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 You're in the Customer Service Business
By Randi Busse
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Did you ever stop to really think about what business you’re in? If you ask most people, they'll say things like: sales, healthcare, banking, insurance, computer software, food service, retail, etc. If that's the kind of answer you'd give, you'd be only half right! Answer this: If all of your customers went away for good, would you still have a business or a job? Of course not! Therefore, that's a big sign that points to the more important half of what you do: YOU'RE IN THE CUSTOMER SERVICE BUSINESS.
And that means you not only need to know the right way to fix computers, create websites, run equipment, or whatever, you also need to know the right way to serve customers. You need to know it, and more importantly, you need to practice it, every day, with every customer. When you look at what most organizations say nowadays, it's obvious that they recognize the importance of good customer service. It seems that everywhere you look you find businesses proudly hanging signs that say: "Customers come first," "We’re here to serve," and "We go the extra mile." Does that sound familiar? Of course it does, and irony is that while all this noble, well-intended talk is on the rise, it's apparent that the quality of service, in general, is on a steady decline.
Look at your own experiences as a customer: Hasn't great service really become the exception rather than the rule? Don't you find yourself pleasantly surprised when people go out of their way to serve you? Haven't you at some point, with some vendor, taken your business elsewhere because of poor service?
What about the service that YOU are providing? Are you delighting or disappointing your customers? And how would you even know? Maybe when it's too late, when they've already left. The fact of the matter is, when customers are dissatisfied, they often don’t tell us, they just leave!
The bottom line is this: Businesses are losing customers every day because they aren't walking the customer service talk … they aren't treating customers the way they say they will. That needs to change and it needs to be turned around –180 degrees.
We need to talk about how you meet one of today's most pressing business challenges: satisfying and keeping the customers that pay the money that pays your salary. That last part – paying your salary – should be reason enough to pay attention.
Unfortunately, these days satisfying customers isn't enough. Satisfied customers aren't loyal. And they are quick to leave and take their business and referrals elsewhere if their needs aren't met.
Here are some simple yet powerful techniques, strategies, practical how-to's, creative ideas, and a few things to remember – all designed to help you successfully deliver the absolute best type of service. Most of them don't cost anything, are easy to implement and can have a huge impact on your business.
- Hire for attitude, train for skills.
- Smile, even if you’re on the phone.
- Use your customer’s name. Make it personal.
- Do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you are going to do it.
- Thank your customers, for the first order, and the fifteenth order.
- If you make a mistake, own it, and then fix it.
Register for the "How to Retain Customers in a Down Economy" teleseminar to learn more by sending us a message through our Contact Us form.. Don't wait until your customers leave to take action!
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