subject: Inbound Customer Service is Company-wide Business [print this page] Inbound Customer Service is Company-wide Business
In these unsettled hard times, we can no longer say that customer service is a lonely division that doubles as shock absorbers from irate customers.
The lesson this hard economy has taught every organization is that all its employees should work together towards keeping the business alive, improving areas that contribute to its bottom-line, and that would mean managing customers.
With slashed budgets and lay off threats, everybody is left with one choice: Deliver customer service that is quick, immediate and proactive.
Employees with customer service' mindsets
Gone are the days when employees are happily working under the shadow of a division within the enterprise.
This is fine today, but if you think your dear colleagues in the accounting and logistics departments are not involved in customer service, you are greatly mistaken. There will be situations when calls are routed to them because the issue is something only a specialist can deal with and resolve. When an opportunity like this comes along, you would be hoping the conversation is handled well. When this happens, ask yourself these questions:
What attitude should your employees exhibit in their interaction with a live customer?
How would you want the customer feel about your company after the call?
How can this particular department work with the REAL Customer Service team (or outsourced inbound call center handling order taking, customer support or live chat) so that they can exceed clients' expectations?
If you treat customers properly by pointing them to your key resources, they end the call with a positive impression about your business. This greatly impacts satisfaction and your company's growth.
Want to improve your customer service? Start from your internal employees. This enables everyone to be in the same thinking, which translates to a better workplace culture. The success of every company lies in their point of view, which affects the attitude of your people. So build a "customer-centric" organization first, and the rest will follow.
