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8 Critical Steps to Establish a Customer Service Culture

"Every company's greatest assets are itspolicy that an employee can act without
customers, because without customers thereconcern for repercussion, as long as they are
is  no  company," --Erwin  Frandmeeting a customer's need. I have found this
creates a greater willingness to serve the
During our recent weakened economy, manycustomer.
businesses have seen declining revenues and
declining budgets. Declining budgets often- Often times you could say "no" to a
lead to reduced staff levels and diminishedcustomer, however, "no" can have huge
services. To me, this does not make sense.implications on your business. Ask yourself,
I believe that it is during the down times,"Am I willing to potentially lose 10
when service should be at the forefront andcustomers  as  result  of  this interaction?"
retention of loyal customers even more of a
focus.6.  Offer  a  solution
When price wars fail to drive revenues,- Shift from the problem to the process for
businesses often look to service to give themresolution.
a competitive advantage. Many big business
marketers are returning to a "service sells"-  Offer  a  choice  between several options.
mentality, however, many sell great customer
service and few deliver. The problem is that-  Put  yourself  in  their  place.
few marketers have ever truly served a
customer.- Involve the customer in determining the
solution.
Throughout my years in business, I have had
the opportunity to interact and develop a- Clearly explain any limitations that exist.
customer service philosophy. It is inherent
that when you are in a service-based7. Recognize your staff members for
business, there will be times when youroutstanding  service
customer is compelled to offer you their
feedback. It is what you do with this- Implement a customer service awards program
feedback that will shape the future and theirthat recognizes employees for exceptional
impression  of  your  business.customer service. Maybe you have tried these
without success and do not believe that they
Upon reflection, most all of my interactionswork. I would tend to agree if the program
with displeased customers were not the resultwere like most I have seen. Try something
of a poor product, but rather a disappointingdifferent; break the mold. One of my most
customer experience. Why is that? Because,successful clients offers spa treatments for
product is not personal, customer service is.his female employees if a customer goes out
Briefly, I would like to share with youof their way to recognize them for great
eight critical steps to establish a customerservice. Another client provides his
service  culture.employees with a "day off with pay" incentive
for every five unsolicited, positive customer
1. Customers are the reason for work, not ancomments that he receives. These are just a
interruption  of  workfew examples that are "outside the box." Be
creative and generate a little excitement in
This sounds really obvious doesn't it? Howyour  staff  for  customer  service.
many times have you gone into a business only
to wait while someone is on the telephone or- Take the time to acknowledge employees at
busy doing some "non-service" task?staff meetings. People want to leave their
Employees often lose sight of the importancemark and feel that they matter. Taking the
of the customer and get consumed in lessertime to recognize them in front of their
day to day tasks. Sure, there are tasks thatpeers  can  make  a  real  difference.
need to be accomplished, but you cannot
afford to sacrifice service to get them done.8. Ask your customers what they think of your
Good customer service must be a priority forservice
you and your team. Without your customers,
you  have  no  company!The best way to find out if you are
satisfying customers is to ask them. Formal
2.  Train,  train,  and  continue  to  train.efforts could include customer surveys,
questionnaires, interviews or comment
- Cross train your entire staff to be able tosuggestion cards. Informally, get out and
assist a customer regardless of theirtalk with your customers and your staff. Ask
department. When a customer becomes upsetthem how they feel about service you are
they want their problem solved not to beproviding. Ideally, use a combination of
shuffled between employees that are notboth  methods.
empowered  or  enable  to  assist  them.
You may be thinking, "Why should I go ask for
- Offer continuous customer service trainingtrouble? Who knows what I might hear if I
for your staff and once they are providingask?" That is the point. As you will see in
good  service,  continue  to  train  them.the statistics below, most customers will not
voice their disappointment with your service
- Utilize role play situations to assist yourlevels. They will simply leave and never
staff in recognizing and experiencing bothreturn. If you do not ask about the quality
easy and difficult service opportunities. Ifof your service, you might make the wrong
an employee has a level of comfort with aassumptions and feel that you can reduce
difficult situation, they will be able toservice levels because you get few complaints
better  handle  it.and lead your organization into areas that
turn off your customers or cause problems
3.  Empower  your  staff  to  servethat  you  never  intended.
- Establish a system of resources for yourOn the other hand, asking your customers
staff to serve the customer. Allow themabout their satisfaction sends a message to
latitude to take the necessary action tothem that you care about your business and
provide exceptional service and resolve anyabout them. While you might hear some
issues should a customer become disgruntled.criticisms, you might also learn what you are
Create a structured system to allow yourdoing  right  and see what you should modify.
staff  to  serve  customers.
In addition to the information, you will
- Establish a discretionary budget that anbenefit from the interaction. Every
employee may access to recover a customerinteraction is a customer service
before you lose them. I recently learnedopportunity. Make the most of each and every
that a major hotel chain has a monetary fundone.
available per year and per employee enabling
them to go above and beyond to ensureMost of us continue doing business with
exceptional service. This empowers thepeople and businesses who give good service.
employee to right a wrong or create aWe might not say anything, but we reward good
"memorable" customer experience. I am notservice providers by continuing to do
advocating large sums of money, but withbusiness with them. If the service is
regards to customer service, a small gestureoutstanding, we will probably tell our
can  go  a  long  way.friends and colleagues about it. Likewise,
when we receive poor service most of us vote,
- Ask your staff what tools would enable themnot with our voice, but with our feet-we just
to provide better service. You would notleave.
send a fireman into a burning building
without the proper equipment. Failing toIn the 1980's the White House Office of
empower and enable your staff with theConsumer Affairs commissioned a report called
necessary tools to serve you customer leavesthe TARP study. The report revealed the
you with few options other than poor service.following  facts  about  unhappy  customers:
4.  Make  service  personal96% of dissatisfied customers do not complain
directly.
- Greet repeat customers by name, if
possible.90%  will  not  return.
- Offer a handshake and introduce yourself.One  unhappy  customer will tell nine others.
Creating service that is personal will not
only retain customers, but help diffuse13%  will  tell  at  least  20  other  people
difficult  situations  should  they  arise.
Superior customer service is one of the most
- Thank your customers for their patronage.difficult deliverables facing the business
It  really  does  make  a  difference.world today. Selling service is the easy
part, delivering on that promise offers a
5. It is ok to say "Yes", even when youtremendous challenge. So I ask you, what can
should  say  "No"you do to improve the service you provide?
Implement these eight steps and begin to
- Support your staff when they make customerexcel at providing a superior customer
service decisions. In my business, it is myculture today!



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