The customer service horizon

Scan your customer service horizon

The long term performance of your business is really what matters. Once you have removed all seasonal effects and difficult trading periods due to economic down cycle or increased international competition, the business will perform according to your ability to understand customers needs and deliver the product or service that they expect. A key element of the service proposition is to make sure that customer service continues to deliver at all times. To avoid any disappointment, you need to be in a position where you can scan the customer service horizon and anticipate what is coming. Your ability to anticipate peak demand periods, changing trends and evolving customer behavior is key to make sure that you do not have clouds building in the horizon. These would make the piloting of your company  impossible and clearly impact even the best intended customer service.

Good customer service videos

In the world of customer service, videos are more and more commonly used.They are helpful in illustrating new concepts and can be very effective to convey approaches which should be used by all employees of a company.

We show below our video on good customer service in restaurants, showing the setting, the way the tables are laid, even the menu but what is lacking is the video is the human touch, you will have to go and try it for yourself. Please contact us if you wish to know where to find this restaurant with a good customer service.
More good customer service videos can be found on Very Good Service YouTube channel


#goodcustomerservice

Good customer service will help grow customer trust

Good customer service will help grow customer trust

Gaining customer trust, confidence and loyalty is the aim of many companies hoping for repeat purchases and growing customer lifetime value. However, with the development of technology, comparator websites, review sites and pinpoint accuracy marketing techniques, your customers are constantly solicited by the competition enticing them with special offers and the like to try their products and services.

In previous posts, we have defined customer service as: 

"Interactions with customers during and after the sale of a product or service in order to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction".   Read more about our customer service definition.

And here it is, customer satisfaction, measured against a range of metrics, is what will allow customer trust to grow over time. Any opportunity to interact with the customers, if well handled, is an extra sprinkle of water, a dose of organic fertilizer which will ensure the sound development of a strong customer relationship.

Instant customer feedback

 Instant customer feedback

Instant customer service feedback is becoming more and more common. With the emergence of IoT (Internet of Things) and the billions of connected objects, this is contributing to the production of tons of data which will be extremely helpful to companies in assessing workload, staff performance and overall quality of service against a very large number of parameters such as time, throughput, seasonality and many others. More efforts however must be put in for the customers who give feedback. Some of them will press the green button and will never want to be contacted again. Others will press red, because they waited too long for example, but nothing else can be done. A large number though will leave the service area with frustration as their problem will not have been resolved. They hit red (sometimes so hard that the button collapses as shown on the above picture) and then what?! 

It is refreshing to see that the most modern feedback station include some interaction capabilities. Not everybody will want it as it will require time investment and patience by customers to give more detailed feedback and explain their grievance but at least not all the red-faced ones will be left slamming their hands into buttons and stamping the ground without an option to put things right.

Customer service week 2015 - #CSWeek2015

Here are some of  our favourite customer service week 2015 stories, organised by #hashtags used on twitter. Do let us know if your team effort is not featured but you believe it should be.

Here is the first instalment with #CSweek2015

#TagATeller that ironed out the kinks when you needed it the most. #CSWeek2015 pic.twitter.com/h7isLMvHAV

— KCB Bank Group (@KCBGroup) October 6, 2015

Spent time shadowing Sam in the @moathomes Customer Service team #impressed #professional #CSWeek2015 #NCSW15 pic.twitter.com/b6T8oBWB77

— Marilyn DiCara (@Marilyn_DiCara) October 5, 2015

Every great business is built on friendship. ~ JC Penney. Our relationship with you matters. #IMCares #CSWeek2015 pic.twitter.com/mgCbMmSSno

— I&M Bank Ltd (@imbankke) October 5, 2015

هذا هي الطريقة المجلس الثقافي البريطاني في السعودية احتفل بأسبوع خدمة العملاء! #السعودية #customerservice #CSWeek2015 pic.twitter.com/2PB5QkKDWy

— British Council (@ksaBritish) October 11, 2015

Fishing for customers or delivering a great customer service?

Fishing for customers or delivering a good customer service?

Most of us already know the answer. Trying to catch new customers:

- is time consuming and sometimes requires extreme patience, 

- can be lonely and frustrating if you are on the road knocking on doors, 

- is not always rewarding as you often come home empty handed,

- does not necessarily bring success as you can catch the wrong type of customer,

- requires innovation as the competition comes trawling over your patch,

- often necessitate expensive baits such as promotion and discounts...

and the list goes on... So much that one wonders why there are still so many enthusiasts?

Most of us already know the alternative, provide an excellent customer service. Customers will come back, buy more, tell their friends, give you ideas for new products, do your marketing and negotiate your prices a little less. Maybe the time has come to do a little less fishing and a little more servicing.

All employee contributions make a real difference to customer service

Every single employee customer service contribution matters

In the field of customer service, most expectations are placed on those employees answering the phone or replying to messages via social media or email. Unfortunately, when customers reach out to them, it is often too late in the process, something has not gone according to plan. Whilst we do not dispute the valuable role that dedicated customer service executives have to play in ultimate customer satiffaction, companies must take a much more holistic view and involve everyone in the company to contribute to the delivery of a great customer experience. Every single contribution made by employees matters to customers: product design, manufacturing, packaging, delivery and even efforts made by the finance teams to keep costs under control. When all these contributions are pulled together, one can really achieve a dramatic result, resulting in a fantastic level of customer service.

Customer service attitude

Customer service attitude

Encouraging customers to have the right attitude was probably the aim of the owner of this Spanish restaurant when he placed this board at the entrance of his restaurant. Very valid it is, because customers with an open minded, a friendly outlook and positive attitude tend to obtain the best level of customer service as they are able to connect with the staff looking after them. 

The tables could easily be turned though and applied to the staff working in this restaurant. Many of these "recommendations" could equally be suggested to any customer service team even if their employers might be slightly concerned by some of the assertions such as "work less" and "play more"...

Notwithstanding these limitations, this board illustrate perfectly that good customer service is about team work between customers and people looking after them. The right attitude by both parties will help increase the level of customer satisfaction dramatically and actually result in less work and more play time, unless employers wish to convert this new found harmony into productivity gains.

Customer service week 2014

Customer service week is taking place from 6th October 2014 until 10th October 2014. Once again, we list below some of the initiatices we have come across, mainly via Twitter. With the increasing popularity of Customer Service Week, the number and range of ideas is growing rapidly, making it a week to enjoy for customers all around the country.

- Random guests treated to special prizes @traffordcentre
- Customer service team visiting clients' factories @NeedlersPPE
- Send a customer service week e-card to the CS rockstars in your life @IntegreLynkInfo
- Meet the managers in the bus station @Stagecoach_West
- Office get together to discuss how to make it easy for customers @ZurichMunicipal
- Surprise gift for customer buying extra product or service @nicbankkenya
- Doodles on Customer Service graffiti wall @freebridge
- Provision of housing advice by @GuildfordBC
- Coffee and cake at the University of York Library @UoYLibrary
- Managers and Directors take over the @StagecoachWales and @StagecoachCNL Twitter accounts
- Decorating the office @RACSgroup
- Customer competition for free recharge vouchers @Visafone_Comm
- Asking for nomination of staff who have gone the extra mile @SJBromleyBMW
- Fill in a customer service feedback survey for a chance to win a gift voucher @EastCambs

Great to see all these new ideas and initiatives. Click here to see what happened during customer service week 2013

Bring customer service to life

Bring customer service to life

When designing a new customer service policy, it is very tempting to go for the minimal offering. Rationale is clear, as such a policy keeps costs low, keeps things simple and provided that expectations are met the customers are unlikely to be disatisfied. It is however missing the point as with such an approach, repeat business is very unlikely unless the pricing policy is such that customers are drawn back but at the same time margins become so slim that it is difficult to earn a decent living.

A more sensible strategy is to bring customer service to life, put some colour in your customer service, surprise the customers, demonstrate vibrancy and give customers a reason for coming back. Most of it can be achieved without any extra spend but relies on the right culture and attitude being fostered throughout the business. 

Are your customer services teams live and kicking?