How do you know if Customer Service is exceptional?
There is an incredible amount of work to do when you go into business for yourself. The main concern is making you provide superior customer service, Good customer service is a much needed survival skill for those that want to survive it in small business. The ease of figuring it out will amaze you. Exceptional customer service is much more than merely getting the goods and services being sold to the public.
The customer can usually get what ever product or service the company is providing elsewhere. Treating the customer well and going beyond expectations is the key to making sure that they go elsewhere to have their needs met. The customer is actively seeking hands on customer service when they contact you now that most of the customer service needs today are being met by machines.
The ability to be flexible is the biggest advantage that a small business has available to them. Contacting tow or three supervisors to get an answer is not necessary which means there is no need to put the customer on hold while you resolve their problem. You are able to give the customer the answers they need. Even though your ability to solve the problem may be limited being honest with them is something they will appreciate and the time that it usually takes to resolve issues will be drastically reduced. Stay ahead of the game by making sure you know the policies in place and why they are there.
When you are looking to provide valuable customer service, you'll find that you can work much more intimately with your customers than you would be able to at a large company. You'll find that you can treat your customer as an ally, not as an adversary, and that working together, you'll be able to find a great solution to whatever it is that they need. When you are considering whether the service you provide is good or merely adequate, ask yourself how you treated your customer. You'll find that if you treat your customer as an enemy or as a child that you are not going to like the results.
Good customer service is something that can be learned and developed, and you'll find that you can pick it up over time. Just because you fumbled the ball on one experience doesn't mean that you'll continue to do so, so make sure you see each new customer as an opportunity to stretch your customer service skills!
Did you know 68% of people will quit doing business with companies that have poor customer service? Discover the keys to good customer service - learn effective customer service skills at http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Give-Great-Customer-Service
Published June 19th, 2008
Filed in Business
