Have You Developed Your Customer Service Policy?
Developing Guidelines on Handling Clients is Critical
A strong customer service policy is the backbone of a business. It’s your commitment to taking care of your customers. Early on in the life of a business it is also an easy enough thing to keep a handle on. When your business is small you are able to know everything that goes on. And you can have a hand in making sure that your customers are taken care of. But as your business grows, keeping on top of things will get to be more difficult. So it is important that you have a strong customer service policy that your employees are trained to follow.
Send a Clear Message
To make sure this happens there are a few things you can do. First, try to establish your policy before you open your doors for business. That way you can send a clear message to your customers from day one. And you can make it clear to future employees that everyone has to abide by the policy, including yourself. Next make sure to put it in writing. If your policy is only in your head then no one else can see it.
A Guideline for Your Employees
Your policy needs to have guidelines for employees to follow. It can’t just say what you will do if there is a problem but how you will do it. Employees often run into problems when the policy guidelines are vague and hard to understand. You can also use a reward system so that employees know they have something to gain from following procedures. Even though your employees should want to provide superior customer service some of them may need some encouragement.
Get Your Employees Involved
Get your employees involved. Often they will have some very good ideas of how customer service can be improved. But unless you ask they will probably keep it to themselves. Employees that are able to contribute to your policy will feel more responsible for enforcing it. They want to see their own ideas work out and they want to be recognized for it when they do. So make sure to give them that recognition.
Your Customers are People
Treat your customers as people. Encourage your employees to interact with customers. If you recognize someone that comes back repeatedly then show them how much you appreciate it by getting to know them a little better. Spending 5 minutes getting to know someone can result in having a customer for life. And make sure that you are taking the time to interact as well. Both with your customers and your employees. Be open with them and willing to show your passion for your business. You should be proud of what you do, so don’t hide it. And let everyone know that you are committed to providing the very best customer service in the industry.
© 2008 Cash Justin Miller
Read more at Suite101: Have You Developed Your Customer Service Policy?: Developing Guidelines on Handling Clients is Critical http://customer-management.suite101.com/article.cfm/have_you_developed_your_customer_service_policy#ixzz0tLeBOfVH
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