"Customer Service - Jokers & Kings"
by Laurence Winmill
Published on this site: May 27th , 2005 - See
more articles from this month...
All business owners from the one-man band to the chairman or chief
executive of a blue chip organization will always claim that they
care about their customers!
Indeed if asked about customer service they will all claim to provide
a good service to their customers, whilst the majority will even
go as far as to say, that they pride themselves on their first class
service!
Most large companies will even refer you to their mission statement
and say: "There's evidence of our commitment written for all
to see"!
Unfortunately in most cases that is as far as it goes. Beyond that
written statement there is very little evidence to suggest that
the wonderful claims of providing good service are actually practiced
on a consistent daily basis.
You see the reason why it all breaks down is rather simple. The
senior management or indeed the business owner may understand what
they mean by service, but does the employee? The tragedy is that
the employee, whom in many cases is ill informed as to the service
expectations of the company, is usually the only person that the
customer comes into contact with. The employee therefore is "The
organization".
Delivering a real service and exceeding customer's expectations
is the real challenge facing anyone in business, because quite
simply if you exceed the expectation, not only will you retain
the customer but believe you me they'll tell half the world
about their experience! You get vey little in return for meeting
the expectation, because that is only delivering what the
customer expects big deal!
On the other hand if you deliver a service below the expectation
level then the damage is incalculable. You will almost certainly
lose the customer and they will tell the whole world about their
experience!
So how do you become a Service King? Here are 10 tips to help
you get started:
- Create a mission statement that you and your people can deliver.
- Create a set of Values that set out what the company stands
for including your service aims.
- Lead by example - practice what you preach.
- Demand that your management team follow suit.
- Incorporate your Values and Mission Statement into Induction
and repeat them on going.
- Display your Values in the Public Reception area.
- Test your employee's skill in understanding and practicing
these values on-going.
- Become a mystery shopper and see for yourself if your people
are delivering.
- Empower your people to make speedy decisions, which exceed
customer's expectations.
- Never ever except an excuse for poor service from anyone in
the organization.
If you're truly passionate about customer service and you begin
to practice some of the above, I guarantee you that you will be
amazed at some of the results that you'll achieve. You can start
to claim with Integrity that you are in the business of treating
customers like "Kings". The good news is that you'll find
yourself in a minority because most of your competitors will continue
to claim the mantle of a "King" whilst providing the service
of a "Joker"!
Give it a whirl, you've nothing to lose and everything to gain
and you may find yourself pleasantly surprised at some of your results.
Create compelling customer experiences and become a customer service
king when you read Laurence Winmill's unmissable customer
service manual... http://www.bookshaker.com/product_info.php?products_id=84
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