Customer-friendly service culture: 10 tips
Good companies offer good customer service. Top companies, on the other hand, make it part of their DNA. This is not always easy. But with targeted measures, amazing successes can be achieved for the company, the employees and - most importantly - for the customers. A guest article by David Evans.
1. formulate a mission statement
Your mission statement should reflect the company's core values with regard to customer service. It should be short enough to be memorable - but long enough to be meaningful. Write your mission statement in an understandable and impactful way so that all employees grasp the essence of the intended changes.2. develop a corporate mission statement
Not everyone realizes what good customer service looks like on the first day they start their business. For that, you need to be proactive. It's easier for your staff if they can use a mission statement - a longer version of your mission statement - as a guide. Formulate this mission statement so succinctly that it could be printed on a card and pocketed.3. focus on personal responsibility
For a contact center to work efficiently, employees should be empowered to act. Make sure that your managers explicitly point this out to them and support them in doing so. Repeatedly bring up the principle of empowerment in your training courses and have it confirmed by managers. Demonstrate this attitude by recognizing and rewarding employees who show initiative. To ensure that empowerment is not just lip service, you need to communicate one thing clearly: Every employee has the right (after a certain training period, of course) to make their own decisions, even if they turn out to be costly. This is an important part of the learning process and the most important operational point you need to focus on when creating a service culture.4. consider personality as the most important hiring criterion
To keep it short: When interviewing candidates, place more emphasis on certain personality traits of the candidate than on their experience (although professional experience should of course be appreciated and taken into account). When creating rosters, look for truly service-oriented employees and give them the tools they need to be empowered. After all, frontline managers are among the most important players in building and maintaining an optimal customer service culture.5. involve the executives in your onboarding process
To establish a culture of service, involve the CEO or management directly in the training. There's nothing more effective than having executives present when you want to show that your company takes customer service seriously. In this way, you demonstrate that leadership has a direct interest in the performance and success opportunities of customer service employees. It also communicates the mission statement and company mission from the outset through the executive level.6. start each shift with a standup meeting
Whether you call it a daily huddle, stand-up meeting or team meeting, a recap of key service principles at the start of a shift is a great way to get employees in the mood for the day. This ritual can become a catalyst for your service culture, especially if employees are allowed to take turns leading the meeting. On the one hand, it serves as a direct exchange and consolidation of expertise across the entire group; on the other hand, it offers employees the opportunity to develop leadership skills. A daily reminder of the principles of customer service is an excellent way of establishing service optimization strategies throughout the company. It fosters a sense of togetherness and morale among those on whom success directly depends: the agents who are in direct contact with the customer.7. avoid management that is remote from employees
Employee proximity is another important aspect of creating a customer service culture. If a manager hides in his office, he misses countless opportunities to support his team and the service culture. And that brings us back to hiring criteria: Make sure the right people are in the right positions. This will ensure that your managers are approachable and happy to help.8. revise your customer service trainings
Training is not necessarily considered relevant to a company's culture. But this is not true of a customer service culture. Service employees should absolutely learn the rules, processes, and touchpoints that make up their day-to-day operations. Make them aware of the many ways your company caters to the customer. If you take the time to select top candidates, you should also invest in the best possible training.9. eliminate the responsibility thinking
"Not my job" - banishing such phrases from the minds of employees and managers must be a concern for every company with customer service ambitions. Everyone should be prepared to pitch in at peak times. A lateral approach solves practical problems, boosts morale and clearly shows all employees that everyone in the company is working towards the same common goal.10. encourage collaborative thinking
Encourage all departments to work together to find the reasons for customer service breakdowns and ways to avoid them in the future. This not only leads to better results, but also benefits the corporate culture - because it shows what is valued in your company. Remember: acting responsibly and making a genuine effort to learn from past mistakes are the cornerstones of any customer service culture. If you take these ten pieces of advice to heart, you will be well on the way to creating a service culture that will benefit your company and your customers in the long term. Author: David Evans is Head of Product Management at Vonage. He has more than 20 years of experience in Innovative Software and over 12 years of product management experience. With his team at Vonage, Evans takes a customer-centric approach to product development and is always looking for new ways brands can connect with their customers to drive loyalty and growth.This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/kundenfreundliche-servicekultur-10-tipps/
