How do I Enhance Employee Customer Service Performance in an Organization?

Customer service can be your company's most valuable asset.

High quality customer service in an organization reflects well on every employee, from entry level staff to lead supervisors, managing directors and corporate officers. Excellent customer service can be a company's most valuable asset. Unfortunately, poor customer service can be as equally notable as good customer service. The difference is that good customer service forces profits and productivity up and poor customer service plunges profits and productivity down. Enhancing customer service is critical to your organization's outlook.

Instructions

1. Observe each employee in the organization and take notes on his customer service skills. Make two columns and list five positive skills on the left side and five negative traits on the right side for each employee. Compile a list of all the negative observations and a list of all the positive observations.

2. Draft a customer service questionnaire for the staff to complete independently. Ask each employee to define what superior customer services means and what inferior customer service means in her own words. Allow time for each employee to write out a personal experience when she was extraordinarily pleased with the service she received and a disappointing experience when she was distraught over the way she was treated.

3. Organize a casual staff meeting with snacks and beverages. Invite everyone to share their positive and negative customer service stories. Ask a volunteer to write down key words from the definitions of good and bad customer service. Use a large write board or writing tablet with different color markers to create a visual aid.

4. Pass out the list of good observations and bad observations that you made in the office. Ask one volunteer to read the positive observations and another volunteer to read the negative observations. Suggest that each person circle his best and his worse customer service attribute.

5. Discuss what triggers poor customer service and how to avoid it. Make a list of alternatives to responding negatively to upset clients or customers. Post the list above the customer service counter. Remind staff how important it is to smile and exhibit positive body language.

6. Support your staff in a professional manner when a customer displays an unwarranted hostile attitude. Support the customer when your staff or organization has failed expectations or provided inadequate service. Be empathetic to both staff and the customer. Listen to both sides of the story and resolve conflicts for both the employee and the customer.

7. Establish a no-tolerance policy. Do not allow employees to ever speak disrespectfully to or about a customer no matter how outrageous the customer's behavior appears. Stop loud or disruptive behavior by a customer immediately. Set strict rules for when a customer becomes enraged.

Tips & Warnings

• Good customer service must be consistent. You should never allow staff to speak about customers poorly in private.

• A supervisor can give the wrong impression by siding with the staff or the customer unconditionally.

References

• "L.A. Times": Personal Touches are Key to Customer Service