Quality Customer Service
Consistent quality customer care is vital if our business is to enjoy an outstandingly good reputation amongst our clients. Irrespective of how strong our vision, management, financial administration and marketing efforts are if we do not deliver attentive and obliging customer service we are simply “shooting ourselves in the foot”!
Most businesses “promise the world and deliver an atlas”. If nothing else “over promising and under delivering” is dishonest and disrespectful to the intelligence of our clients and demonstrates lack of integrity. It is very important that we document how we are going to serve and look after our clients.
A “How We Serve Our Clients” document should be brief, to the point and explain “why” we look after our clients as well as we do. Preferably it should be no longer than one page and everyone within our entity should know it “off by heart”. It must pair with our company’s vision and purpose. It should specify:
• Our target audience.
• What we have pledged them.
• How we plan to deliver our pledge.
• Customer compensation if we are unable to deliver our pledge.
• A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) so that our ‘customer service’ can be accurately measured. The ‘Net Promoter Score’ is a simple and accurate KPI (see The Ultimate Question by Fred Reichheld).
Quality customer service is akin to holding a dinner party. When we have people over we want to give them an amazing experience from the very moment they set foot through our front door to when they say goodbye after a great night. We ensure the house is sparkling clean and the food is incredible. We set a special table setting and ask the right mix of guests so that the conversation is fun and interesting. We dim the lights, light candles and play some soft background jazz to enhance the mood. The bathroom is spotless with a nice clean hand towel in place. Our hope is that guests will have fond memories long after the night. Our purpose is to bless our guests with a good time and for us to feel fulfilled by exercising our desires to serve and steward well our God given gifts of hospitality.
“Be kind and honest and you will live a long life; others will respect you and treat you fairly.” Proverbs 21:21
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people” Colossians 3:23
Blessings James Benjamin