Effective client-servicing is very often what differentiates the winners from the plodders in today's highly competitive business landscape where information on client experience travels fast. A customer-focused mindset is key to preserving a loyal client base, the cornerstone of your business, and exemplary client service practices can differentiate you from the competitors and give your product the extra impetus it needs to outshine rival products. Below Bayt.com, the Middle East's #1 job site, looks at some key measures to keep in mind in order to deliver exceptional customer service:-
Your business plan, business processes and communications strategies should all be built around understanding and anticipating your clients' needs, desires, hopes and dreams as well as their concerns. Make sure you are completely aligned with your clients' expectations of you and can deliver satisfactorily on those expectations and are duly prepared to manage any setbacks that may arise. Client-facing personnel at all ranks in the company should have an inventory of consistent, intelligent and well-rehearsed answers to all of their clients most frequently asked questions including answers to questions anticipated when unforeseen problems arise.
Learning to listen well is a key skill that will serve you well in all aspects of your career, especially when it comes to dealing with clients. Effective listening entails truly making an effort to absorb and understand what is being said and to acknowledge that understanding and the client's right to their point of view no matter what their point of view is. Put yourself in the client's shoes and seek to truly understand their point of view and where they are coming from. Let the culture of effective listening permeate your organization.
Honesty and sincerity go a long way with client. Do not pretend you have answers to their every problem if you don't. Admitting a weakness in your knowledge or process is preferable to defensiveness and outright lies. Be genuine also in your concern to draft an effective solution to your clients needs and in your commitment to winning their loyalty and maximizing their long-term satisfaction. A lack of sincerity or concern for your client's needs or viewpoints can come through in your tone of voice and demeanour as well as in the proactivity of your communications and the nature of the solutions you propose in conflict resolution.
Clients who are unable to reach you are more likely than not to seek an alternate product/service provider where the response to client service is more interactive and their needs and concerns can be addressed more proactively. Make it easy for clients to approach you by having readily available client service teams who are easily accessible, expertly trained and well-versed in the art of client service. Give the client many points of contact to reach you to ensure convenience for them - by phone, by fax, by mobile phone, by mail, by email. Wherever possible provide toll free numbers. Make sure the process a customer undergoes to contact you to place an order, voice a complaint, ask a question etc. is well though out, facile and has been fully thought through in every detail with the end goal of facilitating a positive and satisfactory client experience that enlists your clients trust and confidence.
Your client retention and loyalty schemes should revolve around building effective long-term relationships with your clients not just on perfecting singular non-repetitive client communications. Show the client you care in words, actions and in the tone and frequency of your communications as well as with the occasional surprise be it remembering them on holidays with greeting cards, remembering their birthdays, congratulating them on positive news that relates to them in the media etc. Invite them to workshops, special focus groups, training events, industry events etc. Through these relationships you can learn to understand and appreciate your customers' needs, preferences and concerns vis-a-vis your products and services as well as earn their respect, loyalty, trust, good will and support. Effective long-term relationships can compensate for poor performance in the product differentiation or price competitiveness stake as clients who feel appreciated, cared for and understood are less likely to leave in pursuit of better products elsewhere.
If the product is faulty and can't be fixed, don't say it can. If you are not authorized to provide an effective solution don't pretend you are. If the problem can't be solved within24 hours don't say it will. Defaulting on your promises to the customer is a very grave trespass, avoid it at all costs. Instead, provide honest, helpful feedback, seek to buy time if you need it and aim to under-promise and over-deliver in all your commitments to the client. This applies even at the most basic level; if you promise to call the client back the next day or the same afternoon make sure you do so in time, even if it's just to say you have started the enquiry process and require a specific number of additional days or hours to get the necessary information. Always seek to leave room for a positive surprise factor such as a problem resolved quicker and better than anticipated, an unanticipated gift, a special promotion or a highly rewarding loyalty scheme.
Regular communication is a key component of effective client servicing. Build your client servicing strategies around a core of vital information sharing and seek to always expand on the flow of information you freely share with your client. Seek through this information sharing to educate clients about the product as well as your company's history, progress, news and dedication to the customer. Use all tools at your disposal including your company website, emails, phone calls, faxes, interactive training modules to communicate your company's latest news or the latest service/product innovations. Newsletters are a great means to stay top-of-mind and communicate your innovations and key messages as are focus groups and interactive forums where you meet with your key clients on a regular basis to gauge their satisfaction and communicate your commitment to the them and their needs and preferences.
Don't be afraid to be a warm, caring, pleasant human being. Make every experience, every point of contact with your company a memorable and uplifting one, whether it be your smiling, welcoming, knowledgeable voice over the phone (yes a smile can always be discerned over the phone), your polite, prompt and considerate email or fax; or your pleasant, professional manner and courteousness during visits with the client. Show you care and be openly attentive and inviting of customer contact so that they leave every contact with your company feeling positive and are always willing to come back for more and refer their friends and family. Above all be sensitive to their needs and very genuine in your concern to understand their needs and preferences and any concerns and hesitations they may have as these must be addressed if their loyalty is to be won and your business us to grow.
The pivotal attitude to maintain at all times if you are to retain your valuable customer base is that the customer is never wrong! Avoid arguing with the customer at al l costs as that will be both counterproductive and futile. Bear in mind that your objective is to maximize the satisfaction of your customers and earn their respect and loyalty; arguments, defensiveness and insisting on having the last word will almost certainly result in exactly the opposite. On a similar vein avoid using authoritarian language such as "Our company would never do that" or "No one has ever complained about that before" or "That simply cannot be true" or "What seems to be the problem here". Show the customer you are on their side always in language, tone and proposed solutions to their conflicts.
Timely conflict resolution is key to effective client servicing. Don't allow issues to remain unaddressed and mould and fester. Stand ready to resolve client issues in a prompt, timely and effective manner. Be prepared to offer an apology even if you are not necessarily in the wrong. You may phrase this as "I am very sorry that there has been a misunderstanding and for the inconvenience this has caused you!" Wherever possible, allow professionals in the seniormost ranks of your company to intervene to placate an important customer and seek effective resolution; this communicates your company's commitment to their business and your respect and esteem for the client.
