Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The 15 Commandments of Customer Service

We're remodeling a bathroom ourselves and as a result we've come into contact with many vendors of products as well as services.

Sorry to seem pedantic, but in these rough economic times, when spending is at a historic low point and businesses must thrive on what little spending they receive, customer service can make a difference for any business that wishes to remain in business. This goes for plumbers and physicians, for the mom-and-pop hardware and a giant Lowe's.

Following are what I call "The 15 Commandments of Customer Service."

Enjoy.


1. Never forget that without customers, you have no business. Treating customers in any way but courteously and respectfully will signal the beginning of the end of your business.


2. Never forget that you’re not doing customers a favor by being in business; rather, they’re doing you a favor by giving you theirs.


3. It takes 20 positive things to overcome one negative thing.


4. Call when you say you will. If you tell customers you’ll call regarding an order or a service, then call. If you don’t plan to call or think you might forget to call, then don’t say you will (or simply tell customers to call you).


5. Hire employees who share your customer service point of view. Relying on customer service training (or, worse, coercion) to instill the art of customer service in people who have no concept of it
(through a simple lack of experience) will not be anywhere near as successful as you need it to be.

6. Never assume customers know your business or, especially, your processes. You might have to explain how your order process works, what your return policy is, or something similar. Simply handing customers a printed copy of your policies --- or telling them all your policies are discussed at your web page --- is not sufficient and lame to the extreme.


7. Avoid using jargon with customers you don’t know or who don’t know you. How do you feel when someone speaks a language you don’t understand, and does so right in front of you. Confused? Well, jargon is like another language to your customer, and a confused customer will go elsewhere (i.e., you’ll experience Commandment 1).


8. Be careful discussing theory with customers. Chances are customers don’t come to you for an education, they come to you because you can do something for them. If you bury them in theory you’ll confuse them: don’t explain how a vacuum is created inside the BigVac 1000, just demonstrate how well the BigVac 1000 picks up debris. (The corollary to this is customers who know more about the theory than you.)


9. Never try to show your customers you know more than they do (put another way, never assume they know less than you). They’re probably in your store because they know less than you, or simply because what you can do for them is something they can’t do for themselves. Either way, no one likes to be made to feel stupid. (See also Commandments 1 and 2.)


10. Don’t ever think that what you offer is something customers can’t find elsewhere in one form or another. The same day you begin to act as if you’re the only game in town is the same day all those similar games in town begin to appeal to your customers.


11. Listen to your customers twice as much as you speak to them. You have two ears and one mouth. Yes, this is a bromide, but if you have a better way to suggest listening more than speaking, I’m all ears.


12. Avoid a fine-print mentality. Treat your customers as you would wish to be treated when you’re a customer. It’s not called the Tin Rule or the Iron Rule or the Aluminum Rule; its called the Golden Rule. Whoever thought of this used a precious metal because this is a precious rule.
(See also Commandment 6.)

13. Don’t be afraid to say I can’t help you. You can do this positively by suggesting where they might go to find what they need and, if there’s time, by offering to call ahead for them: this can be to a competitive business, to another store within your franchise or chain,
or simply to another department within your store.

14. Never denigrate a competitor or another customer, in front of a
competitor or another customer. (See also “the Golden Rule.”)

15. Follow up with customers after a large sale or a complex service. A small thing like a follow-up phone call or email to ask how things are going can make a huge impression and can ensure return business. No, you probably can’t contact all your customers, but you can contact some of them. John Chambers of Cisco Systems has always done this, and look where Cisco is.

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