How to provide exceptional customer service
It has been said that service management is a total organisational approach that makes quality of service, as perceived by customers, the main driving force of any business. But often managers pay only lip-service to customer service - they're hampered by the day-to-day concerns of production, union negotiations, meetings, paperwork, budgets, and personnel matters. What can you do to improve your organisation's service? Start with these basic ideas...
1. Let no customer wait more than three minutes.
Time is money - for the customer too. If you work at minimising customer waiting time to no more than three minutes, you'll gain more customers than you'll lose.
2. Do a little extra each time.
Always try to exceed customer expectations by providing an unsolicited little extra - it's called value-adding. When your car is serviced - and the dealer cleans the windscreen and blackens your tyres at no charge, and leaves a chocolate bar on the driver's seat - chances are you'll return.
3. Redress a customer concern immediately.
There are no 'little' problems when it comes to customer service. You must take action, without hesitation, to redress any shortfall in service or any product defect. Any delay in meeting a dissatisfied customer's needs could result in alienation and loss of business. On the other hand, prompt action can create a perception of a higher standard of company performance than if the problem had not occurred in the first place!
