The media has latched on to customer service as a hot topic – but industry professionals are asking whether this populist portrayal short changes the issue.
They say customer service is now a boardroom issue as companies realise that, in a tight market, it is an essential way to add value to their brand – without raising prices.
Companies like Oxford-based Retail Active, which sends out thousands of mystery shoppers every year to assess levels of customer service, say there’s more to creating genuine improvements in customer service than just highlighting shortcomings and naming and shaming.
Retail Active’s Managing Director, Julian Chamberlain says: “We are delighted that customer service is on the agenda. Our undercover agents do reveal a lot of areas where customer service can be improved – but what happens next is to apply a proven approach to delivering service excellence.
“First class and sustainable customer service is a structural issue within companies – not simply a case of identifying a few individuals who fall short of expected standards or of picking out poorly managed facilities.
“Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. You want your customers to go away happy and come back again and again.
“It’s not difficult to sell something once – but to sell products and services to repeat customers takes skill and application.
“That’s why customer service is now a boardroom issue – not just a media talking point.
“In difficult trading conditions like these – customer service is the essential make or break ingredient between profitability or loss.
“Our aim is to permanently improve level of customer service and the expectations of consumers – so that, in future, everyone benefits.
“There are ways to achieve this and there’s no mystery about it – you have to follow the rules.
There is no one size fits all but we would recommend retailers:-
• Understand how customers experience your product offering – known as the consumer journey
• Identify the key touch points of the consumer journey – these are real moments of truth where there is an opportunity to exceed expectations, consistently and constantly
• Focus on delivering a flawless execution of service by designing strategies to maximise engagement of your identified moments of truth
• Use a regular customer service assessment programme such as mystery shopping to identify performance and what could be improved on
• Support your service strategy with bespoke and focussed training, taking care to ensure every level of employee understands what is expected of them
• Continuously review your ability to deliver great service
