What do you do when a customer calls to ask you for help or information? Do you merely give him what he asks for and end the call?

I’d venture to guess the answer to that question is YES.

Is that really the best level of customer service you could give, though? Is there anything else you could do to make your clients happy?

The honest answer to this question is YES as well.

The problem is that you don’t know what you could be doing simply because you haven’t bothered to ask.

There are three questions you should ask your customers. You don’t have to ask them daily, weekly, or even monthly. Once or twice a year survey your customers and get an idea of what they expect, what makes them happy, and what they wish you were doing better for them. Ask these questions:

• What aspects of our business relationship do you really like?
• What services do you think we should be offering you that we are not?
• What aspects of our business relationship do you think need improvement?

The answers to these questions will prove to be incredibly valuable. What you do with these answers is up to you, but if you take a proactive approach I think you’ll find that your client’s view of your customer service levels will increase dramatically!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

Believe it or not, as a manager you have a responsibility to ensure that your team delivers top knotch customer service at all times. No one is excluded, whether he deals with the public or not.

What most people don’t realize is that everyone is responsible for a certain degree of customer service. You may not have external customers, but you certainly have internal customers. For example, if you work in the human resource department you are responsible for giving great service to any employee expecting payroll or training. If you’re in accounting you may find you are responsible for providing great customer service to department heads needing financial reports. Get the point?

According to Andrew Gibson there are three main levels of customer service. They are the expected level, the desired level, and the unanticipated level.

I think they each speak for themselves. The expected level is the minimum quality level you can get away with and still say you did your job – the bare bones. The desired level is the level of customer service your customer wishes you would give, even if it means you go above and beyond every once in a while. The unanticipated level of customer service is the one in which you go above and beyond the call of duty, do a stellar job, make your customer incredibly happy, and continue to do so.

Of course, the unanticipated level of customer service could, in truth, go the other way – but we’re going to focus on the positive here.

So, if you had to choose the type of customer service you deliver to your “clients,” on what level would you fall? Did you even realize you had a responsibility to provide customer service, or to ensure that your team does so? If not, it’s time to step back and evaluate your team and its focus!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Courses

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Managing a customer service team can be an interesting task. Unless you’re recording phone calls or listening in on conversations there is really no way of knowing if your team members are doing the job they’re supposed to be.

Ask yourself this question: How do you know that your clients receiving the best customer care possible?

Not knowing puts you in a bad position. If your clients are unhappy you might not find out until they’ve taken their business elsewhere. So what can you do to change this?

Hire Secret Shoppers

As silly as this may sound the concept is legitimate. You can hire a marketing research company to conduct a survey of your customer service abilities. These people will pose as customers, both average and difficult, and put your customer service team to the test. They’ll then report back and let you know what their experiences were, whether they were over the phone or in person.

Survey Your Customers

This can be done in a number of ways. You can send a postcard, email, or letter asking your clients to respond. As a manager, you might even pick up the phone and make a call to your larger clients, letting them know that you just wanted to check in and make sure their needs are being met. Most clients will open up and speak honestly if they know they are speaking to someone in an authoritative position.

Implement Technology

Technological solutions, such as call recording or running computer reports, will give you the ability to tack what your employees are doing regularly. To those who think that amounts to snooping – think again. Your client files are public record and, if your employees jobs are to keep your customers happy you have the right to make sure they’re doing their jobs.

Don’t be afraid to step up to the plate and evaluate your entire customer service team. They’re the forefront of your organisation and need to be acting as such. Taking action now will ensure your customers are always happy, and happy customers are usually very loyal!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”