Often statements are made that the customer service standards of various organizations are deteriorating which is resulting in loss of customer loyalty and ultimately impacting the bottom line of the organization. The basic idea behind ensuring maintenance of effective customer service standards is that the customers keep on coming back to the organization whenever they have any requirement of the products that the said company is dealing with. There are various organizations which tend to realize the importance of maintaining effective customer service standards but are not sure as to what all corrective measures need to be taken while rectifying the situation.

All these organizations end up initiating steps which instead of enhancing the experience often contribute in further deteriorating the condition. There are some very common mistakes or myths of ensuring effective customer service standards, which such organization believe in and put in practice and then hope of reviving their fortunes.

Myth No. 1: Add more employees to improve customer service standards

This is the most common myth that people sitting at the top of various service organizations hierarchy firmly believe in. They tend to add up the numbers of people in the service delivery chain and formulate systems and processes which instead of providing a positive result further complicate the process and service experience for the guests. This thought process does not consider the fact that simply adding or increasing the number of employees and creating complex systems and processes will not ensure effective customer service standards until and unless these employees are made to undergo comprehensive training programs and up gradation of their skill sets. Apart from comprehensive training programs; the employees also need to be given appropriate authority to solve a customer’s query or problem which might mean ignoring the set systems and processes if the need arises. This sort of confidence shown in the employees by the organization will also help in motivating the employees to perform better in their respective fields. Employees mindset, motivation levels and aptitude levels go a long way in ensuring effective customer service standards.

Training the employees goes a long way in ensuring the effectiveness of service delivery of the organization. Regular training not only helps the employees in learning new techniques and tricks of their trade but also helps them in realizing that the company is concerned about their wellbeing and professional future and it is taking necessary steps to ensure its growth. It motivates the employees to increase their performance levels and improve the service delivery experience for their customers.

This proves that adding more employees in the organizational setup without providing them with proper tools for growth cannot ensure effective customer service standards.

Myth No. 2: Increase the pay of the people in the service delivery chain to raise the standards

There are examples wherein employees in certain organizations are one of the highest paid in their industry, but the level of customer services standards that the organization maintains is pathetic. Then there are certain organizations which maintain decent salary payment levels for its employees, but no other organization can match their customer service standards.

The catch here is that these organizations which are able to provide exceptional customer service experiences to their external customers are also able to provide the same kind of experience to their internal customers. I.e. their Employees. How the employees are treated while working in an organization translates in their attitude and how they conduct themselves in their day to day job routine and alternatively in the customer service standard that they are able to maintain. Keeping the employees happy and motivated which does not necessarily mean paying them higher salaries is the difference between the kinds of experience that they provide to the organizations external customers.

Training and involving the employees in various facets of organizations development and strategy; apart from their routine activities makes them take ownership of the business and the service that they provide to their customers. There is an increase in the willingness to satisfy the customers especially when there is customer complaint in order to ensure that the customer goes back satisfied and his loyalty is retained by the organization.

There have been various studies which have been done on employee behavior and one prominent outcome of these studies has been that the organizations which are perceived as bad service providers are not only losing their valuable external customers but also their internal customers who are not willing to be associated with the organization for a longer duration. Retaining the loyalties of the customers, both internal as well as external is very critical for the future of the organization and also a reflection on how effective their customer service standards are.