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Don’t Ruin Customer Service by Blaming Staff
What do you think when you do business with a place that blames it staff specifically when something goes wrong? Yes, we know someone messed up, but does that particular person need to be singled out?
Here are my thoughts on that……… Please comment below and share yours…..
Loyal Customer Relationships – Do You Derail It Before You Even Start?
Customer loyalty is developed in many ways, yet they all fall back to one fundamental act – follow up after the initial contact.
Customer service is connecting the person with the product. It’s about making sure that clients know that we value their business, even if they have not yet had a business transaction with us.
Often I will have a conversation with a friend, a colleague, or a client and the name of a new prospective client comes up. Then, occasionally, the person with whom I am speaking will say “Oh man, I forgot to follow up with them. I should get right on that!” Unfortunately, if the need was immediate in the potential customer’s mind, the damage has already been done. They are already doing business with the competition.
Because they didn’t act with a sense of urgency on behalf of the potential client, they moved on to one of your competitors who did. I can’t state that I’ve not done the very same thing myself. I was once approached for a potential speaking engagement on Customer Service and I failed to understand that the client had already decided she was going to hire me to speak at her association and had the specific topic in mind. Because I had planned to follow up with her within two weeks of meeting her and give her enough time to settle on her desired topic, I gave her the impression that her engagement was not important to me and she booked another speaker.
Two things happened here that you should learn from – while you may pride yourself on being very perceptive to people’s needs and requests (as I usually do), you may sometimes miss the mark and lose that sale. You also should learn that it is very important to make a connection, however brief, with the potential client to let them know that you are glad to have met them and would like to serve as a solution provider for whatever their need is.
Customer Contact Follow Up
The initial follow up contact can take many forms depending on the situation involved – a phone call or email will establish the initial contact information and to let them know how you may fill their needs. Mention the part of the initial meeting that made you think that you may be able to serve them. Let them know how they’d benefit from your services and what it is about the way that you do business that is unique from the rest of your competitors.
Take a quick look right now in your stack of business cards that you have recently connected with. If you think that you could be a resource to them in any way, make sure to follow up with them before your competitor does. Whether it is by a personal phone call or an email, by all means – MAKE THAT INITIAL FOLLOW UP CONTACT TO YOUR POTENTIAL CLIENT. Let them determine the sense of urgency and set the pace for the rest of the process. At least you have let them know that you value their potential business and will act expediently. Loyal customers will remember your diligence with service throughout the entire customer experience.
Telephone Skills Relating to Customer Service
Can customer satisfaction and retention really be impacted by the telephone skills we display?
Using the phone for business is a necessity across all industries. Anyone who is in business has some percentage of their business coming through the phone, whether it is the initial phone contact to inquire about your products and services, or the entire sales process is conducted on the phone.
There has been a recent trend in call center outsourcing. As businesses are growing and finding the need to expand, it can be a daunting task to ask staff that is currently managing multiple tasks to take an increasing amount of phone traffic. When outsourcing, there are few things to consider in order to ensure that customer service and satisfaction are not compromised.
The phone contact point is often the most telling factor of the experience the customer will feel during the business transaction. This is the position into which much care and consideration needs to be placed on hiring and training. Should you choose to outsource this responsibility, it is important to be sure that you are able to manage and monitor what is being said to your customers and exactly how the information is being relayed.
Be sure that whoever you have handling the phone calls into your business possesses the right mindset for that. They need to be engaging, enthusiastic, and happy to educate customers about your products and services. If they are merely “manning” the phones and processing the calls, you will likely see customer satisfaction rates drop dramatically. People call businesses looking for help and information. Be sure to deliver the best service by hiring for politeness, friendliness, and enthusiasm for your brand.
Birthdays are a Great Time to Reach Out to Customers
Today is my Birthday and I have a short customer service training video to let you know what two of my vendors did to impress me……
So, as I’m off to Ann Taylor to redeem my coupon, they gave me the incentive to spend more money with them. So, we all win – I get a discount, and they get business that they might not have gotten otherwise.
What are some of your favorite little incentives that businesses have given to you? Either discounts or notes?
Customer Service Skills Make an Impact on Profits
Small business owners are recognizing that delivering excellent customer service impacts their bottom line.
I was at a business conference last weekend and found it interesting that so many business leaders and owners were a bit surprised to realize the financial impact that delivering excellent customer service can make in their business – either positively or negatively.
Train your staff well. Ingrain it into the DNA of your culture that the customer is the most important person in your business. They are the ones paying your salaries and covering your business costs.
I’d love to hear your comments…….
On a side note, which would you prefer to see on this blog….. video posts, written posts… combination of the two?
