Don't overlook little customer service details

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Don't overlook little customer service details
1/26/2012 12:45:28 AM
Category: Business Operations

According to Strategic Workplace Solutions, 81 percent of companies that provide excellent customer service outperform their competition.

However, when it comes to excellence, some companies focus too much on larger-scale customer service operations and fail to acknowledge the little details. It's these small service touches that matter, simply because they are so easy to overlook. You want people to recommended your company and believe your business is different from others that provide a similar product - this can be done by focusing on the smaller things that customers notice.

According to Entrepreneur magazine, this can include attentiveness, recognition, personalization, consideration and appreciation.

For example, if you run a restaurant, you know that customers are going to be analyzing the food, but what about other aspects of their experience? Have scraps from the previous customers been wiped off the table? Does the staff respond with well wishes or a small pastry when someone mentions that it's a customer's birthday? Remaining alert to customer needs can differentiate one business from another.

Recognition is a big one. This includes greeting customers by name, making eye contact and generally making them feel like they're the most important people in the world.

"Show them you think they are amazing and want more than anything to give them what they’ve come to you to get," the news source suggests.

Consideration is similar to recognition, in that the staff is working to help each customer individually. This may include walking customers to the door and opening it for them as they leave, or helping them carry purchases to their car.

In terms of personalization, does your staff do a good job of paying attention to repeat customers' preferences? Getting to the point where a customer becomes a "regular" at a food establishment or doesn't need to specify the amount of inventory he or she needs to a supplier is a sign not only that your business pays attention, but of a long-lasting relationship.

Lastly, appreciation can be accomplished in person or via the internet. For instance, you could gift-wrap packages, send a handwritten note or provide a free item every so often. Or, as Mashable explains, you could utilize social media to provide fans with advance notice of a special promotion or offer a free tour of your facilities in exchange for becoming a brand ambassador online.

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