Make Sure You Provide Customer Service That Means Business
There’s a lot of lip service paid to the importance of customer service, but there are some irrefutable facts to face when you consider the impact on the success of your business for the long haul. You’ve invested a great deal in building your company, making a name for it (and you) in the community and the industry.It’s a work in progress, and resting on your laurels when it comes to vigilance on any professional front is a bad move — and that goes double for customer service. Here are a few basic tenets of good customer service that can help you make and retain your most valuable assets — your patrons: Hire the Right People: Sound simple?Guess again.Naturally, you want to determine who can bring the perfect storm of product knowledge, responsibility and care to the counter to represent your business, but there’s more to consider. “I always tell my employees to never try to act as if they know something that they don’t.If you don’t know, ask!No one is going to think less of you for not knowing an answer if you’re willing to do the work to find out the truth,” says Matt Babb, owner of Bentwood Gunsmithing in Nevada.
But remember that you have to rely on your team to go the extra mile when you’re not there, or worse, when and if something goes wrong.It’s easy to provide good service when all is well, but when your cash register is on the fritz, a customer is loudly less than satisfied, working at Starbucks may suddenly start to look good to those not made of sterner stuff, and their service will reflect it.
Wondering what the mice are up to when the cat’s away?Mystery shoppers are widely used throughout a variety of industries, and can be an effective means to weeding out the less than stellar employees.Whether you hire a professional company, or simply have someone unknown to your staff come through to take the temperature of your service, you might be surprised at the outcome.
Keep it Simple:Let your team know that while they don’t need to be as smarmy as a used car salesman, that it’s imperative to keep a few basics in mind when approaching any customer.1) Greet each person who walks in the door.2) When you notice that a guest is searching for something, ask if they need assistance.3) Make eye contact when you’re engaging.
While these suggestions might seem somewhat remedial, you’ll find that distilling some essentials down for your crew may make a big difference in their success with your customers. Recover Gracefully:No matter how great your staff is, no one can be expected to get it right 100 percent of the time.However, research indicates that customers whose complaint was handled in a satisfying way are likely to use more of your services than even before the incident!Now, naturally, it’s not advisable to try to force this issue deliberately, but there are a few ways to recover from service mistakes:1) Listen well — get specifics and write them down.2) Allow them to vent — they don’t want your side of the story, they want to share theirs, so let them.3) Apologize sincerely, and then ask what you can do to rectify the situation — and then go above and beyond that.4) Finally, thank them — and ask them how you can best serve them moving forward.If your service team follows these simple instructions, your business will improve, and you’ll retain customers.You may even find that your reputation is improved in the industry, as opposed to irreparably stained, which can be the case if the opposite tack is taken in dealing with service issues. “Another important thing to remember is that you should never talk down to a customer,” says Babb, whose business also includes retail components of a wide variety of shooting sports accessories, in addition to the specialty services it provides.“If you know they’re completely wrong, gently suggest options to them — you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.You’ll find that if you push a customer too hard, even to do what’s right, the resulting “bad press” that can ensue is simply not worth it.My business is based almost entirely on word of mouth and I’m very careful about maintaining my good reputation.”
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