Do Business Well

Take theirbreath away! Amaze them! Delight them!Over and over again.

“A great lover is not someone who has a different partner every night. A great lover is someone who makes the same partner feel like a different partner every night”

Daphne du Maurier

Think back over the last three months and remember a time when a company really exceeded your service expectations. So what do you think? Is this a problem?

Not if you’re a true blue entrepreneur. It’s a massive opportunity! In fact, it’s probably the biggest reason why you’re going to succeed, right? You’re going to introduce a level of service unprecedented in your industry, right? You’re going to amaze, astound and delight your customers, right? We hope your answer is yes! yes! yes! Because great service alone may be enough to give you the competitive edge. All you have to do is to set yourself apart from the herd and lift your service standards well above the norm.

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Well it is and it isn’t. Outstanding service is a blend of attitude, systems and constant attention. It’s more than just smiles and handshakes, it’s a way of life. It requires a total commitment to the customer all the way through the business, not just words on a wall.

So, in order to help you deliver record-breaking, champion service, here are 13 (THE LUCKY 13) vital action points which should be ingrained into your company’s operations and culture:

1. MOTIVATE YOUR CUSTOMERS TO TALK TO YOU BECAUSE CUSTOMERS DO NOT COMPLAIN - THEY JUST DO NOT COME BACK!

In the USA only 1 out of 27 unsatisfied customers complain. The Golden Secret, though, is that if you handle the complaint correctly, 95% of your unhappy customers will return as your most loyal customers. Here’s your challenge: you have to proactively identify your dissatisfied customers and give them a way to complain in a user friendly, simple manner.

When customers are asked why they do not complain they say:

• How do I complain?
• It’s not worth the time and effort
• People just don’t care
• We are intimidated, afraid to complain

So make it easy for your customers to complain. In fact, give them an incentive to complain. Make them feel like it’s their right to complain. Call them at random. Go looking for problems. Follow up, follow up, follow up. Customers who complain are more beneficial to your business than any expensive management consultant. The feedback you receive will be an invaluable tool in developing your product or service. Here are some feedback mechanisms you can consider:

• Create a customer care line or a 0800 number. If you do set up a call centre, make sure that it is manned properly. Nothing is more frustrating than a customer care line that is constantly engaged or that keeps customers on hold for twenty minutes. There are many companies that can help you set up this facility.
• Make rating cards available in your store or in your package with pre-paid postage and your address on the back. Give these cards a catchy name like “What’s the Score” Or “Are we winning with you?”or as Nando’s asks: “Did we make a cluck-up?”. Train your staff to encourage feedback from customers.
• Phone customers at random and check their satisfaction levels. This kind of action can lead to great word-of-mouth advertising, especially if you make the call yourself. So do it! Nothing impresses customers more than being called by the boss (that’s you, remember?)
• Receive regular feedback from customers‘ complaints and keep track of how they are being handled e.g. the number of complaints, how were they handled, how quickly they were resolved, and what the results were - i.e. how many customers did repeat business with you.
• Celebrate your staff who handle customer complaints well. And make it easy for them to make the customer happy - i.e. don’t be cheap when it comes to making it right for the customer.

Note: There are some very good Customer Care Monitoring software packages available.

The bottom line is that the number of customer complaints received by your company is not an indication of how weak your business is, but how healthy. In business, no news is very bad news indeed.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Love your customers as they have never been loved before! Part 1

• I Made My Own Advertising Work part 1
• Serious Selling Your Business part 2
• Serious Selling Your Business part 4
• Serious Selling Your Business part 3
• Love your customers as they have never been loved before! Part 3
• What Evidence Do You Have of Success?
• The Art of Tough Love: how do great managers terminate someone and still keep the relationship intact? part 2
• Business Liquidation, Negotiating the Deal
• Love your customers as they have never been loved before! Part 4
• The Art of Tough Love: how do great managers terminate someone and still keep the relationship intact? part 3

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