As a customer service freak, I am always happy to read articles like Roll Out The Red Carpet: A Culture of Customer Service Excellence at Knowledge @ W.P. Carey. It very clearly sets out the rules for offering great customer service. Despite its simplicity, it never fails to baffle me how so many companies can become so fixated on their products and forget about the fact that people are actually using them.
The link above lists a few good rules and some interesting perspectives around them. In short, these rules are:
1. Create a culture of customer service. In other words, live it and love it throughout the company. Also, realize that there is no end state. No company can ever say, “Ok we’re here! We’ve reached the pinnacle of customer service”. There’s always work to do and improvement to be made. Customers are always changing.
2. Don’t lie to your customers. Pretty simple huh?
3. Share your company’s customer service vision. When leaders do this, employees will be more likely to pass it on to each other and to customers.
4. Build engaged employees. Hire right. Listen to them and take action. Praise them. Prepare them.
5. Understand the attitude is as important as action. How someone serves is often as, or more, important than the physical service itself. Gee, service with a smile, there’s a novel concept.
Filed under: Customer, customer experience, Customer Service Tagged: | Customer, Customer Service
