Research shows that when customers receive excellent service from a company, they share this news to two or three people. When they receive poor customer service, however, they are most likely to tell ten to twelve others.
The importance of word-of-mouth recommendations has caused US companies to lose $62 billion in profits every year just because of poor customer service. Many large organizations understand the value of good customer service as a key driver in getting new businesses.
What is good customer service?
Customer service is the lifeblood of any company. No matter how great a product is or how many promotions and discounts are placed out there, one of the things that customers are most likely to remember is the interaction that they had with a company representative.
Good customer service is all about making customers happy enough to share positive feedback about a business to others. Here are a few ways to improve customer service in any business:
Invest in customer service training
Many leaders are often taken aback by the inefficiency in execution of certain processes or programs. Often times, this can be rooted back by the lack of training. Similarly, the failure of a team to deliver excellent customer service is often caused by the lack of good service training.
In many organizations, training usually comes down to the operational “keys and handbook” training approach. This entails only a training manual and maybe, sometimes, a mentor to help get an employee started about providing great customer experiences.
However, as a number of growing studies have revealed, humans are not built for reactive service, a big part of providing excellent customer service. It takes effective training to let an employee know how to respond to anger and aggression with a calm and helpful demeanor.
Only through proper training can enhance an employee’s confidence and competence in providing good customer service.
Set and analyze customer feedback
The best way to fully understand and gauge how a company’s customer service is doing is to ask its own customers. A 360 review surveys online can help measure top customer service metrics and individual employee performances.
These surveys cover a number of areas around a company’s service, which can include not only about the employee’s helpfulness and knowledge but also about the business’s policies and procedures. Smart companies know the importance of using these gathered data to improve their customer service, retain their current patrons and attract new and potential customers.
Consider setting up recognition programs
Employee recognition is the timely acknowledgement of an employee’s behavior and effort that supports an organization’s goals and values. Appreciation or recognition is a fundamental human need. It is essential in creating and maintaining an outstanding and happy workforce.
And as many companies know, happy and motivated employees translate to happy customers. Using rewards and recognition programs will drive employees to take more chances to be outstanding, especially in their interactions with customers.
It is important to note though that rewards don’t necessarily have to be monetary. There are many effective recognition programs that work as well. These can include prizes, like movie tickets, free products or free lunches, or even giving additional time off to employees.
A customer service team is often the face of any company. Customers’ experiences will be greatly defined by the quality of support they receive. Taking steps to improve customer service, like investing in training, setting up surveys and awards programs, is crucial to the growth of any kind of business.
