Customer service is another one of those things that can be vastly improved with better communications. Not just communicating clearly with your customer, but communicating with co-workers to make sure the customer is being well served. As the old saying goes, the customer may not always be right, but s/he’s always the one with the money!
It seems to me that customer service communications includes three basic steps:
1. Setting customer expectations before the sale. (“This is what our widgets do. Is that what you need?”)
2. Listening (and asking) to make sure the customer is happy after the sale.
3. Making things right when something goes wrong.
It seems so simple. I was thinking about this after yesterday’s post about Dell, and how one disgruntled customer’s opinions are pinging all over the country, both online and in “real life”, thanks to a post on his blog.
No one knows yet what the long term effects to Dell’s reputation might be. But I can’t help thinking how much damage could have been avoided if there was only a simple, effective way for unhappy customers to tell Dell, “Dude, I’m having a problem.”
Does YOUR company have one?
I know you’re talking to your customers. Are you listening, too?