When you look at an entire company, what would you say is the lifeblood that drives it? Is it the employees (more specifically the managers) or is it the product they are selling? Or maybe it is none of those things. It could be that customer service is by far the most important thing. Without this, your customers would be lost and have no way to get the answers that they need and deserve.
It is sad that in this day and age, good customer service has all but disappeared. Think about it – 20 years ago when you called a business, you talked to an actual human being. Now when you call someone’s service number you get an automated message – after you press 1 for English – that takes you through multiple different channels before you are put on hold for 10 minutes, all just to ask someone a simple question.
I do understand that it would be impossible to speak to every single person right when they call, especially when your business is based around your call center, but would it hurt to try? At the least, once the customer does finally get through to you, it should be your job to make sure that the call is the most pleasant experience the customer has ever had on the phone.
Making Customer Service a Priority
There are steps you can take to ensure customer service is taken seriously. For starters, hire people who understand what it takes to be a part of your company. Everyone in the office is part of a team, and in order for the company to be successful, all the employees must understand what it takes to run the best business possible.
Secondly, you must stress to your employees, especially the call center reps, just how important customer service is. As I said before, customer service may be one of the most important aspects of the company, so it should be your goal to explain why that is to your employees. Maybe put some sort of reward system in place for when a customer compliments your staff, or at the very least give some sort of incentive to your employees to drive them to do better.
Without the best customer service possible, your business is doomed. What happens when a customer calls and has a bad experience, or does not get the information they were seeking? You lose that customer, and not only that but they are going to tell people about it. All their friends and family (which with the help of social media could be quite a large amount of people) will hear what a displeasing experience they had.
That is why customer service is so important, and that is why it should be your priority in 2013. The only surefire way to build a good reputation with your customers is to assist them at the point where they need it most.
About the Author
This article was written by Matt Schexnayder. Matt is on the marketing team for SelfStorage.com and writes for The Storage Facilitator. With SelfStorage.com you can easily find the best deals on self-storage facilities in San Diego, as well as all across the country.