If you're like me, you've had plenty of experience with BAD customer
service. Just think about the last time you had a bad experience with a
product or a service.
Perhaps the product or service did not live up to the sales pitch.
Maybe the company was unresponsive to your calls or emails. Maybe they
did not do what they said they were going to do. Or they gave you the
run-around when you called to report a problem or ask a question.
If you think about it, all of these negative experiences boil down to
one thing, a lack of customer service. And a lack of customer service
usually stems from a lack of customer focus. It seems many businesses
have simply lost sight of who they are really in business to serve.
Instead of the old saying, "the customer is always right," many
businesses seem almost bothered by customers these days. In fact, I'll
let you in on a little secret from my early ad agency days. We used to
have a saying, "this business would be great, if it wasn't for the
clients."
How ridiculous is that?! We wouldn't have had a job if it weren't for
the clients (I'm older and wiser now!). Yes, sometimes clients can be
difficult, but they are the reason we are in business. Our job is to
serve them. If they are upset, we should welcome the opportunity to
find out why, and use that information to improve our product or
service.
Yes, sometimes you'll run into some yahoo who is being totally
unreasonable and you just have to deal with it. But very often, client
complaints uncover a problem or something we can improve upon.
So make it a point to really listen to your customers. Make a
commitment to treat all your customers well. After all, giving great
customer services is one of the best and cheapest marketing tools
available. When you treat your customers well, or even better, when you
deliver beyond their expectations, you will be rewarded.
Those happy clients are the same clients who will happily refer you.
The opposite is also true. If you disappoint a client, or don't deliver
what you promise, or you just plain treat them badly, they will likely
tell everyone they know how horrible you are. In fact, those
disgruntled clients are more likely to talk about you than your happy
clients. Unfortunately, that's just the way it usually works.
The good news is, it's not hard to give great customer service. You
simply have to be aware and make it a priority. Following are 10 tips
to help you offer stellar customer service.
(1) Be accessible
Your customers should be able to get a hold of you, or someone in your
company, if they have a question or if they need service. Provide
multiple ways for your customers to get in contact with you, such as
email, phone, mail or fax.
(2) Respond in a timely manner
Make it your policy to return all phone calls or emails within 24
hours. And, if you cannot commit to that, then determine what timeframe
you can manage and let your customers know upfront they can expect to
hear back from you within that amount of time.
(3) Listen to your customers
Often when a customer calls or writes to complain, they just want to be
heard. In fact, sometimes, just listening is all you need to do. Take
the time to listen to what your customers have to say before you start
responding or defending your product or service. They may just have a
point.
(4) Treat your customers with respect
Even if the customer on the other end of the phone is acting
irrationally, or being rude, don't lower yourself to their level by
reciprocating. Treat everyone with respect and you will be respected in
return. Plus, you never know when someone's just having a bad day, and
they happen to be taking it out on you (we've all done it).
(5) Don't argue with your customers
You can never win an argument with a customer. Because if you do win,
you've more than likely alienated the customer and you've lost their
business. We all know the customer isn't really always right, but
instead of focusing on what went wrong and defending yourself, focus on
how you can solve the problem or fix the situation.
(6) Honor your commitments
If you say you will answer emails, then answer them. If you offer a
guarantee, then honor it. Nothing spoils a customer relationship faster
than being promised something and not getting it.
I got a nice email last week from a client that made me realize just how important this is. Here's what he wrote:
"Many thanks for your prompt and comprehensive reply. Your personal
interest, caring and enthusiasm is clearly apparent. Most company
owners invite you to respond and promise to reply personally, they
seldom do so ..."
Yes, it took me some time to respond to his email. But I promise email
support to all clients who purchase my 10stepmarketing System and
therefore it is important to honor that commitment. If I ever get to
the point I can no longer respond due to the volume of requests or
other time commitments, I will stop offering this service, not just
stop responding.
(7) Do what you say
If you say you're going to call someone on Tuesday, call them on
Tuesday. It's as simple as that. If you want your customers to trust
and believe you, you have to follow through and do what you say.
(8) Focus on making customer relationships, not sales
The long-term success of your business rests on your ability to make
long-term customer relationships. If you sacrifice relationships to
make short-term sales, your business will be short-lived.
(9) Be honest
Don't exaggerate the results your product or service will provide.
Don't promise things you cannot deliver just to make a sale. I see hype
all over the web these days; everything is a quick fix or a silver
bullet. It suckers people into buying the product, and then the product
doesn't deliver. Think that customer is ever going to make another
purchase from that business? Not likely. Be honest and direct about
what your products and services can deliver.
(10) Admit when you make a mistake
No one's perfect. We all make mistakes; it's part of learning. So when
you do make a mistake, don't try to cover it up or deny it. Just admit
it and if necessary, do something to make the situation right. Your
customers will appreciate it and they'll be more likely to stay
customers.
So how does your customer service measure up? Are you practicing these
10 steps and offering stellar customer service? If not, I challenge you
to take your service up a notch. Approach it like Ken Blanchard and
instead of just being satisfied with happy customers, create "Raving
Fans" (a great little book if you haven't read it).
Commit to putting these 10 tips into practice. Get to know your
customers. Make them the focus of your business. It's one of the keys
to marketing success and best of all, it doesn't cost very much!
(C) Copyright 2005 Debbie LaChusa
