Customer Service Tips Blog

Though it is true that customer service is an extremely vital focus for your business, there are ways that customer service can make your business successful, as well as ways that may simply weaken the chances for achieving your goals.  Customer service is only beneficial when it is done correctly.  Otherwise it might work in the opposite way.

Consider your own business.  What does your customer service program achieve, and in what ways is it taking away from your successes?  By answering this question, you will find yourself much more capable of determining the ways  your company can be improved and refined.  Of course, this is a very large question which takes in a substantial number of other factors.  This article seeks to examine this question and its many elements in order to help your business achieve its desired goals. 

There are 7 main elements that make up the answer to the main question about your customer service program’s impact on the successes and failures within your business.  They are:

1. How does your company view customer service?  –  Surprisingly enough, many companies are unable to come up with an immediate answer to this question.  This is a problem, because you cannot effectively implement a strategy if it has not been properly defined. 
2. Have you looked at both extremes?  – Who among your employees is going much too far, and who is letting things go slack?  In what way are your employees helping or damaging your customer service goals?  Are they providing a level of customer service that is actually bad for business?  This includes not providing enough customer service, as well as overwhelming your customers, or providing a level of customer service that is much too costly and time consuming to be affordable – especially if it is for a single purchase.  It must be remembered that while customer service is among the top goals of your company, without profits, your business simply will not survive.
3. What is the company’s customer service level goal?  – It is important to define your customer service goals, strategies, and policies, and to make certain that all of your employees are equally trained in these processes.  It makes all the difference in making sure that the customer service that you wish to employ is indeed customer service being practiced.
4. Do you and your employees know how to deliver consistent customer service that remains profitable?  – Your employees must know how to deal with any given situation within the boundaries of your business’s definition and level of customer service.  This means that the service will be great, but not so high that you are unable to achieve a profit.  Make sure that everyone knows what you can and cannot provide, but have them also recognize that there are many different ways to look at any issue, and that it’s better to create a one-time-only customer, than a bad customer experience.
5. Is customer service universal among your team members?  – Even if there are employees who do not work directly with customers, make sure that everyone in your business understands the customer service goals and procedures, so that the teams can work together toward common goals, instead of conflicting ones.
6. Can your employees listen?  – How much training have you provided your employees?  Often, the answer to this question is very inconsistent, or rather low.  The fact is, no matter how much experience and education your employees have, if they have not been trained in the right techniques for listening to a customer, they will not be able to properly provide the level of service that your customers expect.  Listening well results in an easier evaluation of the customer’s needs, better conflict resolution, and a higher overall feeling among your customers of being cared for.
7. Do you aim to spread satisfaction among your customers and employees?  – One of the best ways to ensure that your customers remain happy is by keeping your employees happy as well.  Show your employees that they are appreciated for their efforts.  Share letters of praise received from customers.  When an employee feels wanted and recognized, there will be a much higher tendency to provide better customer service.  The feeling of satisfaction is a very contagious one, and it will certainly spread from the employees to the customers.

 Remember, the first step is identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your customer service program.  Once you have done this, you’ll be able to fine-tune it and make it much more effective so it will lead your business to successes, rather than weaknesses and failures.

Robert Moment is an innovative customer service consultant, business coach and author of Invisible Profits: The Power of Exceptional Customer Service.  Robert specializes in teaching customer service training that create “wow” experiences and generate profitable results.  Visit Customer Service Training Skills and Sign-up for the FREE 5 Day e-course “Creating ‘Wow’ Customer Service Experiences.”

Customers shop in order to satisfy something: a need or a desire.  Therefore, it follows that your goal must be to keep your customers satisfied.  However, don’t make the common mistake in assuming that it is only the product or service that you are selling that will provide the satisfaction the customer is seeking.  In actuality, the need or desire that customers are seeking to fulfill include much more than the product in itself.  It also includes a sensation that they will be treated well, that they will be professionally served by a knowledgeable staff, and that if they run into a problem, it will be managed quickly and effectively. 

To ensure that you achieve these successes, use these 7 ways to keep your customers satisfied:

1. Keep your promises – if your business can’t support its claims and can’t do what you say you will, all your efforts will be in vain.  This may sound extremely obvious, but all too many businesses fall victim to the mistake of making enormous promises, in order to entice customers, and then  letting new customers down when those promises cannot be kept.  Begin with the very core of your products and services, offering superior customer service along with it, and your customers will become loyal and recurring. 
2. Set Good Goals – set your goals high enough that they keep you challenged in a positive way.  Don’t set them so high that they are unattainable, but do set them high enough to expect the very best of your business.  Use these goals to help cement your relationships with your customers. 
3. Go above and beyond – once you establish your foundation for your products and your customer service, it will be time to show your customers your true worth.  Take the opportunity to consistently exceed what is expected of you. 
4. Pay attention the needs of your customer, not your bottom line – the trick to this statement is that if you are always paying attention to the needs of your customers – making certain that they are consistently satisfied – then your bottom line will take care of itself.  Naturally, profits remain important to your company; they are what allow it to exist.  However, without customers, those profits won’t be there.  It’s the customers that are with you for the long run who will make sure that your profits will never be an issue of concern.
5. Nurture those long-term employees – among the best ways to ensure long-term customers is to treat your long-term employees well.  If your employees are treated as well as your clients, they will feel encouraged to stay with you, and to make that extra effort to promote customer loyalty. 
6. Make your customers feel wanted – a one-time customer is all well and good, but a long-term customer is worth much more than his or her weight in gold.  Repeat customers are created and maintained by regular efforts to show them how very much they mean to you, and through discounts, bonuses, promotions, and respectful, professional treatment. 
7. Nitpick about customers for life – though it may seem to be a contradiction of everything obvious to running a business, it must be accepted that there are some people who are simply more trouble than they are worth, and aren’t cut out to be customers for life.  If a repeat customer is consistently and continually too costly or too much work to keep satisfied it is probably much more worth your while to focus your efforts toward a more “deserving” lifetime customer.  Try to think positive and give customers the benefit of the doubt, but if they are harming more than benefiting your business, then perhaps they aren’t the customer for you.

Keeping your customers satisfied should be your primary target.  Customers can buy a product anywhere, but when it really matters, it is the added service that they will choose for satisfying their needs and desires.

Robert Moment is an innovative customer service consultant, business coach and author of Invisible Profits: The Power of Exceptional Customer Service.  Robert specializes in teaching customer service training that create “wow” experiences and generate profitable results.  Visit Customer Service Training Skills and Sign-up for the FREE 5 Day e-course “Creating ‘Wow’ Customer Service Experiences.”

Customer service is the number one differentiator in a very competitive marketplace.  As times have become increasingly challenging for businesses, it has been necessary for businesses to make cost cutting efforts in order to survive.  Many businesses first aim for the peripheries – the extras – as they appear to be the most expendable.  Unfortunately, when cutting costs, businesspeople frequently make the mistake that customer service is among these peripheries, and where corners can be cut.  This is among the most destructive things that a businessperson can do.  Though proper financial management is vital these days, customer service is equally vital. 

Customer service is the key to making sure that the words said about your business are good ones, thus leading to future customers.

Of course, it is all well and good to say these things, but how does a business achieve superior customer service without cutting it back?

Here are seven business secrets that can point you in the right direction:

1. Understand your customer’s point of view, including their expectations and how they change over time.
2. Show customers that you’re a step above the competition by using excellent quality customer service.
3. Set your service standards high, and achieve them.
4. Manage the expectations of your customers.
5. Recover quickly after customer complaints with effective customer service.
6. Appreciate the value of customer complaints.
7. Take personal responsibility for everything that you do, even if it’s resolving a complaint that was not your fault.

By taking the time to understand how truly important customer service is to your customers, you can adapt to your customers’ expectations, showing them why you are the right choice, every time.

Robert Moment is an innovative customer service consultant, business coach and author of Invisible Profits: The Power of Exceptional Customer Service.  Robert specializes in teaching customer service training that create “wow” experiences and generate profitable results.  Visit Customer Service Training Skills and Sign-up for the FREE 5 Day e-course “Creating ‘Wow’ Customer Service Experiences.”

The first thing that most people think when they hear a customer complaint, is that it is bad for business, and future sales can be lost.  While this can be true, it is also possible to turn customer complaints into a profitable situation, with great possibilities for the future. 

The following are the 7 best actions you can take for making sure that your customer complaints turn into profits, not failures:

1. Plan – no matter how great your customer service program, how wonderful your products and services, and how perfect your business plan, you will always have customer complaints every now and again.  Therefore, it is only wise that you should prepare yourself by planning in advance for these complaints, and knowing how you will deal with them when they come.  The key is to plan the use of a positive attitude.  Make your main goal the preservation of a business relationship with the customer who is complaining, instead of aiming only to achieve your current profit from them.  If you please your customer now, then the profits will come later with continued sales.
2. Give Priority to Complaint Resolution – give your customer a pleasant surprise by providing him or her with a fast response to the complaint, with a clear explanation of how the issue will be resolved.  If the problem cannot be immediately worked out, assure the customer that his problem is among your highest priorities, and then do everything possible to have the problem solved very quickly. 
3. Be a Professional – even if the customer is not behaving in a professional way, it is important that you remain professional throughout your entire interaction with that person.  A customer making a complaint will sometimes behave in an adverse and aggressive way; this is the result of an assumption that you will be resistant to resolving the issue.  However, by showing that you are genuinely willing to help, you can assuage those feelings, and assure the customer that he is in the right hands for getting things done.
4. Own the Issue – no matter what the problem may be, and no matter whose fault, take responsibility for resolving the complaint.  If you try to place blame somewhere, you’ll only look as though you are making excuses.  The customer doesn’t care who did it, they only want the problem resolved.  Begin by apologizing for the inconvenience to your customer, and continue by explaining the possible cause.  Finish by telling your customer precisely what you intend to do to solve the problem.
5. Give Compensation to Inconvenienced Customers – though the hope of complaining customers is for a solution to their issue of complaint, they frequently expect (and receive) much less.  To turn the situation into a truly favorable one, give your customers a pleasant surprise by solving the problem quickly and effectively, and then compensate them for their inconvenience.  This turns their attention away from their problem toward how they were specially treated. 
6. Follow Up – don’t just assume that all is well because you haven’t heard from your customer.  Follow up on the issue to confirm that the customer is indeed satisfied with your service.  This not only shows how much you care about your customer’s satisfaction, but it also strengthens your relationship with this person.
7. Take Preventative Action – consider each complaint to be an opportunity to learn and improve.  Use each one to identify the cause of a problem, and make attempts to fix these weaknesses in your business.  Frequently these issues are only minor, so they will be easy to avoid in the future. 

Customer complaints are the ideal time to show your customers what you’re really made of.  Instead of getting frustrated, consider complaints the perfect opportunity for reinforcing strong customer relationships, and bettering your business for customers to come. 

Robert Moment is an innovative customer service consultant, business coach and author of Invisible Profits: The Power of Exceptional Customer Service.  Robert specializes in teaching customer service training that create “wow” experiences and generate profitable results.  Visit Customer Service Training Skills and Sign-up for the FREE 5 Day e-course “Creating ‘Wow’ Customer Service Experiences.”

No matter how many people in your business, 1 or 1000, each person needs to feel their efforts matter, that they make a difference within the organization.

Empowerment – This term is a catch-all for many different concepts of employee power and responsibility.  It means employees are given the power to do their jobs and do them well.

Empowerment can mean giving some authority to your customer service team, encouraging feedback from the team members, or simply showing trust in your employees.

There are a great number of disadvantages and costs that result from failing to empower your customer service team as well as the rest of your company’s team members.  Empowering them should be considered a vital part of improving customer service.  It allows each team member to handle a greater number of situations with a larger degree of comfort and skill.

This avoids the common experience customers have of being passed from employee to supervisor, and from supervisor to manager other departments when making a complaint.  This is extremely frustrating to customers – as well as team members – who must repeat the problem in its entirety to each new participant.  It is one of the surest ways to frustrate your customers and customer service staff.

If the customer service team members are empowered with authority to perform their jobs properly, then the company will not only save a great deal of employee time, but will also increase customer loyalty. 

Robert Moment is an innovative customer service consultant, business coach and author of Invisible Profits: The Power of Exceptional Customer Service.  Robert specializes in teaching customer service training that create “wow” experiences and generate profitable results.  Visit Customer Service Training Skills and Sign-up for the FREE 5 Day e-course “Creating ‘Wow’ Customer Service Experiences.”

There are words that are productive – words that care - and words that are simply unproductive and should not be used – words that don’t care.

Unproductive words should be avoided in customer interactions because they tend to produce undesired results, especially in a situation where the customer is already upset.  In fact, by utilizing the wrong words, you may actually be creating a larger customer service problem with your customer.  By minimizing these words, however, you vastly encourage more positive interactions.

Among the more negative words that don’t care are “have to” and “can’t.”  These are phrases which reflect controlling behavior and may aggravate people even if they weren’t upset in the first place.

For example, consider how you’d feel if you phoned a business and were put on hold for a long time.  Someone finally picks up the phone and when you explain yourself, they tell you “You  have to call a different number for that service,” or “You can’t do that at this number.”

The words, “I’ll try” are also tricky.  Therefore, “try” should be avoided in favor of something more promising such as, “I’ll do all I can to resolve that.”

The right words play a major role in creating exceptional customer service.

Robert Moment is an innovative customer service consultant, business coach and author of Invisible Profits: The Power of Exceptional Customer Service.  Robert specializes in teaching customer service training that create “wow” experiences and generate profitable results.  Visit Customer Service Training Skills and Sign-up for the FREE 5 Day e-course “Creating ‘Wow’ Customer Service Experiences.”

Every day you have choices with regard to your attitude.  Attitude is everything, especially in customer service.

Your attitude in customer service must be friendly, helpful and professional.  Any attitude which lacks these qualities will have a negative impact on every person with whom you make contact throughout your workday.  However, with a pleasant, helpful, friendly and energetic attitude, you’ll make a positive impact on everyone around you.

Make every customer service interaction count with a friendly, helpful and professional attitude. 

Robert Moment is an innovative customer service consultant, business coach and author of Invisible Profits: The Power of Exceptional Customer Service.  Robert specializes in teaching customer service training that create “wow” experiences and generate profitable results.  Visit Customer Service Training Skills and Sign-up for the FREE 5 Day e-course “Creating ‘Wow’ Customer Service Experiences.”

To make a customer’s day, you need to make the most of the famous phrase, “It’s the little things that count.”  This isn’t to say that you should ignore the bigger issues, but when you go out of your way to share a compliment, recognize an achievement, or help another person reach their goals, it makes that person feel valued.

Making your customer’s day means you have gone above and beyond what they expected you to do.  Just remember this phrase, “under promise and over deliver.”

The more often you can make a customer’s day, the more Positive, Memorable Customer Experiences (PMCEs) you’ll develop and the more customer loyalty you’ll encourage among your new and returning customers.

Robert Moment is an innovative customer service consultant, business coach and author of Invisible Profits: The Power of Exceptional Customer Service.  Robert specializes in teaching customer service training that create “wow” experiences and generate profitable results.  Visit Customer Service Training Skills and Sign-up for the FREE 5 Day e-course “Creating ‘Wow’ Customer Service Experiences.”

Measuring your customer service allows you to manage it.  Without measuring, you won’t have any way of knowing which goals are being met, which are falling short, and in which areas you truly excel.

These are some extremely effective techniques you can use to measure the customer service provided by your company:

• Mystery Shoppers – Hire a mystery shopping company to pose as customers that visit or contact your business and /or browse your website.  These shoppers see your business through the eyes of your customers.  It’s as if your customers were providing you with a report card on your business.  This feedback tells you what is and is not working from the customer point of view.  Mystery shopping will uncover the areas that need the most most improvement and  help you identify the skills your staff needs to exceed customer’s expectations.

• Survey your customers by direct mail:  Send out an easy-to-understand questionnaire immediately after the purchase of your product or service.  It should only take one to two minutes to complete the questionnaire and it should come with a postage-paid return envelope.  A simple explanation of how important customer feedback is to your company should accompany the survey.  If possible, provide something free as a small thank you for answering your questions.

• Survey your customers via email: Email your customers an online survey to obtain their feedback.  There are numerous online survey companies available which are inexpensive, easy to use and compile the results for you.  Use this feedback from your customers before you change or implement a new product or service.

Develop a core group of customers who become your source of feedback for future changes.

• Call your customers: When was the last time a company called you after you purchased a product or service?  Did it leave quite an impression?  Hire someone or contract an outside company to call your customers.  This will make it easier for your customers to be totally honest and it keeps the results objective.  Ask your customers what your company can do to improve its service.

Long-term profitability in a changing market is not due solely to increased sales; it’s more about determining the needs of your customers and then meeting those needs.  If you can’t measure customer service at your business, then you can’t mange it! 

Robert Moment is an innovative customer service consultant, business coach and author of Invisible Profits: The Power of Exceptional Customer Service.  Visit Customer Service Training Skills and sign up for the FREE 5 day e-course, Creating “Wow” Customer Service Experiences.

These days the business world is all about change and expectations; it’s about new thinking, faster speed, and building new skills.  For this reason every team member, regardless of their field, but especially those in customer service, needs to be cross-trained.  This will help them take full responsibility for all elements of their performance, which become expected with each new day.

This being said, it is also true that teams have jobs, individuals do not.  There is a collective goal for the team or organization and it is up to everyone to contribute to the achievement of that goal.  Therefore, getting something accomplished is everybody’s job.

That means the negative, counterproductive attitude of “It’s not my job” simply isn’t suited to today’s work environment.  It has no place within an exceptional customer service team!

It’s very important to encourage every team member to think of themselves as part of a team which has a desired outcome.  Instead of working on individual tasks, it’s up to everyone to work together in order to meet, and preferably beat, the targets that have been set for success.

Robert Moment is an innovative customer service consultant, business coach and author of Invisible Profits: The Power of Exceptional Customer Service.  Visit Customer Service Training Skills and sign up for the FREE 5 day e-course, Creating “Wow” Customer Service Experiences.