How to Make Your Service Even Better
Kim in Colorado posed this question: ‘How
do you find time to work on customer service when each
day is already filled with seemingly impossible to complete
tasks?’
The answer lies in the difference between working in
customer service and working on customer service.
Working in customer service means taking care
of your customers – always a good idea. Customers
appreciate the attention and you feel good providing
quality service. Being in service takes a specific
amount of your time to benefit a specific customer in
a specific way.
Working on your customer service is totally different.
It means creating, changing, improving or fine-tuning
the tools, systems and procedures you use when you are
working in service for others.
Here’s a personal example:
Several years ago a magazine editor in Europe interviewed
me by telephone for an article on ‘Building an
Uplifting Service Culture’. He asked me to send
him a high-quality color photograph to run with the
article. I went right to work in service. I
chose an existing photograph from my files, had a high-quality
color copy made overnight, contacted a courier company
and had the photograph on his desk two days later. The
whole process took a few hours of my time and made the
editor very happy.
The following week I went to work on my customer
service. I chose 22 photographs, had them all scanned
as high-resolution images and posted them on my website
so that anyone, anywhere, anytime can choose the photo
they want, in high or low resolution, and have it downloaded
directly to their computer or sent instantly to their
e-mail address as an attachment.
The whole process took a few hours of my time and has
since made many editors and meeting planners very happy.
Want to see it work? Click to:
http://www.RonKaufman.com/media/images/index.html
It’s easy to get very busy in customer
service. Without even trying, your day is filled with
seemingly impossible-to-complete tasks. Working
on your customer service is different. It also
takes your time, but it continues to serve after you
have moved on to something or someone else.
Key Learning Point
Everyone who works
in service for others should also work on
their customer service. If you improve your service system
just a little each week, those small improvements can
make a big difference over time. And if you work on
your service in a cross-functional team or over a
weekend retreat, imagine how much everyone (customers
and service providers) will gain.
Action Steps
Step back from working
in service and go to work on your service.
Make a checklist, design a form, create a template. Reduce
four steps to three, or even one. Invest some time each
week working on your service, then go back to work in
service. You may still be very busy – but everything
will be running a bit smoother, a bit easier, a bit better.
Next Article in Customer Service Toolset >>
An Apple a Day Keeps the Customer
First Article in Customer Service Value Dimensions >>
In Customers We Trust
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Ron Kaufman is an internationally acclaimed customer service training educator for quality service.
He is author of the bestselling series "UP Your Service!" and founder of
"UP Your Service College".
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