| |
| |
|
WebsiteAlways |
|
How to Deliver Exceptional Customer Service
Having been in business a number of years, I'm amazed at the number of people who don't have the slightest idea of what customer service is. Customer service is not a way of doing things - it's an attitude. I always love it when company's send their people to seminars to learn about customer service. All the seminars will discuss the customer's needs and expectations and the orator will package these ideas as new and cutting edge when in fact these very ideas were in practice over 30 years ago! Somewhere along the line, we forgot the customer in favor of the bottom line. Some of this may also be attributed to different mind sets over time and how people tend to treat one another. Let me wax poetic here a moment. When was the last time you could go to a gas station and have an attendant in a white shirt and tie wait on you, check your oil, clean your windows, and fill your tires just as a way of saying thanks for your patronage? More than likely the station you went to had an attendant who's appearance was disheveled, wearing more jewelry than you own, and here you are passing money through a bullet-proof panel! It is said that Doctor's make the worst patients, well my friend I'm here to tell you that Customer Service people make the worst consumers! With all the customer service people I've known over the years from both sides of the fence there's a real lack of wanting to "champion" the cause of the customer. Few people posses that trait and those that do don't last long as they're viewed as oddities and pushed out in favor of the group consensus. On the other hand, I have also met customers who no matter what approach you used they were bound and determined to make your life miserable. These people make the "fight" personal and will never be satisfied regardless of what you do. Delivering great customer service is easy! We just need to get back to the basics that were laid down decades before - what we'll call the tried and true methods. How do you deliver great customer service? 1.) Smile on the phone. This simple act will set the tone for the entire conversation. 2.) How may I help you? You're asking their permission to assist them. 3.) Use a proper salutation when talking to a customer unless permission is given otherwise, i.e.: Mrs., Mr., Ms., Sir, etc. 4.) Listen to their concerns. No one likes to be ignored. Everyone wants to know that not only are they being heard but that they're being understood as well. 5.) Repeat back to the customer what it is you heard them say. 6.) Be genuine. A lack of sincerity comes across easier than you think. 7.) Care for your customer. If you think your customer needs you, you won't be in business long. This means what it says - too many times I've been in meetings where this was paid lip service and its importance downplayed. 8.) Put yourself in your customers shoes - What are their concerns? Are they legitimate concerns? Do you have a plan to assist them? 9.) Customers are looking to you to help them put to rest any fears, doubts, or apprehension they may have regarding a recommended repair, service, etc., do you posses the knowledge or skill to assist them? Often time people will try to guess at an answer rather than appear less knowledgeable when in all actuality the customer would prefer honesty. 10.) Be honest and sincere in your deliberations with a customer. This one simple act will be welcomed like a breath of fresh air. You have got to know that by the time a customer has reached you they are upset and feel that they've been getting the runaround or have been lied to. 11.) Never promise the customer anything you can't deliver. That goes equally for a follow up phone call. If you tell your customer you will call - do it! Even if it's to tell them you have nothing to report. I don't have enough fingers to count the number of times a customer was surprised to get a return phone call. 12.) Never forget what it's like to be a customer! We are all customers in one way or another and deserve the same respect we demand from others. By doing these things you will inspire a customer base that's loyal and will return to you again and again. These customers will also provide the best free advertising imaginable - word of mouth! By the same token one bad customer recommendation can cost you a large number of potential sales by the time they're done spreading around how they were treated. Additionally, today's consumer has the advantage of the internet to not only entertain but to educate them as well. This is not rocket science just basic common sense and treating people the way you would like to be treated. Somewhere along the line, we lost this concept, and along with that, revenue, repeat business, our initial customer base and free advertising. If your customer genuinely feels wanted and appreciated, you have succeeded in delivering exceptional customer service and you will have set in motion a winning formula that will guarantee your success! Chas Brothers is a Home Based Business Owner, Motivational Writer, and an Independent SFI Marketing Representative and may be reached at; http://work-from-home-make-extra-income.com , http://work-from-home-exchange.com or brothec@msn.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Customer-Service - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
A New Way To Handle Complaints, Or Is It? What a lot of money we have been wasting on dealing with customer complaints.Instead of dealing with them and attempting to satisfy the customer we should create a process that makes complaining so difficult then when customers complain they get such a huge negative experience and never receive any satisfaction. Automating Your Help Desk Workflow Do you know you can open, answer, close and report help desk information without human intervention?Automation is a powerful feature provided by most enterprise level help desk products; however, most organizations rarely take advantage of these features. Based on a survey conducted by RightStar Systems, only 5% of the help desk managers interviewed were using automation to its fullest capacity. Basic Levels of Consumer Integrity that Presently Permeates Society Reality is not always pretty. But here is a tad bit of it for you today. Top 10 customer service tips 1. Hire people who have a service attitude. Managing Your Business When One Client Takes Alot of Your Time How often has your schedule been thrown out of whack because of a client's needs?I try to live by the 80/20 rule: working from my home office 80% of the time and working onsite with clients 20% of the time. But, the past week has been the exact opposite. Learning from Your Employees and Customers Complaints Listening to complaints, whether they're reasonable or not, is a part of every manager's job. Sometimes complaints can be overwhelming. Keeping Clients Happy Keeps them Coming Back Whether you are a seasoned small business professional, or you have just opened your doors to new clients, your marketing strategy should not only involve bringing in new business, it should also include keeping your current clients, your most important asset, happy and coming back for more or referring your services.Top-notch customer service is the most important contributing factor in the success of your business. Are You Putting Technology Before Your Customers? Which is more important the technology or the customer?The one thing about the online world you can be sure of is change. It seems like every day there is a new technology being added which will make the internet more accessible. Customer Service - A Lost Art? Is customer service a lost art? Before you answer that question, take a moment and think about the last few times you have gone shopping or out to dinner. Okay, now that you have really thought about it, is your answer any different? Why is it that when we actually DO receive excellent customer service that it makes such an impression on us that we usually choose to go back? Why - because the occurrences are so few and far between!!! As a home business owner, it is imperative to my business that customer service is ALWAYS a top priority. Dealing with People - Words to Avoid You probably realise how the wrong tone of voice and negative body language can cause problems when dealing with other people, particularly customers and staff. However, using the wrong words can also cause problems. First Contact: The Source of Customer Loyalty With customers being smarter, more cost conscious, more product knowledgeable and more demanding, improving customer service has become a major focus within many businesses. In Customer Satisfaction is Worthless; Customer Loyalty is Priceless, author Jeffrey Gitomer contends the real solution is shifting the paradigm away from customer service to customer loyalty. Customer Service A Chickens Way Anyone who knows me knows my favorite fast food restaurant is Chick-fil-A. Aside from the fact their chicken is especially good and I can always get sweet tea, I have a valuable business reason for eating there - they serve up amazing customer service. The Logic of Emotion! Homebuyers are an interesting study. Watching people make their home buying decisions has brought me to the conclusion that every decision that every one of us makes is based in emotion. Whats For Lunch? As an entrepreneur, I'm always intrigued by small businesses, home-based or not, that exceed the expectations of their customers in a big way.Let me tell you about one of them. 4 Tips Toward Overcoming Bad Customer Service Customer service is the pits, you say. You are not alone. The Death of the Loyal Customer One of my classes in management focused on the repeat customer. The course stressed the importance of the repeat customer to the financial welfare of the business. Saying Thank You to Your Clients "Thanking your customers" - Why you should do it and how.. Find Out Where Your Firm Stands in Today's Customer Looking For Ways to Improve Sales and Customer Relationships?Find Out Where Your Firm Stands in Today's Customer Touchpoint Management (CTM) Revolution by Taking the CTM Quiz(San Rafael, CA) What could be more important than improving sales and your customer relationships? Today, there is a fast growing movement, a revolution, among organizations interested in improving their customer-centricity through a better understanding of customer interactions, or "touchpoints." Called "Customer Touchpoint Management" (CTM), the goal of this new movement is to improve customer experiences, and as a result, improve customer relationships. 4 Myths about Customer Value The purpose of business is to create and retain a customer.Much has been written about customer orientation, customer relationship management (CRM), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) metrics, Customer Centric organization models, customer retention, customer care-add any high sounding word with -customer- preceding or succeeding that word and you have a new model, a new theory. The Art of Giving Great Service Sales is tough to get right, and depends on retaining those customers, yet people do it badly and unprofessionally all the time. It's really not difficult to learn the art of good service, and if you get it perfect, you will see those rewards.
|
| Interesting articles | Home | site map | Link |
| © 2006 |