Recently, PhaseWare had a day with the wonderful IWearYourShirt. We were so excited to talk with potential customers about customer service—more specifically, when they have received or provided that extra personal touch and gone the extra mile. We were flooded with different customer service stories and I began to see a few trends that I would like to share with you.
Know what your customers want before they know it themselves. When working in customer service, you need to know what the customer wants in order to provide a personal touch in the customer/business relationship.
Follow up! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you must follow-up with current and potential customers. A lot of answers I heard were along the lines of “I purchased a product and the store called me a week later to see how I was enjoying the product.†Something as simple as a phone call or follow up email makes a big impact on a customer—there’s no excuse not to do it.
Speed. The number one thing customers want from customer service is speed and efficiency. Most people absolutely dread calling customer service because it usually takes, what feels like, an eternity. You can’t sacrifice quality for quantity though. Be as fast as possible while still solving whatever issue is at hand and providing exceptional service to your customer.
These are just a few of the trends I saw when we asked people about customer service and how businesses can, and have, provided them with great customer service and have gone the extra mile in providing that personal touch.
Have you had a business go the extra mile for you? What does your business do to go the extra mile?