Unleashing brilliant, anitcipatory service!

Almost everyone I talk to agrees that customer service these days is marginal at best. Companies must encourage a culture of customer service.  Managers must constantly develop and train team members to better anticipate and respond to customer needs. Consider the suggestions below to “unleash” brilliant, anticipatory service, build customer loyalty, and save your organization costs in the long run.

• Create anticipatory service standards. Use focus groups to pinpoint common customer/client requirements and ways they can be met by challenging every department to develop procedures and check lists to anticipate and meet your customers’ wishes, expectations, and/or concerns. Then establish service standards that will ensure a consistent level of proactive service.  Emphasize the positive and eliminate the negative!
• Hire for attitude and train for success. For positions that require contact with customers, you must select people with a natural, customer-oriented attitude.
• Invite your staff to walk a mile in your customers’ shoes to better understand the impact they have on the customer experience. Ask employees to identify with the customer.  Ask the customer for input as to what would make his/her experience with your organization more satisfying and memorable.
• Share positive customer service stories (from within your organization) with staff every day. This practice creates a forum for sharing best practices and sends the message that delivering remarkable service is not only encouraged, but is expected.
• Teach all employees the history of your company. Then, have each team member write down the one thing about your organization they are most passionate about and how they can share that with customers. This will connect employees emotionally with your brand.  Ritz-Carlton employees tell each guest “It is my pleasure” after providing any service-even the most simple.  This is the type of attitude and culture that needs to be encouraged.

As Roberts stated, "excellent customer service needs to be delivered by the entire organization, not just a single department."  (Roberts 235)

Hope these tips help!  Let me know if you have any questions.  Thank you!