Customer Service: May I Help You?
The results of a recent customer service shopping survey placed Jersey near the bottom compared to other places in the British Isles. What can organisations do to redress the balance?
What a wake-up call! OK, this particular survey was focused on the retail sector but maybe it will serve as a timely prompt for businesses in all sectors.
Rapidly changing customer needs and expectations are placing heavy demands on organisations and individuals seeking to deliver high standards of customer service. Competition from the internet both in shopping and banking and increasing numbers of transactions being carried out on telephone are just two aspects of how the customer experience is changing rapidly. Ever-increasing levels of choice in all aspects of life added to people’s busy lifestyles means that the service we receive is all the more important if we are to be tempted back again and again. There is no room for complacency in today’s customer-centred world.
Happy customers rarely say they are happy, they just keep coming back. Unhappy customers not only don’t come back but they complain as well.
We can all find examples of stories of both good and bad customer service. I have my favourites - like the staff member who asked a customer to leave the shop and return a few days later to have their product repaired because: ‘I’ve just had a manicure and might chip my nails.’ (yes, really). Or the bank where the lunch-time queue was nearly to the door because there were not enough staff on duty. Or the repair service that promises a response in 24 hours and turns up a week later. Unfortunately, it’s the bad experiences that stick in the memory for longer.
As with anything else in business, a customer care strategy should be based on solid research. Customer perception of the service they currently receive is high on the list, but also to be considered are the issues facing staff and the processes and procedures already in place. Too often, organisations have called in training consultants to deliver generic ‘customer service’ training programmes without actually considering what aspects of the existing service needs changing or addressing.
This may have been prompted by customer complaints, both written and verbal, or maybe a customer survey did not produce the results that were expected. The ‘mystery shopper’ method of survey is very powerful, providing companies with feedback about how well customers were served either on a face-to-face basis, as well as how they were dealt with on the telephone. Some organisations conduct a customer telephone survey, where we are politely asked if we have a few minutes to answer one or two questions. We are then bombarded for ten minutes or more have to answer ‘on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being very dissatisfied, 2 being dissatisfied, 3 being acceptable, 4 being very satisfied and 5 being extremely satisfied, how would you rate the following…..’ It can be very difficult to be accurate with your answers as you quickly try to put them in context of your last experience. Customer exhaustion follows.
Any training intervention should only be designed after careful and detailed investigation of the customer service issues. Questions must be asked as to ‘why’ staff appear to be failing to achieve customer satisfaction. What are the problems that they face within the organisation, their team and personally? People, processes and procedures all play an important part in this. How knowledgeable are staff about their products? What ‘systems’ training have they received to improve their effectiveness. How are staff being managed? How motivated are staff? What are the attitudes driving their behaviours?
It is vital when designing and implementing a customer care strategy that awareness is raised throughout the organisation of the crucial role customer service plays in reputation and business success.
Everyone in an organisation can empower great customer service, whether it's by making sure that the management structure recognises and rewards customer care or whether it's by cooperating with colleagues so they can serve the external customer more quickly and more easily.
Only once we understand where the gaps are, can we accurately aim to find solutions to them. This consultancy approach will lead to the design of effective training interventions and well-managed changes to processes and procedures where necessary.
Remember, excellent customer service is an indispensable component of ongoing growth and healthy consolidation.
