Here are many different ideas concerning what makes for good customer experience and therefore what is good customer service. Many of the ideas which relate to good customer service may be specific to different types of businesses and their activities; however there are certain overarching principles which can be used as a guide to providing good customer service for any organisation.
| Principles of Good Customer Service | |
|---|---|
| Principle | Explanation |
| Know | Knowing your customer and their needs and requirements are the most basic, but most important element of providing good customer service. If you do not know who your customers are, or what they want from your business, you can not expect to provide a good level of customer service. Knowing who your customers are and their needs can be found out through market research, feedback questionnaires or through talking to them regularly. |
| Everyone’s responsibility | Most people deal with customers at some point, whether this is an internal customer (someone else in your organisation that wants or needs something from you) or external (someone from another company or a member of the public who wants to get information or buy products or services from you). Everyone in any business should, therefore, have an understanding of good customer service. |
| Right first time | Always try to do things right the first time. Preventing problems is much better and considerably cheaper than resolving them, it is also much more likely to leave a customer feeling satisfied. |
| Friendly | Always appear friendly to your customers. When you are having a bad day and everything is going wrong, that is not your customer’s fault. Even if they are causing you the difficulties, remember your company would not be in business without its customers. Sometimes the attitude of a member of staff is the thing that a customer remembers the most – make it a good memory and give the customer a positive personal experience in every dealing. |
| Value individuals | Pay attention to the customer’s needs by listening to what they have to say with your undevided attention. Make sure you listen to what the customer is actually saying by giving your full attention when you are assisting them. Not all customers want exactly the same thing. Treat the customer with respect and as an individual and value them as such – this may mean using appropriate language and greetings, making eye contact if person to person or apologising for any delay if you are dealing with other customers first. |
| Help | Always be prepared to do everything you can to help a customer. Talk to the customer and really understand their needs. If you are not in a position to help, make sure you find out who can help and pass the customer onto this person. If a request is a little out of the ordinary, don’t just say no, maybe a change in how you do things could lead to a big order if you make the extra effort. Try to focus on what you can do for the customer, rather than what you are not in a position to be able to do. |
| Customer first | Thinking you did a good job of making a customer satisfied but actually leaving them unhappy is NOT good customer satisfaction. The customer’s view is the one which is most important. Always check that you are meeting the customer’s needs and that they are satisfied with the outcome of anything that you do. |
| Improve | What is good customer service today may not be tomorrow. Be aware that things change often and engage in effective relationships with customers so that any changes in needs or expectations are known as soon as possible. Always be looking to improve on your level of customer satisfaction, even if it is currently excellent. |