As any successful business person knows, a company’s most vital asset is its customers. Without them, the company would cease to exist. And although every business tries hard to continually attract new customers, a much more critical challenge it faces is to hold on to the customers it currently has. A recent study reported in the Harvard Business Review concludes that a company can increase its bottom line profit by up to 95 percent if it can manage to prevent only 5 percent of its customers from leaving. In the face of statistics like these, it’s not hard to understand why customer service is considered so vitally important and why businesses bend over backward to make it a high priority.
To an increasing extent, companies are beginning to adopt innovative strategies to infuse customer service into their corporate cultures. Some of these initiatives include mandatory training for employees so that they can learn how to deal with customers. But this leads to a crucial question: Is customer service something that can be taught? The best way to answer that question is to first look at the characteristics that define customer service. In other words, let’s examine the traits that lead an employee to be successful in a customer service role.
The first and most obvious trait is technical competence; i.e., the ability to follow corporate guidelines regarding how the company expects customers to be treated. What do you say (or not say) to customers? How do you greet them? What body language do you employ? At first glance it would seem that an employee could be trained in all these things. But thinking about it a little more deeply, real customer service goes beyond saying the right words or smiling at the right times. It involves other, less tangible, characteristics too. And these characteristics can actually be much more important than mere technical competence. Let’s look at some of them:
- Enthusiasm: Customers instantly have a positive reaction to an employee who comes across as enthusiastic and eager. This is because enthusiasm is contagious. It shows that the employee truly cares about customers and is willing to go the extra mile for them. When a customer is serviced by an enthusiastic employee, that customer knows that the employee will do whatever it takes to make sure that the service experience is first-rate.
- Commitment: There is nothing more impressive to a customer than a company representative who is true to his word, follows up as promised, and fully commits himself to solving the customer’s problem. These things are almost the textbook definitions of customer service. Employees who are conscientious are also thorough. They know their facts inside out and they keep up with company changes and changes in the industry. They are also prompt, reliable, and proactive. When they are unable to immediately solve a client’s problem, they know where to go to find that answer.
- Attitude: An employee with a “can do” attitude can move mountains. This is because that employee is inherently motivated to do all that he or she can for the customer. Employees who have the right attitude instinctively put the customer first and make the customer’s interest their number one priority. And their attitude rubs off on the customer and conveys a positive image of the entire organization.
- Emotional stability: The ability to control one’s emotions is a huge factor in customer service. Remaining calm can be critical when dealing with customers who, in some cases, become emotional when they have a complaint. Employees with the right attitude and emotional makeup can put customers in a peaceful state of mind by displaying both empathy and level-headedness.
- Ability to Listen: A good listener is by definition a great communicator. It is only through active and sincere listening that a company representative can truly learn and understand the issues the customer is raising. In addition, customers who see that an employee is listening to what they are saying feel they are being valued not only as customers but also as people. An employee who listens is able to establish the rapport needed to earn the complete trust of the customer.
There is little doubt that technical competence can be taught. But what about the less tangible traits that a good customer service rep needs–things like enthusiasm, commitment, attitude, emotional stability, and listening ability? Are these things teachable too? Some would argue that they are–at least to some extent. Others aren’t quite so sure and might argue instead that these traits are either ingrained in a person’s fiber or they are not.
What is beyond dispute is that a person who already possesses these characteristics has a huge head-start in the customer service department and could already be considered an odds-on favorite to become a customer service champion–even before being hired. And it’s no doubt a lot easier for a company to hire these values than to teach them. For that reason, I begin to wonder whether all the money corporations are spending on training initiatives might be better spent filtering the right new faces into their organizations.
About the Author:
Kenneth McCall is an avid ski, boater and bicyclist. When he is not engaged in outdoor activities he directs the IT operations at storage.com, building systems and tools for homeowners and businesses needing storage.com in places like San Francisco, and many other cities, including self storage in Memphis.