Customer service can often be seen by businesses as a necessary evil, a burden on the finances and something to try to provide at minimal cost. To see it this way is, however, a gross oversight. Ask yourself what is the most important asset a company has? In almost every case it will be the customer base.
Customers make or break a company. Too few customers and no business can survive. Effective, high quality customer support can create an image for a business which sets it apart from its competitors. If you treat your customers with care, consideration and patience, providing a service which genuinely tries to help resolve concerns or issues, then customers are far more likely to return to your company time and again.
Not only is customer loyalty an issue which your service representatives can actively develop, but very often your customers are one of your strongest means to promotion. Internet technology today allows for quick and easy access to many thousands of review sites. Enter almost any company name into Google, along with words such as 'review' and you're bound to find rating and experiences.
These can have a tremendous effect on how well you drive customers to your business, or drive them away. Customer service is the means by which your customers will be interacting with your business; as far as customers are concerned, your customer service is the business itself. Many large, global corporations outsource their customer support centers, and this can lead to poor quality communications. This is where smaller businesses can excel, filling the quality gap which exists.
From a customer's perspective, very little can be as frustrating as the experience of having a highly enthusiastic, deeply personal and seemingly committed business woo you and persuade you to buy into its product or service range, only to then cut and run, leaving you in the hands of an outsourced, underfunded and less experienced customer service team. It can often feel as though the outsourced customer service team is put there as a direct barrier between the customer and the business.
Certainly it can easily be the case that customers perceive not one, but two quite distinct businesses, with the possibility of a third lurking in the background. Initially there is the friendly and courteous business; almost bending over backwards to be helpful and understanding, though once the payment has been made and the contract signed, this part of the business becomes unreachable. The customers are then transferred to a less technical, less responsive, slower and less capable business which is labeled customer service, and which pays little attention to the customer and offers little in the way of proactive help.
The two businesses appear quite distinct in character. This discovery can give rise to a previously unconsidered business element, which are those lurking behind these two faces, driving the business forward by portraying these two quite opposite and contrasting faces by way of a sales tactic. This can completely undermine any faith, loyalty or appeal generated by the first face that the business chose to portray.
This is a shame, because those few businesses that are able to maintain this same attitude through from the sales team to the customer service team are highly likely to engage customer loyalty through customer satisfaction. This in turn is likely to see customers recommending the business, leaving positive reviews on the many review boards across the internet, and helping to drive more customers to you without you even having to advertise to reach them.
Good customer service leads to satisfied customers, which can be the best form of advertising there is, simply because you can't buy it. Granted, the extra cost of having in-house, fully trained customer service staff who are as committed and motivated as the sales staff will cost a little extra, but it is important to see this not as an extra cost, but one in lieu of your advertising costs. Good customer service is not just an end in itself, which is the mistake made by too many companies.
Good levels of service for existing customers will be highly likely to act as a form of advertising, bringing in extra revenue you would not otherwise have seen. Add to this argument the fact that bad customer service is more likely to drive not only existing customers away, but put off potential customers you might have had as a direct result of poor reviews and a low reputation, and you can see that in the long run, investing in high levels of quality within your customer service department can be seen as a solid and profitable investment if approached in the right way.
Sales people often have incentives, such as targets, number of sales per hour, and other such tables which can lead to bonuses. Customer service representatives often have no such incentives; perhaps there's a link between the different standards of enthusiasm?
