Small Business Blog

Archive for the ‘Customer Service’ Category

If you are ambitious to be successful in the field of business, you must be aware of the fact that customer service is one of the main factors, which plays a great role in bringing success in the business. Customer service happens to be one of these things that bring about the satisfaction of the customers. It is well known to all that if the customers are happy with the way you deal with them and id the products or the services that you provide to them are of a high quality.

If you want achieve success in customer service, you have to follow some main principles. You have to have a clear idea about how you would deal with the customers. If you are looking for some tips that will help you to attain success in customer service, here are the tips and some suggestions. Follow them and know how to be successful in customer service.

If you are having a conversation with the customer over the telephone or face to face, it is better for you to mention the name of the customer you are talking to. When the customer hears his name from you, he is going to have a different kind of dealing with you. It will also be easier for you to deal with him. End the conversation with a ‘thank you’.

If you are already experienced in the field of customer service, you must have had the experience of dealing with customers who are irate. Say ‘I apologize’ or ‘I’m sorry’ if you find some customer angry. Do not forget to take a follow-up with the customer. Contact him some time later. When you end the call, thank him. Before ending the call do ask him if you can do anything else for him.

There is a very tricky way to incur the interest in the customer that you deal with. After your conversation with him is over, you can leave a message for him. You may also ask for a feedback about what he or she feels after availing the customer service. The way you ask is also quite important. Instead of asking him how he liked the interaction you should ask him how he would like to rate the customer service that he availed. The answers in the second case are most likely to be more specific.

The most important factor in achieving success in customer service is the way of your dealing with the customer. You have to be very careful about not hurting the belief or faith of the customer. The pleasant features of your behavior of yours will surely impress the customer. One more obvious way to success in customer service is to provide them with the products or services of the best quality so that they have the least scope to feel unsatisfied. If the customers are happy with the products or the services that that are availing, it is much easy for you to gain success in customer service.

Quite a few organizations hire employees in internal positions such as human resources, marketing, sales, facilities, cafeteria, accounting or security without adequate training in customer service skills. Generally, unless a customer complains or compliments an employee their supervisor typically assumes that everything is being done well and provides positive feedback on their performance review.

Customer Services includes small and large details such as understanding the needs and purchasing habits of the customers, responding to all e-mail and phone inquiries, human contact and conversation, taking responsibility, to celebrate little triumphs with them, commiserate in their complaints and even get to know them. These customers once made will remain loyal customers forever.

By itself customer service is too vast to handle unless you are a large business with well defined sections in your office. Outsourcing customer service can allow a small or medium business to take care of its core competencies, while the customers are professionally and satisfactorily dealt with.

Online customer service is handled by quite a lot of call centers. The need for such service arises on two accounts.

First an online business is a 24*7 business. Your customers belong to the world and there are several time zones out there! Their hours and holidays are different from yours. Remember you lose a customer to your competitor if you do not respond to their calls.

Secondly, call response needs training and expertise handling. You cannot personally attend each call. So you need to hire employees. Each employee will need to be trained in your products, their handling and customer responses. So you will need to setup an entire process. The entire procedure is very time centric. If time is at premium (as it is for most of us) outsource it to the experts. Call center employees are trained in such procedures, responses come easier to them and they are trained to present a human face to the prospect.

Outsourcing customer service may have its pitfalls if the call center and business do not work closely in tandem with each other. The outsourcing company should work with the call center hand in hand to get customer feedback. The script flow must be based on previous experience of the company. The concept of personal attention to the customer is very important for closing a call. There some guidelines to be followed for ideal customer service assistance. Some of them are discussed here.

The customer must be put first as a person. The customer should be helped to make a decision and not pushed to buy. Respect him and he will respect you in turn and come back to you.

Listen to what the customer has to say. Clarify their doubts and answer the questions. The customer service employee should always have in-depth knowledge about the product or services. If unable to respond to a query immediately take the customers contact id and respond soon. Customers always have a tendency to look for a problem solver rather than an order taker

Learn about the customer in a casual way not as a marketing survey sort of thing. The easiest way to do this is to ask for them for feedback about their experience with the company or organization.

Respect the customers time. If a customer is in hurry be fast and friendly whatever the medium. In companies where the customer profile has senior citizens may want to talk a while. Give into them. They’ll come back to you for sure. It is also important to be fast and friendly.

If promises are made, should always be kept with the customers. If not, they should be compensated.

Lastly, review and feedback go a way in improving customer service. The staff can be asked about unusual requests or difficult situations. Reviews teach many important lessons.

In addition to the above points some do nots have to be kept in mind. Pitfalls such as incompetence, disorganization, unprofessional manners, lack of standard policy, delays and unreliability lose customers. It’s said that happy customers are the best and most effective way to find new customers. Let your prospects and leads rave about your customer services.

What is customer service? Have you ever stopped to really think about this question? We have trained literally thousands of people and hundreds of organisations in customer service. No matter who the person or what the organisation, the answer to this question is always generic. They will say: “Customer service is about giving customers what they want” or perhaps “it’s about satisfying customers” some times they will say that it is about “making customers happy.”

While at first glance these answers may sound correct, nothing could be further from the truth. Say for example that you ran a restaurant. If a customer were to enter your restaurant and ask for some office supplies would you be able to give the customer what they want? Would you be able to satisfy a customer who was looking for some jewellery if you worked in a hardware store? No, it would be impossible. The best that you could do would be to politely tell the customer where they can go and get Jewry. Obviously, customer service is not about giving customers what they want, or even satisfying customers.

The same is true for the way we give customer service. When we ask the question: what is the most important thing for good customer service, almost everyone we ask will answer: smile. While this may be good in some cases it is not appropriate in all cases. Just imagine if a distressed mother came up to you and told you that she had lost her 2 year old child in your store. Imagine how she would respond if you were to smile at her? Or imagine if a customer told you that he/she slipped while climbing the stairs or escalator in your store and as they explained their excruciating injuries you smiled back at them.

The truth is that customer service is not about practicalities, it’s about principles. The practicalities may change but the principles stay the same. Staff are not meant to smile all the time, to give customers everything they want, or to satisfy all their needs. Staff are meant to promote the organisation and its values. If you want to increase the impact of your customer service teach staff to represent your organisation and its unique traits.

When we teach customer service training modules we first focus on what the organisation values, what it’s all about and what does it want customers to see. Once we have done this, we move on to how to serve in light of these values. This is a very easy way of getting staff to change the way they serve, it produces better results and is a lot more fun to teach.

Here is something you can do to help your staff engage in effective customer service. Take a black/white board and draw a very basic house. Ask staff to take a piece of chalk or the white board marker and to take turns to turn this basic house into your organisation/company. They may add pictures or words to the basic drawing. Some will add words like: quality, professionalism, friendliness, service, money, speed, or simplicity while others may draw things like customers and staff.

Now ask staff this simple question: in light of this picture, what does a good customer service representative do? The participants will now find it easy to see what customer service is really about in your organisation. They may say for example, in light of us being a friendly company we should smile. Or perhaps they will highlight the organisation’s professionalism and explain that it’s professional to stand up straight and to dress appropriately.

Instead of teaching staff practicalities teach them principles and the practicalities will follow naturally.

We have a free, 2 hour course which you can download and run with your staff to help them improve their customer service, just visit www.griffin.ie.

Who says service is serious? Customer service can be silly too. Take this fun quiz to test your customer service knowledge. You may be a service ace if you both pick the correct answer to each of these ten questions, and understand why these answers are correct.

1. A complaining customer is:

A. Always right

B. Almost right

C. Often lying

D. Always the customer

2. Customers who complain:

A. Had unhappy childhoods

B. Are genetically predisposed to be sourpusses

C. Have trouble in their primary relationships

D. Are doing you a service in identifying what isn’t working in your business or organization

3. The best reward for your customer service representatives is:

A. Earplugs and punching bags

B. Valium or other mind-numbing drugs

C. Recognition and appreciation on your part

D. Anger management seminars

4. CRM stands for:

A. Customers Rarely Matter

B. Can’t Remember Much

C. Communicating Random Meaning

D. Customers Rudimentarily Managed

E. Customer Relationship Management

5. Customers who complain want . . .

A. Something for nothing

B. To be heard and have their experience validated

C. To vent for the sport of it

D. To be made majority shareholders in the company

6. Customer Service departments:

A. Are the afterthought that cleans up messes other departments cause

B. Build customer loyalty

C. Are leaders in understanding customer behavior patterns and market research

7. For a company to be considered service-oriented:

A. It must mention customer service in its mission statement

B. At least 18.3% of its employees must work in the customer service department

C. Its managers must at one time have been CSRs

D. Customer service must be addressed by all departments

8. A Call Center is defined as:

A. The midpoint in duration of a telephone call

B. A revenue sink hole

C. A place where middle-of-the-road calls coexist with liberal and arch-conservative calls

D. A location where complaints and problems are converted into successful saves for your customers and your company

9. Customer Care is:

A. A managed care medical program for customers

B. A nifty alliterative phrase that looks good in company brochures

C. A new program where customers care for themselves

D. A philosophy wherein the customer is wrapped in service even before a problem arises

10. Customer Service Culture is

A. A new form of yogurt where the lid removes itself for you

B. Behavior being analyzed in a Petrie dish for contagions

C. A mythical civilization in which everyone smiles and welcomes you when they meet

D. An environment where customer service permeates the thinking of the entire company

KEY

1. D. Customers are often wrong but they never stop being the customer. Right or wrong they are to be accorded respect and cared for. Focus on the insights their complaint offers.

2. D. Complaining customers alert you to systemic problems before they drive off more customers. Their complaints represent many more customers who may not spend the time to tell you about problems, instead just leaving you for your competitors.

3. C. Your staff deserves and thrive on recognition and appreciation. Take the time to celebrate them collectively and individually. Whether through cards, gifts, surprises, outings and acknowledgements at company functions, let them know how important, valued and appreciated they are to you and the company.

4. E. CRM refers to systems designed to track and cater to each customer’s whims and preferences over a lifetime. CRM is about managing customer relationships over the long haul by attending to their individual needs.

5. B. Complaining customers have several needs. Implicit in their actual complaint is also a need to be heard and their unhappiness acknowledged. Fixing the problem is important. So is letting them know you understand their displeasure and feel for them. One without the other is an incomplete remedy for customer complaints. Don’t forget the emotional component in complaints.

6. B and C. When you solve a problem for a customer you actually build confidence and allegiance. You’ve proven you stand behind your products or service, giving customers a warm and fuzzy feeling of safety and protection. As well, you tap the pulse of the customers. Their complaints and feedback give valuable insight into how well your products are assembled, documented, sold and hold up. Listening to customers tells you a great deal about your company’s products and services (and your competitors’ too) from real life customers. That’s invaluable!

7. D. A Customer Service orientation must transcend the service department. All departments must understand and model good customer service for the company to be considered strong in service. Many problems can be avoided outright by attending to customer service. Why should the customer service department carry the weight of service for the entire company. Don’t operate under the adage “never enough time to do it right but always enough time to do it over.” Get it right at the source, in all departments.

8. D. Make your call center is a shining example of your company’s commitment to its customers. Your center is a visible symbol of your company’s commitment to customer success.

9. D. Customer Care is a philosophy wherein customers are cared for by a company – the entire time they’re customers. Care isn’t just to be administered as a salve for problems. Demonstrate care from the start and your customers will flock to your products and services.

10. D. Customer Service Culture is the infusion of service ideals into every department, from sales, shipping and receiving to legal, human resources and beyond.

What is an organization’s “culture?”   It is simply a critical mass of the attitudes and behaviors of its people and groups. The fifteen statements below each reflect an important “cultural” reality impacting customer satisfaction and loyalty.  They have shaped our customer service program’s success.  Do they shape yours?  How is your customer culture?

1.   T / F:  In our organization we operate under the assumption that customers view customer contact persons as “the organization” and representatives of what the organization means to them personally.

 2.   T / F:  We communicate regularly the importance of realizing everyone in our organization has customers: external (“paying”) customers and internal (work group/ inter-work group) “customers.”

 3.   T / F:  We design our processes and train our people around 2 things customers want to know: (1) Do you do what you say you will? (2) How do you handle problems?

 4.   T / F:  Realizing that organizations choose, consciously or unconsciously, to be financially driven and/or customer-driven, we make decisions remembering that organizations working from a short-term, financially driven philosophy are not as effective in service situations.

5.     T / F:  Since front line persons make most customer service decisions on a daily basis, our top management understands their key role and allows them to inform the organization about customer needs.

6.     T / F:  We promote the status of front line customer contact people to a position of value and respect—they are not considered the least educated, trained and paid.

7.     T / F:  We allow our customer contact personnel, not management, to control the quality of the service product.

8.     T / F:  Management believes in the importance of good service and actively supports it.

9.     T / F:  We measure customer service results in a way that leads to greater focus on the importance of individual efforts.

10.    T / F:  We emphasize that customers perceive service to be “good” when positive individual interactions occur—crucial encounters that can be considered “moments of truth.”

11.    T / F:  “Customer first” behavior is rewarded and encouraged to be repeated.

12.    T / F:  Customer service skill training is wall-to-wall.

13.    T / F:  Our corporate culture supports continuous improvement of customer service processes.

14.    T / F:  “Customer first” attitudes, along with results communicated continually to all employees in simple terms create a climate for quality customer service in our organization.

15.    T / F:  Corporate goals, policies and procedures reflect a “customer first” mind set, while we foster a rewarding service-focused climate.

YOUR CUSTOMER CULTURE STRENGTH…

 13-15 “TRUE” — You are likely experiencing customer (and employee) loyalty and advocacy.

10-12 “TRUE” – Do you have good customer satisfaction scores, but customer loyalty is strained?

Less than 10 “TRUE” — Are you struggling with customer satisfaction, loyalty and brand reputation?  Do you have low employee morale and high employee turnover?

Every business whether it is sales of products or services, depend heavily on customers. Customer Service assumes significance in that few businesses can continue to grow without a strong base of quality customer service. Customers form the foundation of any business. It would be suicidal to ignore the complaints if any by the customers. Apart from the quality of the products or services sold, the customer feedback by word of mouth, act as an ambassador for the seller/service provider. Applying the same token , after sales services/24-hour services support form the vital cog in the wheel of a successful business house.

Banks are often cited as the testing crucible for customer satisfaction and the standard of services. Here the quality of the customer service can be assessed by a single visit to a bank branch. An impatient junior officer, a service bottle-neck at the counters or imparting of wrong or factually incorrect information -all these contribute to deficiency in customer service, let alone more serious errors. Today Banks, which basically offer the same services and charge the same for common services, are preferred only on the basis of their quality of services. Customer services are given the utmost importance by most successful leading banks. They have instituted special customer response and grievances redressal systems where high-ranking officials monitor the correctness of the responses or the redressal of a particular grievance.

The standards of customer services in banks are today excellent and many business corporates like mobile phone services providers ,internet service providers, utility services and courier agents are practicing excellent standards of customer service.

It was Dale Carneigie, if I remember correctly, who once said that the Customer was Always Right. How true! Give in to the Customer arguments and then when things have cooled down sufficiently, prove your arguments to him. The customer would stay permanently loyal to you.

Customer service is no longer a mere sales jargon or sales pitch. Customers today who are very knowledgeable and demand services, cannot be sidelines or shortchanged any more. The competition is waiting to snatch away your precious bank of customers. If you fail to deliver or fail to redress in time, the loss is yours.

Concentrate on Customer Services! Your business growth would come automatically.
The Goodwill of the customers is at the same time your investment and your sales ambassador.