Seeing Service through the Eyes of the Customer
Posted by Meredith Estep on Tue, Jan 31, 2012 @ 08:35 AM
Some companies may boast that their work is all about the customers they serve, but do they really take the time to see their business through the customers’ eyes? Sometimes the simple act of looking at your customer service department as a customer – rather than a manager – can make all the difference in how you tailor your policies and procedures. We have ideas to help you bring your customer service into a whole new dimension by seeing your business the way customers see you every day.
Think about Your Customer Experiences
We have all been customers at one time or another, so we know what customers tend to expect from a business. Think about the times you had particularly poor customer service. What were the common denominators? Did the customer service reps ignore you when you walked in the business? Did they shrug off your questions rather than try to find an answer for you? Characteristics that frustrate you as a customer will irritate your own customers as well. By the same token, think about your particularly positive customer service experiences and the specific features that made them special. Try to incorporate similar characteristics into your own customer service philosophy.
Follow the Rules
There is a universal sense of right and wrong, and your customers bring that into your business each time they visit. For example, customers expect to get waited on in the order they enter your business, without interruption from other clients who come in later. If one of your customer service reps is working with a customer and another client interrupts the transaction, train your customer service reps to politely but firmly let the second customer know they will receive service in due time. Customers want to be treated fairly, and when they are not, it reflects badly on your company service as a whole.
Mystery Shop
For a realistic look at how your customers see your business, hire mystery shoppers to complete transactions and then rate their experience for you. Make sure the criteria you provide for your mystery shoppers is comprehensive enough to include both aesthetic feedback about your business and specific points about the service received. Share the results of your mystery shopping with your customer service representatives – not as a punitive measure, but as a training tool that serves to improve your level of service in the future.
Ask Your Customers
A simple, but often overlooked, method of seeing your service through the eyes of your customer is simply to ask your customer what he sees when he comes into your business. Does someone greet him warmly the minute he walks through the door? Are his questions answered efficiently, accurately and to his satisfaction? Does your business exude an environment of professionalism and hospitality? You can make this process as formal as a customer survey or as casual as a conversation the next time your customer comes in. Either way, use the feedback you receive to crank your service quality up a notch.
No one can better evaluate your service level than the customers who receive it every day. By seeing your business through the eyes of your customer, you can customize your company experience to the people who make the biggest difference in your bottom line.
- Meredith Estep