Thursday 17 February 2011

An Easy Way To Improve Customer Service

The first (and lasting) impression your business can make on a potential customer is the way it handles telephone calls.

Some businesses just seem to be “naturally good” at this. The voice sounds friendly, energised, nothing is too much trouble, you’re the most important person in their life and every atom of their being is focussed on you and meeting your needs.

Others sound far too busy or tired, as though they’re reading from a prepared script, and only grudgingly consent to move things forward (and only after you’ve sent in a letter, email or form). “Policy” is often used as a reason not to do something.

Here’s a thought. In a quiet moment, pick up the phone with your staff and call a number of companies at random. Listen to how they handle your call. Would you want to do business with them? If so, why? If not, why not?

Listen to:

• Greeting: is it just “ABC Limited” or “Good morning/afternoon, this is X at ABC Limited, how may I help you?”;
• How do they sound? Happy or bored? As though you’ve interrupted them or as though helping you is their reason for being alive?
• Dealing: do they just go through a list or do they try to be “human”?
• Do they empathise with you?
• Ending: do they ask if there’s anything else they can do for you?
• Thanks: do they thank you for calling?

If you can’t find a quiet moment in the office (a problem common to many of us) then do this when you next call a supplier or another company with whom you don’t normally do business about a product or service that they advertise.

You could do this with your competitors – if you think that they’re answering well compared to you, maybe this is why they’re doing more business.

Get a friend to call your business and tell you what their experience was.

Another thought – if you work in a large business, how do your colleagues handle the phone? Are some departments “better” than others?

The phone is such a vital part of the “customer experience”. What do your customers experience with you?

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