For many businesses, the words customer and service are things which appear to have no meaning attached to them. They are merely buzzwords that people use, you need to learn about them, but you don’t need to implement them because they just get in the way of the running of the company. If you have employees that think this, it’s time to give them a lesson in who the customer is, and why they are so important to the business, the employees, and why the customer is the most important person in the room!
The customer is always right.
It is something which pains many retail assistants to say, but it’s true. It’s just annoying when a customer states this! The reason we have to bend over backwards for each and every customer is the marketing potential each person has. To explain, everyone always remembers a bad experience in a shop, and everyone remembers an exceptional experience in a shop. They will never remember the ones in the middle. It’s not what they bought that they will remember; it is how they felt when they were there. The whole customer experience is a fine art to get right. From the business premises to each staff member, you need to make every little detail memorable. And this is easier said than done, but by focusing on each aspect at a time, you can make holistic changes to the business. But it should always come back to the customer. They are always right.
The relationship is the deal breaker.
For each store or restaurant, the relationship you have with your customer will dictate their whole experience. Again, it’s how they felt that bears the most weight. When a customer walks into a shop, and someone smiling comes over to them, the first feeling is one of dread! Trust needs to be established, and this can be achieved by the simple things, a calm tone of voice, a friendly manner, eye contact, positivity. And while they are easy to say, to implement them can take a lot of practice. The tips for restaurant management say that you need to display a positive attitude because being negative can impact the customers via your employees. They say it takes fewer muscles to smile than it does to frown, so bear that in mind! Being positive in the use of language is a massive thing that can impact on a customer, and if you’re communicating yourself (and your business) in this way, the customer won’t ever return, and could you blame them?
Follow up any sale.
It will show you care about their opinions and value their custom. Send an email asking them to rate their experience and if there’s anything they were unhappy with. This will help you to improve how you are being perceived by your customers. Delivering great customer service can be an incredibly difficult thing to define, but in some ways, it is very simple. Positivity, being nice, and delivering what you promise will go a long way.
