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The Power To Be The Solution

 

IT IS IN THIS MOMENT YOU HAVE THE POWER TO BE THE SOLUTION…

 

This is a great quote – imagine if each of your employees could say the same thing! One complaint that businesses hear from dissatisfied customers is that their issues weren’t resolved at all, it took too long, or they had to talk with several employees in order to resolve it. This doesn’t lead to returning customers; first call resolution is the best bet in keeping customers happy, but more often than not, it seems like employees do not have the ability to handle customer complaints on their own.

 

How many times have we heard, “I’ll have to get a manager to help you” or something similar.

 

Enterprise Rent a Car recently launched a commercial along this very theme – it’s a great commercial that lets customers know that they can handle your issues as they happen. As the commercial says, “If there ever is a problem, we all have the power to make it right.”

 

What a great message! Take a look at the commercial and think about the message your company relates to customers with regard to resolution of issues and problems – can you do better?

 

 

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Customer Service Statistics

 

Customer service and customer experience are two buzz phrases used frequently in the business world – companies are trying hard to make sure customers are satisfied and continue to return. But, how are we doing?

 

I came across an interesting Slideshare presentation that includes 75 customer service facts and quotes. I’ve shared it below, but wanted to highlight some of the more interesting figures:

 

Of your dissatisfied customers, you will only hear from 4% of them. The other 96% don’t complain, and 91% of them just won’t come back. Customer feedback can be hard to obtain – people don’t always want to share feedback or take time to fill out a survey. There are others who think that they shouldn’t “waste their time” giving feedback because a company won’t do anything about it.

 

What you can do: make sure feedback options are plentiful. Offer multiple ways to offer feedback so customers are more inclined to do so. Try a more “in the moment” feedback option, such as a Feedbox program. When you do hear negative feedback, be sure to address it publicly to let customers know you care and will do something to make the next experience better.

 

70% of customers will do business with you again if you address their complaints. Listening to customers and trying to “make it right” with them can pay off big time in the long run. You can reduce that 91% statistic above if you take the time to resolve customer conflicts and dissatisfaction.

 

80% of businesses feel they provide superior customer service, while only 8% of their customers think they do. That number is staggering; if you are seeing this disconnect in numbers, it’s time to investigate why customers do not feel you are providing the service you think you do.

 

75% of consumers feel it takes too long to reach a live person on the phone. With phone tree hell and voice activated prompts, customers can easily get frustrated. Use an objective method to evaluate the process by which customers are assisted on the phone. Incorporate subjective feedback into the process to make sure your customers are heard. There could be some easy fixes to make the phone experience more efficient and pleasant for your customers.

 

Take a look at the other statistics and quotes, and use it as a discussion point within your company. How do you perceive your customer service levels? How does your customer perceive them? If you haven’t done research in some time to learn what your customer and employees are thinking, you may want to invest in programs to measure the experience from all angles to make sure you’re doing all you can to provide excellent customer service.

 

 

 

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How Do You Include Your Employees?

 

Employees want to feel valued in their work, and they often times have great ideas to share. How does your company work to make sure your employees are heard and valued? Is your company’s communication the best that it can be?

 

I heard a great idea that one company does to make sure all employees are “kept in the loop” and their ideas are shared across the board. There is a retail location that keeps an employee log – after each shift, employees are responsible for writing a summary of any issues that came up during their shift, such as register issues, problem customers, issues between employees, etc. They can also share ideas in this log.

 

At the beginning of each shift, there is a quick meeting with the staff to review the day before’s log so issues can be resolved and discussed. Employees are rewarded for great things that happen and any upcoming events or ideas are shared.

 

Employees report that this is a great way to communicate and they feel as though they are a part of the company operations. I can imagine that employee morale is higher than it might be at other companies.

 

What does your company do to make employees feel valued and a part of the team? I’d love to hear your ideas!

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