If you want your front-line staff to remember the essentials of customer care, theres no better way to teach them than with the ABC of Superior Customer Service. A is for Attention to Detail. Because when customers know you care passionately about the little things, theyll know you care a great deal more about the big things. B is for Benefits which is all your customer wants you to tell them. C is for Complaints, your free marketing service. D is for Dedicated staff, because when the team is fully engaged, customer loyalty goes up by two-thirds. E is for Empowerment which means trusting and training your staff to do whatever it takes to thrill the customer. F is for Feelings. As the Scottish Life advert says: Make each customer feel like youve held the door open whilst laying your jacket across a puddle and then rescued their kitten from a tree. G is for Going Out Of Your Way, just like the engineer who took a 50-mile detour on his way home from work just to deliver a phone to a customer who had been waiting all day for it. H is for Hi-Tech, Hi-Touch, because when things get complicated, thats when people want the personal touch. I is for Ichiban, the Japanese word for wanting to be the best. J is for the customer Journey, which you must know every inch of. K is for Kaizen, another Japanese word which means continuous improvement. L is for Loyalty, which you buy by engaging their minds and piercing their hearts. M is for Moments of Truth, those hundreds of opportunities every day to turn their heads. N is for Now For Something Extra, that ends every customer interaction on a high. O is for Observing your customers needs before they know them themselves. P is for the Pride that staff feel when they know theyre in a valued profession. Q is for Quality: of product, of service, of manners, of courteousness. R is for the golden Rule: the customer is always right, even when theyre wrong. S is for Sincere Smiles, that arent false but melt the coldest hearts. T is for Tact, the one thing your customers will notice but you must pretend not to. U is for Underpromise and Overdeliver, the simplest way to make someones day. V is for adding Value because theres nothing so precious as your time, your care and your attention. W is for the Wow Factor, when you stop them in their tracks. X is for Xtraordinary service that is out of this world. Y is for Your Mum Was Right, because its all about respect. Z is for a good nights Zzzzzs after a great days work. Practise these attitudes and skills, and youll love your job and your customers will love you. |