Different Aspects of Customer Service

Customer Service is one of those terms that people both love and hate in the same breath. You personally love it when you get great Customer Service but you sometimes hate giving it to someone else, so I feel that Customer Service is like a 2 sided coin .. if you get heads then you win but tails mean’s you lose. But what would happen for your business if you could be like that Magician that always wins by having a single headed coin? Well, you can certainly do this by learning what Customer Service REALLY means.

At the simplest level, Customer Service will change depending on the business, on the product and even the method that the customer is using to interact with the business. But what does not change is that there are fundamentals to all interactions which are what I am going to explain today.

I liken Customer Service to a meal .. an appetizer, main course and then finally the dessert. But I hear you say “But my business is not selling food so how can that apply to me?” Well, it can, and the analogy is relevant to all forms of business whether you have a brick & mortar store or an online store. Let me explain.

Appetizer

The first interaction with the customer is a taster for the rest of the ‘meal’. It needs to hit the mark, be easily digested and not overawe the customer for the next stage (in the meal/process). So how can this be applied to a real like customer interaction? Well taking different possible sale opportunities let us
give you some examples.

Main Course

The 2nd interaction is where the real purchase will happen and turns out to be the majority of the time a customer will stay locked into the business or store. They need to be comfortable to be focused on the business and in some situations, this means that they ‘hang around’ until they have what they wanted. 90+% of the experience happens at this time and so a business needs to focus on this time of the interaction to get it right.

So using the 3 examples again:

Dessert

The point in time when the customer leaves the employee/online page must leave a good taste in the mouth just like a nice Chocolate Brownie or maybe a Peach Cobbler or that Polo Neck shirt. There must be a ‘thankyou’ as well as a confirmation that everything that the customer needed to see today has been found/is on its way.
So again, reviewing the 3 types of Business

So, Customer Service is a team as much as an individual’s responsibility when interacting with the customer. To get this correct, an expected process must be generated for the employee to follow and training given on how things will work, i.e., an expected way. The main aim is to ensure that you beat the expectation of the customer and leave them wanting to come back to the business soon!

  • Get feedback from the existing customer which can be used to publicize a business.
  • Attract future customers to your door through the publicity from others!

The last comment to make is do not rest on your laurels. If the Customer experience is working now, then look to keep it fresh for both the employees and the customer!

I hope you have enjoyed this Menu of options for improving the Customer Service of a Business. The process to improve is so much easier if you work with a team that understands Customer Service so get in contact with us here at Customer Perception Insights.

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