Client Service - Page 2

When a business is reactive to customer frustrations instead of being proactive, it's often more difficult to turn the experience into one that leaves the client feeling as if the businesses went above and beyond to meet their needs and exceed their expectations. They key is to identify a frustration...

Quote: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."  -Henry Ford

 

Our Thoughts: There have been many articles written, especially on innovators such as Ford or even Steve Jobs, which discuss that customers don't always have the answer. They can't always tell you want they want if they can't imagine it themselves. There's definitely a kernel of truth to this, but it doesn't mean you can tune out your customers. It means that your business needs to listen differently.

There's a little known feature in Google Maps that displays just how well Google understands their customers. Take out your cell phone and open the Google Maps app. Now let's say you were trying to find a location, but when you got to the end of the directions the destination was wrong. Frustrated? Shake your phone and see what happens.

Last week we began a series on collections, a vital part of your customer service. This is often a overlooked process for keeping and building customer relationships.

 

You may be thinking: "What?! Collections are vital to keeping and building customer relationships? Are you crazy? The reason I have to "collect" from them is because they have not paid me when they were supposed to --- why would I want to keep and build that relationship?!" Simply put, you want to build these relationships, because they have already done business with you and because they do owe you money.

In today's society communication is definitely changing. There are newer methods that are picking up momentum in all demographics such as texting and email. People are becoming more impatient as they expect faster responses. We're connected to constant streams of information at all times, and somehow some way your business has to keep up. Thankfully there are apps out there that can help your business. These are just a few of the ones out there:

The past month we've talked a lot about handling customer service from the stand point of when things are not going right.  We've looked at you not being the first person to provide answers, firefighting, and how things are handled when they go wrong.  All of these are necessary steps for providing excellent service, but in order to provide top of the line customer service, you also need to be thinking about how you can be proactive. Customer service isn't always about handling the day to day or when things go wrong, but about going above and beyond.   

 

To be proactive in providing extras such as sending out birthday cards, holiday gifts, welcoming packages or just thank you for doing business with us postcards, you must be organized. It's not the fun side of customer service but it is the critical, behind the scenes work necessary to wow your clients day after day. The two main steps for organizing the service you provide to your clients include: ranking and scheduling.

Without a doubt, there will be a time when your company stumbles and your customer is not happy with the service. This means your employees will need to be prepared to interact with an unhappy customer.  It's easy to make the assumption that your staff knows how to handle an upset customer. That assumption might have some truth to it. They know their way to solve problems, which might include years of bad habits. The question is do they know your way? Sure, they might have even seen how you handle it, but do they know how far they can go to satisfy a client? Can they give the client a discount or refund? If they can, how much can they offer? Do they offer the discount first, or is there something that should happen before getting to that point?

Imagine this scenario: Before leaving for vacation, you leave instructions with your staff, "Do not call me unless there is an emergency."  A day into your vacation your phone rings and it's an employee saying that Client X needs you to call them back.  You ask if it's an emergency.  The employee assures you that it is indeed an emergency.  So you take time away from your vacation and call the client back, only to find out it's a simple request that your staff not only can handle, but must handle since you are out of the office.

 

It's easy to assume that either your employee or your client is calling wolf.  From your point of view, especially since you're on a much needed vacation, this wasn't an emergency.  From the employee's point of view they asked the client very directly, "is this an emergency?"  When the client said yes the employee simply followed your instructions.  From the client's point of view this day to day task was an emergency.  They need it done today whether you're in the office or not.

une Spotlight: Customer Domination

We all know that customer service is important to any small business. You rely on repeat customers and of course word of mouth, which is directly impacted by the experience your customers have with your business. Yet, as a business grows many business owners struggle to maintain the level of customer service without over-committing their schedule.   There comes a tipping point though. That point in time when your customers' needs outnumber the hours in the day you can devote to providing them with the best service possible. It's that point in time when you start to feel as if your customers are in control of what you do and when you do it. Throughout June we'll be looking at how to transition as your business grows so that customer service doesn't falter, but at the same time you don't feel as if your customers are in charge of your business...

 

You Cannot be the Most Important Person In Your Business

The moment you hire your first employee things should change. This is the moment you are no longer the most important person in your business. Take a moment to think about that. The moment you hired someone is really the moment you started letting go of your business. It's a lot like that moment your child first starts to walk. It's exciting, but at the same time you start to see all the things that could go wrong.

 

Most business owners manage to hold on to the control by giving employees just enough room to work, but without really allowing them to take ownership of their role. You might notice that there are customers that refuse to get answers from anyone but you, employees interrupt you for simple requests, or worse simply don't take action until you tell them what to do.  You probably know details about every single client call or interaction. You're accessible to clients and employees at any time or day. You'll notice that service starts to slip even though you're working harder than ever. It's exhausting being the most important person in your business.

Before jumping into this week's article we wanted to take a moment to thank each of you for making the time to read our thoughts each week.  We know that as business owners you don't have spare time and we truly appreciate every moment that you choose to spend working with us on building your business.  We wish you, your staff, and your family a Happy Thanksgiving.