Customer Service Information

Make An Action Plan To Improve Customer Service


Customer Service is a critical factor for keeping your clients coming back and ensuring they'll refer you to others. Growing your business will be a difficult task at best if you don't perform, meet and exceed your client's expectations, and provide service that creates customers for life.


Customer service is all about the customer's perception. You have to do more than just get the job done. You must deliver on all the things (big and small) that affect the relationship with your client. Consider opportunities for improvement in the following areas.


1. Setting/Reviewing Expectations. Do you work with your client to set clear, appropriate, realistic expectations that you can always meet or exceed? Are you clear about the responsibilities (both yours' and the client's), timelines, and expectations of results? Are you then willing to go back and review these expectations with the client at key points along the way?


2. Communication. Do you have mechanisms in place to ensure you're communicating with clients at every stage of the engagement, from the sales process through to completion of the project? Being clear about where you're at, what's been completed, what's coming up next, who's responsible, what results you can expect, etc.? Has the client ever had to ask you for these things?


3. Organization. Are you organized? Punctual? Reliable? When you show up to work with your clients, have you done the work and are you prepared to make them feel comfortable and taken care of? Even though you've done it hundreds, maybe thousands of times before, do you take the time to organize and prepare to make it the best client experience possible?


4. Committing to the Little Things. Don't ever dismiss the power of all the little things. Together they can make all the difference and really separate you from the competition. Returning calls and emails in a timely manner. Providing useful information to folks on a regular basis. Showing appreciation for your clients through things like thank you notes, exclusive client-only briefings, and open house, etc.


Clearly these are not the only relevant areas for creating great customer service. I'm sure you can think of more. But, pick just one of these areas and create an action plan to improve it in your business today. Make a commitment to continuously improve the level of service you're providing and see how it pays off. When you've done it, pick another area and work on it.

(c) - Kevin Dervin, KPD Marketing

About the Author:

Kevin Dervin is focused on helping small businesses that are ready to grow, but struggle with how to consistently attract more clients. Visit http://www.proven-small-business-marketing-solutions.com for more great marketing information you can put to use in growing your business today.

Find Kevin's Kansas City based KPD Marketing practice at http://www.ABCDgrowth.com and subscribe to his free ezine called ABCD Grow.

  


MORE RESOURCES:

City of Charlotte Integrates Mobile Workforce Management With CIS ...
MarketWatch - 11 hours ago
Combining mobile workforce management with the utility's CIS has already yielded improved levels of customer service while also significantly reducing the ...


BT Global Services Honoured With 2008 Frost & Sullivan Global ...
MarketWatch - 16 hours ago
This Frost & Sullivan Global Excellence Customer Service Award is bestowed upon the company which has demonstrated global excellence in a given business ...
Parking services wins service award Online Athens
Seal Of Satisfaction Award Recipients Saluted The Chattanoogan
all 10 news articles


Improving Front-line Recruitment Report: Finding the Right ...
MarketWatch - 11 hours ago
This report allows you to better understand recruitment and hiring practices for front-line customer service employees. The main objectives of the study are ...


Small Business Good Customer Service May Depend on the Customer
CIO Today, CA - 10 hours ago
Filling an order like that would have "messed up customer service for the rest of the week," Butler says. "We could have lost 50 customers. ...


"Customer service is primarily a marketing group"
BroadbandReports.com, NY - 3 hours ago
I have a primary service with Comcast but use AT&T for backup and alternate service. I just tried to work with customer support to reduce my overal costs. ...


Waterworld celebrates prestigious award for customer service
24dash, UK - 2 hours ago
As a commercial outfit we recognise the success of any business is dependant not only on providing a great product, but an even greater customer service. ...


OPC Marketing Kick Starts the Economy by Bringing Customer Service ...
TMCnet - 10 hours ago
By Michelle Robart, TMCnet Editor The offshoring of services and talents seems to have failed miserably --the economic realities of customer service in a ...


Zep Inc. Launches ''Zep(R) Professional'' Product Line and ...
MarketWatch - 8 hours ago
These new products will be marketed with the support of dedicated field training, logistics, customer service, marketing, toll-free technical support and ...


New York Magazine

Tipping Debate Continues, From Customer-Service Perspective
New York Magazine,  USA - 8 hours ago
Considering that Consumerist readers are righteous warriors for customer service, it is no surprise that over half of the 10000-plus votes cast since ...


Atlantic Tire & Service Named Best Independent Tire Dealer in the ...
Carolina Newswire (press release), NC - 7 hours ago
Our pledge to them is that we will continue to make customer service and community involvement the cornerstones of our business. ...

customer service - Google News

Article List | Index | Site Map
All logos, trademarks and articles on this site are property and copyright of their respective owner(s).
The comments are property of their posters, all the rest is Copyright © 2006 CanadaSEEK.com - All Rights Reserved.