Posted on: December 30, 2011 by Jordan Hardy
It is important to provide exceptional customer or client services from any business. In my experience, whether I was managing an art gallery during college or directing a marketing agency in recent years, client / customer service is always important. In this economy, many businesses have improved their customer service out of necessity just to stay competitive. Other businesses, such as The Walt Disney Company where I worked as a manager earlier in my career, maintain a high level of customer service no matter what.
Here are some thoughts I’d like to share today in regards to providing excellent customer service:
- Provide excellent customer service primarily so that customers want to return and also refer friends. Providing customer service primarily to reduce customer complaints, stay competitive, and gain viral networking should be secondary reasoning.
- Treat yor employees extremely well, providing monitoring, guidance, goals, and coaching. Employees who have guidance and goals to look forward to will serve customers better.
- Ensure that you and your employees treat customers as you’d want to be treated. This is easier to say than do.
Above all, ensure your team understands how to be patient. When a customer has had a bad day, a line is long, or a shift is extended too long, an employee may have their patience tested. It is very important to grow tolerance so that at all times customer service is maintained. For employees who haven’t experienced difficult customer service situations, role playing can be very helpful.
Posted on: June 17, 2010 by Jordan Hardy
I’ve directed marketing agency activities and individual client relationships for many years. My achievements have produced increased business results for clients while steadily increasing the number of clients I manage.
Customer service success is essential to maintain satisfied clients. It is critical to sustain planning, funding, staff, process, technology, and company-wide support. It is important to focus awareness towards the appropriate key areas, measuring by the correct KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
I find it essential to manage the overall customer experience life cycle beyond client expectations. Helpful approaches include your team knowing products/services well (think Apple store staff), hiring the right team members and training them thoroughly, providing a number of modes a customer can reach out to you, offering instant feedback, using positive body language, anticipating guest needs, following up, learning more about customers, and handling clients with confidence and grace.
I have seen these 8 benefits materialize as a result of managing the customer experience life cycle beyond client expectations:
- Magnified client base
- Plentiful up-selling and cross-selling opportunities for additional products and services
- Enhanced client satisfaction
- Elevation in client retention
- Boost in client close rates, sales productivity
- Improved client profiling and targeting
- Sustained long term client relationships
- Clients don’t always expect tremendous service, and doing so can raise the bar for your competitors
Providing top-notch customer service to clients helps ensure long term success for you and your clients. There is always someone less expensive to compete on price, and providing terrific customer service is an exceptional way to distinguish your business offerings. A client should not be able to go for months or a year without hearing from you. It is propitious to keep in touch with clients so that when they are recommending businesses to their contacts, your business is on their top 5 list!