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1) Determine what makes what you offer special. Study the competition. Think about their customer service training and the customer service you provide. What can you offer your customers that is “better” than the competition? There are sure to be aspects of your customer service that you can promote as “Special”. Make a list of all these ideas for providing customer service. If you sell a product, and your competitor doesn’t offer it already, perhaps you can offer free local delivery. If you sell a service, such as bookkeeping or accounting, perhaps you can focus on turnaround times that are faster than your competitors’- providing the good customer service that will give your business the edge. Sometimes providing knock your socks off customer service training will involve expanding your operations. For instance, you may need to offer to provide your services in customer’s homes to outdo the services the competition provides. Sometimes providing knock your socks off customer service will involve revamping what you’ve always done. If you provide a service that involves giving estimates of the job to be done beforehand, and you’ve previously just given estimates to prospective customers orally, you could stress that you provide an estimate in writing and stick to your written estimate. Remember, we’re talking about customer service here. Lower prices are not service; they’re just lower prices. Now that you have a list of customer service ideas that you might use to provide customer service that outshines the customer service your competitors provide, it's time to look at implementing knock your socks off customer service. 2) Study the customer service ideas on your list and examine their feasibility. Can you really guarantee that you will always stick to your written estimate or provide a faster turnaround time than your competitors? If you aren’t sure, or can’t do it, cross it off your customer service ideas list. Excellent customer service carries that guarantee of; it’s not a “sometimes” proposition. So only choose what you can definitely do one hundred percent of the time. 3) Choose one or two of your knock your socks off customer service ideas and implement them. When I say implement your customer service ideas, I don’t just mean do it; you also need to let people know that you’re doing it. Feature this aspect of your customer service in whatever ads you run, including your yellow pages listing. Put it on your business cards and in your email signature. Make it part of your greeting spiel when you answer the phone. Include customer service training within your staff training programme. You need to make your customer service a prominent feature of every ad too, so people automatically associate it with your business. (Remember when you’re redesigning or creating ads never to describe your customer service as “new and improved”; this implies there was something wrong with your “old” customer service.) While one of the big payoffs of your excellent customer service will be the great word-of-mouth advertising it generates, this takes time, and you need to help it along by getting the word out. Don’t be shy! Solicit customer service testimonials from satisfied customers, that you can use in print ads, such as in newspapers, ezines, and on your website, if you have one, or can at least use as references for new potential customers. 4) Stay proactive and keep gathering customer service ideas. Listen to your customers and find out what kind of special customer service they want. You can do this formally, by creating a customer satisfaction feedback form that you enclose with every sale or post on your website, or informally, by asking them for their customer service ideas when they're in your store or office. Knock your socks off customer service is service that’s responsive to customers' needs. Customers are tired of dealing with retailers that ignore customer service or only pretend to have it, and as always, they’re voting with their money. Knock your socks off customer service will draw customers to your product or service, rather than competitors', and bring them back in droves. And finally, customer service training for your staff is not optional. How many times has a company promised excellent customer service to you and not delivered because of poorly trainined staff. Customer service training will give your staff the edge and the confidence to deliver your promises. To find out more about customer service training, complete our request a call back form or email training@e-volution-training.co.uk. |
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