Best customer service in the industry
The first step in serving your customers is to serve your
employees. Poorly served employees will provide poor customer service. This
year make it a priority to get to know your employees better and to serve them
more effectively as their leader so they will provide improved customer
service.
The next step is to know your customers. That includes
internal as well as external customers. Well, who is a customer? The simplest
definition is anyone who gets something from you. Now, that may seem too
simplistic, but it fits. For example, internally, the folks in shipping may be
the customers of the warehouse folks who pull products from the shelves to be
shipped to an external customer.
Knowing your customers includes knowing their specific
needs, likes and dislikes. For example, a particular customer may prefer
deliveries between 9 and 11 a.m. While they may take them in the afternoon,
they prefer morning. If your competition can guarantee morning delivery, you
could lose the business simply because you didn't understand their likes and
dislikes even though they weren't a part of your contract. Knowing your
customers may include personal information that allows you to build
relationships that will help you over the rough spots when problems arise, as
problems will most likely arise over time. In one organization the plant
operations personnel visit customers with sales personnel so that when problems
arise, relationships have been established that can expedite communications and
problem solving.
Common sense customer service principles were drilled into
me years ago in the original "C-store"- the Country Store. Miss Dot's
Grocery was our family's business from 1961 until it burned in 1975. These
principles, while simple, were very clear to all of us and later formed the
foundation for my talk "How to Have the Best Customer Service in Your
Industry." We had certain customers who bought only two items, corn and
sugar. (Yes, some of you remember how these two raw materials were used.) These
customers had certain times of day to make their purchases and it wasn't during
normal hours. My Dad knew the customers and their needs, so we were available
when they needed to make purchases, even if it was late at night.
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