One of the most important practices you can implement in your company is a customer service feedback loop between your customers and customer service. I work with many wholesale distribution companies to set up concierge-style customer service programs, and there are clear benefits of having a feedback mechanism that can be utilized.
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Your concierge customer service people deal with the problems, issues, and opportunities of your top customers.
A powerful tool I use to evaluate the interaction between the concierge customer service rep and the customer is a report that shows how your distribution company is increasing the bottom line of customers.
When you are providing superior customer service, it is often recognized in general terms. Having a report indicating the actual value of good service, not just saying you provide it, is an impactful tool. The report can show your direct versus indirect impact on the customer’s bottom line.
And, it’s not all about the positive. Negative events are an opportunity to deepen your relationship with the customer. At this service level, handle and resolve problems quickly and efficiently — and this report can show the tangible benefits. Customers can see the costs of what would have happened without your high level of customer service.
This type of feedback report can also alert you to issues within your own company. Patterns can be revealed, and you can focus on problems that recur regularly before you work on problems that hardly ever happen. Data often shows that our perception of how frequently a problem occurs is different than the actual data.
Concierge customer service is a critical element in gaining and maintaining your customer base, as well as in gaining a sustainable competitive advantage. A customer service feedback loop helps you and the customer monitor service and serves as a reminder to them that you are providing a level of service that they can’t get anywhere else.
Dr. Jeanne Hurlbert, President of Hurlbert Consulting, brings to her role as STAFDA’s endorsed customer service consultancy expertise in sociology and survey research. After spending more than 25 years in academia, she now uses her extensive behavioral science expertise to help companies like yours distinguish yourselves through customer service. What sets her approach to customer service apart is that she begins by helping companies meld research and marketing to find out exactly (a) what their customers want and (b) how well they’re succeeding in giving customers what they want. Jeanne provides STAFDA members with 30 minutes of complimentary consulting per year; please identify yourself as a STAFDA member when you contact her. You can schedule a consult with her by going to www.ConciergeCustomerService.com or you can call her at 888-590-9677. And, if you’d like to complete her complimentary assessment, just go to www.FixYourService.com.
