- Become an active listener.
- Follow the IDEA process and turn the problem into an opportunity.
- Employ only policies, programs and people that make exemplary customer service a priority.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Can you hear me now?
Active listening means listening without interruptions, asking clarifying questions, reiterating your understanding of what was said and discovering what you can do to make it right.I recommend: Want to hone your listening skills? Go to About: Active Listening for some great tips. The Washington Small Business Development Center offers a clear look at the steps necessary to right the wrongs a customer has experienced. Listening is first on the list.
Use a great I.D.E.A.
The American Management Association (AMA)'s best-selling book, Keeping Customers for Life, promoted this big IDEA: Identify (the problem), Diagnose (the cause), Explore (possible solutions) and Act (on the best solution).I recommend: Who better to advise about dissatisfied customers than the Better Business Bureau? Check out these BBB tipsheets: Effective Complaint Handling, Dealing with Unruly Customers, and Is Your Company Keeping Existing Customers.
Empower your employees
Give your front-line staff the power to solve problems early on. The earlier you can solve a problem, the less expensive for your company, and the happier the customer.I recommend: Check out Biz Help 24, to read what happens when an employee is, and is not, given the authority to handle a customer's complaints.
Cut back on future complaints
What is your business's focus? If it's not customer service, it may be time for a change. If you don't make your customers a priority, why should they make you one?I recommend: Check out Customer Solutions to download and print a Complaint Management System Checklist. Customer Solutions also offers the i-Sight Service and Complaint Management Software, designed specifically for dealing with dissatisfied customers.
Info to go
One essential part of serving your customer is having all the information in one-to-access place.I recommend: Do you have remote employees? No problem. Office Small Business Management Edition 2006 allows your employees immediate access to customer data from a Pocket PC.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- Empathize: Put yourself in the customers' shoes. We all expect good products and services for our hard-earned money.
- Be sincere and apologize: A simple, heartfelt apology can go a long way toward soothing ruffled feathers.
- Make customer service a team effort: Have your employees role-play customer situations.
- Do the math: It costs 5 times as much to earn a new customer than it does to keep an existing customer.
- Personalize your service: In today's frantically paced world, most people long for the personal touch of the Mom-and-Pop store.
- Little things that make a big difference: Answer the phone by the third ring, greet every customer with a smile, and address them by name.
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