What you should do to provide good customer service

A business that has a good customer-service culture will have competitive advantage over its competitors and will likely retain its customers. A business needs to do certain things if it has to provide excellent customer service.
It should ensure its staff acquire certain skills for it to be able to provide good customer service. A business that is conscious of good service should not only worry about a quality product but it should also be concerned in ensuring that it provides customer satisfaction.

A company should take time to make sure that the product it delivers to the customer works and that the customer understands how to use and operate the product. Customer service is not about just delivering the right product only. It’s about the whole package.
A customer should not buy a right appliance which they don’t know how to use because the supplier has not explained how the product is used. In such a case it’s of no help to the customer. Service provided in such instances is very poor because as a customer you have not received the benefit from your product.

It’s therefore very important for a company to listen to the needs of the customers and be available to deal with customers’ questions and concerns. You should not leave the customer frustrated or not taken care of. The way companies are using automation in handling customers can compromise the service you provide to your customers. Sometimes customers are made to wait for a long time on the phone waiting for the next sales person to handle the query or by being transferred from one person to the next or being asked to press certain a certain extension on the phone if you need a certain service.

This can take a long time sometimes leaving the customer confused and very frustrated. What a business needs to know is that a customer is just as busy as its sales executive and so it should not leave the customer on the phone for a long time resulting in unnecessary time being wasted. Automation should not be used too much at the expense of good customer service.

Some customers want to speak to a person over the phone rather than automated voice prompts. One other frustrating issue to customers is when companies are using call centres that are being manned by people who might not speak well.
As a customer you might struggle to understand what the other person is saying. Instead of enjoying the service you will be regretting why you ever dealt with that company. This will impact negatively on referral business.

A business needs to be passionate about customer service. This can be seen by the desire to offer the best service to the customer. A business that is passionate about excellent service will be prepared to go the extra mile in ensuring that the customer is satisfied with your service.
Going an extra mile separates the best customer service providers with those that provide mediocre service. Don’t just go for money go for total customer satisfaction, then the money will be assured because the customer will buy more if he is happy and will likely refer friends.

Company employees should be trained on how to handle customers. Good communication is crucial in ensuring good customer service. It’s vital that an employee dealing with a customer should be patient, flexible and be a good listener when dealing with a customer.
Treat the customer as correct in most cases so that you will have a positive attitude. Although sometimes customers are wrong as well, but it pays to adopt a view that the customer is correct.

This will help in solving the problem leaving the customer happy and satisfied. When talking to a customer don’t leave the customer feeling short changed. The customer should go away satisfied that the issue has been handled well or that action is being taken immediately.
Businesses should inculcate a culture of excellent customer service. This should be one of the values that the business stands for. Every employee should be part of the customer service provision chain.

Excellent customer service starts with the receptionist, going to the sales personnel, production, despatch team and even the cleaner.
If each employee knows the importance of customer service to the company then he will ensure that he plays his part in the provision of service that delights the customer.
The objective of customer service should be to transform an unhappy customer into a customer who feels excited about how well they were served and taken care of when they needed your assistance.

Customers who receive sterling service will be good sales agents for the company as they refer friends and colleagues to buy from your company.
As you endeavour to provide excellent service you should take your time to better understand the customer’s problems and needs paying particular attention to individual customer interactions, the way they express themselves, the language used.
When you pay attention to the customer’s language you will appreciate what really the customer is really trying to express and you can therefore understand what the issue is.

Knowledge of the product is one of the key issues to excellent customer service. A sales agent who does not have knowledge of his company’s product will likely not be able to provide excellent service to the customer.
A salesman should be able to know the ins and outs of how the product works. One is likely not able to help the customer well he doesn’t know the product from front-to-back.

The language you use when dealing with customers is very important. Using positive language will go a long way in creating happy customers.
Positive language is an effective tool when persuading a customer or when solving a complaint or a problem. You should also be able to remain cheerful regardless of whether the customer tries to be difficult and remains grumpy. Remain positive and you will win the negative customer.
When dealing with customer problems try to avoid wasting time trying to solve issues that can well be resolved by someone more knowledgeable or senior than you. Refer the matter to someone else so that you don’t have to waste valuable customer’s time.

Customer service means that you are prepared to provide the right thing that the customer wants.
You need to end your interaction with the customer having confirmed with the customer that you understand what he wants and that every issue discussed has been or will be entirely resolved.

Every business that wants to ensure excellent customer service should be prepared to invest in new skills or ways to provide good customer service. Every team member should be willing to learn ways to improve customer service.
Customer service excellence has always been and will always be one of the critical competitive advantages for any business.
“Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game. Service wins the game,” said Tony Allesandra.

l Stewart Jakarasi is a business and financial strategist and a lecturer in business strategy and performance management.
He provides advisory and guidance on leadership, strategy and execution, preparation of business plans and on how to build and sustain high-performing organisations.

For assistance in implementing some of the concepts discussed in these articles or in strategic planning facilitation please contact him on the following contacts: sjakarasi@gmail.com or +266 62110062 or on WhatsApp +266 58881062