| |
| |
|
Customer Service Information |
|
|
|
Under Promise & Over Perform: The Art of Managing Customer Expectations
I'll always feel warmly about Conrad's restaurant, in Glendale, California. On the morning of the Northridge earthquake, Conrad's was the only restaurant in town that opened for business, and stayed open until the last customer went home. (For the record, I had a jumbo burger with Swiss cheese, grilled onions, fries, and two chocolate shakes with lots of whipped cream and extra cherries on top.) The line of hungry patrons shoe-laced down the block, but instead of being grumpy, everyone was smiling, happy to be alive, and bursting with their own quake stories to share with the strangers all around them. What was truly extraordinary was the fact that Conrad's did the ordinary, under exceptional circumstances. It opened for business-as-usual. Undoubtedly, it had a skeleton crew, because freeways were damaged and closed, and some workers couldn't make it in for their shifts. But enough servers and hosts were there for us, and this very fact exceeded, I'm sure, most people's expectations. Which of course, proves a point: You don't have to provide "legendary" or "heroic" or otherwise spectacular service to succeed. You merely have to exceed people's expectations as a way to consistently create customer satisfaction. The problem is most companies do the opposite. They crow about how capable they are at providing top service, citing surveys that they have sponsored and often manipulated to appear better than they really are. "Your call is important to us" is repeated incessantly on hold. Some service reps are even trained to ask one of the dumbest questions imaginable: "How can I provide you with exceptional service, today?" In reality, most of us would be thrilled to replace this self-serving rhetoric with the basics. We really want service folks to: Be there for us when we need them. Be competent and well trained. Be quick to address our problems and to solve them. Be upbeat, and grateful for the opportunity to have our patronage, and Be done! To elevate our customers' hopes, and then dash them, is utterly self-defeating. It reminds me of what I used to hear as a kid-athlete. It's ok to boast, but you better be really, really good, in every single contest. Otherwise, the first time you screw-up, you'll be razzed, relentlessly. Moral: Be modest. Nice and humble does it every time. If you're modest, and simply competent, you'll be appreciated and you'll win customer loyalty. That's the secret to Conrad's decades-long success. Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a popular keynote speaker, consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books. He is the author of the Nightingale-Conant audio program, The Law Of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable. Gary teaches Entrepreneurship and Consulting at UCLA Extension, and he is President of Customersatisfaction.com and The Goodman Organization. He can be reached at gary@customersatisfaction.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Court Staff Receiving Customer Service Training - Government of Jamaica, Jamaica Information Service
Customer-Service - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Customer Service Has Moved Toward Customer Care As I waited for an answer to my VCR inquiry from a stereo company, the recording stated a "customer care" representative would be available shortly. At that moment, I realized it's finally catching on everywhere. Managing Your Business When One Client Takes Alot of Your Time How often has your schedule been thrown out of whack because of a client's needs?I try to live by the 80/20 rule: working from my home office 80% of the time and working onsite with clients 20% of the time. But, the past week has been the exact opposite. A White Paper: Profiting with Kindness In 2002, there wasn't much interest for Kindness in business, and some business people would question, "What does kindness have to do with business, anyway?" Is this a for real question or just to prove a point? Or perhaps they couldn't figure out what being kind really had to do with business. Or perhaps the word was a jargon word, an unfamiliar language. Dealing with Difficult People 1. Don't get Hooked !!!When people behave towards you in a manner that makes you feel angry, frustrated or annoyed - this is known as a Hook. Attitude of Service When conducting a training session about customer service, I always spend a fair amount of time talking about attitudes. After all, to be of service, you must develop an attitude of service. Become a Customer Enthusiasm-Guru! One thing all successful small business owners have in common is the knowledge that their business is based on enthusiastic customers. Despite their multi-tasking titles of bookkeeper, service provider and sales-manager, their most important title is Customer-Enthusiasm Guru. Is Your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System Doomed To Fail? "Right, People. Let's blast out that mail campaign we've been planning for so long. Mastering Challenging Service Situations During the course of everyday business, many of you encounter unsatisfied customers. How you and your staff handle these situations, will shape your service image and ultimately your bottom line. Importance of Good Customer Support in Online Computer Peripherals Shops Looking for hi-fi computer peripherals? Finding it tough to decide on the product you need to purchase? Not sure about the models that are available? Not sure about the configuration that would best suit your need? Worried that your budget might not fetch you your long dreamt hi-fi? Just relax!! There are many great world class online computer peripherals shopping centers. They offer you not only the best computer peripherals but also friendly online help in their world class online computer peripherals shopping sites. Responding to Complaints It's possible that in the course of your business dealings, you may (just may) have to deal with a complaint from a customer or client .. Customers - Hold Onto the Ones Youve Got You probably spend a great deal of your time looking for new customers or clients. However, are you sure your doing enough to hold onto the ones you've got. Renewing Customer Loyalty Every business loses customers, but not many do much about getting them back. And that is a big mistake. How To Use Your Current Customers Jay instructed a customer of his to offer a rare coin collection to new customers for just $19. He was actually losing a couple of dollar on every sale! But . Complaints Are Actually A Good Thing! Nobody likes to get complaints. They make you question your judgment, they can ruin your day, and they almost always leave you in a bad mood. Dissatisfied or Rude Customers Can Be Satisfied Customers On a recent airline flight I was an upset customer. I was arriving on a late inbound flight and connecting with the last flight out on the same airline, but the connecting flight left without me! At first, I was furious when told to wait in a line of 300 people to resolve my problem. You MUST Sweat the Small Stuff It's The Little Things That Make or Break a Small BusinessIf you make a poor impression in small things, why should customers trust you with larger ones like buying your product regularly or giving you a big order? In the last two days, I've seen this simple fact proved three times.I ordered software from Company A. How To Build Stellar Client Relationships Your opportunity to build a stellar client relationship starts with managing the gap between your perception of how things are going and your client's.Begin the process here . Your Voice Print "Mountains are built one pebble at a time and climbed one step at a time." This is a quote of mine that I personally put into practice each day as I progress towards fulfilling my WHY in life. Customer Service - A Lost Art? Is customer service a lost art? Before you answer that question, take a moment and think about the last few times you have gone shopping or out to dinner. Okay, now that you have really thought about it, is your answer any different? Why is it that when we actually DO receive excellent customer service that it makes such an impression on us that we usually choose to go back? Why - because the occurrences are so few and far between!!! As a home business owner, it is imperative to my business that customer service is ALWAYS a top priority. The Logic of Emotion! Homebuyers are an interesting study. Watching people make their home buying decisions has brought me to the conclusion that every decision that every one of us makes is based in emotion.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
