Service That Sells

Customer Service has become one of the most important issues
facing businesses in every market. Customer Service programmes
come under a number of different titles... "customer service",
"customer satisfaction", "customer focus", "customer-oriented".
Their common theme is meeting the customers' requirements
and ensuring that all aspects of the business contribute to
customer satisfaction. The intention is to build repeat business.
If customers are satisfied with the product and the standard of
service they receive, they will return to the same company again
and again... for major or minor purchases.

Customer care has two aspects:

• The physical means of delivering customer service
• The attitude of the staff
  

A company wishing to improve its standards of customer care
could set up a customer care hotline to handle queries or
complaints... that would be the physical part of the equation;
but if the attitude of the staff who manned the hotline was
unsympathetic, the customer care benefit could be lost. Anyone
who wishes to implement an effective customer care strategy
should look for a balance between two. It is also important to
recognize that management and staff at every level affect
customer care and loyalty. Programmes that build a customer
care attitude must operate at every level.

Customer care can operate in a variety of ways:

• Offering customers the products and services that reflect their real needs;
• Offering greater levels of convenience which make iteasier for customers to buy from you;
• Providing a customer service centre where customers can make enquiries or complain;
• Improving the overall quality of service so that customers recognize a change in performance.
  

The most important aspect of any programme is to focus people's
attention on customer care and this can be achieved in a number
of ways:

• Running customer focus panels to identify customer needs and discuss their views on the quality of service;
• Issuing customer focus standards to ensure consistent standards;
• Introducing customer care programmes which give a high profile to the whole process of customer care;
• Running customer care programmes to ensure that all staff understand the importance of customer care;
• Introducing customer satisfaction ratings to measurehow well staff or departments are performing;
• Operating customer satisfaction incentive schemes to reward staff who have achieved the highest levels of customer satisfaction;
• Integrating customer care activities into business and marketing programmes to ensure that the whole business is driven by customer needs, and;
• Using customer care to build customer loyalty.
  

"The trick is to make sure you don't be waiting
for prosperity to come." - Lee Iacocca

Take note... "Treat your customers like family...
indulge but never overdo... then you'll see."