Staff attitude and behaviour: -
This is important for all staffs having a positive attitude and behaving politely and professionally to customers.
Timing: -
Being aware of your timing means that not keeping people waiting unduly, arranging appointments, phone calls and delivers at your customers convince, not your and never failing to call people back exactly as promised. All staff comes on work 5 minutes before to make sure they are not late.
Accessibility/availability: -
This is the most annoying thing for a customer when they want something and the company don’t have it for some reasons. This can be relating to a product they have seen it on advertisement and are sold out. In this situation your job is to feel sorry for the customer’s disappointment and try to help them if you can, i.e. put their name in waiting list and pass on the information to your supervisor. This is important because, if you have received 20 enquires for the same thing in a day, and disappointed 20 people; the stock level and range of goods and services offered should be reviewed.
Meeting specific customer needs: -
The skill of meeting customer needs involves identifying these by talking to the customers and then matching them to the range of goods and services that you can offer.
Working under pressure: -
Anyone can be delightful to customers on a normal day. But on busy times i.e. Christmas Day, Boxing Day etc, the situation is different then. Anyone who has worked in a retail store at Christmas knows that situations. It is also more difficult if lots of things are happening at the same time and you are trying to do three things at once. The first rule is to stay calm and not to panic. The second is to realise that you can only do one thing at once. The third is to deal with the most urgent/important thing first. The fourth is to work as fast as you can but stay pleasant at the same time as well.
Confirming service meets needs and expectations: -
Good healthy businesses do not forget their customers once they have made purchase or used their service. Instead they check that they are satisfied. A useful way to do this is to make customer happy calls. The quick follow up phone call checks that all of the customers’ needs and expectation were met and customer is happy from product and service. Some phone companies do when customers make purchase from them.
Dealing with problems: -
You may have to deal with many different types of problems. The important rules for dealing with customers and their problems are included:
- Letting them talk with out interrupting
- Cheeking that you have the facts right
- Doing your best to help
- Pass the problem to supervisor if it is serious.
An example is following
Type of problem: -
The customer wants a product or service the organisation doesn’t provide.
Suggested response: -
Suggest refer to sales department/suggest nearest outlet where item is available. This gives a good impression even if a sale isn’t made.
Customer satisfaction: -
Customers are satisfied when they receive the service they expected for. Many organisations aim for more to make it better then this. They want to delight their customers by exceeding their expectation.
Important factors that are included in customer satisfaction are following: -
- All customers have confidence in the service that has been provided. This applies to every one aspect of the service, from accurate information to reliable goods and service.
- Every customer believes that they have got value for money. This doesn’t mean that they have bought the cheapest product or service, but it means that the whole package which may include expert help, credit terms, special delivery, installation, and guarantees is considered as a good deal as well.
- The organisations are benefited because satisfied customers are far more likely to returning again and again. This might be because they like the product or service. A repeat customer has two main benefits. First, it increases sales without the business having to spend more on advertisements. Second satisfied customers normally tell their experiences to their friends.
- Satisfied customers tell people about their experiences about the product and services. This is word of mouth advertising can rapidly improve firms reputation far more effectively than any other method.
- Internal customers who are satisfied because they can rely upon consistently accurate information and good service from their colleagues are more likely to experience job satisfaction and to benefit from working as member of an effective and supportive team.
Codes of practice: -
Codes of practice are unpaid guidelines or standards that have been drawn up to identify the standards of service that customers can expect. They usually include advice on what to do if something goes wrong and who to contact in that situation. They are helpful because they provide information and guidance for external customers and for staffs who know exactly what type of serviced they are supposed to provide.
Codes of practice are drawn at different levels.
- Industry codes of practice: - This relates to issues that effect many different types of organisation, such as advertising or recruitment or to the organisation that operate in a particular industry such as the water, gas, motor or mobile phone industry.
- Organisational codes of practice: - These codes of practices are written by business to set out its own standards for customers. Sometimes these are known as customer charters, particularly in the public sector.
- Professional codes of practise: - These are set out minimum standards for professional workers, such as solicitors, accountants, doctors and social worker. They are often drawn up by professional bodies on behalf of their members.
Ethical codes of practise: -
Ethical codes of practices focus on trading fairly with customers and suppliers and taking steps to ensure there are no corruption or dishonest in practices. Some businesses specify the minimum standards they expect of their suppliers and other organisation they work with. The organization of business Ethics provides guidance to organisations about planning ethical codes.