Best practice of the week: 2.6 Customer Service

Has the pandemic distracted you from your customers? Your organization won’t survive if your customers felt you weren’t there for them when they needed you. You must be one step ahead of their needs. Are your best practices still the best?

THE CENTER’S BEST PRACTICE OF THE WEEK: 2.6 Customer Service

Definition of customer service: “All the things you should do—including having a helpful attitude—to win a customer and earn repeat business and enthusiastic referrals.”

Practice Summary

Know your customer

How they think about your product and services

  • Identifying and anticipating their deep needs
  • Analyzing the source of their complaints, problems
  • Profile: demographics, geographical, communications preferences, etc..

Optimized interactions

  • Automated vs. human mix
  • Friendly, responsive
  • Knowledgeable
  • Single point of contact
  • Confidentiality of data
  • Organized – use of CRM
  • Availability

Metrics

  • Response time
  • Repeat business

3 Good Questions (discuss in a management meeting)

  1. How can we use customer comments for product updates?
  2. How can we meet customers’ communication preferences?
  3. What’s the best way to educate our customers?

In a crisis, customer service will have an event stronger effect on customer loyalty. Refunds or cancellation policies might not be enough to keep people satisfied. Customers usually want to get a real person when they call: 38% of US consumers say “working with a friendly agent” is a major factor in leaving a customer service interaction happy.