For us, Customer Service is not a list of policies and standards that need to be fulfilled in order to serve the customer. Or let’s rather say “not only”… It is the behaviour and attitude of a human being dealing with another human being.

It starts with the organisation

For us, Customer Service is not something that starts at the interface of an organisation and their customers. It starts within the organisation! How does the organisation treat its employees? How do employees treat each other? Do employees feel ‘at home’ in the company they work for? Do they enjoy interacting and working with their colleagues? If they do, they have the basis for engaging with customers in positive ways.

Intrapersonal vs. interpersonal issues

For us, Customer Service relates to intra-personal and inter-personal issues. The intra-personal is about the thoughts and feelings of an individual about themselves, and the resulting thoughts and feelings of that individual about another person. The inter-personal part is about what external behaviours, words and actions the person shows when interacting with another person.

A warm welcome

For us, Customer Service is about welcoming. Welcoming yourself, welcoming colleagues, and then welcoming the customer. Unless I welcome myself, including my strengths, my challenges, and unique personality traits, I am unable to truly welcome another person. Unless I welcome another person, they will not get the full sense of having been served.

First-class service, even when it’s hard

For us, Customer Service is hard. But not hard in the usual sense. It is not hard because it is difficult to fulfil customer requests, adhere to policies, or deliver fast and efficient service, although that might be hard at times too. The really hard part is the continuous work and discipline of being great with people, even in stressful times and under difficult circumstances.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE IN YOUR COMPANY?

Here are a few things that will certainly get the ball rolling:

• Focus on how your managers are leading their teams. Are they equipped with the right tools, and do they lead in a way that is motivating and creating a positive atmosphere in their teams?
• Focus on where great customer service is given. Acknowledge, praise, share success stories across the organisation… positive examples usually create more positive examples!
• Focus on what can be done to improve customer service at an organisational level – and involve your staff in this, as they often have better ideas than top management. Choose easy-to-implement, high impact actions that have a direct positive effect on customer service.
• Focus on your customer as a whole. When engaging, speak to their rational, explicit needs as well as ‘below-the-surface’ needs and expectations. Engage with them as a human being and you will ‘touch’ them in a different way.