ESTABLISH A CONSISTENTLY ACHIEVABLE CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE

In last week’s blog post, we talked about how to ascertain what your customers want and view as a positive shopping experience. In this week’s blog post, we will discuss how to establish and deliver a consistent customer service experience and how this approach can take your customer service to the next level. I’ve decided to partition this post into next week so the next one will cover the 1% Rule.

Consistency is the key to any great customer service experience. If you want to take your satisfied customers upward into Raving Fan status, you clearly have to challenge yourself to go above and beyond the average customer service experience.

There are three ways to develop consistency:

Avoid offering too many customer service options.

We sometimes get so caught up in giving customers what they want that we get away from our original vision. Instead, stay true to your vision and offer one or two solid customer service techniques that will set you apart from the competition. This is like a restaurant that has too large of a menu and as a result, they do not tend to do anything particularly well.

You need to fine tune the current systems you are using before you can add anything to the mix. There’s nothing worse than launching a new program when you haven’t even worked out the kinks of an old system—learn how to correctly analyze and then optimize your processes.

Put solid systems into place.

Once you know what you’re going to offer, you need to have a system in place to execute it flawlessly every time. This system needs to consistently position the right people in the right roles (along with the corresponding responsibilities and technology) that guarantees a positive experience every time. Emphasis needs to be placed on the results, which ultimately is the satisfaction of the customer.

Good training is the key.

Once you have your system in place, you need to train your employees to follow it properly and efficiently. This helps your people deliver the results that your customers are looking for. While appropriate and timely training is essential for the system to work and for all your people to work together cohesively, always remember you’re your ongoing appreciation for their efforts will go a long way.

I hope this has given you a look into what you need to do in order to have a quality customer service system in place. If you need help, contact us!