Think about the last time you had an unpleasant service experience as a customer or where you witnessed it happening to someone else. How did it make you feel?

Customers are the reason the doors of any business remain open and their job is to serve their customers to the best of their ability.

The value of excellent customer service has still not been embraced by many customer service representatives. This is evident by the low level of regard to good service being rendered by many businesses. Management sometimes have great policies in place about the customer service. There are however a lack of communicating clear expectations to the employee and monitoring to ensure performance. Some supervisors and even business owners may act as if it does not matter but it really does.

People in general are now more exposed to the global experience and are expecting more from the persons who serve them daily as they carry out their personal and professional responsibilities. More and more people have choices and are utilizing these choices by simply going elsewhere to do business.

The Challenges

Some business owners are not aware of the negative service being experienced by their clients and it hurts their business performance. This is influenced by many factors including:

Lack of dependable supervision: Some supervisors are no better than the team they are supposed to be leading and as such are unable or unwilling to be the positive example for the team. Supervisors must model the excellent behavior the team is expected to portray.

Lack of adequate customer service training: Many companies don’t invest in training for their staff. They employ individuals and give them so called “on the job training”. However, they are being trained by others who have no idea how to deliver excellent service and as such the cycle of “bad” customer service continues.

Disengaged employees: These employees will only do the least required to get by and this will hurt your business. Employee engagement deals with the relationship between the employee and the organization and the level tells you how willing the employee will be to take positive action to further the company’s reputation and interest. It also covers remuneration. A remuneration package can includes non-monetary rewards and these can be explored to ensure the employees feels that the business is actually doing the best it can. This will also assist the employee to feel they are being properly rewarded according to the amount of work being expected of them.

Insensitive employers: Some employers fail to realize that they need to express genuine care for their employees. They need to get to know them and even though it takes work they need to ensure the employees feel that they have their best interest at heart. This usually motivates the employee to work in the best interest of the business.      

Non-alignment between the goals of the employee and employer: Some employers are not aware of the benefits of having engaged employees. Engagement means that their goals are aligned with that of the business and all are working toward mutual success.

Deaf to the customer: Many organizations design their service delivery based on what they think is good. However, the best policy is to listen to your customers and adjust your style to meet and exceed the customers’ expectations. A customer that complains to you should be treated with gratitude as they have taken the time to inform you that there is a problem that requires your attention. The customer that smiles at the bad service and leaves is very dangerous to your business as they usually don’t return, and or give you the kind of negative publicity you don’t want.

The Solutions

Addressing the issue requires acknowledgment of the problem and commitment to take action. Considering that the internet is readily available, more and more people are doing business with the world and bypassing the same services locally. Take for example shopping for clothing. Why should anyone endure the unpleasantness of walking from store to store and encountering some less than desirable service when they can go online? I am sure some of the things people buy are right here but most service representatives don’t like it when you walk into the store and browse without buying so they either ignore you completely when you walk in or displays a negative attitude if you request help.  Business owners can do the following in order to inspire positive changes:

Provide the necessary training: If you can’t do it yourself, hire a professional to ensure your employees have the relevant skills and abilities to deliver the level of service that sets you apart from the competition. There are professionals with reasonable fees and payment plans that all can afford.

Measure and Reward: Monitor your employee’s performance. Reward good performance and address any performance below par with coaching. There is a saying “what gets measured gets done”.

Engage your employees: Knowing your staff is just as important as knowing your customers. This will inform you of what makes them tick. Using this knowledge in the right way makes it easier to motivate them to the desired level of performance.

Fit the right person in the right position: Not everyone is suitable for all positions even if you train them, so endeavor to identify the right personality for the positions you have available. You might even need to reassign some persons to more suitable roles.

Remember people may not always remember what you said or did but they always remember how you made them feel. Therefore endeavor to wow your customers all the time and you will gain their loyalty.

Contact us today. We will help you achieve your desired results.

Sherraine Gardner, MBA (Management Consultancy), sabgfuturesolutions@gmail.com