What really is customer service?
I have never seen a business, big or small, that doesn’t say they provide customer service. Many have big signs on their walls-“Our customers come first” or “Through these doors walk the most important people on earth-our customers”.
They talk a good game but do they really walk the talk? What does it really mean to provide customer service? Many businesses have it. Nordstrom has it and your favorite store has it (that’s why it’s your favorite store).
I believe great customer service starts with the culture of the business. Not the mission statement buried in some dusty document or some sign on the wall, but the true heart and soul of the business, its core values. This is defined from the top. Without the owner or senior manager leading the charge for great customer service, it doesn’t happen.
This top-down direction must include empowering employees to make decisions on their own. Your front-line employees need the authority to solve a problem quickly or seize an opportunity to provide extra value to the customer. Do they know their financial limits? Can they spend $10, 50 or 100 to do this?
Have they had adequate training? Don’t rely on a natural “good personality”. They need training in listening skills and how to understand customer needs. They must learn how to ask lots of questions so that they can determine exactly what the customer really wants. This training program is not just a few tips at the beginning of the employee’s tenure, but a well thought out program with refresher courses and updates. This training should center on solving customer problems first and selling second.
First impressions are critical. Customers form these impressions in the first few seconds, so be ready. The focus must be on the customer not on some internal business activity. If you’re stocking shelves, stop for the customer. If you’re doing paperwork, stop for the customer. If you have ever been to one of our local tire dealer Les Schwab’s store, you will know what I mean. They run out to your car to greet you. Does this welcome customers or what?
Any successful company is customer focused not product focused. The customers’ viewpoint comes first. Make sure you have explored with your customer what they want. Have you jumped to conclusions? Not listened? Asking open-ended questions is a sound technique for engaging the customer and finding out what they want. Give them the opportunity to discuss it with you. Watch you body language and tone of your voice. Keep eye contact.
After you have been successful and you have made a sale, what is your follow-up program? Do you contact them? Is your product working satisfactorily? Do they need any help or more information? Is there anything else you can do for them? Have you contacted them just to say “Thank You”? Develop an after sales program. Loyal customers are the best kind but building loyalty takes a plan and sincerity.
Bean counters and penny-pinchers in a business might say you can’t afford great customer service. I say you can’t afford not to have it. Of course the financial impact of major decisions has to be measured for its cost and its value. However, most customer service action is an attitude not a cost. Does your business have the right attitude?
Customers have choices. If you are not going to provide them with the customer service they want, they will go somewhere else and get it.
This article was written by Seattle SCORE Chapter member Fred Parkinson for the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton.