Q My business depends on repeat customers. How do I train new employees to provide quality service so customers come back?
A Everyone has a customer service horror story to tell. Fewer can recollect a positive, gratifying customer service experience. We seem to remember negative experiences more than our positive experiences. Having a customer service policy in place is vital to small-business survival. It costs a company five times more to attract a customer than retain existing customers, and most customers leave because of small oversights and a lack of attention to simple needs.
The first step is to decide where to focus your attention. Are your customers vendors or patrons? If the majority of your customer interaction is done by phone, have scripts ready for your employees to deal with various scenarios. If your employees deal with customers face to face, train your employees to look people in the eye, smile, be friendly and offer product information.
Of course, lead by example. Your company culture and commitment to excellent service starts at the top and should be consistent among all employees.
Your customers' impression of the service received often depends on your staff's communication style. As a small business owner, you can't be expected to train in communication skills and interpersonal skills, so focus on hiring the right employees. Many employers place a stronger emphasis on hiring a "personality" than on relative experience; a friendly attitude can be a major asset.
Current customer service policies and procedures should be part of every employee's orientation and an important consideration during performance evaluations. Many employers offer merit pay or other incentives based on positive customer feedback. Let your employees know that good customer service translates into increased profits and greater job security.
Training your employees to handle complaints, resolve disputes or satisfy a disappointed customer is essential to the survival of your business. Ninety percent of unhappy customers leave without saying anything. Many of those customers will never return.
Unhappy customers will tell an average of 13 people of their negative experience. If you resolve a problem in a customer's favor, there is a 70 percent chance that they will patronize your business in the future.
| What should your employees do if a customer has a problem? Train them to apologize, empathize, show the customer that you intend to fix the problem, and make a value-added gesture if possible. |
Above all, make sure your employees greet and thank the customer sincerely. Such gestures may seem small to the employee but they can be extremely helpful in turning a negative experience into a positive one.
How can you tell if your customer service is up to snuff? Provide a mechanism to get that feedback through comment cards or customer satisfaction surveys — and follow up on those comments.
A customer service plan should be a part of your overall marketing plan. A proactive strategy to provide a positive experience is certainly less expensive than damage control. Developing and implementing customer service training is more complicated than can be addressed here. Cabrillo College Corporate Training offers low-cost customer service training to local businesses and the Small Business Development Center is always here to help you, free of charge, with your customer service needs. The SBDC can be reached at 479-6136.
Teresa Thomae is director of the Small Business Development Center at Cabrillo College. E-mail questions for future columns to sbdc@cabrillo.edu
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