How to provide responsive customer service
Without customers, you don’t have a business. So your employees must provide the best possible customer service. You can’t afford not to if profit is your goal. Here are some more ideas for you and your employees to develop to provide high-quality customer service and a sustainable competitive advantage...
1. Ensure your team is honest and open.
The foundation of strong customer relationships is trust. Truthfulness and integrity are essential qualities for exceptional customer service, because when you hide the truth, invariably the customer will find out (or at least suspect it). Nor should there be any variations of the truth - white lies, half-truths, distortions, or excuses. In customer service, it's surprising what heights you will attain by simply being on the level.
2. Provide customer-service training for your staff.
In the long run, it is more expensive not to train than to train employees. You can’t afford not to provide essential training that will lead to a more responsive organisation in terms of customer service. Identify those factors that affect customer service in your organisation and focus on improving those. Dealing with difficult customers, effective listening, problem-solving, courtesy, and using the telephone, are just some examples of the training required by all staff - even backroom employees. If your training is not making your organisation more responsive, don’t scrap the training, change the program.
3. Remember the key word - RESPONSIVENESS.
Whatever your business, responsiveness is the umbrella covering all organisational activities. Responsiveness is giving customers what they want, courteously, when they want it, at a price that matches their expectations. Customers are prepared to pay more for a product or service delivered when they want it - not when it suits you. Responsiveness is an individual as well as a group quality.
