predict future financial performance: “We have seen organisations cut investment in service, which has led to a reduction in satisfaction, and financial performance has fallen in future years.” In fact, she reckons that far fewer businesses now see short- term cuts to service as a good long-term strategy.
In a retail environment, where a firm is looking to improve, a 'customer service charter' is a good place to start.
Without plugging the institute, Causon says that it helps members develop their service offering through a range of resources on its website. Notably, some of this is also available to non-members. As to what a customer charter should say, Causon’s response is direct: “It should always reflect the values and purpose of the organisation, focus on what's important to customers, define clear standards and provide differentiation.”
Getting buy-in Of course, having a policy is one thing, but making it work is quite another. And it’s for
this reason that Causon cites the institute’s The Customer Knows research which addressed this question: “Employee engagement is critical because it leads to more discretionary effort, emotional connection with customers, improvement ideas, and consistent performance.” Interestingly, the research found that while pay and reward is part of the picture, if pay is sufficient, the real keys to engagement are purpose, training and development, the manager relationship, recognition, and communication.
And just as employee engagement is important, so firms need to broadcast their efforts. Naturally, how this is done depends on the nature, size, and culture of the business. She says that word of mouth is still crucial, particularly at a local, independent level. Some businesses communicate via email, social media or in- store displays. But “what is most important is consistently hitting those standards and keeping promises to customers.”
Being patient Now to the crucial question - how can firms
properly measure and understand what customers genuinely think?
Clearly thorough research and performance measurement help, but independent benchmarking is an effective way to get feedback and assess performance. Here Causon suggests “giving customers different opportunities to provide feedback, such as surveys, focus groups, social media comments – and listening to your own people.”
The converse of this is dealing with complaints. Here Causon offers one key recommendation – “avoid them in the first place.” Even so, it’s relevant that “drivers of satisfaction with complaint handling are speed of response, keeping customers informed, and following up after resolution.”
In summary Customer service is everything. Firms that don’t listen to their customers won’t have to worry about their concerns for long as they’ll be using hirers elsewhere. n
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