Customer service is a broad term that can mean different things to different people. We know when we experience it and we know when our organisation is delivering it. Achieving it consistently is very hard but it has to centre around your people.
” Take great care of your people, they’ll take great care of your customers, and your customers will come back and back and back.”
Michael Jannini
There are some companies and organisations that are able to boast consistently high levels of customer service. Without exception, we believe the above principle will have no small part to play in the continuing success of each of these businesses.
Reviewing standards on customer care and employer care
It is quite common to have a regular review of customer service standards, to address any areas of concern, and to identify ways to improve and enhance service provided.
How about a regular review focused on caring for your employees – to address any areas of concern, and to identify ways to improve and enhance the service you provide to them?
I expect most people will readily agree with the wisdom contained in Michael Jannini’s words but, as with many wise insights, agreement is quite straightforward.
Application is quite another matter!
So what does ‘taking great care of your people’ look like? I suggest a regular review should cover pro-active investigation into four key areas:
- Do your people feel well-informed?
- Do your people feel well-equipped?
- Do your people feel well-supported?
- Do your people feel well-rewarded?
These are sometimes difficult questions to answer, and/or the answers themselves can be difficult to deal with, but it will prove time well-spent, if you make yourself answer these questions on a regular basis – deal with concerns, and pro-actively look for ways to improve and enhance employee care.
If people feel good in all four of these areas, they will, for the most part, naturally provide good customer service. Many well-motivated employees will try to provide good standards of customer service even when they don’t feel great about the way they are looked after. That’s commendable, and needed at times, because there will always be gaps in understanding and opinion. But directors and managers who take this for granted (through complacency, laziness or busyness) are at best, getting weaker results than they could be getting. More likely, they are presiding over a gradually deteriorating situation, that will at some point cause major problems.
Let’s make every effort to give our people at least the same level of care and service that we want them to give our customers. It’s not just a moral issue, although that it is good enough reason in itself, but it also makes great business sense!
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Keyturn Training offer a wide range of supportive training and coaching programmes, focused on taking care of your people and providing great customer service.
We would welcome the opportunity to talk with you and explore ways in which we may be able to work with you in support of your development plan
See our regularly updated list of Open training programmes and Personal development programmes including modules customer care, conflict team resolution etc.
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