Immediately I think about what could happen to the bottom line in that business if the team member provided great customer service to all that they deal with!
People have indicated that they have gone to a business with both significant and small amounts of money to spend, not been acknowledged or looked after so have left with the opposition receiving their dollars. I bet the boss would be gutted if they knew this!! I know that I would.
The trouble is New Zealanders in general don’t like to complain and only 1 in 26 will, so there are a lot of people out there voting with their feet and shopping with the opposition.
Some businesses spend large amounts of money on advertising to get people in the door, however when people get there the service is so bad they scuttle off to find the opposition. The other business may not spent a lot on advertising, however are reaping the rewards by providing a marginally better customer service as the customer will take the marginally better service feeling more satisfied with the attention given to them.
Advertising/marketing/customer service are a package, not isolated events and the business owner should be ensuring this is the case and not tossing their dollars down the drain. The whole process needs to be managed with good systems in place to evaluate effectiveness. Get your service right and then advertise to draw the crowds.
When we are looking for staff we need to look for the people that are wanting to serve others, unfortunately there are many that think they do and when they are put into a position they only think of themselves and the pay packet and not the customer they should be serving.
Make sure that your people:
- are able to create a great first impression
- know who their customers are
- are professional
- have the right attitude
- use a “can do Approach”
- can think outside the square
- get on well with people in general
- are able to handle the angry customer
- know the long term value of the customer
- set personal Goals and target
Some time ago I read a great book called “The Customer Comes Second” and the message in this was essentially, that if staff are cared for with good guidance, policies and proceedures in place and training for their positions, they will do a fantastic job of looking after the customer and your business will soar.
Sandra Anderson is a Customer Service Expert and Business Specialist.
For more information on Customer Service Training or helping to establish better systems in your business to achieve great things give Sandra a call on 06 354 6900.
