Do your best to drive customer service

Why do customers patronize one company over another? Most of you might say that the quality and price of the products or services are key factors. While they might play into a purchasing decision, they aren’t the most important considerations.

So, what is? Customer service. How you and your employees treat your customers is critical. When you provide your customers with exceptional customer service, you will own them. They will be loyal to you and wouldn’t dream of taking their business to one of your competitors.

When you have loyal customers, you can drastically reduce your advertising and marketing budgets. Loyal customers tell their families and friends about you and your company, and that, my friends, is the most effective advertising you can get—and it’s free!

I have a friend who drives a Ford and upgrades her car every few years. Even though there is a Ford dealership located a few miles from her home, she drives several more miles to purchase a car from another dealership. Why? Because it provides exceptional service. If she brings her car in to be serviced, the mechanics are skilled, friendly, and trustworthy. She drops her car off, and the dealer’s courtesy driver brings her home. After her car is serviced, he picks her up and brings her back to the dealership to pick up her car. She says she won’t buy a car from anyone else.

In order to provide exceptional customer service, you must understand what that is. Simply stated, it’s putting the customer first. It’s doing what you say you will do and doing it when you say you will. It’s doing whatever you can to solve problems customers have with a product or service they purchased from you.

How can you drive customer service in your company? Make a commitment to it, and make sure that everyone understands what it is and what you expect of them. Develop a strategy that emphasizes customer service above all else. Set standards, and make sure all employees understand them.

Then train every employee in how to provide exceptional customer service. That training should focus on communicating with customers, listening to them, being friendly, accepting responsibility for the situation even though they didn’t cause it, working with the customer to reach a reasonable and acceptable solution, and acting quickly. Another benefit of training employees is that you show them you value them, and when they feel valued, they will go above and beyond to serve your customers.

Eliminate policies and procedures that are roadblocks to providing exceptional customer service. Give employees clear, but general, guidelines so they have room to maneuver and to think creatively when serving your customers.

Also, realize that you can’t provide exceptional customer service unless you empower your employees. Too many managers and executives don’t trust their employees, thinking they’ll “give away the store” if they’re allowed to make decisions in order to satisfy the customer. If one of those decisions costs your company $200, but that customer spends an average of $10,000 with you each year, it’s money well spent. Look at the long-term impact of that $200.

You must trust your employees to make decisions that will solve your customer’s problems and, in the process, keep them (and their wallets) coming back to you.

You must also motivate all employees to provide exceptional customer service. If you make sure your employees are happy, they will make sure your customers are happy. How do you motivate them? You do that by recognizing and celebrating their efforts. When you do that, you encourage other employees to make customer service a priority. You can recognize exceptional employees without spending a lot of money. Implement a Service Employee of the Month Award and reference exceptional employees in your company newsletter or magazine.

Exceptional customer service can be your salvation. It will attract new customers and retain current customers. It will also restore brand loyalty, confidence, and repurchase intentions of customers who have experienced problems with your company.

John Tschohl is the founder and president of the Service Quality Institute—the global leader in customer service with operations in more than 40 countries. He is considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on all aspects of customer service and has developed 20 customer service training programs—including Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service—that are used by companies throughout the world. His monthly strategic newsletter is available online at no charge at customer-service.com. He can also be reached on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.