A View Into Current Customer Service Trends - 103

Maintaining Customer Service 
After a customer service relationship has been established, there are steps to maintain it, just as you would work to maintain a friendship.

We find it important to keep in touch with clients after a sale is complete, by having a team member follow up. It can take the relationship a step higher, which makes a client even more comfortable. Depending on the type of business, it is sometimes fun to create new ways to show a customer we care about them. At a minimum, a follow up telephone call or a personal hand written note will remind them you care. 

Asking the delivery person to provide a customer service survey will allow a client to express their feelings when they might not otherwise.  If there is a complaint, that is the perfect time to provide even better customer service by exhibiting patience while listening to any complaint and quickly resolving it. Always check back with a customer to confirm their satisfaction with the resolution. Even if they don’t acknowledge it at the time, they will remember your concern.

Be proud of and advertise your customer service. Ask for referrals and be sure to post any testimonials you receive to your website or blog. You will want your prospective clients to have access to these and this will make them easy to find.  Source One Record Management recently provided us a list of references with contact numbers up front and encouraged us to make the calls. They wanted us to hear firsthand the magnitude of their willingness to please their customers.

On the flip side, there may be a day when you encounter an unhappy or rude customer. Always remain calm and pleasant. The two words “I understand” are a great start to a resolution. They may not acknowledge it at first, but they will remember your courtesy later and share with someone else. It will be harder for them to remain upset when you are working to defuse and resolve an issue.

You can also add a customer survey to your online site or shopping cart. Restaurants can make surveys available on the table while brick and mortar companies can host contests in an effort to get surveys completed. Then, post the results!

We all shop for convenience, ease and speed of purchase(s) or service(s). We also tend to purchase more readily from a known company (brand names also help) that is trustworthy and dependable versus an unknown. A new or smaller company providing consistent, excellent customer service will prove sustainability.

Customers choose our business, rather than our business choosing customers. We are available to meet their needs. We must earn their trust in our company, our product and our team family.