Customer service: the path to nowhere?

Customer service career path

Is customer service a good career path for employees? Through the years of writing this blog, we have establish a (small) number of truth which could be hard to challenge. To name a couple, we have established that quality customer service is a key factor in the long term prosperity of an organisation and that employee satisfaction is a key success factor driving good customer service. Bringing the two together, it becomes clear that any organisation must be able to attract quality employees to its customer service teams and to make it attractive in the long run, convince employees that customer service offers a solid career path. To ensure their long term future companies must therefore make sure that enough attention is paid to the customer service career path, not only to allow development of individuals within the function but also to make sure that they can progress in others parts of the business, such as marketing for example, so that there customer interaction experience can be fully leveraged.

A fresh approach to customer service

New Customer service approach

At the beginning of a new year, many businesses are starting to implement their new strategies and look at fresh ideas. All the budgets have been reset, the new marketing campaigns are ready to be rolled out. New investments in products, overseas expansion, new factories, the company has covered all angles. Customer service should not be left out though! Have you taken the time to review what worked well? In which areas of your business have you received excellent endorsements from your customers? Which teams have demonstrated that their innovations and initiatives have delivered a good customer experience?
A simple fresh approach could be adopted; simply focus on the positives, nurture them, grow them and roll them out, thereby generating fresh enthusiasm and a positive outlook for all your customer service employees. Their improved morale will put a new spring in their steps and ultimately your customers will reap the benefits of this new approach.

Will your customer service leave a long lasting impression?

Giving a good impression is the ambition of many companies and it is fair to say that with the investment in technology, social media and training much progress is being achieved across the board. The basis for competition has shifted though and with no immediate prospect of a sustained improvement in the economic environment, customer service's importance keeps growing. At the end of the day it is no longer enough to assess if your service performance was good enough. The key measure will be to what extent your customer service has left a long lasting impression and as a result existing customers will become promoters of your products and services

Customer service guide

Customer service guide: 

When designing a new customer service guide, executives could usefully draw parallels between customers finding their way in the market place and sailors navigating across unknown waters.  More often than not, difficulties can be avoided by learning from the experience of others who have just followed the same path. The key to success is to capture that experience and make judicious use of all modern technologies and tools to guide customers through the buying process. Sailors made good use of lighthouses and hand-drawn maps, what customer service guide and tools are you making available to your customers?

Does your customer service run like clockwork?

Does your customer service run like clockwork? It needs to be reliable, accurate, adapt to various conditions, from cold showers to intense heat, and above all give the answer that the customer is looking for. But here comes the challenge: it has to be delivered in a personal manner, it can not be mechanical but can look good. In the way a watch can become a piece of jewellery, if you manage to bring all the pieces together, not only will you have delivered a service fit for purpose but also a superior customer experience


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Customer service experience: the odd one out

Customer service experience

Does your customer experience need to be personalised? Actually, customers do not often want to be treated in an individual way. Many customers share a sense of fairness and are happy to be handled like everyone else. But make no mistake, if a client feels that he or she is the odd one out and is receiving below par service, it won't be long before the complaints start flying in.

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Customer service: giving up is not an option

Customer service options

In a harsh climate, companies' leadership teams may decide that investment in customer service is a low priority. Whilst the motivation is easy to understand and often driven by cost management measures, it is not sustainable. After all, when the winter is over, clients will remember where their bad customer experience and this will clearly influence their decision for future purchases. So even when it is tough out there, good customer service remains a critical tool to outshine the competition.

Customer service excellence: does the client perspective matter?

The client will drive the score in customer satisfaction survey and he/she will decide whether to remain loyal and recommend the company. From the company point of view the same metrics will be used to measure customer service performance: whichever way you look at it,

the winner should be the same. Do not hesitate to visit our website for good customer service examples by award-winning companies

For more customer service excellence examples, visit our blog: blog.verygoodservice.om