Customer Service Ideas

[pitzerwm]

Here are a few tips:

• Hire the right people. The rule is you either hire smart or manage tough. Hiring smart is better, but it requires you to know what you're looking for and to recognize the skills and attitude you want. Look at experience, and listen to your gut.
• Keep score. If you don't measure performance, your team will be in perpetual warm-up mode. Let employees know that you are judging their performance and why it's relevant to them, their customers and the organization's bottom line.
• Reward. Make sure you reward the desired outcome. For instance, if you want your salespeople to create relationships and long-term accounts, reward them with back-end commissions or a recognition program.
• Practice what you preach. If you want a motivated customer-service rep, you need to be motivated yourself first. Are you genuinely excited about the work your group produces? You need to love your customers, because if you're not sincerely motivated yourself, you'll never motivate other people to provide service par excellence.

Mackay's Moral: No customer service will lead to no customers.

 

[Red Baron]

After a particularly frustrating week, I've been known to comment to my wife: When I finally manage to run off all my customers, this will be a pretty fun place to work.

A "customer service" technique few have tried.

 

[smokun]

Here's Another Timely Suggestion

PEOPLE PREFER DEALING WITH... NICE PEOPLE.

In a world of emails and texting, here's a no cost investment that will serve all business owners.

Make a personal visit or phone call to every customer you can, starting from the best & most loyal... to the ones that generally fall through the cracks of business communication.

Take the time... and make the effort! Nothing needed except a short but genuine and warm THANK YOU for their business. Demonstrating appreciation is becoming a lost art in this increasingly insensitive, insulated world we live in, and taking the time to simply say "THANKS, I GENUINELY APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS... AND I"M DETERMINED TO KEEP YOU SATISFIED"... or some reasonable unscripted sentiment will mean a great deal to everyone. Distinguish Yourself!!!

SAFE & HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

-STEVE

 

[Earl Weiss]

At the Midwest show seminar a guy says they call every customer. He says customers can't believe they get a call after paying just $5.00 for a wash.

I did not get to speak with him, but the labor / time for doing this seems astronomical.

300 cars in a day at 1 minute a call = 5 hours of solid calls???

 

[Waxman]

I ordered some fabulous Christmas cards from Paul Oxman Publishing and sent them out to regular customers, friends and fleet accounts.

I enclosed a free wash ($10 value) or a free 'regular appontment' to our weekly or monthly detail customers. Some I included an air freshener.

It is the personal touches that can make the difference in my business and I recognize it. I am not perfect and have had years where my cards did not get sent, but I know the importance of gestures like cards and calls and I am committed to making them happen.