Top 10 List for Great Service

Here are the top ten steps for creating superior customer service according to an article on the Hawaii Business Web site.


Number 10 – Never settle for average.


Customer service will remain a sustainable point of difference to competitors if it continually improves.


Number 9 – Don’t take it personally.


Find out what you can do to make whatever is wrong with a customer right again.


Number 8 – Renovate.


Everyone loves to see the results of a makeover project.


Number 7 – Build relationships.


You can’t manage relationships you do not have.


Number 6 – Empower employees.


Don’t make customers wait. Give employees the authority to take care of problems.


Number 5 – Learn how to speak on the phone.


Kevin Johnson, president, Hawaii Call Center Association says finding employees that will represent your company well on the phone starts during the job interview process.


Mr. Johnson told Hawaii Business, “Start by hiring the right people. They need to be polite, well-mannered and have the ability to manage conflict. But most importantly, they’ve got to be empathetic. We all want to feel like the person we’re talking to wants to help us.”


Number 4 – Give customers what they want.


The Bank of Hawaii developed a program that allowed customers to provide feedback directly to the company’s chief executive.


Mike O’Neill, the ceo of The Bank of Hawaii received 4,500 customer comments in the first three months. As a result the bank was able to make changes that have resulted in a higher level of customer satisfaction.


Number 3 – Exceed customer expectations.


The C.S. Wo Gallery, for example, gives customers a half-hour window to expect delivery of the furniture they purchased compared to “the usual eight-hour timeframe” given by others.


Number 2 – “Be available.”


Superior customer service requires “being available whenever and however customers want to reach you – be it online, over the phone or in person.”


And the number one idea for ways to provide great service is – “Invest in
your employees.”


The owners of the Big City Diner treat “employees the way they expect customers to be treated – like family.”


The business does not hire people to wait on tables. Big City Diner hires people to serve as runners, hostesses and bus boys. Everyone who works there is required to spend time doing all the jobs at the establishment.


The result according to co-owner Lane Muraoka is employees “build compassion and empathy for each other’s positions. Because, you can’t have even one person thinking, it ain’t my table, so it’s not my responsibility.”


Moderator’s Comment: What are in your list of top 10
steps to creating superior customer service?
[George
Anderson – Moderator
]

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