What gives a business the competitive advantage?
The secret is providing top-notch customer service.
When your service is better than the competition, profits keep rolling in.
Think of your experience as a customer. Have you ever been frustrated with dysfunctional telephone technology that features such customer annoyances like voice mail systems with frustratingly lengthy menu options? What about the caller-hold features with maddening distorted and loud elevator music punctuated by commercial messages? And then to add insult to injury, when a real person eventually answers the call, they have little knowledge about the company’s products and no power to solve your problems or fix what is wrong.
How do you provide unfailing top-notch customer service?
You adhere to a system that provides consistent customer satisfaction.
When designing a system for customer service excellence, keep the following in mind.
Characteristics of a superior customer service system
The system focuses on your customer
Your goal should be to satisfy the needs of customers and potential customers. Walk in your customer’s shoes. What problems are your customers experiencing? Which is the best system to address those problems? What kind of service delivery system would please you?
Your products or services as accessible
Design a system that opens the way for customers to do business with you. Analyze your existing system. Remove obstacles that prevent customers from easily and conveniently doing business with you.
You are responsive
Design a service delivery system that is based on your customers’ needs, desires and expectations. Make an effort to know your customers as if they were family members. Their loyalty to you is based on your ability to respond appropriately to their needs.
Provide customers with accurate information
Consistently providing accurate information is crucial. This is especially relevant when it comes to technical aspects of products and information about warrantees, price, delivery, billings, and so on.
Provide an integrated system
Customers should be able to obtain all of the information they need from one source within your company. It is exasperating when customers have to approach several people in your organization to be able to get the service or products they want.
Design a user friendly system
The process that the customer follows to access your company’s services should be friendly, uncomplicated, and accessible. Make it as easy as possible for them to make the right decision.
Speed is crucial
Customer service delivery systems should provide assistance to customers quickly. Customers perceive speedy help as excellence.
A customer service system does not just belong to the customer service department. It is everyone’s business. In developing a customer service system, it is absolutely necessary to involve everyone in the company.