How
often have you heard or even said, "What ever happened to good customer
service." It's a growing problem
amongst many businesses, keeping many from reaching their full potential.
The key to making a customer service plan work is achieving
buy-in from all employees, from top-level managers to support staff. Each staff member should understand how his
or her job fits into the company's overall customer service plan — only then
will they realize that every interaction with customers affects the way those
customers see the company as a whole. For example, if a customer calls for the
first time to inquire about a new product and encounters an abrasive
switchboard operator, that may be enough to form a negative opinion of your
firm, and he may never call again. Likewise, your sales staff may be high
powered deal-closers, yet lose accounts because they don't pay attention to
small details like sending thank-you notes to clients or providing sales
follow-up.
So ultimately, the responsibility for retaining long-term
customers falls on the people who are interacting with your customers on a
regular basis. This means that many of
your employees are responsible for managing customer's expectations and making
sure your customers think positively about your company.
Here are some starting points for you to establish your own
customers’ service plan:
Develop a customer service plan with clear objectives and goals.
Communicate your expectations with your employees on how you want them to
interact with customers, solve their issues and follow up with them.
Establish a plan to ensure your expectations are
being met. Hold regular
"customer satisfaction" meetings. Ask employees what else they
recommend doing to increase customer satisfaction and establish stronger
loyalty from customers. This will stimulate employees to think in personal terms of
what they can do for your customers.
Establish goals for the plan. What do you want to accomplish:
fewer returns, fewer complaints, more purchases?
Create a customer feedback program. Establish a plan to ensure that your
customers are happy and being serviced properly; giving them a way to
communicate back with your company.
Hiring a staff that has the ability to solve problems is
critical to the growth of a business. Problems will always arise; accepting
responsibility for the problem and effectively managing the situation can turn
a negative situation into a positive one. If problems are resolved quickly,
customers will continue to buy and refer others.
Follow-through on the sales process:
• Keep customers informed of
any problems or issues involved with products or the delivery process.
Customers will tend to be more understanding, patient and tolerant if you communicate
with them with integrity and in a timely manner.
• Use an organized and
consistent communications program to keep in touch with your customers on a
regular basis and increase your top-of-mind awareness with them.
• After a product has been delivered or service has begun, follow up with the
customer to make sure that what the customer received is what they expected.
• Last but not least, keep
your promises and honor your commitments