DO YOU READ FACES??? what is the face of the customer after she/ he experiences your product or service

THE RED LITMUS TEST
 OF YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE
 SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES!
(mere good intentions
 don't make happy customers)

CONVERTING GOOD INTENTIONS
 TO CLEAR RESULT ORIENTED ACTIONS

Before a company can embark on improving its customer service capability, its leader(s) must believe that such improvement will enhance the company's competitive advantage and, as a result, its bottom-line. A company must instinctively feel that the best way to be successful is to invest time and resources not only in (external) sales and marketing efforts, but also in (internal) equipment/technology, work environment, employees and operating systems. Without this fundamental belief, no organization leader will spend the necessary time, energy and money to assess and develop their organization's capabilities over the long run to achieve excellent service. 

Setting A Clear Customer Experience Strategy

 

Often organisations confuse defining a customer experience strategy with creating a "slogan". How many companies create a slogan without any supporting initiatives, thereby disillusioning employees and creating a "flavour of the month?"

To establish a good strategy certain key practices are required:

§  Understand the overall organisational vision and mission

§  Define the organisation's customer service direction, slogan and values

§  Ensure customer service is defined as a key responsibility for the business/department

§  Share the customer experience strategy via a comprehensive communications program

§  Ensure that this strategy does not conflict with other business strategies. As consultants, it is amazing how often we hear organisations say, "Improving Customer Service is a priority, and we are also introducing stringent cost-cutting measures." This can present a tough dichotomy.

 

 

Establishing Effective Service Delivery Processes

Effective processes and procedures provide the foundation for smoothing or inhibiting the material service element of the customer interaction. Efficient service delivery systems appear transparent to the customer. Poor systems create those 'speed bumps' that necessitate personal intervention in order to satisfy the customer requirements.

The critical elements in ensuring a positive material customer experience are:

§  Mapping the service delivery processes

§  Evaluating critical success points in the process

§  Defining service standards and objectives for these essential points

§  Establishing service delivery procedures to optimise material service

§  Creating service level agreements to smooth internal service delivery

Building In Continuous Improvement

No matter how effective the service delivery processes, or well-trained the service deliverers, things go wrong. Products have faults. Customers get frustrated. Things slip through the cracks. The organisations that are built around managing the customer experience are able to resolve these issues effectively. This process known as "recovery" is an important differentiator in building customer loyalty.

In order to recover effectively, it is necessary to:

§  Actively seek customer feedback and complaints: you cannot improve if you don't know what went wrong in the first place.

§  Train staff how to handle customer complaints effectively using the correct mix of empathising, apologising and resolution.

§  Make sure that the real problem is solved, not just the symptoms.

§  Focus on proactive (prevention) as well as reactive (cure) problem solving.

SUMMARY

Improving your company's customer service is a two-pronged approach. Externally, a company needs to decide which customers it needs to initially and subsequently focus on. The business needs to examine what it is doing to generate new customers and what it needs to do to maintain, or effectively prune, existing customers.Internally, a company needs to figure out what's working and what needs improvement with respect to its key internal supports. Committed leadership is required to keep efforts going despite inevitable pain and adversity, especially in a highly competitive business. Initial efforts need to be targeted, starting small and building momentum. Employees and suppliers need to be involved in analyses and actions in order to generate uniform commitment and ensure that improvements stick. Employee competence and confidence needs to be built to sustain your company's advantage over the long haul.Performing all these external and internal efforts proactively and intelligently will generate and ensure long-term success for your business.

with best compliments

Dr Wilfred Monteiro