Providing outstanding customer service is one of the most rewarding yet challenging activities within any organization. Exceptional organizations that provide outstanding customer service generate bigger revenues, better margins and have less staff turnover.
We think that most organizations agree with this concept and yet trying to find exceptional customer service remains troublesome – mediocre service is commonplace and poor service is rampant. There are thousands of papers, books and documents on the subject and yet bad service continues.
Here at Optimize we hold that it is fundamentally down to the corporate attitude toward service and the customer.
An organization serious about delivering top quality service needs to constantly work on its attitude and the team’s attitude to providing outstanding customer service. All employees and contractors are customer service leaders and should be held accountable as such.
The organization needs to set the right tone and to ensure that everyone is motivated by the corporate attitude. If the organization truly values the customer, the team will follow the lead and provide outstanding customer service. If the organization views the customer as a nuisance, or worse, the enemy, the employees will follow this lead and communicate this negative attitude to the customers they serve.
Every customer service experience is a learning experience that is preparing the organization for future opportunities. Understanding the customer’s “pain” and creating empathy for outstanding customer service solutions drives resolution and innovation. Gathering continuous feedback and having the “courage to listen” to the customer service team’s responses is critical in developing service strategies that differentiate an organization from the competition.
Customer service team members, because they are on the frontline, can provide the organization with excellent information on how to service the customers. Market conditions are changing all the time and any piece of information your customer service team can share within the company can make the difference between success and failure.
But how often does the company actually take time to listen to those serving the customers at the front end or worse, how often do they listen but not hear? Creating the right attitude for delivering truly great customer experiences starts with the organization’s ability to truly understand what is going on at the front line and those moments of truth experienced daily with current and potential future customers.
Building a service culture that does not understand the daily service interactions is not possible. Too often time is spent developing great statements of apology rather than providing great moments of customer satisfaction…