Good customer service is the backbone of any business. It permeates through every level of the organization - from the dedicated customer service team, right through to the managers who deal with customer queries, albeit perhaps indirectly.
The term customer service relates to everything a company does to benefit the people they serve. Because the first port of call we make when something goes wrong is usually to the Customer Services department, we often assume that customer service is the process that exists merely to correct mistakes.
However this is very far from the truth. Customer service is behind every single action a business performs. After all, every business serves customers of one kind or another - whether it is people involved in other businesses, or the general public.
It's important therefore to keep this in mind on a daily basis. Sales training is often beneficial at all levels of a business, to ensure that the rights skills are learned and used to keep customer service standards as high as possible. When conducted effectively, the Sales process is an integral part of providing outstanding customer service, rather than detracting from it as many people think. Sales training also helps to educate those who aren't in direct contact with customers; appropriate training can often lead to a better understanding of the company as a whole, and the effect everyone's actions have on the end result of a transaction.
Good customer service goes beyond doing the right thing, however. It can be a crucial part of developing a business to enjoy higher levels of success. Just as some companies stand out for delivering poor customer service, other companies can stand out just as much for ensuring their own customer service levels are as high as they can possibly be.
Customer advocacy, or referrals, represent a direct spin off benefit of providing good customer service. And "Net Promoter Scores" (NPS) research conducted by Mark Ritson (Associate Professor of Marketing at Melbourne Business School) shows that these customer recommendations have a proven link to future business growth. Indeed, companies with high NPS scores such as Bendigo Bank, Singapore Airlines, Aldi and HSBC are predicted to grow faster than their respective competitors whereas companies with low NPS scores were predicted to grow at a much slower rate than their competitors.
Being pro-active in providing outstanding customer service will ensure that your business not only enjoys less in the way of customer issues, but it also grows at a faster rate, because it is known for looking after its customers.
