Customer Care ... A Lost Art?

WHY CUSTOMER SERVICE IS STILL IMPORTANT

The lifeblood of any business is good customer care. It doesn't matter how many great product and service promotions a marketing department devises, unless employees on the phone and those on the front line know how to take care of the customer, there's a good chance referrals seldom happen and customer satisfaction is on the wane.

The goal of good customer service is referrals, cross-selling and customer retention. A good salesperson can make a sale one time, but the attitude and action they hold about customer care is what allows them the opportunity to sell to the customer repeatedly. The same is true for customer care personnel. How well the customer is treated and cared for will determine how the customer feels and what they believe about the organization. If the care is good or better, the customer feels good and talks favorably, even brags about how they are treated. Companies that focus on making customer contact positive in every way are on top of customer care.

At the core of customer care is the relationship. There is nothing more important to any business than the relationships we develop and nurturewith customers and with each other. When customers become loyal, they are more likely to recommend us and more open to ways they can be served better. Perhaps you agree with the statement that customer care is just common sense. Common sense says that we treat customers and each other the way we would like to be treated. But, let me ask you this: Just how common is good customer service today? How well do coworkers work together daily? Of one thing I am certain; customers do not receive any better service than the people who work there do.

I read a statistic a while ago that said we have an entire generation that has grown up without the expectation they should receive a quality service experience. Wow! Isn't that a frightening thought? Yet, when I began to take it in and think about it, I discovered that's about how long it's been since customer care was high on the list of things I received when shopping somewhere.

Remember the days when shopping at a department store or sporting goods store there would be several customer service representatives that would ask if they could assist us in finding an item, or happily greeted us as we entered the store, or eagerly checked us out at a kiosk in the department we were shopping in?

Today, we not only can't find someone to assist us in finding what we're looking for, or starting a dressing room for us; we cannot find anyone to take our money when we finally find what we want. We have to carry our purchases throughout the store to some main location to get checked out and get in one of those cattle lines to wait our turn to pay. Of course, this location may be on the other side of the store from the department we shopped in. And, of course, there are no shopping carts in many stores. When it's finally our turn to get checked out we're waited on by a frontline employee who at best displays indifference and, at worst, could be classified as rude. This person is most often someone from the newest generation to hit the work force, and remember the statistic? So, how can we expect to receive a quality service experience from someone who has no expectation they will ever receive one and has not themselves ever experienced one? It's no wonder customers get frustrated.

Management's job is to see that every individual that works for the organization is clear about what a quality customer experience looks and feels like. Don't take it for granted that employees know what to say and what to do to create a customer care experience worth getting excited about. Train, lead by example, coach and encourage the staff to consistently be helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable. Teach them how to respond to tough, sticky situations so the outcome is favorable to customers and the organization. Help them learn and practice the five basics that should occur in every customer contact:

1. Head up with a smile

2. Look them in the eye

3. Greet them immediately

4. Offer to help, and

5. Thank them for doing business.

The lifeblood of any business is good customer caredon't make it a philosophy; make it a practice to give the organization a transfusion with training and coaching that exceeds expectations! Campaign to bring back the art of customer care!