The quality of customer service across all industries appears to have taken a nose dive over the past twenty years. It appears that most businesses could care less about the customers and more about making money with little to no hassle for them. It is almost as if business owners have forgotten that the whole point of having a business is to solve problems or provide services in order to make things easier for customers. I am sure that almost everyone has experienced poor customer service in one form or another.
What can companies do to change this and should they want to? My answer is yes, because your reputation will precede you especially as a company. If you have the reputation of being difficult, uncooperative and not solving problems this will follow you especially with how quickly news travels through social media. Recently there was a spot on an entertainment show about Flowers.com and how for Valentine's Day customers received dead flowers.
Imagine your honey purchases what should be a lovely bouquet of roses and they are dead upon arrival. Situations like these are pretty much non salvageable unless you have customer service in place who can resolve the problem quickly and efficiently to a customer's satisfaction.
I admire my fianc�e; he owns an advertising graphic design and web development company. They do website development, commercial production, advertising, pretty much anything and everything except the kitchen sink. Normally advertising companies who provide these services charge by the hour which can be quite pricey especially when you have employees who work at different speeds. There is potential for the cost to get out of hand for services rendered. My fianc�e is a smart cookie in that he is differentiated his company by tailoring his products to meet the needs of his clients. If you want a successful business that will grow you have to satisfy the people who are paying you by doing the following.
1) Listen to your customers and explain the process- Whatever your service is lay out everything so they are aware in the beginning of what to expect and potential issues.
2) Tailor your products or services to meet customer needs. You do this by listening to what they want and need.
3) Have a good customer service response in place to address issues quickly and efficiently and allow your customer service to think and not just follow a script. There are lots of things that will fall outside of a script and your employees have to be able to think quickly and address issues as they arise.
4) Answer your email or phone or have someone who can do it for you. How long does it take to reply to an email and acknowledge the person who sent it that you received it and you are working on a response?
These are just a few things you can do to differentiate yourself from the competition, it will make your life easier and your company run smoothly.
The most important trait that the most successful businesses have, is the ability to listen. By not listening you can become very frustrating to the customer and may lose a sale or repeat business. Listen to the customer's needs, empathise and find the best solutions. http://www.technolaadvertising.com
Article Source: What Happened To Customer Service?
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