If there is one aspect of marketing that has had more than its share of attention, it is probably customer service. Over the past 10 years, many books have been written on the subject. Of all that has been written, there are two items that I have not seen mentioned. I assume that someone has probably written about them, but I must not have read those books or articles. I believe that they are important enough for me to discuss them in this posting.
The first item is honesty. I don't believe you can possibly give good service if you are not honest with your customers. Many businesses take orders knowing full well they can't deliver what the customer wants. They think if they can come close, the customer will accept it. Or perhaps they can convince the customer that what they are getting is good enough.
I have always believed that it is better to lose an order than not to provide what the customer wants when she wants it. By getting that one order, you will most likely lose future orders AND your customer (or should I say former customer) will tell everyone how you failed to live up to your commitment.
The second ingredient is information. You must keep the customer informed. No one likes to guess what their vendors are doing. They would rather have information NOW. Good or bad, knowing is better than not knowing.
Suppose you call a vendor at 8:00 in the morning to inquire about the status of an order. The vendor representative tells you that he will call you with an update in two hours. At the end of two hours, you have not received a call. At the end of three hours, no call. Four hours later - no call. You call the vendor representative again. You get voice mail. It is three in the afternoon and you call again. This time the representative tells you that the reason he did not return your call as promised is that he had no information for you. He was still waiting to get an answer from the person he asked. How do you feel? Wouldn't it have been better for him to have called you at the end of two hours and tell you that? You have no idea whether he forgot about you, was ignoring you, or was afraid to call because of the information he had.
Be honest and keep your customers informed. You can't give good customer service without those two ingredients.
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3 comments:
Honesty in business is a core value. I agree. I have not only taken my business elsewhere when a business has failed to be honest about their product or delivery- but I've also told others about the experience- thus even more customers lost. Owners must make sure that every one of their employees buys into honesty being a core value. If they don't, your business will suffer as a result. The frontline staff are the ones to make and break customers- make sure they are on board with the company's values, vision, and mission. The owner can't take every call- and shouldn't- but s/he is responsible to ensure each customer feels as though they have received top-notch service ... which includes the honesty that you speak of. Thanks you for this wonderful blog topic.
Lisa,
Thanks for your comments. As always, they add extra value to my posting.
Actually, Ron, not only is the Customer Service Department's role to serve, it's the entire company's first and foremost responsible. Many business owners thought that if they found the problem and provide the solution, they will laugh all the way to the bank, With goods fast becoming commodities, quality can be emulated very quickly. What's can really touch the heart and make a huge difference to me is: To Serve with a Big Heart cemented by our Codes of Honors. Naturally, these codes of honors comprised what Lisa Spahir had said - integrity, mission, vision, values and more.
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