Exercise Exceptional Customer Service to Add Value to Your Customer Experience

A recent three-year study by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in Washington, D.C. showed that small businesses which put heavy emphasis on customer service were ten times more likely to survive and succeed than competitors who emphasized advantages such as lower prices or type of product.

Consider some of the following suggestions for top-notch service:

1. Get feedback. Positive feedback is helpful and makes you feel good, but it really won’t help you improve your service. It’s the negative feedback that really counts. Unfortunately, you rarely get to hear what the average dissatisfied customer has to say. They usually just take their business elsewhere.  Gathering feedback creates two business opportunities. First, you get a second chance to make it right with an unsatisfied customer.  Second, you can use the feedback to identify potential product flaws, faulty or outdated policies or poor customer service that caused this customer (and perhaps numerous others) to have a negative service experience.

2. Commit to continuous improvement. There’s no point in gathering feedback if you’re not prepared to act on it. But be sure to find the real cause of problems—not just the symptoms. For example, if customers complain about how they're treated on the telephone, don’t automatically assume that the problem begins and ends with the people who answer the phone. Make sure the telephone system is functioning properly and that all employees have been trained in how to answer and transfer calls. Being committed to improvement means being willing to address the whole problem.

3. Practice what you preach. Every single person on your team must understand the importance of customer service and also provide great service to people inside and outside of the company. If team members treat each other as valued customers, dealing with the public is a natural extension of a sound internal policy. It’s that simple.

4. Empower team members. We've all been frustrated by a situation in which a customer service representative doesn’t have the authority or the proper information to help solve our problem. Give your team members as much latitude as possible to solve certain customer problems on their own, immediately, without speaking to a supervisor. If you’re making good hiring decisions and providing your team members with appropriate training, you should be able to trust their judgment related to customer service.

5. Reward good service. Praise outstanding customer service early and often. Informal recognition can be a stronger motivator than many formal rewards. Tell your team members what a good job they're doing. And recognize their contributions immediately instead of waiting for the next company meeting.