Many businesses are currently taking important steps towards determining their new service strategies for the future, while they are growing out of the bad habit of doing absolutely anything to get business to foster growth. However, when formalizing their strategy, a company’s policies and processes can often make it difficult to achieve what should be the ultimate goal – happy customers.
Happy customers drive business in more ways than you may think. When a business is able to provide a “wow” experience for its customers, those customers will be thrilled to share that experience with others. Consumers purchasing any type of good or service expect more than to be just mildly pleased. They want an experience about which they can rave. Maybe that means a server going above and beyond to offer a great dining experience, a flight attendant creating a memorable travel experience, or even a customer service specialist who solves a problem quickly and happily (certainly hard to find this these days)!
Three Ways to Show Your Commitment to Service
1) Do what you promise - Nothing frustrates a current or potential customer more than being told something and not having that promise come to fruition. Sales professionals are often viewed in a negative light when they offer things which no fulfillment of product or service can actually deliver. At QDS, our motto is to exceed customer expectations, and it has been amazing to see our results just by simply doing what we say we will do with under-promising and over-delivering.
2) Sacrifice profitability for doing the "right thing" - This is one key area where customer service departments can really struggle. A company may have clear policies and procedures set in place by management, but when presented with a real-world scenario, the customer service reps reacts according to those policies, instead of doing the right thing for that specific customer situation. Customers crave fairness and understanding, and those policies may not always apply to every set of circumstances. We take pride in listening to our customers and aiming to do what's right, instead of only what's most profitable.
3) Be PRO-active - Anyone can strive to be responsive, and any good customer service department can be successfully reactive. But to truly be a “best-of-breed” in customer service, you must think proactively. How can we help the customer avoid this issue in the future? Is there a process that led to the situation which can be improved? Are there ways to mitigate outside factors from having an impact on the business? Customers will trust you completely if you prove that you are looking out for their best interest. By consulting with them to solve complex business issues ahead of time, customers can be in better shape to adopt your solution when needed.
Being a customer service all-star is no easy task. By following the 3 steps we just discussed, you can go from expected to surprising in terms of your customer service level. If you consistently surprise customers with enjoyable experiences and positive results, you can be sure they will go out of their way to recommend your company to others. This word-of-mouth advertising comes at no cost to you and can impact the success of your business for many years to come.