Many believe that customer service starts at the beginning of customer interaction. I think that customer service begins and ends within the heart of everyone before a customer interaction. Do you have the nature to speak to people respectfully, kindly, gently, loving, caring, empathetic, and compassionately?
Customer service is behavioral driven. How do you treat employees? As a business owner, manager, or supervisor, your first customer is internal – your employees.
When the topic of customer service comes up, it most often starts with how poor service is. Some folk complains about poor service as it relates to employee interaction. However, that poor behavior is driven by internal and external factors such as training, appropriate role, and undiagnosed mental health/mental illness issues.
The Golden Rule Customer Service’s mission is to enhance the synergy/cooperation between management and its employees. Data shows that customer service is now a key differentiator between companies. It is a top consideration for customers and a profit-generating force in its own right.
Sixty-one percent of customers would now defect to a competitor after just one unpleasant experience, according to Zendesk's 2022 Customer Experience Trends Report. That's a twenty-two percent jump from the previous year. Make it two negative experiences, and 76 percent of customers are out the door
Sixty-four percent of business leaders say that customer service has a positive impact on their company's growth
Sixty percent of business leaders say that customer service improves customer retention
Forty-seven percent of business leaders report an increase in their ability to cross-sell
More than sixty percent of customers say they now have higher customer service standards
With these data points, it is clear that customer service is a deciding factor for businesses and customers to do business with you. Customer service has evolved because customers know what they want and expect it every time in a manner that makes them feel respected, unique, and remembered. They want a voice with a smile. They want it fast. They expect cleanliness when they walk into your establishment. When your exterior windows and restrooms are not clean, that leaves a wrong first impression. A simple fix to the first data point creates an atmosphere of pride for your employees.
As business leaders, your relationship with your employees, the internal customer of your business, is the first step to creating a customer-centric culture. Staff your organization with a management team driven to provoke employees to secure a base who can’t wait to share their experience with your company.
Focusing on being your best every day will cascade to your employees. People will notice you and will want to support you. By doing so, your company could be recognized as one of the sixty percent of business leaders who say that customer service improves customer retention. If you focus on the customer, internal and external, and not the money, eventually, the money will follow.
WHERE DOES CUSTOMER SERVICE START? WHERE DOES CUSTOMER SERVICE END?
It starts with you – in your heart. The only difference between excellent, mediocre, and poor customer service is the effort one puts forth. Always do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Each of us holds the key to making this world a better place. So, let’s choose to be respectful, kind, gentle, loving, caring, empathetic, and more compassionate towards each other. We can do that by choosing to be our best selves every day- moment by moment.
Bobbie Powell is the owner of the Golden Rule Customer Service and President of the Cascade Business and Merchants Association (Cascade BMA). She worked in customer service for a major telecommunications company for over 33 years. She speaks from years of training and experience in leading and motivating employees in a call center customer service environment that yielded extraordinarily improved accuracy, efficiency, and attendance performance.
As president of Cascade BMA, Bobbie Powell is interested in working with businesses in the Cascade Business Corridor and beyond to enhance the experiences of our employees and customers by:
Mystery Shopping to identify needs assessment
* The strategy will be developed from a needs assessment
Mystery Shopping will reveal skill vs. will
Mystery Shopping will show a relationship between management and staff In closing, these data points reinforce that customer service is critical.
Sixty-one percent of customers would now defect to a competitor after just one unpleasant experience, according to Zendesk's 2022 Customer Experience Trends Report. That's a twenty-two percent jump from the previous year. Make it two negative experiences, and 76 percent of customers are out the door
Sixty-four percent of business leaders say that customer service has a positive impact on their company's growth
Sixty percent of business leaders say that customer service improves customer retention
Forty-seven percent of business leaders report an increase in their ability to cross-sell
More than sixty percent of customers say they now have higher customer service standards
For a consultation, please contact Bobbie Powell
at bpowell@goldenrulecustomerservice.com or 404.593.1551.
