Every business wants to be known for the quality of their service. Word of mouth is the strongest force in advertising, and customers who remember being treated well are the most loyal out there. With dedication, you can build a loyal customer base that will keep you in business for many years to come.
Just about every business owner understands the importance of customer service, and most would insist that they always give great customer service. However, most people would describe their experiences with great customer service as very rare. There’s obviously some sort of disconnect between the service professionals feel they give, and the service the customer feels they received.
A Better Way
We’d like to put the theory forward that the mistranslation has less to do with bad service, and more to do with the busy schedules and stress that most field service pros are handling. It’s difficult to go the same distance for every customer when the work and the people are always changing.
Not only that, but you’ll may only rarely have the chance to see how your employees treat your customers. What you think is a company culture of great service may in fact just be you. If you don’t have established standards for the way you approach customers, customers will always give mixed reviews.
The Planned Approach
The best way to consistently deliver great service is to plan out what you want to deliver to your customers and make sure that every service visit meets those standards. Don’t be concerned about falling short. Those experiences will just help you understand where you need to improve.
This checklist should be handed out to all of your employees. You may also want to consider checking back with customers to see that these standards were met.
What standards you set for yourself will of course have to be tailored to your industry and what your customers expect. However, here are some sample standards you may want to add to your own list:
- Was the service time and date consistent with what the customer was promised?
- Were my truck, uniform and equipment clean and working properly?
- Was the customer notified when service required loud equipment?
- Was my attitude cheerful and reassuring?
- Was the problem fixed completely?
- Was the customer thanked for choosing my company?
