Importance of delivering excellent service |07 May 2021
What is customer service?
Customer service is the way you treat the people who support your company. These can be paying customers (external customers) or staff members (internal customers).The customer’s perception of that service is what brings them back to you for repeated service. Great service is what they cite when they send referrals to you.
People who provide good customer service (regardless of the nature of their business) earn psychological benefits in addition to any rewards offered by their company. If you are unhappy in your job, take an objective look at the level of service you are giving. In almost every case, your job satisfaction mirrors the satisfaction people feel when doing business with you. Giving poor service is a way of beating up on yourself.
The six critical elements of customer service
- A customer service focus
- Defined within your organisation
- Given life by the members of the organisation
- Be a problem solver
- Measure it
- Reinforce it
The first critical element - A customer service focus
The first critical element of customer service is a customer service focus. There are some important concepts that we need to understand about customer service before we can do a really good job of providing it.
Service is a philosophy - not a department, a program or a policy
All members of a company must understand the concepts of providing service. We cannot leave it up to one department to do it all. Providing customer service means the customer will have their needs met respectfully and completely. This doesn’t mean the customer always gets what they want, nor does it mean the customer is always right. It means that the company makes a commitment to providing exemplary service.
It also means the employees of thecompany understand that they are all responsible for contributing to a reputation of excellence in customer service.
Service means meeting customer expectations
We used to say that we should always exceed customer expectations. You may have heard the phrase “under-promise and over-deliver”. However, by under-promising and over-delivering, you can create the expectation that your customer will always get something extra from you. When you decide to scale back a little and just deliver what you are supposed to, you can create dissatisfaction for your customer because they expected that something extra.
Definition of customer service
Customer service should mean meeting your customers’ expectations. Customers expect a lot more than they did thirty years ago. They know that if you cannot give them what they want at a price they are willing to pay, it’s quite likely that a competitor will or they would complain bitterly about it. That does not mean you have to give them things for free; it means that your service has to be exceptional in order to make the customer feel welcome and be loyal to your organisation or brand. It’s essential then, to understand who your customers are and what they need, as well as what they want.
Service is not always natural, automatic or coincidental
While you may be a loving and caring individual at home, experiences with the public can lead us to be less than caring about others. A few negative experiences can push people right out of any role that involves direct customer contact. Some of us have to work harder than others to demonstrate good customer service skills.
Being compassionate or thoughtful is not natural to everyone. You know this if you have to really think about whether you will give your seat up on a full bus so that a senior citizen or parent with young children can sit down. You’ll see this when you have trouble turning into a line of traffic because no one wants to let you in.
Service isn’t coincidental either. It doesn’t happen coincidentally when you buy a new car or a new coat or pay your power bill. We have to be aware of the need for service, and then have a way or a process to make it happen.
The second critical element - Defined in your organisation
What are your standards?
Standards are helpful because they let us know what is expected of us. They also tell us what we have to do in order for our work to be considered satisfactory by our superiors or managers. Standards also need to meet the expectations of our customers, while still being reasonable. The customer may feel that the phone should be answered on the first ring, but the company may have a standard of two or three rings. Since this is pretty close to what the customer expects, it might be considered close enough. However, we should make certain that our standards are meeting or exceeding the expectations of our customers. The only way to do this is to ask our customers on an ongoing basis, if they are satisfied with the service.
The third critical element - Given life by the employees
What do you think?
If we make a commitment to providing customer service, that commitment must be demonstrated by the employees, from the front line people rightup to the level of PS, CEO, GM, MDs, DGs etc. When the commitment is only demonstrated by some employees, our customers will sense that there is a gap and their experience with the company will be diminished.
The fourth critical element - Be a problem solver
Reducing conflict
Conflict occurs when the emphasis is on the differences between people. The more divided you seem to be, the more differences there are. You get along better with people when the emphasis is on similarities. The difference between conflict with a friend and conflict with a difficult person is that with a friend, the conflict is tempered by things you have in common. Obviously then, reducing differences is essential to your success in dealing with people you can’t stand.
The fifth critical element - Measure it
The need to measure customer service
Wouldn’t it be great if all of our customers were happy and we didn’t have to deal with complaints or problems? The only way to know what’s really going right or wrong is to measure regularly. When we rely on our memories, we can let a lot of things slip away.
Type of evaluations
Critical evaluation
You can measure a particular service or product in great detail. Follow up with customers and ask what’s working, what can be improved, and how much they like it. Also ask what could be done differently to develop options. Then assess the advantages and disadvantages to determine whether it makes sense to make changes.
Informal Surveys
Ask your customers what they want. Ask them how you are doing. If you ask the same questions from one year to the next, you can compare periods of time. Offer your customers a small gift or token to thank them for participating.
Focus groups
These usually have eight to ten participants who are pre-screened for subject matter experience. During the focus group, a moderator discusses specific issues with participants. These are very structured sessions, and after group discussion, the moderator produces the results in a report format. Don’t try this if you haven’t participated in one or done sufficient research into focus group structure, questioning, and analysis. If done well, expect to get lots of detailed feedback and to have a very good understanding of what the groups think.
Brainstorming
Everyone in the group makes suggestions and shares ideas. All ideas are considered. Ground rules establish that there are no poor or stupid ideas. No critical comments are allowed during the brainstorming activity. The point is that although an individual idea may not be feasible, someone might use that idea and expand on it to create a fantastic idea.
Benchmarking
See how others do what you do and use their ideas if they are applicable. Sometimes you can simply ask and they will let you know how they do things. Otherwise, you will have to do some research, or measure yourself at a particular time and set your benchmarks from there. Benchmarking is helpful whether you are looking at systems, processes or methods.
The sixth critical element - Reinforce IT
Reinforcement techniques
Once an organisation decides how they are approaching customer service and makes a commitment to their processes, they must live up to the expectations that they have subscribed to. Just as important those practices must be reinforced. If you are receiving pay (hourly, salary, or by commission), then you are getting paid to do your job, and that is often reinforcement enough to deliver what is expected. Sometimes companies will put enhanced reinforcement in place by doing things such as:
- Having customers complete a survey about the service they received.
- Having supervisors observe when we do good work and provide some kind of recognition.
- Celebrating when targets are met, like an increase in returning customers.
All of these activities are a way to reinforce our commitment to providing excellent customer service. They reflect the relationships we build within the organisation and with our customer base.
Understanding different communication styles
We can communicate more successfully with others and establish more meaningful relationships if we not only understand others’ styles, but can also attune our styles to theirs.
Five ways to deliver excellent customer service
- Respond as quickly as possible
One of the biggest factors in good customer service is speed, especially when a client is requesting something that is time sensitive.
- Know your customers
Great interactions begin with knowing your customers’ wants and needs. Remember their names and precious conversations. If needed, make a note of what was discussed previously so you can refer to it the next time your meet the client.
- Fix your mistakes
Transparency is important in business and customer service is no different. Always strive for a high quality output as it shows you have a high level of standards.
- Go the extra mile
Going the extra mile will not only result in an indebted and happy customer, it can also go a long way in terms of keeping yourself on top for future business.
- Think long term - A customer is for life
Think long term when dealing with customers. By keeping customers happy, they will be loyal and through word of mouth, will do the marketing for you.
- Always respond in a timely manner
Make it business policy that all emails and phone calls are returned within at least 24 hours. Establish work process, timeframe you work within.
- Listen to what your customers have to say
Customers are not ordinary people, they want to be heard. It requires you to listen to what clients have to say.
- Treat your customer with respect
If you are dealing with an irate, rude, complaining or demanding customer, never lower yourself to their level of behaviour. Continue treating your customers with respect, and in return they will respect you.
- Never argue with your customers
We all understand that a customer at times is wrong. It is not a good idea to start defending yourself, focus on what’s occurred and see how you can best resolve the situation.
- Honour your commitments
Do what you say you will do.
- Admit when you have made a mistake
We are all human and we all make mistakes. Admit your mistake, apologise and do whatever it takes to make the situation right.
- Train your staff
When staff members are properly trained to provide excellent customer service, they feel empowered to make on-the-spot decision when dealing with customers. Ensure that staff understand completely the customer service principles that apply to your business.
Best practices
- Drive everything in your business with a customer focus.
- Ask the right questions.
- Exceed customer heads and expectations.
- Maintain happy employees.
- Create and use service standards.
- Have a written plan for ensuring excellent in customer service.
- Deal effectively with the difficult customers.
- Use follow-up communications as a way to keep in touch with the customer.
- Learn from your competitors and use their successes in your business.
- Smash the barriers to excellence.
- Offer your customers options
- Walk the talk
Tips for ensuring that you are treating your clients well
- Respond to clients as soon as possible
- Keep clients updated on the subject matter
- Go the extra mile
- Listen to your clients
- Keep your promises
- Don’t confuse clients with jargon
- Be patient
- Know everything you need to know
- Put yourself in their shoes
Contributed by Productivity Unit
Ministry of Employment & Social Affairs