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
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.