Many businesses believe that the key to providing excellent customer service lies with the quality of their products or services. It’s a mindset based on, “if the customer is happy with what they’ve purchased, and we have very low rates of return/refunds – then it proves we are delivering what customers want”.
Not true. This does not equate to customer service excellence. This is “technical excellence” because the product or service fixed the problem or fulfilled the desire. And so, it should. Remember…. When you buy something, you expect it to do the job.
When you are ready to purchase a product or service take a close look at what will happen after the vendor takes your money? If the initial level of service you received during the purchase was outstanding, it also needs to be outstanding when you seek follow-up service. It’s a fact of life that many sales people do a great job of providing “service” during the purchase phase, because they want the sale. But after the sale, if issues arise around delivery, product quality, a website malfunction, administrative procedures – anything – it’s not the salesperson’s problem. They’re onto the next sale.
In essence, businesses that excel at customer service consistently make it easy and fast to reach you, and take pride in how well they respond to your needs. Knowledgeable and friendly employees are quick to respond to your needs and follow up after the sale. Issues are handled with customer focus excellence at every step of our journey, and on every occasion or your initial warm and fuzzy feeling will dissipate. Your perception about a company may shift, and will influence you to question your decision.
Additional Factors to Consider
Communication:
· Was the Communication Effective? Effective communication begins with phone etiquette, attentive listening, clear communications – both verbal and written.
· How much of a hurry you were in and how long did it take to get help? Time is arguably the most important factor of customer service excellence and feeling you were served fast and efficiently is paramount.
· Did they “Go wide, go deep”. This means did they ask all the right questions to give you a thorough, exceptional experience.
Trust:
As the customer, you should know the company’s history of reliability and that future communication is precise and expedient to reinforce you made the right decision. Namely, the company will not take advantage of you. Consider the last time you discovered you were being hit with overdraft charges from your bank or extra fees for services you were not aware was part of the contract. More often if you don’t trust the organization, you probably wouldn’t be doing business with them any longer.
Reputation:
Most buyers will check out a social media star rating of a business to determine its reputation. Savvy customers will invest time in social media reviews to see what is being said about a company. Moreover, savvy customers don’t ignore review sites either. Reputation is a big part of the buying decision, and as a customer, you need to feel comfortable you are investing in a credible company that will support their claims with actions.
Consistency:
Outside of lying, there is nothing that erodes trust quicker than a lack of consistency. Each experience should be just as good as the last one. For example, if each time you visit your favorite restaurant, you discovered the quality was great on some days and not so great on others, you will soon find another restaurant.
Summary:
Doing business with a company that takes pride in interacting with customers should be “a given”. Companies’ should provide you with information in response to inquiries about products and services and to handle and resolve complaints a priority.
“The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary”. ~ Sam Walton.
Here at Robert’s Extra Space, LLC ® we take pride in providing our customers with the proper information to help guide them through a meaningful business decision. We are a locally owned business serving Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Northern Virginia.
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