Wondering How to Make Your Customer Service Rock? Read This

One of the most effective things you can do for your organization is to establish an overall vision of how you want your employees to treat customers. Each employee should remember and internalize the vision so that contact with customers become a delightful encounter.

Customer service is the heart line of any business that expects to thrive and experience outstanding growth. Start-ups that ignore the customer service aspect of the business will most likely fail within the first few months. Undivided attention needs of the customers must take priority over everything else.

Businesses that satisfy the most customers on a consistent basis will probably be the businesses that survive an economic downturn. The single most important unite in the company is the Customer Service Depart. It exists for many reasons. It is the place where the customer wants to come to resolve questions and situations regarding products and services. Among the list of services rendered by CSD department involves:

• Customer Inquiries
• Product Order and Return
• Account Maintenance
• Personal Transactions
• Technical Support

Imagine the challenges a company would face without a legitimate Customer Service Department.

Types of Customer Service Departments

The nature of a Customer Service Department varies from company to company. For instance, grocery stores, electronic stores, and clothing stores operate slightly difference in several aspects:

• Grocery Stores handle small transactions such as cash exchange, money order purchasing, and utility bill payment.

• Clothing Stores allow special orders, online purchasing, merchandise returns, and store or credit card payments and adjustments.

• Electronic Stores offer technical support, parts replacements, and software and hardware upgrades.

Regardless of the type of Customer Service Department, the greatest companies have a certain ripple effect that goes beyond the company directly into the community. A strong community helps spark the economy and results in satisfied customers whose needs are continually met. Satisfied customers produce more customers who are looking for satisfaction. Thus a company grows when the CSD shows a welcoming and delightful attitude in rendering quality service regarding the problems and needs of customers. Outstanding companies are built on the operation of a great Customer Service Department.

Therefore the number one priority of every Customer Service Staff must be to meet and exceed customer expectation at all times. It must eat, drink, and sleep customer service if it wants to outwit the competition and survive a spiraling economy. A satisfied customer helps the economy by spending more and encouraging other to spend more. Word of mouth regarding a company's CSD reputation is still the most effective among other marketing techniques.

Approach to Attracting Customers

How does the Customer Service Department as well as all other staff go about keeping customers happy? A great attitude toward the customer is the magical solution. According to a number of surveys "68% of customers do not return because of employee attitude. (Reference 1)" Therefore, company staff must sincerely value the customer above all else. It is only because of happy customers that a company's bills as well as the employee's bills are being paid. Secondly, the staff must always seek to create a mood and atmosphere of receptivity no matter what the question, problem, or compliant. Even disgruntled customers come to appreciate professional and friendly service over time. Customers feel empowered when they are treated as top priority, right or wrong. When it comes to fulfilling the customer's needs, strong and progressive companies sacrifice pride and humble themselves at the feet of the customer. That is one of the major reason they surpass the competition. A company of employees that values sales over customer appreciation will slowly if not quickly find its customers becoming more and more elusive until the customer is tempted by the kindness of the competition.

The way you see yourself is the exalt way you will see your customer. If you are moody and grouchy most of the time. You will attract customers with a similar attitude. The best way to avoid moodiness is to make eye contact, smile and see your best self as the customer.

The must effective approach to winning customers is to see all clients through the lens of oneness. When we see our customers as an extension of ourselves we can identify with them more naturally. We feel that they are already apart of the family. Every employee interacting with a new customer should imagine an invisible pulse-light reaching into the heart of the customer, creating instant oneness. This is an effective practice worth considering. Test it out for the sake of your organization.

All in all the Customer Service Department is the bread and butter of any organization. A company must spend a great deal of time in both training and instilling a customer- centered attitude in its employees. Although store discounts and bargains must continue to attract customers, the superb attitudes of the customer service department as well as all store employees must keep the customer coming back time in time again.

1. Adams, Cary W. (n.d.). Customer satisfaction and Customer loyalty... Adams SixSigma. Retrieved July 30, 2009 from http://www.adamssixsigma.com