Posts Tagged ‘advice on customer service’

Great customer service is about EFFICIENCY – right ?

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

Great customer service and exceeding the customer’s expectations is partly about efficiency. All good customer service training should cover this important subject. And yet I think it is an interesting concept as efficiency in a customer service environment is about 2 different things and they are opposing forces.

Exceptional customer service is about efficiency

Exceptional customer service is about efficiency

First, if you are going to describe customer service as efficient it needs to be quick. Whatever is going to be done needs to be done rapidly. However, not only must it be quick, but it also needs to be accurate or quality.
It’s all very well it being quick, but if it’s wrong or slapdash – you probably wouldn’t describe it as efficient.
And the interesting thing about these 2 issues is that they are opposing forces. To improve one is usually at the expense of the other. If you increase the speed of doing a job, you can often achieve this by letting your quality standards slip. Conversely, if it is important that you eliminate and avoid any mistakes when doing something, it normally means you do it more slowly and carefully.
Achieving exceptional customer service and exceeding customer expectations is partly about working out what the right combination of speed and quality is for your customer base and market sector. Oh, yes and it is always good to remember that you can’t please all of the people all of the time however you set your stall out !!
This topic is one that comes up on most of the interactive customer service courses we run. So whether you are in Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Northampton, Warwick, Leamington Spa, Stratford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Loughborough, Coalville, Market Harborough, Melton Mowbray, Oakham, Coventry, Birmingham or Cambridge this is a valuable business topic to address.

 

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Good customer service – it’s all about attention to detail

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Good customer service – it’s all about attention to detail.

Something we noticed recently. I was travelling with a friend who is a retailer through a large urban area recently in the car. I was driving, he was in the passenger seat, and I stopped at some traffic lights. On the left was a large Indian restaurant with a plate glass window. My friend turns to me and says “why would you do that?” “Why would you do what I replied?”

He pointed to the window of the restaurant and commented that it was filthy. “Why would you do that?” he persisted. His point was that there was no excuse for having such a dirty front window to the restaurant. “All they need to do ….” he reasoned was “pay someone (the 17 yr old junior) to turn up for work 5 minutes earlier in the morning, and give him a bucket of warm soapy water to wash the window. “Because if that is how they keep the front window, which you can see, what does that say about the state of the kitchen which you can’t see?” Attention to detail is key to great customer service

And it’s a good point isn’t it? Good attention to detail is about making sure all the little things are right in how you deal with your customer or client. They know that if you spend amounts of time and energy getting the little things right, chances are you’re on top of the big things too.

It stands to reason doesn’t it? So check that the customer is seeing your products and services in the way you want them to. Like the client’s reception I sat in recently in Birmingham. You sit in a souless, small area on low plastic easy chairs and you can’t help notice the very dead palm plant across from you! What impression does that give potential customers?!

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Using positive language to influence customers – part of exceptional customer service

Saturday, November 7th, 2009

Using positive language to influence customers is all a part of exceptional customer service. And exceptional customer service is what your customers deserve. It is also what you have to aim for all the time, because if you don’t and one of your competitors does – you come second. There are no prizes for second in sales. 

Use positive language with customers - even when saying No !

Use positive language with customers - even when saying No !

You may have to give customers messages they don’t want to hear. But how many times do business people make the situation worse by the WAY they deliver the message ?

We talk about this on customer service training courses in the Language to Influence module. One of the first words we talk about is the word ‘No.’ It is just such a confrontational word. It leaves no room for manoeuvre on either side and it sounds like there isn’t any further discussion to be had.

And if it sounds confrontational the customer is not going to like it are they ? And who is going to win in that situation. Well it’s not going to be you is it ? The customer is in the stronger bargaining position. It is far far better to use conciliatory language such as

  • “while  I can’t do that for you, what I could offer you is ………”
  • or “well actually we don’t do it that way and it’s because ……” (then you explain policy)
  • I can think of a better solution in fact – what I suggest is ……..”
  • alternatively …..

These are all much more powerful as they keep the dialogue going with the customer, and that after all is what you want.

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No actually I don’t want anyone to do my packing thank you ! Customer service tip

Friday, July 24th, 2009

For goodness sake ! No really ! I nearly swore then !

For heaven’s sake when you’re designing your customer service process, or when you’re offering customer service yourself, for goodness sake use a bit of common sense. Of course we’re all brought up with the mantra of exceeding customer expectations, or delivering exceptional customer service and all the best practice in customer service training, but be a human too !

I walked into Sainsburys and bought just one item, a one pint of milk. So I don’t know what that weighs, around 1 1/2 lbs I guess. Because I only had one item I went to the one item till. The guy’s opening gambit line to me was “Would you like help with your packing ?” Really he did. He didn’t smile as he said it, he really meant it.

Use a bit of common sense when dealing with your customers in business, and treat them as individuals and prove that you are one too ! Think outside the square and be prepared to go beyond the process and the system. People will thank you for it and remember your great service.

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I’ve noticed – retailers giving added value – top sales tip

Monday, February 9th, 2009

While walking around the shops last weekend, I noticed something about the way they offered their services to me that was impressive. We can all apply these principles.

In one shop I have a loyalty card which they stamp when you use it. It is fairly straightforward it rewards you with 10% discount and you pay a fixed amount for the card. It then expires after 12 months.

However over the 12 month period the hand written expiry date has sort of worn off. It has a busy life in the wallet of a male, and I’m sure the inadvertent capsizing of a canoe in a French river last summer which soaked everything in my pockets was the final straw.

Anyway the shop (unable to clearly see the expiry date) made a quick decision to put 2 months extra on it. This worked well ! I, the customer came away feeling like I’d got a special deal (because I had) and yet it cost them little.

Furthermore I was impressed at this keeness to go the extra mile and to offer some added value to my customer service experience and would it make me more likely to shop there again – you bet !

So the retailer has built a little more loyalty to it’s brand. Job done !

In another store in the same day, it seems they were offering a free gift if you spent over £30. I went to the till twice and made a number of small purchases. The manageress served me the second time and although I hadn’t spent the ‘qualifying amount’ she gave me the free gift anyway. Again it made me feel special. I got a deal that supposedly wasn’t available to everyone. That shopkeeper was offering added value in customer service.

Quite simply make your customer feel special, and offering them added value or going the extra mile will often be enough to turn them into a loyal customer. Offer exceptional customer service and it’s the little things that add up.

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