>>Customer
Service Articles
Retail Customer Service
Tips: Tips for improving your level of service by Kate
Zabriskie
Today I witnessed a customer service miracle in
action. I took my son to our local fast food restaurant,
so he could have some lunch and play in the indoor
playground. While I was waiting for our food to be
ready, a woman approached the counter with a crushed
Styrofoam cup. She said, "This cup fell off of our
table and broke. I need another drink and I need someone
to come clean up our table and the floor." The tone
of her voice suggested that somehow the restaurant was
responsible for her broken cup. And of course, there was
no, "Hey I'm so sorry, one of my horrible children
was fooling around and caused you a mess."
It was then that right before my eyes a customer service
miracle occurred. Rather than replying with the same
nasty treatment they had just gotten from the customer,
the staff quickly gave her a new drink. Then a man
appeared with a smile and said, "I would be glad to
clean that up for you." The staff never heard the
words "thank you" from that customer, yet they
acted as if they had. All were professional and conveyed
an attitude that said, "We love having the
opportunity to serve each and every person in this
restaurant."
Not surprisingly, the place is almost always busy. The
restaurant is clean, the management supports our
community with various school spirit fundraising nights,
the food is better than most fast food, and most of all,
the people that work there make you want to come back.
Watching customer service interaction is my hobby and my
work, and today's experience was a living, breathing
example of the 21 Rules for Excellent Retail Customer
Service that we share with the participants in our
courses. Most of them are not that hard to follow.
However, they can be hard to follow consistently.
If you work with customers in retail, take a look at the
list and ask yourself how closely you follow the rules.
1. Smile when greeting a customer in person and on the
phone (and yes, they can tell if you are smiling over
the telephone!).
2. Use age-appropriate greetings, and avoid referring to
older customers and women as "guys."
3. Be proactive and ask how you may be of service.
4. Stay visible and available, but don't hover.
5. Don't turn away, walk away, start to make a phone
call, or duck beneath the counter as a customer
approaches. (We've all had it happen to us.)
6. The live customer standing in front of you takes
precedence over someone who calls on the phone.
7. Never judge a book by its cover--all customers
deserve attention regardless of their age or appearance.
8. Leave food and beverages in the break room.
9. A customer doesn't want to hear about your upcoming
break.
10. Makes any personal calls when you're on a break and
out of earshot.
11. The correct answer is never "I don't know"
unless you add to it, "but I can find out for
you."
12. If a customer wants something that isn't on display,
go to the stock room and try to find it.
13. If the item isn't in the stock room, offer to call
another store or order it.
14. Learn to read body language to see if a customer
could use some help.
15. Don't let chatty customers monopolize your time if
others are waiting.
16. Call for backup support if lines are forming.
17. Be discrete if a customer's credit card is declined
by asking if there is another method of payment he or
she would like to use.
18. Never discuss customers in front of other customers
(they'll wonder what you're saying about them once they
leave).
19. Inspect merchandise before bagging it to make sure
it's not defective or the wrong size.
20. Make sure customers receive everything they've paid
for before they leave your store.
21. Smile as you are saying goodbye and encourage the
customer to come again.
And here's one more tip: if you can, give people more
than what they expect.
Article
Source: http://www.articledashboard.com
Kate Zabriskie is the Founder of
Business Training Works, Inc., specializing in business
communication skills including Communication Skills
Training and Business Etiquette Training. To learn more,
visit www.businesstrainingworks.com
1. Be 1. Be assertive - not aggressive or passive. My
definition of assertion is simple: "Say what you
mean, mean what you say, and don't be mean when you say
it." Let this rule guide your conversations with
all customers and you will always be confident, cool,
and in control AND you'll always be professional.
2. Speak more slowly. You'll be amazed at how much more
clearly you can think and how much control and
confidence you experience when you consciously slow down
your rate of speech. Speak slowly and methodically when
your emotional triggers are launched and you'll maintain
poise during difficult conversations.
3. Wait 1-2 seconds before responding. Responding
immediately to difficult or tactical customers could
result in you saying something you'll later regret.
Before you respond, take a deep breath, wait at least 2
seconds, and think about the best response and the best
approach.
4. Take a time-out. When you sense that your buttons
have been pushed, take a break. You can tell the
customer you need to put him on hold while you review a
file, or whatever excuse sounds good at the time. The
point is to get away from the customer for a few seconds
so you can re-group.
5. Use positive self-talk. I'm going to sound like Dr.
Phil on this one, but I'm quite serious. Instead of
saying to yourself, "I don't get paid enough to put
up with this ____." Say something more positive
like "This guy really needs my help." Thinking
more positively helps you respond more positively and
professionally. Negative thoughts lead to negative
words, and it spirals into a very negative situation.
6. Show your power before you use it. Often, a subtle
suggestion of your "power" is far more
effective than the outright use of your power. As a
customer service professional you may have the power to
terminate a phone call. You could say to your customer:
"If you don't stop yelling, I will terminate this
call." But, believe it or not, you are far more
"powerful" if you say, "I want to help
you, but when you yell and cut me off, you make it
difficult for me to work with you." The latter
statement demonstrates your power and your message most
definitely gets across. The former statement uses up all
of your ammunition and won't usually diffuse an irate
customer.
These incredibly simple tips will position you to keep
your cool when customers get hot!
Myra
Golden is an award-winning professional speaker and
principal of Myra Golden Seminars, LLC (www.myragolden.com)
a customer service training firm clients in food and
beverage, banking, healthcare, hospitality, and other
industries. Her client list includes McDonald’s,
Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, Michelin
Tires, Pirelli, and Procter & Gamble, among many
others.
In
addition,
Myra
is a published author of Beyond
WOW, producer of more than a dozen customer
service videos, editor of weekly customer service
newsletter, and is a repeated guest speaker at consumer
affairs conferences and annual company meetings
throughout North America
.
Copyright 2006 Craig Binkley
Is customer service a lost art? Before you answer that
question, take a moment and think about the last few
times you have gone shopping or out to dinner. Okay, now
that you have really thought about it, is your answer
any different?
Why is it that when we actually DO receive excellent
customer service that it makes such an impression on us
that we usually choose to go back? Why - because the
occurrences are so few and far between!!!
As a home business owner, it is imperative to my
business that customer service is ALWAYS a top priority.
Remember the saying: “If you don’t take care of your
customer, somebody else will”. I’m sure you have
read or heard it somewhere before.....and how true it
is.
Here are a few ways to improve customer service at your
business:
1) SMILE - Sounds too simple, right? As a customer,
would you prefer to be serviced by a smiling face, or a
scowl that would befit a guard dog?
2) LISTEN - Always be slow to speak and quick to listen.
Let customers express themselves without you trying to
do it for them. Nobody likes being interrupted.
3) DON’T BE TOO PUSHY - Yeah, I know - the bottom line
is sales, right?
There is a fine line between suggesting
products/services and pushing them down a customer’s
throat. If you are too pushy, your customer will
probably walk away and take their business elsewhere.
4) PHONE ETTIQUETTE - Whether you are answering or
initiating a call, always remember who the customer is.
Be polite. Try “Yes sir/ma’am” instead of
“yeah” and “nope”. If you don’t have an answer
for your customer - offer to do some research to find
what they are inquiring about.
5) THANK YOU - ALWAYS thank your customers. Even if you
could not help them or they decided not to purchase from
you. Leave them with a positive impression of your
business before they leave.
6) TRAINING - Train your employees. Don’t let an
untrained employee ruin your track record of excellent
customer service. Train your employees on-the-job for as
long as necessary to teach them good customer service.
“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also
to them likewise” Luke 6:31
In conclusion: Customer service may be THE most
important aspect of your business plan. I know of many
people who are willing to pay a little more for a
product or service in order receive excellent customer
care. Price, advertising, and location are all vital to
a business---- but whatever you do, don’t overlook the
all-important “Good Customer Service”.
Article
Source: http://www.articledashboard.com
Craig Binkley - husband, father
and home business owner. Visit his Work From Home
Directory at www.workfromhomehelper.com
for legitimate work from home opportunities and ideas.
Copyright 2006 Craig Binkley
Is customer service a lost art? Before you answer that
question, take a moment and think about the last few
times you have gone shopping or out to dinner. Okay, now
that you have really thought about it, is your answer
any different?
Why is it that when we actually DO receive excellent
customer service that it makes such an impression on us
that we usually choose to go back? Why - because the
occurrences are so few and far between!!!
As a home business owner, it is imperative to my
business that customer service is ALWAYS a top priority.
Remember the saying: “If you don’t take care of your
customer, somebody else will”. I’m sure you have
read or heard it somewhere before.....and how true it
is.
Here are a few ways to improve customer service at your
business:
1) SMILE - Sounds too simple, right? As a customer,
would you prefer to be serviced by a smiling face, or a
scowl that would befit a guard dog?
2) LISTEN - Always be slow to speak and quick to listen.
Let customers express themselves without you trying to
do it for them. Nobody likes being interrupted.
3) DON’T BE TOO PUSHY - Yeah, I know - the bottom line
is sales, right?
There is a fine line between suggesting
products/services and pushing them down a customer’s
throat. If you are too pushy, your customer will
probably walk away and take their business elsewhere.
4) PHONE ETTIQUETTE - Whether you are answering or
initiating a call, always remember who the customer is.
Be polite. Try “Yes sir/ma’am” instead of
“yeah” and “nope”. If you don’t have an answer
for your customer - offer to do some research to find
what they are inquiring about.
5) THANK YOU - ALWAYS thank your customers. Even if you
could not help them or they decided not to purchase from
you. Leave them with a positive impression of your
business before they leave.
6) TRAINING - Train your employees. Don’t let an
untrained employee ruin your track record of excellent
customer service. Train your employees on-the-job for as
long as necessary to teach them good customer service.
“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also
to them likewise” Luke 6:31
In conclusion: Customer service may be THE most
important aspect of your business plan. I know of many
people who are willing to pay a little more for a
product or service in order receive excellent customer
care. Price, advertising, and location are all vital to
a business---- but whatever you do, don’t overlook the
all-important “Good Customer Service”.
Article
Source: http://www.articledashboard.com
Craig Binkley - husband, father
and home business owner. Visit his Work From Home
Directory at www.workfromhomehelper.com
for legitimate work from home opportunities and ideas.
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