Entrepreneurial Connection

			Return to NASE.org

Print Friendly Email to Friend

	How To Improve Customer Service
	Article 3: Measure Your Performance One of the best ways to boost your company’s customer service is to create specific guidelines, then track performance and measure results. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. You can’t make sound decisions based on anecdotal feedback,” declares Ken Colburn, who heads Data Doctors Computer Services, a franchise company of computer repair stores that typically employ just two to three people apiece. Data Doctors, for example, places an icon on repaired computer screens that connects customers to its customer service department. The customer service department employees respond to complaints in real time, and forward them both to corporate management and to managers at the individual franchised store. Customer service guidelines can be quite elaborate, like Data Doctors, but they don’t need to be, particularly if your company is small. The bottom line is to give customers an easy, clear way to provide feedback. You could, for example, include a service reply card with every receipt or invoice. Or mandate that phone calls are answered within three rings and track the number of calls rolling into voice mail. Run customer surveys or even simply ask customers what they think. “Small-business people don’t need fancy business programs. They just need to stick out their hand and say, ‘Hi, I’m the owner. How am I doing?’” says T. Scott Gross, who owns Sporty’s, a 192-seat sports-themed restaurant in Kerrville, Texas. He views the restaurant as the laboratory for his ideas on service that he promulgates as an author and consultant. He suggests prominently displaying your home phone or cell phone number so customers can reach you quickly when there’s a problem. Gross prints his cell phone number on Sporty’s menu. “Customers know I will answer anytime,” he says, ensuring instant resolution of complaints. That might seem like he’s asking to have every quiet evening at home interrupted, but he’s had only 10 calls during several years. The sincere gesture counts. Jennifer Kalita, whose entrepreneurial services firm Kalita Group of Washington, D.C., often works with startup companies, recommends that new businesses plan customer service standards just like other aspects of the business. In fact, she declares, “Do not open the door until you have a solid customer service program. Otherwise, you’ve really blown it.” People think customer service will fall in place, she explains. “But customer service planning is as important as profit margin because it affects profit margin. You must know how you will respond—deliveries will go wrong, a customer will feel offended. Having that plan and training in place is vital.”