I came across this infographic recently and it really hits home how important customer service is to any business – whether you communicate with your customers online, over the phone or face to face. Customer service does make a huge difference financially.
So if the research clearly spells out why a business needs to focus on customer service, what are you doing in your business to improve your service?
Do you have clear expectations so your staff know what they need to do to provide the best seervice possible? Or are these steps hidden away in a folder that no staff member goes near, let alone reads.
Do your staff know the reasons why they need to put in place these steps from the customers’ point of view? Or do they just do what they are told to do?
Do you provide regular training refreshers so your staff are reminded of what they need to do on a regular basis? Or do you hope they remember back to when they were inducted (and were hopefully taken through the training steps) and continue to put in place these steps.
Do your managers (or you) lead by example when they are serving customers, so staff can see that managers walk the talk. Or do they live by the saying, don’t do as I do but do what I say and expect the staff do always do the right thing.
And do you follow up to see if your staff are putting in place your steps of service on a daily basis? Or do you wait for that monthly mystery shop result, or worse still don’t know how they are going.
Great customer service is an attitude that all staff need to have and if has to be lead from the top. If management is customer focussed then there’s a high chance that the staff will be focused on great customer service too.
Feel free to share the infographic at your next staff meeting and get some feedback from your staff – they might be surprised by the research as much as I hope you are.
Roger Simpson – CEO, The Retail Solution and Author of “The Retail Solution” With over 35 years’ industry experience, Roger Simpson is recognized as Australia’s #1 Authority on customer ROI in the retail industry and as a global expert on staff coaching, customer service and selling skills.
