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1) The purchase or transaction
2) The relationship
In order to distinguish yourself among your competition, providing just good service is not enough. Your competitors do the same. You must provide EXCELLENT service. That will happen if you follow these rules:
a) Solve your customer's problems as fast as you can without hassles.
b) Your employees should know their stuff and should be well-trained.
c) Treat customers with respect, a quick response, and appreciation.
d) Authorize employees to provide as accurate information as they can and make things happen for customers.
e) The customer should leave with a positive feeling.
One of the most serious problems corporations and small business deal with customers is the defection effect. It is the silent process where the customer takes his business from you and start dealing with your competition. This happens without yelling or showing disappointment for your service up-front.
That process applies to many industries and trade sections. It's an epidemic. The cure here is to do the best you can in order for the customer to come back again and again. Most of your profits will come from few large accounts ordering continuously.
It is with these kinds of customers you should focus your efforts and customer service. For example you could create a toll free call line 24/7 for tiding your large firms you do business with.
On the other hand, that does not mean that you should leave your small clients “out in the cold”. Supporting them is important too. Imagine what would happen if a large customer stops working with you? What do you think the consequences for your company would be if you leave your small customers?
Of course it costs less keeping a customer who makes revenue by continual orders than chasing and finding new clients. It's not a secret the 80/20 rule, meaning that 80% of your profits will be produced from the 20% of your clients. The rates of course are not absolute, it could be 98% to 2%. There are Real life examples for these rates.
After all, the most effective advertising in the business world is the "word-of-mouth advertising." It's so effective because the testimonials gain you trust , which means the happy client has no self-interest causes for proposing a particular firm to his friend. This can be accomplished if you have provided exceptional service to your clients.
Another important factor of a great customer service is that it has to be countable. For example: “ You must answer the phone fast” doesn't mean anything . On the contrary : “You must answer the phone sooner that the third ring” is an accurate customer service rule.
Finally, one of the most important leaps in customer service we can find in today's business world is the individual section mindset most of the companies follow. That means the interactions between
the different sections of the company (Sales/Telemarketing, Shipping, Technical support, Credit/Collections, Order processing) do not function as a team but more often as individual sectors of the firm.
The most discouraging feeling for a customer is dealing with more departments with lack of critical information between them and not being able to find a solution to the problem.