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Filed under: Tip of the Day
 It should come as no surprise that a company’s customer service speaks volumes about the company itself, and one bad experience can send them to your competitor. For example, when I’m sent into phone automation land or am transferred a bunch of times to people that I have to give the same info to over and over, I’m outta there. Seriously. Nothing’s more frustrating than being spun around like a record.
This year’s Counselor State of the Industry has a section on Client Connections that has tons of great tech tips and advice, including four tips on how best to improve your customer service:
- Call your company during business hours. “Get one of those cloaking devices, or have someone call for you, and find out what it’s like to call your company,” says Scott Gingold, owner of business management consulting firm Confidential Counselor. “Do this during normal business hours and after hours. How long are you put on hold? How friendly and responsive are they? If it’s after hours and you have an answering machine, maybe leave a bogus message, and see how long it takes somebody to actually call back.”
- Ask your people. Many distributors don’t like to hear it, but Gingold says it’s crucial to routinely ask your employees for honest feedback about what aspects of your company’s customer service experience could use improvement. “Ask, ‘Can you tell me what areas need improvement so I can try to make it better?’” he says. “Don’t become negative or offensive.”
- Surveys. “Distributors need to have a frequent online and offline survey that they provide to their clients to get feedback, not just on what they’re doing well, but on what they need to work on,” says Ryan Sauers, president of Sauers Consulting StrategiesSauers. “Customers, whether they fill them out or not, appreciate the chance.”
- Remind your customers that you’re thinking about them. “Get in the habit of writing follow-up, hand-written notes after all customer meetings, because no one does that anymore, and that will separate you,” Sauers says. “Whether it’s thanking someone with a holiday card or a hand-written thank-you or birthday card – anything that takes time out and says, ‘I’m thinking of you’ – that’s a customer experience that, quite frankly, no one gets in today’s world.”
For more information on securing your data — including four additional threats you want to be mindful of — check out this year’s Counselor State of the Industry.
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