- Great Customer service is best described as “The Customer is always Right!” Do what the customer wants.
- Doing what is best for the customer, no matter what. Sometimes, the customer is wrong, but letting them fail, just so you can say, “Well, we did what you told us to” is poor customer service.
- Be available to your customer whenever the customer needs you. Setting up call centers, answering email requests at any hour of the day, etc.
In order to market yourself to a customer base, you need to provide for the new and existing customer base excellent service. Otherwise, your marketing attempts will fall on deaf ears.
Today, we’re looking for your answer. How would you describe “Great Customer Service”?
I believe that to be "top dog" in the customer service field you need a combination of all three on varying levels. On one hand yes I believe that the customer is always right. They are the customer they know what they want however they may not be telling you what they want in a fashion that you understand. My experience in the restaurant field has tough me that sometimes you have to read between the lines on what a person wants. When I first started serving more often than not a customer would ask for a steak well done and then they would complain that the steak was over cooked. Even though I gave the customer exactly what they wanted and they were still not happy. I soon learned that you need to read your customers and sometimes inform them about the decision they made and what they can expect. From then on I would never get a customer who complained that there steak was under or over cooked always just right. The point of the story is to show that yes a customer is always right but they may not communicate it to you in the correct way and it is your duty to inform and educate people to obtain the best customer satisfaction you can.
ReplyDeleteAnticipating your customers needs before they do.
ReplyDeleteFor fun, I'm going to use a restaurant analogy. If a customer says, "Give me a steak."a waiter typically asks, "How would you like it cooked?" If the customer says, "Well done," a waiter doesn't tell a customer, "The steak will taste better if you only cook it medium, instead of well done." The customer has stated what he wants, and it is now the waiter's job to deliver what was asked for, as efficiently as possible.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, if he or she is looking to provide the best service to that customer, before asking, "How would you like it done?" the waiter can suggest "This chef recommends cooking this particular cut to medium. People's tastes differ, and how would you like this steak prepared?"
The goal is to give the customer the absolute best experience. Sometimes, we need to steer the customer in the right direction, as an expert in our field. However, remember, they are footing the bill, so in the end, they are right!
Great Customer Service consists of a combination of those three points, but importantly the customer needs to feel that it was their own decision, and that it was the right one. Let the customer choose what it is he or she wants, but give gentle persuasion to educate and inform them of the other available options. The customer is always right only applies if they understand what the decision means. Which is not always the case. Offering help can alleviate that problem, but only if it is done correctly. There is a point where gentle persuasion becomes coercion.
ReplyDeleteMost successful corporations require customer service models because, in today's business environment, the common belief that customer service is just 'meeting the needs of the customer' is not enough.
ReplyDelete