If you have not answered the following questions definitively about customer service, you’re kidding yourself. When you consider the answers to the following questions, you are reviewing your customer service process. All successful businesses review some or all of these processes regularly.
Always remember – one size does not fit all. Consider your answers from the perspective of your particular business. If you do this consistently, the rewards become obvious.
And, never forget – your customers will show their appreciation at the cash register.
1 - How do you address customer service by store appearance and layout?
2 - What does your potential customer first see when entering your business?
3 - What priority do you give to greeting customers?
4 – Do you have a policy or standardized procedure for greeting customers?
5 - Do you have customer service policy meetings with your staff?
6 - What initial training in customer service procedures do you give new employees?
7 - Do you have regularly scheduled sales training or customer service information meetings with employees?
8 - Do you have a policy with standardized procedures for customer complaints?
9 - Do you have a marketing concept for your store? If you have more than one location, do you allow for variations with each geographical area? If so, do your customer service procedures match this marketing concept?
10 - Do you let your customers know what your customer service philosophy and procedures are? Do you use ads, inserts with every purchase?
11 - Is your customer service satisfaction policy open-ended, or do you have defined limits that are part of your formal policy? Are your customers aware of what your customer service policies are? This has to be more than advertising slogans. Your customer needs to know what to expect from you in value and service.
12 - What is your most frequent customer service complaint? Quality customer complaint resolution is the core of a good customer service policy
It is easier for large corporations to implement policies consistent with the answers to the above questions. Good follow-through is considerably harder for small companies. Having a manager for customer service obviously makes this an easier task. However, the small-business owner does not have this luxury. We know this represents a great deal of time and work.
At the same time, I doubt if there is any endeavor that could be more profitable than making sure you deliver consistent quality customer service compatible to your product and price range.
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