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What’s Next For Your Micro-Business
Customers Crave Service With The Human Touch
When it comes to customer service, consumers want to deal directly with a human being, not an online form or automated phone system.
The results of a Discover Card Customer Service Survey released last August showed that the telephone reigns supreme. The survey found that 73 percent of consumers prefer to contact customer service using a toll-free number. Only 16 percent prefer to use e-mail; 9 percent prefer using online forms; and 2 percent prefer online instant messaging.
The top survey findings also revealed that:
Consumers want fast and effective response by phone: Reaching knowledgeable customer service representatives is extremely important to 65 percent of respondents, followed closely by the ease of reaching a “live” person on the phone (64 percent), and resolving their issues in a single phone call (61 percent). Consumers don’t like being stuck on hold: The longer consumers have to wait on the phone for a customer service representative, the more likely they are to consider it unreasonable. The survey revealed that 65 percent of consumers consider a wait time reasonable as long as it is less than two minutes. Nearly half (48 percent) find wait times longer than two minutes unreasonable. When wait times are over three minutes, 80 percent find it unreasonable.
So what happens when your small-business fails at basic customer service? The news isn’t good.
An August 2007 survey by global management consulting firm Accenture found that 46 percent of respondents reported they quit doing business with a company in the past year as a result of poor service.
What You Can Do
Don’t let lousy service chase away good customers. Try these six tips.
Be a service leader. Great service starts with the boss. Employees model their behavior on how you treat them, as well as how you treat your customers. Show your workers what great service means. Staff up. If customers are waiting too long on hold or waiting too long in line, you need to increase your customer service staff. Staff right. You can enhance customer service immediately by hiring the right people. They should be people-oriented problem solvers. Look for job candidates who demonstrate initiative and generate creative service ideas. Empower employees. Develop specific guidelines for service. Clearly explain what service is and how it impacts the bottom line in your business. Spell out actions you expect employees to take when greeting customers, handling complaints and answering questions. Don’t depend on technology. The Accenture survey found that newer technologies don’t seem to be improving consumers’ satisfaction with customer service. Nearly six out of 10 respondents said customer service technologies such as automated phone service and live online chat had not done anything to improve service levels. Get more ideas. Check out these two online Success Skills Seminars from the National Association for the Self-Employed. They’re online now and they’re free.
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(Posted November 2006) |
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