Customer Service Article: The Four Cornerstones of Customer Service Excellence by John Boe

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The Four Cornerstones of Customer Service Excellence by John Boe

Achieving Customer Service Excellence is not accomplished by accident, nor is it attained without a great deal of effort and teamwork. It requires well–trained customer service professionals who have a passion for providing quality service. Customer service isn’t a department; it’s a simple philosophy that should be practiced by everyone within an organization, from the CEO to the newest employee. Customer Service Excellence is the lifeblood of any business. You can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in as many new customers as you want, but unless you can get those customers to come back, your business won’t be profitable for long.

Providing Customer Service Excellence after the sale is a smart business decision that pays long-term dividends. All the money that companies spend on sales training, marketing research, advertising, and PR initiatives to attract new customers is wasted if they can't keep their customers satisfied after the sale. Your satisfied customers' positive "word-of-mouth" endorsements have always been and always will be your company's greatest asset and most effective marketing program.

The most successful companies place great value on developing lifetime relationships with their customers. In today’s competitive marketplace, they are aware that their customers are aggressively prospected, and their loyalty cannot be taken for granted. Customer-focused companies recognize that relationship building, and follow-on service are critical components for promoting both customer retention and revenue growth.

Great customer service is the single most controllable difference between you and your competition. With so many choices available, consumers have little or no reason to remain loyal to a company if they are not 110% pleased with the experience. Happy customers won’t just send other customers to you; they’ll come back to you. It’s this repeat business that creates long-term success. It’s easy to say no to a customer, but that’s not what amazing companies do. They find ways to say yes.

When you think about providing Customer Service Excellence, it's about how you take every single interaction you have with a customer and use that opportunity to improve his or her perception of both you and your organization. It takes years to build a company’s reputation in the marketplace, but only minutes to ruin it. If you don’t take care of your customers, your competitor will. Never forget that your competitor is only one mouse click away.

The Four Cornerstones of Customer Service Excellence

Cornerstone 1. Maintain a Positive Mental Attitude and Go the Extra Mile. A smile can be felt over the phone, but so can a frown. First impressions are extremely important and there's absolutely no substitute for a cheerful disposition and a positive mental attitude. Customers don't want to deal with grumpy, negative-minded employees who project a less than professional attitude. The only sure-fire way to keep a customer happy is to consistently go the "extra mile" and exceed his or her service expectations. Do you exceed your customer’s expectations? Do you surprise customers with more than they were expecting from you?

Cornerstone 2. Show Respect, Courtesy, Kindness and Empathy. It’s important to remember that respect, courtesy, kindness and empathy are the building blocks that form the foundation for Customer Service Excellence. When you demonstrate these important qualities, you transform your customers into your best sales reps. Nothing makes a customer feel more devalued than being treated like a number. Use the person’s name, make requests rather than demands and know when to apologize. When something goes wrong for a customer, they want to hear that you understand their frustration and that you are genuinely sorry that they are being inconvenienced.

Cornerstone 3. Be Proactive Not Reactive. Proactive support is all about identifying and resolving customer service issues before they become a problem. The best customer service professionals are inventive and show initiative when solving customer complaints. A proactive customer service representative anticipates the needs of his or her customer and follows through. Customers really appreciate a smooth, seamless process for addressing their needs. If there are several steps needed to take care of their concerns, keep them in the loop – update them by e-mail or with a quick phone call so that they know you are working on the situation and progress is being made.

Cornerstone 4. Be Dependable and Responsible. If you can't be counted on to keep your word and deliver on your promises, your customers will drop you like a bad habit. When you make a commitment to a customer, always remember to under promise and over deliver. Your word is your bond and your customers expect you to live up to your promises. Customers describe quality customer service in terms of attention to detail and responsiveness. Customer satisfaction surveys consistently point to the fact that the little things make a big difference. Not surprisingly, the top two customer complaints with regards to customer service are unreturned phone calls and a failure to keep promises and commitments.

Customer service is not about having a smile on your face for your customer. It’s about delivering service so good that it puts a smile on your customer’s face. At the end of the day, never forget that to the customer you are the company. Rather than focusing on your competition, instead focus on providing Customer Service Excellence with each and every one of your customers. You do not need permission from a boss to make a customer feel great. I strongly encourage you to get creative and look for ways to use these four cornerstones to take your customer service from Good to Great. Customers may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Exceeding your customer’s expectations and delivering Customer Service Excellence is a day-to-day, person-to-person challenge. Today is the day and the challenge is yours!