Great Service Needn't Cost The Earth
Last week, I wrote about customer expectations and what
happened if businesses don’t meet them.
We live in a world where price is often the defining
competitive edge and people don’t mind poor service/products if “the price is
right”. This, for example, drives how
low-cost airlines survive, or how discount stores operate with a bare minimum
of staff, space, knowledge or other assets.
In an environment of subdued economic activity and low confidence,
people may be more prepared to accept shoddy service or poor quality
goods. Right?
Wrong. You don't need to charge more for high
quality service. You could still provide that little
“something extra” that doesn’t cost you anything (or very little) but that
could make all the difference to customers who might not be expecting it.
Here are some examples of low cost/no cost ways to give your
business an “edge”:
·
Interview for attitude. Select employees who show the
right level of willingness to provide great service. You can't teach attitude; you can teach skills and product
knowledge.
·
Smile when you greet people face to face or over
the phone. It costs nothing; it makes a
huge difference.
·
I really appreciate talking to staff who know
their product or service. Invest more
time in training staff to improve their product knowledge.
·
If you tell a customer that you will do
something, do it. For example, if
you say that you’ll call when a product has arrived, call them (this means that you have to have a process in
place to alert you that the item has arrived and to call Mr./Mrs. X).
·
Offer to help set up a product or service, or to
deliver an item free of charge to your customer’s home/office if it’s not too
far away.
·
Offer some kind of after-sales support or advice
service. This doesn’t extend to
guaranteeing someone else’s product, but it could extend to how to get the best
performance out of it.
·
Contact the customer after a week or so to find
out if they’re happy with what they bought from you.
·
Contact customers to tell them when you have new
goods, products or services on offer.
·
Think carefully when arguing with customers. Is it worth the time and potential loss of
goodwill? You may lose money (this
time), but you gain more goodwill and more sales in the long run. Remember, unhappy customers tell at least 9
friends about bad experiences.
At a time when being competitive is key, do you want to be
“no worse than the rest” or to stand out from the rest?
I have spent more than half my life working in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging”economies. With more than 20 years in the world financial services industry running different service, operations and lending businesses, I started my own Performance Management Consultancy and work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.
Labels: Customer Care, Financial, Productivity, Selling, Strategy
posted by William Martin @ 22:49
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