Exceptional Customer Service in the 21st Century

Ask any CEO of a company, president of a bank, manager of an office, minister or staff and they will tell you HOW IMPORTANT the customer is to their operations and success. In meeting after meeting, heads of industry, the service sector, utilities, and government try to convince the audience how much they believe in customer service.” It is our mission, it is our number one priority, it is our goal, it is why we are in business...,” often prove to be mere epitaphs. Unfortunately, these same “customer friendly” executives go back to their offices, de-employ office staff, fail to initiate a customer service improvement plan and send memos out saying customer complaints are unjustified and overblown.


It is a contemporary mantra of service-oriented economies throughout the world that the customer is the key to success. Yet, how many of these same people are just miming what others say or think without ever actually considering what customers want, how to deliver good service, how to develop systems that enhance customer satisfaction and create a service friendly environment. The reality is that customer service around the world, with a few notable exceptions, is either declining or stagnating. Technological developments have dehumanized service while economic pressure and high employee turnover have left customers wondering when they will receive proper service at a fair price and in a timely manner.


Why is customer service in such a “funk” – what is causing this service malaise despite the “lip service” being paid to the significance of the customer in contemporary business, government and public life? If customer service and contact with a customer or client are so important for the success of a company or organization, then why are some companies and organizations failing in this critical department?


Moreover, can a company offer good services/products at low or reasonable prices but still not meet customer demands and suffer financially as a result?

Can a company know the needs and problems of customers without having contact with them and without listening to them?


These three fundamental elements must exist and be cultivated in order for good service to flourish:


1. Expand your idea of service

2. Consider or reconsider who your customers are

3. Develop customer friendly service techniques and systems


If you master these three fundamental elements, your customer service is bound to improve and mature.

EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE, THE KEY TO WINNING LIFETIME CUSTOMERS

Providing good service is not enough, in order for transactions to be successful, the customer must perceive that he is receiving good service. Customers come to you because they have a need, it is up to you to determine what the need is and then meet it according to their expectations.

Customers will remain loyal to your company as long as they believe that the level of service being offered meets their needs, if however they believe the level of service no longer satisfies those needs, they will go elsewhere.

Regardless of the product or service, generally customers can choose to do business with several different companies; most of these will offer similar products at comparable prices. Often, the only thing that separates one company from another is service.

Every one that deals with customers on day-to-day basis-influences the way the customer perceives the company. If you are friendly and helpful, the company is perceived as a pleasant and easy place to do business. By the same token, if you are surly and uncooperative, the company is perceived as unfriendly and a place where it is difficult to get what you want.

Based on our attitude and actions, customers will make their judgments on:

• What kind of people the company employs

• The company’s value system

• Whether or not the company practices what it preaches in its advertisements

Service people are the most important people working in an organization, without them there is no product, no sale, and no profit. Infact, they are the product! and Quality service keeps current customers satisfied, ensures a better reputation, gains new business, and increases market share.

ACHIEVING CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE, it more than just being nice!

Excellent customer service should be a normal occurrence, yet in most businesses today, you will, more than likely, not receive  exceptional service. Though you might receive the product or service you came for, and you may even come in contact with someone nice to you, but customer service that exceeds expectations does not occur often enough.

No matter how much we talk about it, the delivery of excellent customer service seems to elude even the most dedicated businesses. Yes many businesses believe in the importance of providing high levels of customer service and even deliver it on a reasonable consistent basis; however I think you will agree that positive customer service experiences have become the exception, instead of the rule in businesses across the country.

Providing excellent customer service takes planning and execution, and for some, it is more than they are willing to do. But great customer service can be the most exploitable difference between you and your competitors. Virtually anyone can carry the same brand as you, and many are willing to sell for less. However, customers who receive excellent customer service spend more and are typically more loyal to a business than those who receive mediocre service. You will also have fewer customer complaints and spend less time resolving those occasional complaints you do receive.

“Customer Service” is a phrase full of promises, but it often becomes just empty greetings and filling orders. It is interesting that the active world here is “serve,” which means to attend to, wait upon, or to be servant to another. In our fast paced society today, we find fewer people willing to submit to each other; however when it does occur, it is noticed and appreciated.

Golden Rules of Exceptional Customer Service

SHOW YOU CARE

Find a way to give the customer what they want.

The customer is always right - this is really about an attitude of mind. Even if the customer appears really unreasonable, listen to them, hear what they have to say, paraphrase your understanding and find ways to go for a win-win. The customer wants to feel listened to and valued. Listening, reflecting back and letting it be known that you do really want to help, goes a long way to meeting customer needs.

AT THE FRONT LINE

Staff need to know that as well as accountability they have responsibility, the power to make decisions without the continuous need to refer up the line.

Front line staff, particularly ought to have a very pleasing manner, in tone of voice and a welcoming manner. They are the 'face' of the organisation and very often are the first contact point between customer and organisation. If you are a company where repeat business is important, then having a customer for life is much more important than an individual exercising their ego and then that customer is lost to the organisation, usually forever.

EXCEPTIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Know what you are talking about. There's nothing better than speaking to a service or product provider who knows exactly what they are talking about. Able to delight the customer by going the extra mile and providing information that enhances the customer's experience of your company is a great way of keeping customers interested in your company.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Within a couple of days (at the most) of delivering the service or product, check if the customer is happy with what they have received and check if there is anything else you can do to help them. People really do appreciate this, it gives them the feeling that they actually do matter to your company.

CUSTOMERS KNOW BEST

Ask customers what it is they need from the service; find out how the service can be improved. They are in receipt of the service/product and they know. This is probably one of the best pieces of market research you could do. Once you ask customers though, it is really important to act on at least some of their recommendations and let them know that you have by providing them with feedback.

GET BUSY SOLVING CUSTOMER PROBLEMS

Do this quickly, as far as possible at the first point of contact. People tell more people when they are dissatisfied with your service or product than when they are satisfied and the worse thing about it is, even if the customer does not complain to you they will complain to their friends, family, colleagues, and the dog, anyone who will listen. Then you have not only lost that customer, you have lost all those others as well because if they have a choice they won't risk using your company for fear of the same treatment.

As well as being known as a company that provides an exceptional quality of service, getting busy becoming known as a company that when things go wrong, there is no quibble about putting it right.

Everything I have written so far can be summed up as GOING THAT EXTRA MILE; people will remember that your company went out of its way to help them.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hyacinth_Fraser

How to Provide Superior Customer Service

As many of you know, I have made it my mission to change the world's view point of customer service. Too many people today have just accepted the fact that no matter where they go, they will receive less than acceptable customer service. THAT'S NOT ACCEPTABLE!

When we work so hard for the money we have, why spend it at a business establishment (no matter what type of business) that provides you less than superior customer service? Does it really make sense to hand your money over that way? Still not clear... okay, let me present this to you in another way. You go to a restaurant and ask for a steak. The waitress brings you out a piece of chicken. You shrug your shoulders and say, "okay, that's fine." Furthermore, you eat the chicken and still leave the waitress a tip...would you really accept that? No, of course not! But that is the type of unacceptable customer service we are receiving in other places of business and just nodding our heads, and saying okay! STOP THE MADNESS PEOPLE!

For all you customers out there (which means everyone), it is time to reclaim your God given right to receive Great Customer Service. It's called Free Will people, and I'm going to use my free will to change the world's view on customer service. One of the ways I plan on doing this is by refusing to do business anywhere that I receive poor customer service. Are you willing to help me in this mission? All you have to do is this: stop doing business in places that don't appreciate your business. And, let them know that you are no longer going to do business there and why. Sometimes business owners or managers do not know there is a problem until you let them know, so make sure you tell them. Once we start changing our views on what we accept as customer service, the businesses will adapt to start pleasing us better. It makes sense, doesn't it!

As for all of you employees and employers out there, there are certain steps you can take to make sure your customers receive the best customer service around. And, when you start providing that type of customer service, your customers will keep coming back for more. In fact, if you provide them with the best service they can get anywhere and with a little flair, they will come back more often because they can't get enough of it.

So, what are the steps? Follow these certain steps to assure your customers will be coming back for more: (I have broken this down into two stages. One for employers and one for employees please read both!)

Employers



Provide training to your employees on how to treat your customers, think of it this way... what do your customers' expect to get from your business? This is obviously different for every business and also depends on the type of business you have, but put yourself in your customer's shoes...If you were the customer, what would you expect to see in terms of customer service? Once you have clearly defined that, you can then train the employees on how to provide it.

Set the standards high for your employees and make sure they stick to it. However, don't just use this as a tool to "write up" or "fire" your employees. Let me be clear... if you have an employee who you need to fire then by all means do so. But I don't believe in the type of management that only uses negative reinforcement. I believe that you should also use positive reinforcement with your employees as well. In fact, you'll find that the more positive reinforcement you use, the more you'll get out of your employees. Don't use fear management. It breeds negativity and bad morale and eventually your customers can feel and sense it. This will only further lead to poor customer service.

Having Mystery shops of your business is a great way to find out how your employees are doing. Now, having said this again I go back to my last point, do not use this as a fear management tactic. I have worked for a business that did this and believe me it only breeds negativity and poor morale and again only leads to poor customer service because the customers sense the tension with your employee. Now, if you do not know what mystery shopping is, let me clear it up for you. Mystery shopping is where you have someone pose as a customer or potential customer to see what kind of customer experience they receive when they come to your business. Again, the standards that are in place all depend on your type of business and what you have trained your employees to provide to the customer. Obviously if you haven't trained them yet, do not do this until you have. Now, mystery shopping can be done in several ways. You can hire a company to do this for you. You provide the company with the criteria that your employees should meet and what you want the mystery customer to do and say. Then, they will hire a mystery shopper to come in posing as the customer and the mystery shopper will report back to the company you hired on how your employee did with full details on each of the criteria and an overall grade. The company then gives you the details on the mystery shop. It is a great way to test your customer's overall experience and further train your employees. Now, a few things I recommend. Do not tell your employees that you are doing this. If they know, they will be nervous and treat your customers differently. It is more natural if you just have them doing what they always do to grade the normal customer experience. Once you have received the feed back, use it as a training tool for not just that employee but all of them so everyone is on the same level. And reward the employee for a job well done. If you don't want to hire a company to do the mystery shopping, you can ask a friend or family member to pose as the customer and grade the experience. Or, survey your customers on how well they thought their overall experience was, what they liked about it, what they didn't like about it, and what they thought you could do differently!

Lastly, and I can't stress this enough, the only way to provide great customer service is to have a customer service standard, have a plan on how your employees will deliver your standards, and test the standards. Also, pay your employees what they deserve and provide them rewards for going the extra mile. If your employees are making minimum wage and not getting any incentive to "go the extra mile", then you won't get anything extra from them and neither will your customers. Your employees are the face of your business. The service your business receives comes directly from your employees, so make sure your employees are getting a fair deal.

Employees



First of all, when you are working with customers, no matter what your occupation, think of it this way...How would you want to be treated if you were that client?

If you are unhappy about your current job, don't take it out on the customer. Remember, it is not their fault that you are unhappy with your job and it's not their fault that you're in the situation you are in, whatever it may be. Again, remember, what would you expect if you were the customer?

When talking with a client, first of all, smile! Say Hello, how can I help you? If you are not behind a counter of some kind, shake their hand, introduce yourself and ask their name. Then, ask them how you can be of assistance.

If your employer has a standard for customer service, make sure you know what it is and abide by it. And, at the end of the year, when you get your annual review, make sure you remind your boss in writing how you met that standard and ask that it be added to your annual review.

If you work in a store of some kind, like a grocery store, department store, etc...why do you ignore customers as they walk by you? Why do you try to run them over as you are wandering around the store? When you go into a store do you expect to be run over, run down, or ignored? And when you are, does it bother you? Here's my point - it should not matter where you work, you should never ignore a customer walking past and you are never more important than a customer. This is a valuable lesson to learn. No matter who you are or where you work, you have to learn to appreciate your customers! Think of it this way - not only that you could be that customer getting the poor service but more importantly, if it wasn't for that customer, you wouldn't have a job! Remember that the next time you ignore a customer.

The fact of the matter is that customer service is ignored or takes second place to growing a business and increasing profitability. When in fact, great customer service will do just that, grow your business and make it more profitable.

If you survey a room of 50 people, 94% of the people in the room would tell you that they have not received good customer service lately. Furthermore, they would tell you that they have received extremely poor service recently, more than they wish to recall.

I believe that together, we can change the way we are treated as customers and the way we treat customers. If we all work together to change the view point of everyone, then maybe we can bring back the days in which customers were respected and could recall more examples of "Great Customer Service" rather than poor customer service.

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TAKING AN HONEST LOOK AT YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE

Customer Service is Accountability and Delivery.

It is also Fundamental,Simple,Daily,Time oriented,Persevering and Specific. Survival in the world of customer service is predicated on critical evaluation.

Honest self appraisal is necessary if you are to understand the quality of service your company or organization is offering the customer.

Take a look at this Self-Evaluation Questionnaire

Use the following ten questions to see if you are delivering bronze, silver, or gold level customer service. Stepping back and objectively assessing yourself will help you see what your personal service strengths are and where you may need to devote some extra attention.

Remember, be honest!

Use the following numbers to evaluate each question:

0 = Rarely 1 = Sometimes 2 = Often 3 = Almost Always

1) When having a conversation with a customer, do I give him or her my complete attention and avoid doing other activities like (working on the computer, writing unnecessarily, doing a crossword puzzle, and so on)?

2) Do I make eye contact when speaking with a customer to show that I am paying attention?

3) When speaking to a customer over the phone, do I make an effort to use inflection in my voice to convey interest and concern?

4) Do I pick up the telephone by the third ring?

5) When I need to put a customer on hold, do I ask his or her permission and wait for a response before doing so?

6) Do I avoid technical jargon and use language that the customer can understand?

7) When I cannot provide my customer with exactly what he or she wants, do I suggest options and alternatives?

8) Do I sincerely apologize to the customer when a mistake has been made by me or my company?

9) When a customer is voicing a complaint, do I remain calm and understanding, even if I think he or she is wrong?

10) Do I view customer complaints as an opportunity to improve service rather than as a problem that is taking up valuable time?

TOTAL SCORE =

SCORING - Add together the scores of all ten questions and then look below to see how you did.

If you scored:

0 – 12 points: you are at the Bronze Level

13 – 22 points: you are at the Silver Level

23 – 30 points: you are at the Gold Level
For specifics about what your score means and where to go from here, find your level described below and read on.

BRONZE - Scoring at this level doesn’t mean that you don’t care about customers; it is due to one of the following three reasons:

•You are a newcomer to the service field and are still learning how to deal with customers
•You are a seasoned service provider but may have become a little rusty on some of the basics that you once practiced.
•Job suitability. Over the years, we have met certain people who just don’t enjoy dealing with customers or helping others solve problems. Nothing is wrong with them; they just work better by themselves. If this situation applies to you, you might consider either changing jobs or changing the focus of the job you currently hold.

SILVER - You have a solid understanding of the basics, but you are not using them consistently.

•The probable reason for this inconsistency is that you are overwhelmed by the functions of your job. On good days, you give good service, and on bad days, you give bad service.

The key is to become more consistent with your attitude.
•Remember that regardless of the time you spend with a customer (be it a 30-second phone call or a one-hour meeting) and regardless of how busy you are, you always have a personal choice about your attitude. It takes about 30 days to form a new habit, so make a point of practicing the items covered in the questionnaire every time you deal with a customer – especially when you don’t feel like it!

GOLD – Congratulations - you are a professional. You seem to have the basics down and are ready for larger challenges. To continue to grow, consider the following:

•Once you have finished evaluating yourself, get another perspective by having a co-worker you know and trust evaluate you. He or she may see areas for improvement that are blind spots to you.
•Go beyond the basics of service. Educate yourself in the more sophisticated service skills by learning to take initiative. We suggest you go through the above questionnaire a second time and replace the word customer with the words staff member. Doing so will help you to evaluate how good a job you are doing of treating your staff as internal customers.

TIPS ON CUSTOMER’S EXPECTATIONS

Generally speaking, Customers want to be treated fairly and courteously. Here are some other essential qualities that they look for in a service experience

Courtesy

This sounds basic, but many customers have been lost due to rude service people. As an individual involved in customer contact, it’s important for you to leave your problems and your bad moods at the door, bringing them to work only creates more problems. When a customer walks into your business environment or calls you on the telephone, he wants to feel welcome; this involves greeting him enthusiastically, making him feel important and being helpful

Prompt attention

Nobody likes to wait or feel as though they are being ignored. If a customer is left “cooling his heels” while the customer service employee chats with co-workers or attends to other non-customer related details, the customer feels unimportant. If you are busy when a customer walks up simply look up, smile and say, “I will be with you in just a minute”

Reliability

Customers want their shopping experience to be as hassle-free as possible. They want to know that when they walk into your company, they will find what they want or get an answer to their question. They also expect that, if you make a promise, you will keep it. And, if you are unable to, you will let them know ahead of time so they won’t be inconvenienced.

Personal attention

No one likes to feel like a number. And, with today’s technology, that can sometimes be a problem. We all like personal attention, it makes us feel important and that makes us feel good. As a customer service employee, you can show a customer personal attention by addressing him by his name and by discussing with him at length what he needs.

Responsiveness

Customers like to feel as though their business is appreciated. And that’s exactly what a customer service employee tells customers when he responds to their needs enthusiastically. If a customer is ignored, he feels as though his business is not appreciated, and he will take it elsewhere.

Knowledgeable Staff

Customer’s expects the service employees to be knowledgeable about the products they are selling. In today’s high technology and deregulated industries, customers must rely on service employees to help them make their choices.

Empathy

Customers want to be understood. This is practically true when there’s a problem. If the customer service employee acts as though he could care less, the customer will leave feeling that the company doesn’t care about its customers. When a customer explains a problem he is having, respond by saying, “I understand why you might feel that way…”