Most likely, you've heard it all before;
"The customer is always right."
"Don't forget to smile."
But what does it actually take to create an effective customer service strategy, aside from the apparent platitudes and surface-level advice?
Table of contents:
About customer service philosophy.
7 Steps to create an enlightened customer service philosophy
Step 1: Explore your customer personas.
Step 2: Think Like Your Customers
Step 3: Put yourself in your customers' shoes.
Step 4: Provide Customer Self-Service.
Step 5: Inspire your team to inspire customers.
Step 6: Be proactive.
Step 7: Lead by example.
3 Examples of aspirational customer service philosophies:
1. Amazon’s customer centricity
2. Apple’s encrypted philosophy
3. McDonald's
Bottom Line
A customer service philosophy outlines how a business approaches its customer service strategy and establishes guidelines for effective customer communication, information sharing, and solving query resolution. It doesn’t matter whether your company provides services or sells products; it must have its own customer service philosophy to be successful.
7 Steps to create an enlightened customer service philosophy
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
This article contains seven steps that will enable you to develop your customer service philosophy efficiently and rapidly. By reading the article, you will comprehend how to apply the steps to create your unique customer service philosophy.
Step 1: Explore your customer personas
“Explore your customer personas” stand for fictional or semi-fictional characters that can be used to describe and portray a particular type of customer, usually for marketing purposes. It enables you to comprehend and connect with the audience to whom you want to market your products and services.
Try to anticipate their problems as much as possible and offer proactive support. Find out the following to explore customer personas;
Who are your customers?
What do they prefer?
And most significantly, what are they looking for?
After analyzing data, consider whether you can meet the demands of your clients.
Step 2. Think Like Your Customers
To think like a customer, discuss real-life scenarios to which they can relate rather than your service.
The “Think Like Your Customer” philosophy is a strategy for understanding what potential customers are thinking. Your potential customer has an unfulfilled demand, and your company must think like a customer to capitalize on that opportunity.
Here are some straightforward inquiries you ought to be asking yourself:
How does a prospective customer find your service?
Find out what the customer wants to accomplish.
Why would they want to buy from you?
What will entice them to return as valued customers?
Step 3. Put yourself in your customers' shoes
Using the “Put yourself in your customers' shoes” philosophy, you can get one step closer to creating the ideal customer experience.
Always consider the world from the perspective of your customers if you want to create a successful, long-lasting company. Many successful businesses have gone off the rails at scale by shifting their focus away from their customers.
Since the main goal is to cause positive perceptions among your customers, imagine how you would feel if you were in his situation. Put yourself in his shoes once in a while. Try to ensure, if you were in his shoes, he would have a hassle-free experience with your services.
You can adhere to the following recommendations:
Investigate previous customer complaints.
Consider the complaint seriously.
Understand what your customers want.
Listen to your customers.
Keep it professional and avoid arguing.
Never lose patience.
Consider the complaint to be a challenge to be solved collaboratively.
Step 4. Provide Customer Self-Service
A solid knowledge base will help you master self-service for customers. Customers frequently prefer to take the initiative and resolve service problems on their own.
When compared to opening a service ticket, self-service is typically quicker and simpler for the customer. It reduces the amount of work for your agents, so they will have one less thing to worry about. They'll be able to engage more with the client and do their job more efficiently.
73% of customers would prefer the ability to solve these problems on their own, and 70% expect company websites to offer self-service solutions.
Actions to take:
Your customers should be able to choose self-service and, if necessary, escalate to a live service agent.
Give them a way to express their thoughts by encouraging customer interaction and providing open channels for feedback like service ratings.
The most common reason customers fail to solve problems on their own is a lack of access to online resources. To minimize frustration, make sure to build a knowledge base with comprehensive and coherent support material.
Step 5. Inspire your team to inspire customers
“Inspire your team to inspire customers” refers to the idea that your business must motivate staff to provide better customer service. Failing to adapt can spell disaster for a business. Even if you try to avoid poor customer service, there's always the risk of it happening. You need to know what your customers want and ensure they get the service they deserve. Customers who are not satisfied mean lost revenue and lost customers.
Learn better customer service techniques if you require assistance with how to do this.
This is how it works:
You need to focus on the wellness of your company and inspire your team to do better at their jobs.
Instead of focusing on the end customer, focus on your employees. Treat them well and help them build their confidence.
Positive employees flourish in pleasant workplaces, which increases the number of satisfied clients.
Executives at the highest level must be committed to fostering an environment that motivates each worker.
Create strategies for creating a welcoming workplace that motivates employees to perform better.
If managers treat their staff well, the customers will also be treated well.
Step 6. Be proactive
True success stories in customer service are frequently both proactive and reactive. Customers appreciate proactive customer service, which may include letting them know about a new service or upgrade they might like, telling them about any errors or defects in a product, or reaching out to reward them with incentives for customers who spend more.
The fact that proactive customer service solves issues before customers even realize they have them is another fantastic benefit. Therefore, it shouldn't be surprising that 68 percent of consumers think more favorably of proactive brands.
Step 7. Lead by example
To “lead by example” is to influence others through your actions rather than your words. You intend to motivate others to emulate your actions.
The ability of a customer support team to consistently be kind, helpful, and generous with customers is impossible when they are underutilized, undersupported, and overworked. Leaders must consistently uphold the same values they ask their teams to in order for a team to implement their customer service philosophy comprehensively.
When your customer experience starts to suffer, it's important to figure out why. Often, customer experience issues can be blamed on a radical departure from company values that a high-ranking employee like management or leadership made. These decisions always have an effect on customer experience, even if the internal challenge had nothing to do with a support issue.
Leaders use the following strategies to motivate their followers and set an example for them:
Listen to the team.
Trust and respect your team.
Respect the chain of command.
Resolve conflicts quickly.
Deliver the outcomes that have been promised.
3 Examples of aspirational customer service philosophies
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
1. Amazon’s customer centricity
Amazon believes that every manager needs to have had a call-center conversation before they can move on to any other work. This is so that they will have a better understanding of the needs of the customers they'll be serving. Bezos believes this is the best way to understand the needs of real customers.
According to Jeff Bezos, the customer is always placed first at Amazon.com. In an interview with Charlie Rose in 2013, Bezos stated that “customer centricity” is one of the company's defining big ideas
This commitment to customer service is one of the things that sets Amazon apart from other companies. Amazon consistently ranks at the top of customer satisfaction surveys and has a reputation for delivering excellent customer service.
2. Apple’s encrypted philosophy
Apple's customer support philosophy is hinged on customer privacy and understanding the needs of their customers. This includes needs that the customer may need to be made aware of. Apple is dedicated to providing the best experience possible for all of their customers. They aim to be able to assist their customers in any way possible.
Apple founder Steve Jobs said, “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close, in fact, that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”
How could I NOT mention Apple’s philosophy of service? The thing is that it’s a golden standard of how you should get personal with your clients.
3. Virgin’s staff focus
Virgin Group is a multinational venture capital company based in the UK that provides goods and services across numerous industries. The Virgin Group was founded by Sir Richard Branson, who values his employees highly. In other words, Virgin wants to provide its staff and customers with flawless experiences.
Virgin employees are always confident when discussing product information with customers.
The company has received praise for its cutting-edge culture and distinctive business method. According to Richard Branson, “Virgin's industry is customer service.” He says it all, “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to.” This is how Richard Branson manages to keep his employees engaged and motivated.
Bottom line
The struggle to create the best customer service strategy has long been a challenge for businesses. The customer service industry has experienced significant changes lately due to new technologies and the rise of social media. As a result, businesses need to continuously update their customer service strategies to stay ahead of the competition.
Creating valuable customer service is deeply affected by the needs and desires of your customer, as well as the limitations and abilities of your business. As your business grows and expands, it's essential to be proactive about updating and improving your customer service philosophy.
To keep your business successful and your customers happy, anticipate changes that might come and receive input from your customers about how you can best meet their needs.
Cover Photo by Emile Perron on Unsplash
