Winning new clients and keeping existing ones are two focal issues for most companies.  This is key to business growth and development.  Companies won’t survive without new customers, but equally, it is pointless to win new business if present clients keep slipping away.

This may be common sense, but it is staggering to discover how many organisations fail to follow through on one of the main principles in winning new customers and keeping existing ones – offering excellent customer service.

Golden rules are:

• Each customer contact is a positive experience
• Your company’s sales people must be 100% confident that what they sell to the customer will be delivered.

It is important to understand that when organisations actively look for new suppliers, one of the main considerations will be the quality of customer service.  Companies often recognise the significance of customer service from a strategic standpoint.  Media marketing messages are always claiming to put the customer first, but all too often the promise is not fulfilled!

Think about this! Every time a customer and a business are in contact there are opportunities that should be capitalised on such as:

• Pleasing the customer

• The potential to increase sales and profits

• Motivating the company’s workforce through productivity and positive feedback leading to a feeling of ‘a job well done’

• Turning poor service around into a winner.

Consider your own company and how much contact there is between your staff and existing and potential customers through the internet, email, telephone, fax, letter and, of course, meetings.  Through each of these mediums there is an opportunity waiting to be seized!

Imagine the impact if one in ten customers bought an additional product from your company, or referred your business to a colleague, because they were so pleased with the experience of dealing with your people!
 
What is so intriguing in all this is that most companies don’t mean to fail in this aspect – the staff just don’t understand what is expected of them!  Essentially, customer service should have four main objectives:

• Customer Delight

• Customer Loyalty

• Incremental Business

• New Business

Customer service is critical in reaching these objectives, but there must be real support for the staff embodied in 5 key areas:

• Definition and Execution of Customer Service

• Customer Expectations

• Customer Service Skills 

• Complaint Handling Techniques

• Service Recovery

Understanding these steps will deliver outstanding customer service – does your company implement them? Check it out! Is there untapped potential to improve customer retention, improve the sales proposition and create a reputation that ultimately will attract new business? If so, do something about it!!!!

Brett Lyons