Talk about customer service to your staff—a lot (II)
Buy a book on customer service with lots of great ideas on how to stand out from the crowd by offering exceptional customer service. Without meaning to turn this into a sales pitch, my third book, called 101 Ways to Really Satisfy Your Customers, is a pretty good starting point. Read more
Talk about customer service to your staff—a lot (I)
Customer service is an issue that many businesses really struggle to get a handle on. For some people it is simply serving customers quickly and politely, but in reality it goes much deeper. Earlier in this chapter I talked about the importance of respecting your customers, which I believe is the starting point when it comes to delivering high levels of customer service. Read more
The first 30 seconds
The first 30 seconds of any business interaction are best considered an interview. A customer forms a lot of opinions in this initial window of opportunity for you. Generally most impressions are done subconsciously with a simple end result being a message from the brain of the customer saying, ‘I will come back here again’ or, ‘I will not come back here again’. Sure this process may take longer in some businesses, but you get the point. I do a lot of mystery shopper evaluations for various companies. Read more
Do you over promise and under deliver? (II)
It is better to set a realistic timeframe, one you can achieve, than one you can’t possibly achieve, which is guaranteed to end in tears for all the parties concerned. There are of course many other forms of over promising and under delivering. One of the most obvious is food. Read more
Do you over promise and under deliver? (I)
In businesses that are overly busy this point poses a challenge. In businesses not so busy, it is unforgivable. Over promising and under delivering is the best way to lose customers as it breaks every customer service rule. Firstly you are building up the customer’s expectations, probably higher than they were initially, then you not only fail to meet their expectations, you fail miserably. Read more