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"Upgrading
Customer Service"
By Doug
Howardell, CPIM, PMP, member of the ACA Group
Published January, 2010
From
all the indicators, it appears we are at the start of a recovery.
Credit is opening up and people are starting to buy again. The key
question at this point in the cycle is: how do potential customers
decide if it's you or your competition they are going to buy from?
Customer service could be the deciding factor.
Customer
service is a major decision factor in every purchase. As I've said
in many articles over the years, customer service comes from the combination
of three areas: customer dialog, customer friendly processes, and
employee commitment to customer service. You must upgrade your performance
in all three areas to win business in today's tight markets.
Customer
Dialog
Customer dialog is the method you use to understand what customers
need and want and the way you find out if customers are satisfied
with what you provide. All means and avenues of communication should
be used to find out if you are giving your customers the products
and services they want. You should use surveys, questionnaires, phone
calls and face to face conversations to facilitate the dialog. The
results of your dialog with your customers should be distributed throughout
your organization so everyone knows what the customers need and want.
Upgrade your customer service by upgrading your dialog with your customers.
The ACA Group can help you design, implement and analyze a customer
dialog program.
Customer
Friendly Processes
Customer friendly processes mean it's easy for customers to do
business with you. Every process from finding you in the first
place, to initial contact, through quotation and sales, order
status, delivery, and invoicing should be designed to make it
convenient for the customer, not for you. And don't stop there.
How you respond to the customer after the sale is just as critical
to retaining that customer. It must be easy for the customer to
understand and use your product. If they have questions, it should
be easy to get those questions answered and if, in the end, the
product has to be returned, the process of doing so should be
remarkably easy. Upgrade your customer service by reviewing and
revising your processes. The ACA Group can help you make improvements
to your customer service processes.
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The
ACA Group offers a variety of customer service courses and
consulting services. Contact us today and select one
of our standard training programs or have our experts tailor
a course to your sepcific needs.
Call 626-836-9261 or visit our website at www.TheACAgroup.com |
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Employee
Commitment to Customer Service
The employees who deal directly with your customers are the company
in the eyes of the customer. Excellent customer service is provided
by employees who are committed to exceeding their customer's expectations.
Employee commitment to customer service is obtained by training your
employees on customer service tools and techniques and by recognizing
employees who exceed customer expectations. Untrained and unmotivated
employees provide indifferent customer service. Indifferent customer
service will not get you the business you want. Upgrade your customer
service by upgrading your customer service training and by upgrading
your reward system. The ACA Group can help you with employee commitment
through customer service training and guidance on a reward system.
Your
ability to prosper as the economy recovers depends largely on your
level of customer service. If you upgrade your customer dialogue efforts,
upgrade your customer friendly processes and upgrade your employees'
commitment to customer service, you will be the one that customers
choose to buy from.
To
learn more about how to upgrade your customer service, contact Doug
Howardell by phone at 626-836-9261 or by e-mail at dh@theacagroup.com.
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