Most businesspeople are aware that if they have customers (whether they’re patients, clients or even passengers—they’re all customers) they should be providing good customer service and also basic customer service training to their frontline people who have regular contact with customers. That’s obvious. Unfortunately, we see far too many companies barely even confronting this vital issue.
The very first moment a customer has contact with anyone in your company, an image, an impression and a reputation is created. That image, impression and reputation must be conveyed as one of being smart, knowledgeable, positive, enthusiastic, competent, reliable, well-organized, detail-oriented, creative, courteous, service-oriented, financially stable and more.
The customer’s perception is everything. This image is as important—or maybe even more important—than the products or services you provide, and it must be conveyed throughout the customer relationship. You can’t do this alone; everyone must be involved.
Everyone in your organization is consciously or unconsciously representing your company to customers or potential customers in many ways, some good and some bad. Your accountant, for example, is contacting customers about their overdue accounts. Workers at your warehouse may be helping customers carry items to their cars, and service techs and delivery people are probably spending more time with your customers than you think. So everyone should be actively providing top-flight customer service at all times.
If you’re providing merely good customer service today, you’re not cutting it. Customers are becoming more knowledgeable and demanding than ever and don’t merely want to be satisfied. If your people provide competent customer service, but nothing more, you’re likely invisible to your customers. In today’s marketplace, only extraordinary service gets noticed and remembered and, more important, helps drive your continued growth and success.
The larger issue and the huge differentiating factor between what most people do and what successful businesspeople do is that they have a different model in mind when they develop their organizations. Smart people see the business world through a distinctive lens; they see it through the eyes of their customers. They have the essential customer perspective and, thus, a vital competitive advantage in the marketplace. They recognize and understand the paramount importance of the following basic—yet essential—street smart customer service skills.
Take a genuine and keen interest in customers by finding out what they really need and want.
When you’re dealing with customers, stop whatever else you’re doing and give them your undivided attention ; that is, 100 percent of your attention. Focus on them. Make appropriate eye contact, listen, nod and take notes. Ask questions to be sure you heard and understood everything correctly.
Always maintain a balance between talking and listening , and when you’re listening, actively listen. Listening isn’t a passive endeavor. You must concentrate and focus on what the customer is saying.
Don’t be mentally rehearsing your responses when you should be listening. And by all means, don’t interrupt.
Don’t prejudge what your customers are saying , and keep an open mind so you really hear everything. Don’t assume you know what your customer will say next.
Greet and deal with customers enthusiastically and have a warm and welcoming smile. (We’ve all met people who smile but their eyes show no warmth, so their smile comes off as an empty gesture.) Be kind, pleasant and polite at all times.
Admit mistakes and apologize immediately. The worst thing you can do is fail to acknowledge a mistake. Own up to it and take prompt action to rectify the error.
All too often, we assume people know how to handle customer service-oriented situations when, in reality, they may have no idea what to do. (Is it possible you’ve alienated or lost customers because of this?) We’ve all experienced it. In most companies, people are utterly under-trained. Everyone must have adequate training before they deal with customers, because today’s customers expect to deal with well-trained and knowledgeable people.
Don’t leave the all-important job of customer service to chance. Train your team well. Everyone is a critical success factor in the development of a customer-centric philosophy, so it must be integrated into the mainstream of the organization by educating, training, retraining and coaching. There are many waysthis can be accomplished, such as classroom-based training, workshops, seminars, conferences and web-based training.
There’s a huge amount of information out there on this topic, and we encourage you to explore it in more depth. If your situation warrants it, take a look at one book we like in particular, Harry Beckwith’s Selling the Invisible. His book further explores the importance of customer service and offers a different approach about what a business is actually offering its customers and the importance of packaging and selling long-term customer relationships.
Additionally, there are a number of companies that offer top-quality one- to two-day sales training and customer service seminars. Check the Internet for the training services that apply specifically to your company and are designed for what you want to accomplish.
Everyone should be playing a critical role in the customer-service process, whether it’s a four-person dental practice, a 25-agent real estate firm, an 80-person car dealership or a 10,000-employee multinational, $1 billion-per-year food marketer. And everyone should be adequately trained, motivated and given incentive to do it. In today’s challenging and competitive business environment, it’s become increasingly critical to have everyone contribute to developing a customer service-driven organization.
John Kuhn and Mark Mullins are business consultants with decades of corporate, entrepreneurial and academic experience. Their newly published book is Street Smart Disciplines of Successful People—7 Indispensable Disciplines for Breakout Success. Find out more at www.streetsmartdisciplines.com .
