Customer Loyalty | Service Wueste

Posts Tagged ‘Customer Loyalty’

Customer Services Versus Sales Representatives – The War of Incentive

Saturday, August 21st, 2010

Customer Services Versus Sales Representatives – The War of Incentive

Customer service can often be seen by businesses as a necessary evil, a burden on the finances and something to try to provide at minimal cost. To see it this way is, however, a gross oversight. Ask yourself what is the most important asset a company has? In almost every case it will be the customer base.

Customers make or break a company. Too few customers and no business can survive. Effective, high quality customer support can create an image for a business which sets it apart from its competitors. If you treat your customers with care, consideration and patience, providing a service which genuinely tries to help resolve concerns or issues, then customers are far more likely to return to your company time and again.

Not only is customer loyalty an issue which your service representatives can actively develop, but very often your customers are one of your strongest means to promotion. Internet technology today allows for quick and easy access to many thousands of review sites. Enter almost any company name into Google, along with words such as ‘review’ and you’re bound to find rating and experiences.

These can have a tremendous effect on how well you drive customers to your business, or drive them away. Customer service is the means by which your customers will be interacting with your business; as far as customers are concerned, your customer service is the business itself. Many large, global corporations outsource their customer support centers, and this can lead to poor quality communications. This is where smaller businesses can excel, filling the quality gap which exists.

From a customer’s perspective, very little can be as frustrating as the experience of having a highly enthusiastic, deeply personal and seemingly committed business woo you and persuade you to buy into its product or service range, only to then cut and run, leaving you in the hands of an outsourced, underfunded and less experienced customer service team. It can often feel as though the outsourced customer service team is put there as a direct barrier between the customer and the business.

Certainly it can easily be the case that customers perceive not one, but two quite distinct businesses, with the possibility of a third lurking in the background. Initially there is the friendly and courteous business, almost bending over backwards to be helpful and understanding, though once the payment has been made and the contract signed, this part of the business becomes unreachable. The customers are then transferred to a less technical, less responsive, slower and less capable business which is labeled customer service, and which pays little attention to the customer and offers little in the way of proactive help.

The two businesses appear quite distinct in character. This discovery can give rise to a previously unconsidered business element, which are those lurking behind these two faces, driving the business forward by portraying these two quite opposite and contrasting faces by way of a sales tactic. This can completely undermine any faith, loyalty or appeal generated by the first face that the business chose to portray.

This is a shame, because those few businesses that are able to maintain this same attitude through from the sales team to the customer service team are highly likely to engage customer loyalty through customer satisfaction. This in turn is likely to see customers recommending the business, leaving positive reviews on the many review boards across the internet, and helping to drive more customers to you without you even having to advertise to reach them.

Good customer service leads to satisfied customers, which can be the best form of advertising there is, simply because you can’t buy it. Granted, the extra cost of having in-house, fully trained customer service staff who are as committed and motivated as the sales staff will cost a little extra, but it is important to see this not as an extra cost, but one in lieu of your advertising costs. Good customer service is not just an end in itself, which is the mistake made by too many companies.

Good levels of service for existing customers will be highly likely to act as a form of advertising, bringing in extra revenue you would not otherwise have seen. Add to this argument the fact that bad customer service is more likely to drive not only existing customers away, but put off potential customers you might have had as a direct result of poor reviews and a low reputation, and you can see that in the long run, investing in high levels of quality within your customer service department can be seen as a solid and profitable investment if approached in the right way.

Sales people often have incentives, such as targets, number of sales per hour, and other such tables which can lead to bonuses. Customer service representatives often have no such incentives; perhaps there’s a link between the different standards of enthusiasm?

Naz Daud – CityLocal UK Business Franchise Ireland Business Franchise Business Franchise Opportunity Latest Businesses

Customer Service — Customer Loyalty Wins Sales

Friday, July 30th, 2010

by Graela

Customer Service — Customer Loyalty Wins Sales

Batteries not included. Three of the dumbest words.

Your Company spent millions of dollars to develop this wonderful product. Engineers spent countless hours creating and refining it. You spent additional millions of dollars in advertising to get me to buy it.

I bought it. I took it home and now it won’t work because YOU neglected to include the only part that WILL make it work. For a couple of extra bucks, your cost and mine, I’m frustrated and angry with you and your Company.

It’s the same with customer service.

No matter what you sell; whether it’s goods or services, big ticket or small, sales and customer service are not two separate pieces. Every sale must come with the customer service built in.

Exceptional customer service is NOT an extra cost of doing business. It is an investment in your own future success.

In the early 1950s, my uncle had a very small clothing store in Miami, Florida. In those days, Miami was a major entertainment center, with the biggest names in show business appearing at the major hotels, very similar to Las Vegas today.

One evening, as he was leaving the stage at the end of the early show, a young singer ripped his tuxedo jacket on a nail sticking out of the wall. It was after 8 P.M., all the clothing stores were closed.

The hotel management called the major stores and owners because the singer didn’t want to go on stage with a torn jacket or worse, no jacket.

None of the fancy clothing shop owners would leave their homes to accommodate the young man. Finally, in desperation, my uncle got the call. Would he come downtown with a couple of tuxedos?

Within an hour my uncle was at the hotel with 4 tuxedos. He did the fitting and tailoring right on the spot.

The young singer and the big hotel management were ecstatic. The singer tried to shove a few extra hundred dollar bills into my uncle’s hand, but he wouldn’t take the money, explaining that he was honored to have the opportunity to earn the business.

The singer promised that he would never forget my uncle’s kindness and would tell his show biz friends about my uncle. True to his word, the singer continued to tell his friends about my uncle, even as his singing career skyrocketed.

The young singer – Frank Sinatra.

My uncle – went from a tiny clothing store on the edges of oblivion to “Mickey Hayes – Clothier to the Stars”; his walls covered with hundreds of photographs of the biggest names in show business.

On the other side of the coin is INTEL, the major manufacturer of computer chips, and, a great company.

Some years ago, Intel’s newest chip had a design flaw that caused a problem in only the tiniest number of calculations, and only in highly complex situations. As this problem began to get reported in the press, owners of computers built with these new chips wanted replacements.

Intel’s management stated that these customers were somewhat stupid since only highly complex calculations in specialized situations would experience that problem and then, only on the rarest occasions. They said that they would replace the chip if the customer could substantiate the claim that their chip was flawed.

How stupid. If it only goes bad once in a zillion times, why not give a lifetime guarantee? Most of the customers would never run into that problem. If they had immediately offered the lifetime replacement guarantee, ALL of the customers would have had a very high degree of confidence that they would never need to take Intel up on their offer.

Intel finally did offer lifetime replacement – after worrying, offending and insulting millions of their customers.

We can all learn a valuable lesson from Nordstroms; the department store famous for customer service. Their service to customers is so incredible, that people go out of their way to shop there.

Mr. Nordstrom calls it ‘customer heroics’. “We do it because we want more business – NOT simply because we’re nice guys.”

I’ve always told my employees – “don’t save me ‘MY’ money. If it helps the customer, SPEND my money. Even if they make a mistake, they won’t be criticized if it helped the customer”.

Nordstrom, over a period of many years, has developed a corporate culture of service to the customer. Any corporate culture, if it is going to endure successfully, MUST take on a life of its own, apart from the wishes of management. It has to be adopted by every employee, because THEY each think that it’s a good idea.

Whether you are a 1 person operation or the largest company, you know what good customer service is. It’s the Golden Rule applied to business – “Do unto others”.

Listen to your customers’ spoken requests – and unspoken. They’ll tell you what they want. Add a large portion of your own good common sense. Make a commitment to yourself that you will give your customers, service beyond their highest expectations

If you will do these few simple things, I can guarantee you success beyond YOUR expectations.

Gary Wollin is a Warren Buffet style investment advisor with 45+ years of Wall Street experience. He has been regularly featured in many financial publications around the world. He writes and speaks on sales, customer loyalty, and the stock market. http://www.garywollin.com

3 Customer Service Ideas to Earn Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

by alancleaver_2000

3 Customer Service Ideas to Earn Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty

Customer service has never been worse than it is in today’s business environment. With companies trimming their budgets as much as possible, there isn’t the time or money to spend on customer service skills. If it can be automated, it gets automated no matter how inconvenient it is for the customer.

How many times have you been ready for the now familiar message “please listen carefully for our options have changed” only to find yourself screaming at the phone after one too many option levels? Hey – it works for the business – it keeps their operating overhead down – they don’t have to staff as many people as they used to because the call tree does the job on auto-pilot. No late or sick employee to worry about. No customers complaining about your phone receptionist cutting them off or having a bad attitude.

When you stop to think about all the conveniences we have lost over the years, it’s pretty astounding. Doesn’t it seem like we’re doing more with all the automation that was supposed to make our lives easier? No more secretaries; we have a computer. No more gas jockey; we can do it ourselves and we even get to watch TV while we’re pumping. Nobody to answer your call or tell you when they will; you can leave a message.

I don’t know about you but all this convenience can be very frustrating for me. I can’t ever sit back and let somebody else do the task because I’m expected to use self-serve. I remember the days when service people were expected to be extremely helpful. We have begun to expect poor service and we are no longer surprised when it occurs.

This is the perfect time for small businesses to step up and offer that which cannot be offered by the big companies. Convenience is such a big selling point, how about offering customer service as a convenience for your customers? Many small businesses are run by owners that are too busy running the business to implement good customer service on the Internet. In fact, customer issues may be rare and infrequently occurring, but as the business grows good customer service becomes a necessity. The business owner will eventually find it difficult and overwhelming in the long run.

The post sales process is just as important as the initial sales process when it comes to customer loyalty. A poorly treated customer will not have a reason to do business with you again even when you roll out new products and services. Here’s three ideas for you to implement that will not take excessive time or money but will increase customer satisfaction and customer loyalty:

1. Follow-Up Personally with an Irate Customer

Running a business is like having a new adventure every day. You can never be surprised when the unexpected happens, only be ready to deal with it. When things go terribly wrong for your customer, have someone follow-up with a phone call. You may be surprised to learn that Internet shoppers think of online businesses with a bit of celebrity stars in their eyes. It is totally unexpected that an online business would call them to apologize for any inconvenience and make sure the issue was resolved to their satisfaction. I’ve done it – it works like a charm every time.

2. Use Words and Phrases Guaranteed to Calm Any Customer

Customers enjoy the speed of the purchase and the anticipation of the immediate download shopping on the Internet for digital products. Things can go bump in the night at any point in the purchase process, even getting to the download page. Make it easy for your customer to report the issue by having at least one method guaranteed to get results within four hours. And then be sure you always include “we apologize for the inconvenience”, “please reopen this ticket if further assistance is needed”, “thank you for notifying us of this problem”, “please”, “thank you”, “we’re so sorry for the delay”, etc. This type of acknowledgement lets the customer know that you care. Isn’t that really what we want?

3. Give the Customer Value for Their Inconvenience

New people are coming to the Internet every day so you should expect and plan for the “this is my first time” issues. One way you can do that is to provide your customer with more information than is required to resolve the issue. For example, solving the issue and telling your customer how to prevent a similar issue in the future will assist them in using the Internet and they will greatly appreciate the extra time and effort your business took to assist them.

Combine all three of the above ideas and you will provide customer service few have seen on the Internet, let alone in many offline businesses today.

customer service tips

Tags: Auto Pilot, Automation, Bad Attitude, Budgets, Business Environment, Convenience, Conveniences, Customer, Customer Loyalty, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service Ideas, Customer Service Skills, Earn, Ideas, Job, Jockey, Loyalty, Many People, Money, Perfect Time, Receptionist, Satisfaction, Secretaries, Service, Small Businesses, Watch Tv
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Customer Service – the Key to Success in Retail

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

by RW PhotoBug

Customer Service – the Key to Success in Retail

Customer Service – The key to success in Retail

You might have heard about “Singh is King” but in Retail it is often said that the customer is king and you better keep the King happy. All the companies, these days, are making an effort to attract the customers by providing them with miraculous service and thereby making them feel more important. The expectations of the Indian Consumers are escalating day by day and an attempt to match these expectations is by improving the level of service. A number of companies have been setting examples of their astonishing attitude towards the customers. Arguably, one of the most famous examples of customer service can be of the US based department store Nordstrom. Initially the company started as a shoe retailer but later on it also started selling clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings. The following statement is taken from the official website of Nordstrom regarding its policy about finding a lower purchase price elsewhere:

“We assure you’ll never pay more. If you find the same item elsewhere for a lower price, we will gladly match it. Our Customer Service Specialists are ready to assist you, simply call 1-888-282-6060, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

The statement means that if any customer finds lower price for the same product in any other store then Nordstrom will be refunding the difference to the customer. This shows the loyalty of the company towards the customer.

Lately, the companies have realized that apart from offering quality merchandise, convenience, discount offers and a competitive pricing, they also have to remodel their strategies around the needs of the customers and focus upon providing the customers with excellent service both to attract and retain them. Today most of the retailers across the world like Mc Donald’s, Dominos, Lands’ end, Pantaloons , Reliance etc. have used customer service to gain an edge over there competitors. In the world of competition where the retailers are only looking for the sales number, customer service has been playing a significant role. Yes, sales is the most important factor in retail business and you can not be the best until you are more profitable than others but the bottom line is that in long term, if you have to stay in business , you should have the “trust of the customers”.

Customer Service, this is Kelly…
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Assess Your Commitment to a “Culture of Customer Service”

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

by Wayan Vota

Assess Your Commitment to a “Culture of Customer Service”

What is an organization’s “culture?” It is simply a critical mass of the attitudes and behaviors of its people and groups. The fifteen statements below each reflect an important “cultural” reality impacting customer satisfaction and loyalty. They have shaped our customer service program’s success. Do they shape yours? How is your customer culture?

1. T / F: In our organization we operate under the assumption that customers view customer contact persons as “the organization” and representatives of what the organization means to them personally.

2. T / F: We communicate regularly the importance of realizing everyone in our organization has customers: external (“paying”) customers and internal (work group/ inter-work group) “customers.”

3. T / F: We design our processes and train our people around 2 things customers want to know: (1) Do you do what you say you will? (2) How do you handle problems?

4. T / F: Realizing that organizations choose, consciously or unconsciously, to be financially driven and/or customer-driven, we make decisions remembering that organizations working from a short-term, financially driven philosophy are not as effective in service situations.

5. T / F: Since front line persons make most customer service decisions on a daily basis, our top management understands their key role and allows them to inform the organization about customer needs.

6. T / F: We promote the status of front line customer contact people to a position of value and respect—they are not considered the least educated, trained and paid.

7. T / F: We allow our customer contact personnel, not management, to control the quality of the service product.

8. T / F: Management believes in the importance of good service and actively supports it.

9. T / F: We measure customer service results in a way that leads to greater focus on the importance of individual efforts.

10. T / F: We emphasize that customers perceive service to be “good” when positive individual interactions occur—crucial encounters that can be considered “moments of truth.”

11. T / F: “Customer first” behavior is rewarded and encouraged to be repeated.

12. T / F: Customer service skill training is wall-to-wall.

13. T / F: Our corporate culture supports continuous improvement of customer service processes.

14. T / F: “Customer first” attitudes, along with results communicated continually to all employees in simple terms create a climate for quality customer service in our organization.

15. T / F: Corporate goals, policies and procedures reflect a “customer first” mind set, while we foster a rewarding service-focused climate.

YOUR CUSTOMER CULTURE STRENGTH…

13-15 “TRUE” — You are likely experiencing customer (and employee) loyalty and advocacy.

10-12 “TRUE” – Do you have good customer satisfaction scores, but customer loyalty is strained?

Less than 10 “TRUE” — Are you struggling with customer satisfaction, loyalty and brand reputation? Do you have low employee morale and high employee turnover?

Bob Davis-Mayo is President of Davis-Mayo Associates, LLC, a national human and organizational development firm (www.davismayoassociates.com). For more than twenty years, Bob has helped organizations achieve their goals through nationally field-tested best practices. DMA’s customer service training program has been experienced by more than 429,000 people in 47 states and 15 countries. TO CONTACT BOB: bob@davismayoassociates.com

Tags: Assess, Assumption, Attitudes And Behaviors, Commitment, Critical Mass, Culture, Customer, Customer Culture, Customer Loyalty, Customer Satisfaction And Loyalty, Customer Service Program, Customers View, Daily Basis, Group Customers, Key Role, Line Customer, Mea, Organization Culture, People, Philosophy, Service, Service Decisions, Service Situations, Top Management, Wayan
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Silly Service Has Its Serious Side: Test your Customer Service Knowledge!

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

by Suresh BJ

Silly Service Has Its Serious Side: Test your Customer Service Knowledge!

Who says service is serious? Customer service can be silly too. Take this fun quiz to test your customer service knowledge. You may be a service ace if you both pick the correct answer to each of these ten questions, and understand why these answers are correct.

1. A complaining customer is:

A. Always right

B. Almost right

C. Often lying

D. Always the customer

2. Customers who complain:

A. Had unhappy childhoods

B. Are genetically predisposed to be sourpusses

C. Have trouble in their primary relationships

D. Are doing you a service in identifying what isn’t working in your business or organization

3. The best reward for your customer service representatives is:

A. Earplugs and punching bags

B. Valium or other mind-numbing drugs

C. Recognition and appreciation on your part

D. Anger management seminars

4. CRM stands for:

A. Customers Rarely Matter

B. Can’t Remember Much

C. Communicating Random Meaning

D. Customers Rudimentarily Managed

E. Customer Relationship Management

5. Customers who complain want . . .

A. Something for nothing

B. To be heard and have their experience validated

C. To vent for the sport of it

D. To be made majority shareholders in the company

6. Customer Service departments:

A. Are the afterthought that cleans up messes other departments cause

B. Build customer loyalty

C. Are leaders in understanding customer behavior patterns and market research

7. For a company to be considered service-oriented:

A. It must mention customer service in its mission statement

B. At least 18.3% of its employees must work in the customer service department

C. Its managers must at one time have been CSRs

D. Customer service must be addressed by all departments

8. A Call Center is defined as:

A. The midpoint in duration of a telephone call

B. A revenue sink hole

C. A place where middle-of-the-road calls coexist with liberal and arch-conservative calls

D. A location where complaints and problems are converted into successful saves for your customers and your company

9. Customer Care is:

A. A managed care medical program for customers

B. A nifty alliterative phrase that looks good in company brochures

C. A new program where customers care for themselves

D. A philosophy wherein the customer is wrapped in service even before a problem arises

10. Customer Service Culture is

A. A new form of yogurt where the lid removes itself for you

B. Behavior being analyzed in a Petrie dish for contagions

C. A mythical civilization in which everyone smiles and welcomes you when they meet

D. An environment where customer service permeates the thinking of the entire company

KEY

1. D. Customers are often wrong but they never stop being the customer. Right or wrong they are to be accorded respect and cared for. Focus on the insights their complaint offers.

2. D. Complaining customers alert you to systemic problems before they drive off more customers. Their complaints represent many more customers who may not spend the time to tell you about problems, instead just leaving you for your competitors.

3. C. Your staff deserves and thrive on recognition and appreciation. Take the time to celebrate them collectively and individually. Whether through cards, gifts, surprises, outings and acknowledgements at company functions, let them know how important, valued and appreciated they are to you and the company.

4. E. CRM refers to systems designed to track and cater to each customer’s whims and preferences over a lifetime. CRM is about managing customer relationships over the long haul by attending to their individual needs.

5. B. Complaining customers have several needs. Implicit in their actual complaint is also a need to be heard and their unhappiness acknowledged. Fixing the problem is important. So is letting them know you understand their displeasure and feel for them. One without the other is an incomplete remedy for customer complaints. Don’t forget the emotional component in complaints.

6. B and C. When you solve a problem for a customer you actually build confidence and allegiance. You’ve proven you stand behind your products or service, giving customers a warm and fuzzy feeling of safety and protection. As well, you tap the pulse of the customers. Their complaints and feedback give valuable insight into how well your products are assembled, documented, sold and hold up. Listening to customers tells you a great deal about your company’s products and services (and your competitors’ too) from real life customers. That’s invaluable!

7. D. A Customer Service orientation must transcend the service department. All departments must understand and model good customer service for the company to be considered strong in service. Many problems can be avoided outright by attending to customer service. Why should the customer service department carry the weight of service for the entire company. Don’t operate under the adage “never enough time to do it right but always enough time to do it over.” Get it right at the source, in all departments.

8. D. Make your call center is a shining example of your company’s commitment to its customers. Your center is a visible symbol of your company’s commitment to customer success.

9. D. Customer Care is a philosophy wherein customers are cared for by a company – the entire time they’re customers. Care isn’t just to be administered as a salve for problems. Demonstrate care from the start and your customers will flock to your products and services.

10. D. Customer Service Culture is the infusion of service ideals into every department, from sales, shipping and receiving to legal, human resources and beyond.

CRAIG HARRISON is a speaker, trainer and consultant who makes communication and customer service fun and easy for his clients. To hear his voice, call (888) 450-0664. Otherwise you can visit his website http://www.expressionsofexcellence.com or send e-mail to Excellence@craigspeaks.com.

Tags: Afterthought, Anger Management, Behavior Patterns, Correct Answer, Customer, Customer Behavior, Customer Loyalty, Customer Relationship Management, Customer Service Department, Customer Service Departments, Customer Service Representatives, Earplugs, Fun Quiz, Knowledge, Majority Shareholders, Management Seminars, Messes, Mission Statement, Punching Bags, Serious, Service, Service Ace, Side, Silly, Silly Service, Test, Valium
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Customers Direct Point of Contact – Customer Service Representatives

Friday, July 9th, 2010

by Birmingham News Room

Customers Direct Point of Contact – Customer Service Representatives

Customer service representatives (CSRs)

Interact with customers to provide information in response to inquiries about products and services and to handle and resolve complaints. First point of customer contact for general inquiries like pricing, products, scheduling etc maintain business relation with clients by providing accurate service so as to promote customer loyalty.

CSRs are people employed by companies to serve as a direct point of contact for customers. In the 24/7 worlds today companies need to secure their customers receive an adequate level of service or help with their questions and concerns. Such customers may be individual consumers or other companies each with different needs. Many companies provide customer service to path of the telephone through call centers. The Customer service representatives interact with customers to provide information in response to inquiries about products or services. They also handle and resolve complaints and communicate with customers through a variety of means. Telephone is the most famous but increasingly customer service is supplied by e-mail. Faxes and regular mail parallelism and even a direct meeting can also be used by the CSR. Some customer service representatives handle general questions and complaints, whereas others particularize in a particular area.

Customer Service Representative is explain by the following points: –

1. Customer Services

“Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business.”

Excellent customer service is one of the few ways to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Customers are satisfied or dissatisfied with the level of customer service provided by CSRs. Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. You can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in as many new customers as you want, but unless you can get some of those customers to come back, your business won’t be profitable for long. Customer Services are increasingly changing the way customers interact with firms to create service outcomes. Good customer service can increase your customer loyalty rate, leading to greater profitability.

2. Customer Satisfaction

“No business can exist without customers.”

Customer Satisfaction may be measured directly by survey and expressed as a percentage, such as Percent of Customers Completely Satisfied. Providing good service in a pleasant manner and meeting the customer’s expectations is also known as Customer Satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is the fulfillment of customers’ requirements or needs.

Consider this, only 4% of all customers with problems complain. The average customer with a problem eventually tells 9 other people.

In other side, three types of relationship were identified:

1. Satisfaction-as-love

2. Satisfaction-as-trust

3. Satisfaction-as-control

Each responded to the same failure in different ways. Satisfaction-as-love customers had emotional bonds with the product category and thus reaffirmed their loyalty following the failure. Satisfaction-as-trust customers saw the service failure and inadequate recovery as a breach of the brand’s implied promise and thus excited the relationship. Satisfaction-as-control customers took charge of the situation, using their status to improve their situation and then defended the brand.

3. Customer loyalty

Multiple regression analysis assessed the impact on customer loyalty of four key constructs of relationship marketing: -

1. Trust,

2. Commitment,

3. Communication,

4. Conflict Handling.

These four variables have a significant effect and predict a good proportion of the variance in customer loyalty.

The stairs of Customer Loyalty shows you how to consciously shape a plan for developing your customer relationship skills in a more congruent manner and is a benchmark in fostering and promoting permanent customer relationships for businesses of all sizes.

4. Customer Orientation

There are seven keys that strongly indicate a customer orientation attitude:

• Thinking and talking about clients a lot

• Continually assessing your customers’ perceptions

• Resolving priority issues in favor of the customer

• Giving in, compromising, adding value for the customer

• Making amends to customers for poor treatment

• Employing a “whatever it takes” policy to satisfy special needs

• Redesigning processes, re-deploying resources and when they get in the way of service quality

5. Mass customization

Mass Customization is a way of building and selling products such that the product features are broken down and offered to the consumer as choices. Mass customization, in marketing, manufacturing, and management, is the use of flexible computer-aided manufacturing systems to produce custom output. Those systems combine the low unit costs of mass production processes with the flexibility of individual customization.

The flourish surrounding mass customization increased dramatically with the advent the Internet. Companies saw how e-commerce could allow an individual customer to tailor a product to his or her own specifications and then order it. The vision of mass customization seemed to promise manufacturers several benefits: They could offer service, achieve greater levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, gather advance information on market trends, and reduce inventory levels.

So, what I learned from my research was delivering consistently good service quality is difficult but profitable for service organizations. In many services, quality occurs during service delivery, usually in an interaction between the customer and contact personnel of the service firm. So, that service quality is highly dependent on the performance of employees.

About CCI

Call Centers India is known as CCI and has set up good building relationship in BPO industry and helping others to growth in industry, Call Centers India in consultancy since 5 years and in 2005 launched own delivery center by name of Vcare Call Center India (P) Ltd. and delivering many offshore projects successfully.

Customer Service Course at Its Simplest

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

by gr3m

Customer Service Course at Its Simplest

Come to think of it, there is no industry that does not involve customer service; reason why this course was created to help entrepreneurs and employees to understand customer service and its importance.

Customer service is a process whereby a representative of a company provides services or products to a customer in a satisfying manner. Undergoing a course on customer service can drastically change the direction your business is going. It increases customer satisfaction and in the long run yields customer loyalty.

Customer service can occur practically anywhere. The following are just some of the examples:
Personal or face to face
Telephone
Order-taking
Complaint handling
Bills, payments, documents
Online and/or via email

This customer service course aims to give you a quick run-through on how to improve customer service skills. First, one must understand that no amount of course on customer service can teach the following:
Attitude – having the right attitude is something innate, something that makes up the whole personality of the person.
Commitment – as an entrepreneur, you can’t force an employee to be committed to the job. It must come from within.
Happiness – this trait depends on the person and when you are happy, everything else that’s good follows. You have a positive disposition in life.

Let’s discuss a few simple steps on how to improve customer service.
Smile – an act as such gives a feeling of satisfaction to the customers. Most likely, customers will have an impression that the establishment has good customer service.
Know the customer’s name – customers appreciate it when their name is mentioned by a company representative. It somehow gives the feeling of personalized customer service
Be courteous
Ask for feedback – this way, a customer feels that his/her opinions matter.

A basic customer service course usually includes:
Definition of customer service
Forms of customer service
Achieving excellent customer service
How to deal with different types of customers
How to improve listening skills
Responding skills
Developing personal action steps to improve customer handling

A good customer service course must be personalized according to needs of the participants. They also must learn techniques on how to handle different tricky situations. Another point to be tackled in a good customer service course is to relate to different types of customers and different communication styles. It’s also beneficial to teach non-verbal cues that are ideal as well as how to read the customers’ body language. More often than not, body language speaks more than words. It would also be very helpful that a course on customer service can teach the participants how to empathize with the customers so they can gain the customers’ confidence. Excellent customer service is simple as long you know the basics and you have the passion to achieve it. Without that passion or commitment, you can never succeed in anything in any industry.

Sarah Folgea from aceinternetmarketing.ie specialises in writing articles relating to

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