Superior Customer Service – What Does it Take?

I wrote this blog four years ago, but it is still important information today. What makes a company stand out when it comes to Customer Service? Responsiveness probably ranks as Number One. How quickly are your customers calls answered? How quickly are their needs resolved? Number Two would probably be Quality. How do your customers rate the quality of the service they receive? Are their issues resolved to their satisfaction? Number Three might be Communication. Does your Customer Service Dept. communicate well with your customers? Are they thorough at answering questions and explaining procedures? Do they communicate the available dates and times and costs for service visits? The Fourth would be Follow Up. Does your Customer Service Dept. follow up with the customer to make sure all issues were satisfactorily resolved?
How do you know if you are meeting the above criteria? Listen to your customers. If you don’t hear them saying anything, then ask them. When I first started working for New England Machinery, I sent out a questionnaire to over 3,000 customers. The questionnaire focused primarily on our sales processes and Sales Dept., however, there was one or two questions asking about our Service Dept. I was totally surprised by the responses we received. The majority of the responses pertained to our Customer Service Dept. and were all extremely positive. They raved about our Parts Dept. manager and how well she took care of their needs. The accolades continue to pour in over ten years later. There is no substitute for good customer service. It is the main ingredient in creating repeat customers.
Find out if your Customer Service Dept. measures up. Ask your customers what they think and really listen to what they say. If it’s not what you want to hear, then you need to make changes. Don’t delay. Every day you are not performing to your customer’s satisfaction, you are at risk to losing valuable customers. In this economy every single customer counts.
The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.