These days one of the most, important if not the most important thing you offer a customer is Superior Customer Service. I find anymore that this is so abused and overlooked in the retail sector. What does it take to make your customer happy?
Without good customer service you are only handing the product through a window or over a counter and leaving them with a false sense of insecurity. People in general are very self conscious and feel low self esteem when faced with a sales person. They need to be put on a pedestal and treated as if they were the most important person on earth at that moment. Otherwise all you are doing is just giving them product and most times they will NOT return to your place of business. Think about it, if one employee offers no customer service to each and every person they see in a day, that can be a monumental loss to the business.
I for one, watch each time I go into a retail outlet for great customer service and I demand it..Not because I am being picky, but because I deserve it and 9 times out of 10 I receive below average service. What is going on here? Are Employers not training their employees? Are Employers not treating their own people properly? This is the most important question. If Employers don’t treat their staff properly, it will become the trickle down effect and those Customer Service Reps will not give what the customer expects or deserves. Our employees are important clients as front runners and the visual face of our business. Therefore, they should be treated with the respect that they as well deserve. Take for instance a restaurant that is lead by a tyrant that cares nothing about his employees and reprimands them daily or treats them like low life scum. Do you honestly think that these CSR’s are going to give the customer happy and caring service? NO, they will not. What they need to do is treat them with respect and know that they will represent as they are treated.
There are so many rules to Customer Service that are not even looked at in some businesses and it is so important that they are learned and drilled and as well Maintained.
In closing I will list the Top 5 Important Rules of Customer Service in hopes that some People may instigate them in their own business and to their important Customer Service reps.
Let’s make all Customers #1 and Happy
1) Know who is boss. You are in business to service customer needs, and you can only do that if you know what it is your customers want. When you truly listen to your customers, they let you know what they want and how you can provide good service. Never forget that the customer pays our salary and makes your job possible.
2) Be a good listener. Take the time to identify customer needs by asking questions and concentrating on what the customer is really saying. Listen to their words, tone of voice, body language, and most importantly, how they feel. Beware of making assumptions – thinking you intuitively know what the customer wants. Do you know what three things are most important to your customer?
Effective listening and undivided attention are particularly important on the show floor where there is a great danger of preoccupation – looking around to see to whom else we could be selling to.
3) Identify and anticipate needs. Customers don’t buy products or services. They buy good feelings and solutions to problems. Most customer needs are emotional rather than logical. The more you know your customers, the better you become at anticipating their needs. Communicate regularly so that you are aware of problems or upcoming needs.
Make customers feel important and appreciated. Treat them as individuals. Always use their name and find ways to compliment them, but be sincere. People value sincerity. It creates good feeling and trust. Think about ways to generate good feelings about doing business with you. Customers are very sensitive and know whether or not you really care about them. Thank them every time you get a chance. On the show floor be sure that your body language conveys sincerity. Your words and actions should be congruent.
4) Help customers understand your systems. Your organization may have the world’s best systems for getting things done, but if customers don’t understand them, they can get confused, impatient and angry. Take time to explain how your systems work and how they simplify transactions. Be careful that your systems don’t reduce the human element of your organization.
Thanks for listening
Rick Petherick
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