Customer Service with a Personal Touch?
When it comes to delivering quality customer service, one thing I’ve learned as an entrepreneur is that no matter the nature of the business, customer service is the most important factor influencing your success, and yet, it’s the hardest thing to perfect.
Customer service is the most personal aspect of running a business, and as it is with all things personal, there are so many little details that can affect the outcome of the situation. Think of other personal relationships in our everyday lives, such as romantic relationships or maintaining friendships and you’ll realize that one little mishap can throw everything out of step. As much as we would like to think that we are the kings of the jungles, humans are very emotional and sensitive, especially when it comes to our interactions with one another.
As soon as a customer finishes dialing our toll-free number, that interaction with the company begins, and everything from then on is crucial.
- How many rings before the line picks up?
- Is it an automated recording or a live person? What is the greeting?
- Is the line quality clear and loud enough?
- Can the caller quickly and easily reach the appropriate person or department? (Are instructions clear enough so the caller can determine WHAT the appropriate department is?)
- Is the company representative friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful? Can he be understood?
- Was the issue resolved?
All of these are only some of the many factors that influence the caller’s customer service experience, and although Caller A may not care as much about the greeting received as Caller B, you can bet that the wrong greeting will affect Caller B for the rest of the phone call! We all make snappy, split decisions based on first impressions, and while some of us may be able to put aside our initial assessment, many more will always have that evaluation in the back of their minds. I’m guilty of it, and I know as a busy entrepreneur, I quickly make judgment calls on the new people I meet every day (and, luckily, I’m usually right, but that’s another story).
While first impressions are important, different people put more or less weight on different factors. Some customers are very matter-of-fact and just want the bare-bone basics that are needed to get the issue resolved. Other callers are chattier and respond better to a phone representative who is friendly and engages them in small talk as a screen to loads or a script processes; however, this outgoing personality can be absolutely irritating to the matter-of-fact person! Obviously, different people have different needs, and trying to address them all has made perfecting customer service quite the challenge.
The good news is, I have never turned away from a challenge, and although it’s made me want to pull my hair out at times, making our customer service the best that it can be in our industry is my top priority. I’ve learned a lot from my 23 years in business, and yes, I’ve made a few mistakes which I look back upon and go “What the heck were you thinking?!” A bit chagrined, I nonetheless came out smarter and more motivated from these incidents. This has led to significant improvements in customer service at Globat over the past few years, with exciting new changes yet to come. My next posting will cover these past accomplishments in customer service and touch on some of the upcoming projects the team at Globat has planned.