A Checklist for Good Customer Service
Customer service is essential to business success. If customers are not properly attended to they will quickly take their loyalty to your competitors. Customer care is the face of your business and the quality of your product or service is meaningless if the needs of those who ultimately ensure you have revenue are not met. Invest in a customer care program to make your business succeed in the long term.
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Start at the Top With Good Customer Service
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Task a senior management official with ensuring good customer care. Every vital part of your business requires a specific implementation plan, standards and regular reviews. High-level employees should hold the same commitment to a customer care program as the employees on the front line. Without this upper-level commitment, customer care can be lost among other priorities.
Know What Your Customers Expect
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Place yourself in your customer's shoes. Identify what a reasonable customer should expect from your organization. For example, how long would you be willing to wait on hold when you call a company, and how many times would you be willing to transferred? In a retail location, what kind of questions would you expect the floor staff to be able to answer? What is the general demeanor and courtesy that you would expect from staff? Knowing the answers to these questions will give you initial goals to meet when implementing your customer care plan.
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Train Your Staff
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Make customer service training routine and ensure your staff feels valued. A regular program that reinforces customer service skills, such as listening, showing compassion and regret for errors, product knowledge and ensuring your customers receive the best package value for their needs, will ensure customer service is always top notch. Engage staff in feedback conversations so you have an idea of what customers want. Treat your staff well so they will want to care for the company's customers.
Know Your Customer's Reality
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Ask your customers how they feel about your company and do site visits to gauge customer care effectiveness. Give your customers online surveys, solicit comment cards and encourage staff to relay feedback they receive on a regular basis. Employing secret shoppers to visit stores and report back on their experiences is a good way to receive targeted information about how the customer service plan is being implemented and how it should be modified.
Remember the Customer is King
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Listen to your customers. Investigate complaints and pass on commendations to appropriate staff. The customer's expectations will change over time, and the market will change with those expectations. Staying on top of trends is part of what will keep you in business for the long term.
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- Photo Credit Customer Service image by Paul Hill from Fotolia.com
