If misery loves company, miser has enough company.    ~Henry David Thoreau

We believe customer service is the life-blood of business--all business.  Without a steady stream of new and repeat customers, guests, or clients the business dies a slow, painful and expensive death.  Given this harsh reality, why is high quality customer service, especially in the retail sector, becoming the exception rather than the rule?

A cashier stands behind a cash register, a sales representative makes a sales call, and the bank teller waits behind glass panels.  In each case a sales transaction is about to take place.  The customer has made a purchase decision.  At that precise moment, the representative of the business hold in their hands the future success of the organization.  Customer service, properly delivered today, ensures tomorrow’s business.  The reputation of an organizaton is built or destroyed one transaction at a time.

Paul’s recent dining experience illustrates this growing trend.  After being seated in a full service restaurant, Paul and his family placed their order and received their food.  After a few bites all agreed that the food was unacceptable.  Paul spoke to the owner who immediately blamed Paul for not speaking up sooner.  The owner offered a 20% discount since they had "eaten some of it."  The owner was not interested in hearing about, or dealing with, the real problem of food quality.  His only concern was to try to negotiate a partial payment for the food consumed.  Needless to say, they paid the bill and left--forever.

One key fact to consider is that the vast majority of customers, guests, and clients being served today will be more affluent in the future.  A young adult opening a bank account today will continue to earn and deposit bigger and bigger paychecks.  He makes retail purchases today for himself but, most likely, for a family in the future.  The point is that today’s customer service is directly linked through loyalty and a relationship to the company’s future success.  Failure to deliver service with this important perspective is unhealthy and shortsighted.

One sure sign of a company’s downward spiral is an ever-increasing advertising budget.  Coupons, discounts, and assorted bribes plead with customers to continue to accept sub-par service.  The reality is that high-quality service, delivered at every transaction, builds brand loyalty.  This brand loyalty is what allows some of the advertising budget to be invested elsewhere.

In order to deliver consistent high quality customer service, organizations must focus on three specific areas:  standards, training, and feedback.

Standards:  The service model must be clearly defined down to the smallest detail with the customer or client in mind.  Service standards encompass a wide variety of behaviors and characteristics.  Some are objective--speed, personal appearance, and product knowledge.  Others are subjective--tone of voice, facial expression, body language, sense of urgency, and gratitude.  It is imperative for the organization to create a comprehensive service model that describes, in detail, the ideal transaction--one that will please every customer, guest, or client every time, under all foreseeable conditions.  Without a standard, an organization cannot accurately measure its daily performance.  The customer’s expectations are created and shaped by the customer’s past experiences.  Successful companies design a service standards model that meets, or even better, exceeds the customer’s expectations.  Companies achieve excellent service standards through intensive training programs.

Training:  There are two broad categories of training:  initial training and on-going training.  First, initial training, beyond the orientation process, is designed to help integrate new employees into the organization.  It is task oriented and short term.

Providing on-going training to meet the service standards model is a high level organizational skill that superior companies use as their competitive edge.  Sales teams meet monthly in a formal session to learn from each other and their instructors about new products and sales techniques.  Production teams meet weekly or monthly to review safety procedures and maintenance techniques.  Training sessions can be formal and informal, or a combination of the two.  But to be effective they must be relevant and continuous.  Continuous training is done in the field through team leaders, mentors, and coaches.  The result is higher quality service, greater efficiencies, and future financial success.

Feedback:  For an organization to survive and thrive in the race for market share, feedback must be given regularly, in writing, and must be objective.  Regular feedback, in an informal manner from an immediate supervisor, reinforces desireable behavior and creates a positive working relationship.  Written feedback, delivered in formal evaluations, documents progress and highlights areas for improvement.  If the feedback is objective and it focuses on the organization’s service standards model, it is easier to embrace and acts as a roadmap for future success.

High quality customer service for successful companies is a way of life--not a one-time event.  In a survey conducted by N.F.O. Research, Inc. in 1999, courtesy was named the number one attribute customers wanted from a business.  The study also found that if problems were addressed and fixed quickly, the customer would be more likely to return in the future.

The opportunity to deliver high quality customer service exists every time the customer calls or walks in the door.  In addition to creating free word-of-mouth advertising, giving good service ensures the future success for the organization.  Simple?  Yes.  Easy?  Hardly.  Worth the effort?  That’s your decision to make.

This article is provided as general information and is not intended to substitute for legal or other professional advice.