Recently our ISP at work went down for just over 30 hours, I suppose it’s inevitable when dealing with technology that at some point it will break! I won’t give the full details here as a colleague of mine has written up the whole experience on his blog. This post is more about customer service.
The customer service we received throughout this period was pretty dire. This started me thinking about how easy it is to get something that is in essence so simple, so incredibly wrong. Then yesterday when I was trying to catch up on some reading I came accross an article by Derek Williams, founder of the WOW! awards for outstanding customer service, giving ten very simple steps on how to get it right:
1. Think through the detail of every interaction that you have with your customers and how you might improve it.
2. Create little systems and processes to make things happen consistently. If it doesn’t work then try to improve it.
3. If you have people working for you, make sure that they have incentives that are in line with giving customers great service. This is so much more powerful than simply paying commission on sales.
4. Everyone needs regular training. And it doesn’t have to be expensive courses. Contact you local Chamber of Commerce or Business Link for great value-for-money programmes.
5. Communicate in words that customers will understand (or maybe even just communicate!). And remember that a chipped coffee cup might say more about you than any number of glossy brochures.
6. If something went wrong for one of your customers, would you move heaven and earth to put it right? If so, then simply guarantee what you do.
7. Always try and look at everthing your company says and does through the eyes of the customer.
8. Ask your customers for feedback at every possible opportunity – and make it easy for them to give it.
9. Create the vision of a happy customer! Set the goals, create the systems and recruit the right people to aim for keeping all of your customers happy all of the time. Aim for the stars and you might hit the sky!
10. Under-promise and over-deliver!
It seems so simple to do but so many businesses get it wrong. The other thing I would encourage people to do is complain, not ‘I wrote a letter’ type complaining, but straight forward ‘I thought you should know’ helpful constructive complaining. There are statistics available, that show if you can deal with a complaint correctly you will end up with a very loyal and reliable customer.
So, that’s it I’ve had my whinge, see you all soon.
