How Good Is Your Customer Service?

Your team's purpose is to help your organization deliver on its promise to customers. So if you don't "come up with the goods," you'll be letting them down at the most basic level. They won't be able to trust your team or the business, and they certainly won't be happy.

Unfortunately, the underlying problem might be out of your control. Perhaps the logistics department is struggling to keep up with orders, or a supplier has delivered poor-quality parts. But don't give up: identify where your team does have influence and act there.

For example, your team members will likely be responsible for data handling, so encourage them to be accurate and quick. Post frequently asked questions online and organize briefings for them so they can give customers consistent and up-to-date information. And share customer feedback with other departments, so they can improve their own reliability too.

Whatever your particular business and processes, you'll always be more reliable if you instill a customer-focused mindset within your team. In his book, "Win the Customer: 70 Simple Rules for Sensational Service," Flavio Martins says, "Service should be part of the behavior, thoughts and actions of everyone in the organization. It should inspire people, encourage their development, and transform their work, as well as the customer's experience."

How clear is it to your customers that your service is reliable? At one extreme, they need to know that their credit card details are safe, so your systems must be up to the job and your people scrupulously honest. Equally, they want to be sure that they're buying the right product for their needs, so they might want to contact your team to find out more – but will they be disappointed when they do?

Georges and Guenzi's Customer Trust Model highlights the importance to customers of dealing with well-informed representatives. So you'd be wise to harness the expert knowledge and enthusiasm of your organization's operational or product development teams, to help develop your own people's knowledge. Also, carry out a training needs assessment to address any other gaps in their technical or soft skills. Then they can deliver their customer service knowledgeably, confidently and appropriately, building credibility as they do so.

Throughout, be sure to support your people practically and emotionally, and encourage them to do the same for one another as team players. This will help them build resilience despite the emotional labor of dealing with problems or complaints. The more valued and engaged they feel, the more loyal they will be to the organization, the more impressive their service will be, and the more confident your customers will feel.

Does all your communication with your customers deliver the same reliable and expert message, appropriate to your brand and to their needs? If you want to build a strong relationship with them, your social media and website should align with your brochures and packaging as much as with your customer service team's skill and attitude. Such consistency will create a recognizable and trustworthy identity.

Similarly, your systems and physical infrastructure need to be robust enough to support your people effectively. You may not be able to make such resourcing decisions yourself, so develop your powers of persuasion and negotiation to help ensure your team has what it needs to do the best job possible.

How rapid is your staff turnover? If your people find their jobs too tough, they'll be tempted to leave for fear of burnout. But if they feel able to solve problems, they'll be proud and happy to stay – a tangible asset of your business.

It's essential that your team members can see things from the customer's point of view. If they do, they'll understand his or her thoughts, actions and needs better, care about his experience, and communicate with him accordingly.

They can gain this perspective by developing their empathy and listening> skills, and building rapport with callers. And you can support them by surveying customers, monitoring social media traffic, and mapping customer experience.

If you manage complaints and feedback continuously, rather than just responding in a crisis, you'll be able to preempt problems. And, when things do go wrong, you can draw on the positivity you've previously built up with the customer and prevent issues getting out of control. If she knows that you'll do everything you can to make amends, she'll be less likely to "jump ship" to a competitor or share damaging comments online.

Aspire to the highest level of Miller and Heiman's buy-sell hierarchy. At level one, you are simply providing a product or service but, at level five, you're helping your customers to solve their own issues – you become indispensable!

Your team is the organization's most direct route to its customers. Every interaction it has with those customers is a chance to build a relationship, increase goodwill, and learn. And, if your people are listening carefully and feel empowered to take the action they think is best, they can be drivers of change and innovation.

For example, online clothes retailer Zappos® sets no time limits on its employees' calls with customers, has no targets for the number of calls they should complete in a shift, and doesn't script conversations. Instead, the priority is to be personal and thorough, and to build customer loyalty.

Zappos is a world leader in adding what it calls "wow." Customers get to speak to the same co-worker each time they call, and receive personalized cards, gifts and services in response to complaints.