Making It A Pleasure To Serve Your Customers
Imagine walking into a hotel where every employee smiles at you as though you were the most valued customer on earth
. Where every question or request you pose is answered with an assuring "It would be my pleasure to. . ." Where no request is too great, you could ask for anything and each time you asked for it someone would nicely reassure you that it will be taken care of.
Unfortunately not every customer facing employee can act like the employees at the Ritz-Carlton, but imagine if every customer service experience you had was a luxury experience. Businesses would thrive on customer's satisfaction alone.
If you have had the pleasure of a Ritz experience, you are aware that the employees go above and beyond to make sure your experience is as dreamlike as possible. Perhaps it is because of the way the employees are valued. When talking about employees, Simon F. Cooper, president of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company said "our ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen." This seems to be a rare approach to how most managers view their customer facing employees.
The average scenario goes something like, "the customer is always right" and that is the bottom line. What businesses need to consider is a waterfall effect. If their customer facing employees are valued, then the customers will be valued. Even the most willing and selfless customer facing employee does not want to feel like a servant. People want to be valued and treated like people regardless of the fact that their job requires them to care for the needs of others.
When employees feel valued, they will value consumers in return. There is a codependency between the value an employee gives and receives. Therefore if an employee does not feel valued, they will not treat a customer with value either because there is no gratification for them. This is not to say that all customer facing employees will only act kind toward customers under specific conditions, but to ensure that all customer facing employees behave in a similar fashion they need to experience value. Managers should address their employees with respect, and remind them that although the customer should be a top priority for the employee, the employee is still a top priority for the company.
Another solution to improve customer service is to openly communicate with employees. As the saying goes you should "praise publicly and reprimand privately." Take a few minutes every day, every week, or every month to praise outstanding employees in front of their peers, and to communicate future goals and how to achieve them. Employees will respond positively to praise, and if their less productive peers are able to witness their praise, it will encourage more productivity from all employees.
Finally, create goals that are clear and achievable, but still engaging enough to keep employees from being bored. Highlight the experience you want customers to have with employees, and give it enough definition so that there is no question to how customers should be treated. Signature phrases are also an easy way to create a work culture centered on customer service.
For example, the Ritz-Carlton wants customers to have a luxurious experience that exceeds expectations. Their signature reply to customer requests is, "It would be my pleasure." This not only enhances the customer's experience, but it also motivates employees to live up to the expectations of the hotel. A signature response to customers creates uniformity, atmosphere, and provides employees with a guideline for their customer interactions.
It is imperative that customer facing employees receive motivation, communication, and engagement in order to better serve customers. When customer facing employees have been assured that they matter, and that they are valuable to the company, they will strive to exceed expectations. Keeping employees appropriately engaged reduces turnover, and creates a sense of importance within each individual. When employees feel important, they will treat customers with importance. With the implementation of motivation, communication, and engaged customer service, employees can exceed the expectations of their managers as well as their customers.
by: Jim Sirbasku
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