Sustaining remarkable customer service

Marketing and selling in tough economic conditions:

Prasanna Perera

Prasanna Perera- Marketing and Management Consultant, Chartered Marketeer, CIM U.K.

Service is a powerful differentiator and a source of competitive advantage. Customers are attracted to enthusiastic people.

Hence, to sustain remarkable customer service, people need to be motivated, energized and trained. This brief article will provide some tips on sustaining remarkable customer service.

1. Creating an intelligent, learning culture

To obtain customer intelligence, the best method is face-to-face and ear-to-ear. Written customer surveys yield mildly interesting demographic and psychographic information.

2. Train contact staff to ask open-ended questions

Openness is where the best learning occurs. If customers feel free to move the conversations as they see fit, valuable feedback can be obtained.

3. Listening to customers is good : watching customer behaviour even better.

Customer behaviour is more powerful than what words can explain. Watch the customer in-action and valuable insights can be obtained to improve products and services.

4. Spread customer learning as widely as possible

Educate all staff, not only customer contact staff, of what customers really want.

Customers will more likely give you lessons in customer service, if you approach them as a student eager for a lesson, rather than as a pupil uneasy about getting a grade!

5. Identify your key customers

After all the Pareto principle still applies i.e. 20 percent of your customers provide you 80 percent of the revenue. Hence, you better know your key customers and provide them remarkable service.

6. Processes must be viewed from the customers' perspective

The customers journey must be experienced. Only then will processes be improved to meet customer requirements.

7. Processes must be regularly updated to reflect customers, expectations.

Customer expectations change at great speed, as customers are influenced by their service experiences. Staying in touch with these ever changing customer service expectations is crucial to an organization's success.

8. Inefficient processes must be quickly eliminated

Processes that have been in place for an extended period, tend to become over respected and thought to be "untouchable." An annual check up of such processes is very important.

9. Make functional silos disappear

Functional silos create great problems in delivering remarkable service. Silos are eliminated by focusing on collective goals, and by leaders championing and rewarding cooperation.

10. Test how contact staff react to pressure and stress

Simply ask a staff member to recall a time when he or she encountered an angry customer.

11. Service wisdom comes from customer intelligence, not just Customer feedback

Never make assumptions about what the customers think. Talking to a customer lost last year, might be more helpful than talking with the one you acquired last week.

12.Have a service vision

Develop a service vision, based on the organization vision. Communicate this vision to all staff and get them energized to achieve it.

13. Select staff who can create a relationship with the customer

When selecting service staff, give preference to those who have a friendly disposition and have the capacity to build relationships. Their speaking, listening and interacting styles should sound natural and friendly.

14. Select staff who can get along with others

Customer service is a team game. Hence, staff who can work together with others, is a must. Empathy, understanding and respect for others are important prerequisites.

15. Devise a "Service Dashboard"

Dashboards are vital tools for alerting you to problems, needed alternations and course corrections within the organization. A combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics can be used.

16.Create a service culture within the organization

A service culture has to be driven from the top. Firstly, an internal service culture must be created where staff learn to serve others. The necessary climate must be created to facilitate this initiative.

"Service Excellence begins with leaders who are Passionate about creating an extraordinary Experience for both customers and employees." (Author)