Are Your Customers Getting Uniform Service?

If you want to offer the best possible customer service experience, be sure to be consistent..

How consistent are you with your customers? One sure way to lose business to competing vendors is to give a customer one answer the first time he or she has a question and a different answer the next time the issue is raised.
Even worse is when one customer receives concessions that others do not; such as extending return deadlines or accepting returns on "final sale" items.

And don't forget the importance of consistency of service.
Are customers receiving their product in three days the first time they order, but 10 days the second time around?
This can be confusing and inconvenient, especially for customers in a "continuity program." Inconsistent delivery will get the product to them either too "early" or too "late." It's very important to have a consistent service record.

Customers deserve to know that the company they are dealing with has a consistent approach to taking care of its customers. And the secret to making that happen? Train. Train. Then train some more!

Training is critical to customer service. Training keeps everyone "on the same page" and in the know about your customers and the products they order. And while employees' busy schedules can make finding time to train difficult, the need is not diminished. Training can often be done over the lunch hour, in the evenings or even remotely. And some companies will rotate their employees through the training process to ensure their phones still get answered and customers are still taken care of properly.

When planning your employee training sessions, consider including the following topics:

Phone Etiquette

Answer the phone within three rings. A prompt and pleasant response starts the customer's call off on the right foot. Record in-coming calls periodically; then listen to call center staff to see how they sound and to make any necessary improvements. Call center managers should also listen to their operators periodically to ensure each one is providing the best customer service possible.

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Make the most of those precious opportunities when connecting with your customers..

We've all heard the saying that "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." However, in the world of customer service it's often not about the first impression... it's about the second, a.k.a. the follow-up!

 The truth is that most customer service and sales professionals do not fall down on the first impression.

In customer service, we answer the phone and put on our "game day" voice, politely, cheerfully and respectfully, but if we can't fix their problem immediately on that first call, we choke!
We transfer customers, make them repeat their problems, promise calls back, but then never make them - forcing customers to call back and start the process over and over again—until their issue is finally resolved through their diligent efforts (not ours)... or they leave.

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The Customer Service Tree

Imagine your customers are the branches that support the leaves (revenue), and you company as the trunk of your money tree that supports and supplies the customer branches

Think of how a tree grows; it starts with one or two little branches. Those branches shoot off and create more branches, and so the process continues until a full-grown tree emerges.

A customer who has a positive experience and tells just one person has helped your tree grow.

That new customer branch may lay dormant and leafless for days, weeks, or years, but it is still a customer branch with potential to grow money-leaves.

It takes a long time for customer branches to grow, but in only an instant the customer branches can be cut off and never grow back. At any company the best way to cut off a customer branch is to provide poor customer service.

An unhappy customer who tells three people about his or her bad experience with you company has snapped off a branch - a branch budding with potential to grow more customer branches, eventually creating more money leaves.

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Customer Service Back In The Day

I was at a gas station the other day and noticed something that caused me to look twice.
At first, it appeared to be a normal occurrence, a man pumping gas and then cleaning his windshield.

Thinking nothing of this, I continued with my gas purchase. When I again looked at the other vehicle, I saw a man walking to the rear of the same car, yet there was someone else continuing to clean his windshield.

To my surprise, the person cleaning his windshield and tending to this gas was the gas station attendant, not the customer.

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How to Hire the Best Customer Service People

Through many years of hiring Customer Service staff, I've found that competency based assessment is by far the most effective and accurate way.

That is not to say that technical abilities should not be checked, rather that this in itself is insufficient to ensure success.
Indeed it's very important to study the delegates' CVs, to check their relevant experience and qualifications, to ask questions of clarification and to probe any gaps in their employment history.


The Assessment Center process is carried out in addition to this.

Competency Based Assessment Centers (CBAs) are a highly accurate way of performing an assessment of someone's suitability for a role and focus largely on behavioral traits rather than on technical abilities. CBAs normally comprise a blend of Role Plays and a competency based interview (CBI). Studies have concluded that competency based assessment methods are around 5 times more accurate at choosing the right employees than traditional interview based formats.

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Become a Customer Service Raving Fan!

It seems to me that the way to get your customers to be raving fans of your business is to become raving fans of your customers.

"Get Into Their Lives" This is the mantra at Marquis Jet, a company that sells "flight time" on a private jet in the form of calling cards, starting at $110,000.00 for 25 hours.
Their client list is a who's who of Hollywood, including Matt Damon, Christina Agulera and J. Lo. When Carrie Underwood was named the American Idol, she was given a record contract and a Marquis Jet card.

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