Deliver Great Customer Service To "WOW" Your Customers!

The customer service experience is the most important factor in your business. Without your customers, you have no business!

The Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," may seem obvious as a basis for delivering great customer service, yet too often business owners completely ignore it.

Fortunately, many business leaders understand the power of this life-rule, and they are placing renewed importance on it as a guiding principle in the daily operation of their business.

Historically, during hard economic times, like the recession in the early 80's, many customers were quick to trade away quality service in exchange for price reductions. But more recently, even though the economic climate continues to be rough, customers have learned to expect BOTH low prices and great customer service.

Customers are demanding quality service again. Companies of all sizes are realizing that their strongest selling point can sometimes boil down to treating customers as they would like to be treated themselves, or even better.

The growing significance of meeting or exceeding customer demands for quality service has important implications for small businesses. It is uniquely in the service area that small companies can, in the least expensive way, set themselves apart from their larger competitors.

A three-year study by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), showed that small businesses that put heavy emphasis on customer service were more likely to survive and succeed than competitors who emphasized such advantages as lower prices or type of product.

Golden Rule #1: Put the Customer First

"A strong customer ethic must guide your business from the inception," writes author and business owner Paul Hawken in his book, Growing a Business. "No matter whether you manufacture, grow, produce, distribute or sell, you are in the service business."

Quality service begins with you and your employees. An owner of a successful chain of hair salons advises that the first step is to set clear standards, then make sure through training and oversight that everyone in the company understands them.

Finally, he says, reward employees for achieving their service goals, and be sure to seek out and address any issues that could contribute to poor team morale.

An unhappy employee will have a more difficult time delivering quality service to your clients so it's important to have open communication with your employees. "If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers."

Hiring quality people is also key to your success. If your employees are not customer service oriented, no standards or goals you roll out will change them. Concentrate on hiring people who embody the quality of service for which you strive. It is difficult to teach someone to be helpful and serve others if he or she is not service oriented to begin with.

Once you've hired the best people you also need to trust them. Your employees should be able to do what is necessary to make the customer happy without fear of reprisal.

Policies and procedures are helpful in providing guidelines for employees. When employees run out of possibilities to make the customer happy, they must have the latitude to improvise to make it right. Most employees operate in a state of fear that their boss will view their service decisions as "giving away the business". Provide clear guidelines, then empower your people to take care of your customers and the cost will be outweighed by the growth your business experiences."

Golden Rule #2: Stay Close to Your Customers

In the smartest companies, asking questions and listening carefully to the answers is an important part of effective service delivery. These firms train their employees to focus on what the customer is saying, and then they create or improve products or services to meet customer needs.

Says one corporate executive, and his words hold true for smaller firms as well, "Knowing what's on the customer's mind is the smartest thing we can do."

It is also cheaper than attracting new customers. According to the Customer Service Institute, 65% of a company's business comes from existing customers, and it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one satisfied.

Losing a customer is even more expensive. 91% of unhappy customers will never buy again from a company that has displeased them and will also voice their dissatisfaction to at least seven other people. (This figure has grown dramatically if you account for the impact of social networking.)

This responsibility to be receptive does not lie solely with your employees. You must listen to and talk with customers as well. There is no substitute for getting out to learn from the customers directly how you might serve them better.

The best business owners are not only committed to staying close to their clients, but they also closely identify with them. They give their customers the level of service they themselves would expect to receive.

Golden Rule #3: Pay Attention to the Little Details

Great business owners continually search for a special touch that will make them stand out from the crowd. Discount coupons, longer hours, home delivery or free coffee, for example, all show customers you want to take that extra step to please them.

These customer service extras include answering the phone by the third ring; treating customers respectfully and courteously at all times; greeting them by name; promptly answering their questions and manufacturing high-quality goods that work the first time and keep working.

Conclusion: Customer satisfaction must continue to be an important factor in your overall business plan. Service is no longer the domain of a few clever companies that have made service synonymous with their names. No business, whatever its size, can afford to take customers for granted, because it's without question a buyer's market and becoming more so every day.

To succeed in customer service, you must give your customers what they want, not just what you think they want.

If you want to keep customers coming back for more, practicing the Golden Rule will always serve you and your business well.

Five Rules Of Customer Care

A critical piece to keeping customers happy is understanding them and the way they think.

Customers do business on the basis of emotional desire: they want what they want - when they want it - and they WANT quality service. Customers also tend to gravitate toward a company or group of people they like.

In addition, most customers have a strong tendency to stick with businesses with which they are familiar, and are slow to change buying habits unless given a very good reason.

However, when even a small disappointment arises, various surveys have revealed that customers tell from seven to 11 people about their dissatisfaction.

An important key to serving customers well is this: don't try to change them. Here are five specific steps to help you take full advantage of the critical element of customer care:

1. Conduct your own survey - Profit from the ideas, suggestions and complaints of your present and former customers. Talk and meet with your customers. Ask questions. Learn about their attitudes, what they like and what they dislike.
2. Check employees telephone manners periodically - This link is particularly important for small businesses, as bad telephone handling can undermine other constructive efforts to build a profitable enterprise.
3. Rules such as prompt answering and a cheerful attitude of helpfulness are of critical importance. Have someone whose voice is unfamiliar play the role of a customer or prospective customer, preferably a difficult one, and Inspect what you Expect.
4. Make quality service a team effort - Use group meetings, memos, posters and in-house publications to build customer consciousness throughout the organization. Continually drive home the critical point that customer retention requires focus and teamwork, and be sure to invite employee ideas.
5. Extend your efforts after hours - It's the friendly feelings people have that draw them to you and your business. Take advantage of the relaxed atmosphere of social occasions or a neighborly chat over the back fence to turn friends into customers, or to reinforce the loyalty of existing ones.

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