The Guide to Customer Service: Tips, Tactics and Techniques

Anybody who’s had to hire or train customer-contact workers know that finding people with the right skills and attitude is tough. Training those people for their customer service role and keeping them motivated to do it day after day is even tougher. But today’s customers are demanding better and faster service. And if your front-line workers don’t deliver excellent service, your customers are more willing than ever to make their business elsewhere.

Look at the facts: The average American company will lose 10% to 30% of its customers this year. That means that up to one-third of our customers, given the choice, will walk directly to your competition this year. Think about what that number means to your business. And then think about this: When customers leave, it’s usually because of poor service.

Even if your customers don’t have a choice – perhaps you’re a public utility or a government agency. What then? Customer dissatisfaction will erupt in the form of animosity toward your employees and your organization. That makes a heavy toll on employees. You’ll see higher absenteeism, increased turnover, more stress-related illnesses and mounting costs as burned-out front-line workers need to be retrained or replaced.

But there is some good news. Organizations that initiate effective customer retention programs have seen profits jump 25% to 100%. If you work in a nonprofit organization, you’ll see reduced turnover and a happier staff. The customer satisfaction crisis has created a golden opportunity for organizations that are willing to aggressively offer exceptional service. Read on to learn more about how you can grab that opportunity and turn your workers into customer service champions.