Customer Service or Helping People Purchase - Part 2
"If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a new horse" - Henry Ford
With customer service, we need to think outside the square - lead change - be the change. Good customer service is going beyond what would normally be accepted.
A sign out the front of a door saying 'We provide great customer service' is not going to cut it today, in fact it could backfire on you because people’s expectation is that they will be serviced when they go in to look or buy.
To stand out and be memorable start thinking of innovative ways to go the extra mile with customer service in your business.
Some more areas that will affect customer service.
PASSION
If you or your staff are just there to get by and pay bills by earning a few dollars until the weekend, then you will reflect that attitude at work. We’ve all worked with people who count down the hours till knock-off time, they’re not ‘there’ to help people, they totally miss sales opportunities, don’t want to do anything extra and affect everyone else’s attitude as well. The COO of the Ritz Carlton hotel group says he is staggered by age 27, how many people have effectively retired. They hate their job and have no passion for what they do.
HIRE ON ATTITUDE, TRAIN IN SKILLS
Look for people that are passionate, because when they have enthusiasm, they provide outstanding customer service and have a great "Yes" face as they deal with people.
BUILD YOUR TEAM
Ray Croc who founded McDonalds, said "None of us is as good as all of us."
When you operate together as a united team, you can build a strong business and provide outstanding customer service.
Look at how each area of your business performs - eg. If you have a really good sales team, but delivery, or follow-up service doesn’t measure up, you will lose repeat sales. If your product is great, displays good and delivery prompt but the receptionist is slow to answer, doesn’t ring back and has no enthusiasm, you’re going nowhere!
- Get the right people into the right places
- Include everyone in team progress meetings
- Keep lifting up the vision - bring the team on the journey
- Look for ways to recognise and reward great customer service
KEEP LEARNING
We learn till the day we die. If you are not learning, you are not growing.
Learn how to become outstanding - not only will you be sought out as providing good customer service, but you'll be more valuable as an employee - both the business and your job will bring greater $ returns.
Get hold of good training material on customer service, CDs or books, talk to others who do it well - learn what works for them. In the US 3% of people have a library card and 6% believe that Elvis is still alive. So you can see the priority isn’t learning! Don’t you be one of those statistics.
Be innovative, every business is different and there will be ways you can give customers outstanding, even unique service that no one else offers.
MAKE YOUR BUSINESS, (your department or job role) MEMORABLE IN THE WAY YOU HELP CUSTOMERS BUY.
Peter Irvine
www.peterirvine.com
Peter is Co-Founder of Gloria Jean’s Coffees, author of "Win In Business", speaker and business consultant.
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