations of their customers, they also must strive to exceed them. They must develop a corporate culture that understand and execute the concept. In today’s world, business competition is harder than ever before. If you can not offer goods or services if anyone wants or needs them, then often there are four or five other companies ready to fill this gap. You only get one chance to make a good first impression. If the business leaders do not accept this reality, or can not provide the necessary resources to meet the needs of their customers, then they will soon find themselves scrambling for business.
A proper training is one way to develop a corporate culture that include the excellent customer service. Each employee must understand implicitly what is expected of them when interacting with the customers. Is there an established, uniform way to answer a phone? Is there a defined procedures in place for instances when a customer has questions or problems? Is there an established chain of command to ensure that problems are handled in a timely manner? And the most important is that everyone trained to carry out any business procedures? How you handle the issues is far mre important than the issue itself. Customers should always be made to feel as though their interests are being given serious consideration, even when you can not give in to their demands. It’s much better to say “No” with a smile, instead of “Yes” with an attitude.
The customer feedback is the best way to track and measure your level of service. You should not only benchmark your company against your competitors, but also about the goals you set. Once again you have to remember to try to not only meet, but exceed your customer’s expectations. A written survey is one way to monitor customer satisfaction. This can be useful to get feedback on different company functions. Always allow for written comments, because it usually help explain the problem. Management’s interaction with customers is the best way to not only measure the overall efforts, but also shows the level of commitment the company has towards their needs. A manager who does not spend time with customers is likely to be detached and unaware of what their employees do and what their customers want. You always feel better when you have the opportunity to talk to someone who really set policy, not just someone who paid to carry it out.
In the today’s world of bigger, faster, better you need to be the company that gets it right the first time, and if you do not, you should immediately correct your mistakes. If you consistently make this part of how to run a business, your customer’s loyalty will grow. To surest way to continued success and future growth is to not only meet the expectations of your customers, but to exceed them at every possible turn.
A good customer service is the foundation of every business. It provides a platform for continued growth and help build your business reputation. You can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in a new customer as much as you want, but unless you can get some of those customers to come back, your business will not be profitable for a long time.
Good customer service is also about sending them away happiness – happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business to others who may then try the products or services you offer for themselves, which in their turn becoming repeat customers.