It makes sense that if you improve customer service, you will increase customer loyalty. But improving customer service is not necessarily easy. It takes more than a seminar or a motivational speaker. It takes effort and time to make a sustainable improvement in the level of service you deliver your customers.
Not long ago I was talking with a friend about customer service. Among the many good ideas he mentioned to improve customer service, one stood out. He said, “If you want to improve customer service in your company, get a role model.” So with thanks to my friend for his thought starter, here are some suggestions on how to find (or create) a service model in your company.
Almost every business has someone who stands out in how they care for customers. They care about people and it shows. They always take an extra step or two for their customers. They’re friendly, courteous, warm, patient, and knowledgeable about what your company does. They listen well and they are focused on helping customers get what they want. They follow through and they follow up.
They are the people your customers ask for when they come back. And they’re the employees your customers write letters about, telling you how wonderful they are.
These are people you want others to emulate. Your first step is to define what you want in your business service. What personality traits and behaviors do you want in your people? Then prioritize them (because you’ll never get them all). Paint a picture of your ideal employee, from your customer’s perspective. These are your standards.
You should include employees and customers in this process. Get their input. Ask them to share their views on what they should expect from your company. They will give you an incredible amount of valuable information.
Step two, watch, listen, and learn. Pay attention to your employees as they take care of your customers. Watch what they do and how they do it.
As you do this, remember the ideal employee profile you created in step one. Make notes of how various employees measure against your standards. Then list these employees and rank them.
If you have one employee who is a perfect (or almost perfect) fit great. You have your first model. If not, pick a couple who offer the best match. Make sure the people you select cover all the standards you created earlier. This way you will be able to model all the important aspects of service to the rest of your employees.
If you don’t have any employees who come close to meeting your standards, then you need to think about adding or replacing staff.
Once you have one or more models, you then need to find ways to transfer their Amazing Service behaviors to the rest of your employees. Here are some suggestions.
Publish your service standards.
Print, distribute, and post your service standards. Make sure all your employees know what they are and what they mean. If you want great results, let your customers know what your service standards are too. Use them to make a statement about what they can expect from your company.
Service standards.
Use posters, emails, flyers. Make laminated cards to give to every employee. Put them on customer receipts, signs, menus, brochures, websites – anywhere your customers and employees will see them
Record your models in action.
Use audio or video to record your service models working with customers. Show these in staff meetings on a regular and consistent basis.
Highlight when and how the employee is doing things that meet or exceed your Amazing Service standards. Note: avoid focusing on what they do wrong in these sessions. No one likes to get criticized by a group of their peers. It will make the process less effective.
Have regular coaching sessions
Schedule regular meetings with your staff to coach them to your service standards. Use role-playing as a coaching tool in these sessions. Pick one standard for each meeting.
Prepare several staff before the meeting to play the parts. Let them know you’re serious about using it as a tool for improvement. Make it fun but useful.
Reward employees who deliver the best service
Set up a program to reward and recognize employees who are “caught” delivering the best service. Create ways to acknowledge their efforts publicly. Give prizes, plaques, or other incentives to employees who demonstrate the service standards you are looking for.
Reward employees for noticing when other employees deliver great service.
This is key. As an owner or manager, you can’t be everywhere, so you need to engage all your employees to help. Develop ways to reward employees for observing and “turning in” other employees who deliver great service. If employees are looking for the best service, it means they’re thinking about it.
Plus, it means they’re engaged in the process. To observe a fellow employee delivering the best service, they need to know what it is. They need to understand your standards.
Involve your customers.
Engaging employees to observe and report Amazing Service is good. Getting customers to do it is great. Find ways to get them involved in the process.
Let them know what your standards are and encourage them to nominate employees for recognition and rewards. Make it easy for them to do this. The more engaged your customers are in this, the more loyal they will be.
The bottom line
When we think of improving customer service, we usually think of training. But that will only take us so far. To have a measurable and sustainable improvement, you need to focus on it constantly.
Finding and using role models is an effective way to do this. Try this for 60 days and you’ll see a significant improvement in the quality of your customer service.
Need some help in building better customer service for your customers? Have you noticed the growing importance of customer service you provide, especially for your marketing? Creative ideas to help enhance your word of mouth marketing?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas for your service to customers.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your continuous learning for yourself and your team?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find him on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on customer service from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Stunning Customer Service Lessons and Their Examples
